My Romance Life System

The next day at school, the fragile peace of their new normal was immediately put to the test. Kofi found Nina waiting at their corner, a look of grim determination on her face.

"Okay, new crisis," Nina announced without preamble. "Jake just sent me a thirty-seven-part text message detailing his new plan for talking to Ruby. It involves a PowerPoint presentation about the historical significance of the library's card catalog system."

Kofi just stared at her. "You're kidding."

"I wish I was," she said with a long, suffering sigh. "He has diagrams. I think we may have broken him. He's moved on from bread and is now weaponizing his nerdiness in the most unhelpful way possible."

'This is my fault. I told him to be himself.'

"We have to intervene," Nina continued, her voice taking on the tone of a general planning a military campaign. "This cannot be allowed to happen. Ruby will transfer to another school. It's a matter of public safety."

"So what's the plan?" he asked, feeling a familiar sense of exhaustion settle over him. "Are we going to confiscate his laptop?"

"Better," she said, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "We're going to create a controlled environment. A new study session. But this time, we do it right."

The study session was scheduled for that afternoon in the library. It was, as Nina had put it, a 'high-stakes, low-pressure' environment. The four of them found a table in a quiet corner, the air thick with the smell of old books and dust.

Jake was practically vibrating with nervous energy, a stack of note cards clutched in his hand. Kofi could see the words 'card catalog' peeking out from the top one. He immediately reached over and snatched the note cards from Jake's hand.

"No scripts," Kofi said, his voice a low whisper.

Jake looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "But what do I say?"

"You say hello," Nina whispered from across the table. "And then you listen to what she says, and you respond. It's called a conversation. Try to keep up."

Ruby arrived a moment later, a small, shy smile on her face. "Hey, guys. Sorry I'm a little late."

"No problem," Jake squeaked, his voice about an octave too high. He quickly cleared his throat. "We were just, uh, discussing the Dewey Decimal System."

Ruby just blinked at him. Nina put her head in her hands.

Kofi decided to take control. "We were talking about the history paper," he said, shooting Jake a look that said 'shut up now'. "The one on the Silk Road. It's a lot of material."

Ruby's expression brightened with relief. "Oh, yeah. I was just starting to research that. There are so many different trade routes to keep track of."

"That's what I was saying," Jake jumped in, seeing an opening. "It's like a massive, real-life RPG quest map. You have different factions, like the Romans and the Han Dynasty, and they're all trading for rare items, like silk and spices."

Ruby looked at him, a genuine smile on her face. "That's a good way to think about it. And the caravans were like the adventuring parties."

"Exactly!" Jake said, his earlier panic completely forgotten, replaced by a pure, unadulterated nerdy enthusiasm. "And the bandits were just high-level mobs you had to fight to get to the next checkpoint."

Nina and Kofi exchanged a look across the table.

'He's doing it. He's actually being a normal person.'

The next hour was a revelation. Jake and Ruby fell into an easy, animated conversation about history, comparing trade routes to video game maps and historical figures to character classes. It was the nerdiest, most specific conversation imaginable, and they were both completely absorbed in it.

Nina and Kofi just sat there, pretending to read their own textbooks, silent observers to the slow, awkward, and surprisingly successful blooming of a potential romance.

As they were packing up to leave, Ruby turned to Jake, a small, genuine smile on her face.

"Hey," she said. "That was actually really helpful. Thinking about it like a game makes it a lot easier to remember."

Jake's face went a little pink. "Yeah? Cool. I mean, if you ever want to, uh, study again… or, you know, talk about historically accurate RPG mechanics… I'm around."

"I'd like that," she said.

They walked out of the library, Jake practically floating a few inches off the ground. He gave Kofi a discreet, triumphant thumbs-up behind his back.

Kofi just shook his head, a small smile on his face.

'Maybe he's not a complete hopeless case after all.'

As they walked out of the school, the group split up, Jake and Ruby heading one way, still deep in a conversation about the economic impact of Roman road construction.

"Well," Nina said, falling into step beside Kofi. "I stand corrected. Operation: Make Jake a Normal Human Being was a resounding success. You might actually be a competent commander after all."

"Don't call me that," he said, but he was smiling. "And it wasn't my plan. It was yours. All I did was stop him from bringing a PowerPoint presentation."

"It was a team effort," she conceded. "We are a formidable duo of social engineering."

They walked in a comfortable silence for a block, the late afternoon sun warm on their faces.

"So," she said, her tone shifting to something more serious. "How's Thea doing? For real."

"She's okay," he said, his own mood turning more somber. "She told me about Jessica. About what happened between them."

Nina's expression hardened. "Yeah. I figured it was something like that. Jessica was always a snake, even when we were friends."

"She said she feels like Jessica knows all her secrets."

Nina was quiet for a long moment. "She's not wrong," she said finally, her voice low. "That's how girls like her operate. They collect your weaknesses like trophies."

They turned the corner onto his street. The familiar, quiet neighborhood felt like a world away from the social minefield of the school.

"You know," Nina said, stopping at the edge of his apartment building's lawn. "This whole thing with Thea… it's a lot. You don't have to carry it all by yourself. You can talk to me, you know. About any of it."

He looked at her, at the genuine, unwavering concern in her eyes. He knew she meant it. But he also knew there were parts of this story he could never tell her. The empty pill packet. The cold, clinical horror of the doctor's report. The terrifying, impossible choice he had made in that hospital room.

Those were his secrets. His burdens to carry.

"I know," he said, a small, grateful smile on his face. "Thanks, Nina."

She held his gaze for a moment longer, then gave a small nod. "Alright. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, dumbass."

"See you," he said, watching her turn and walk away.

He stood there for a minute after she was gone, the weight of his shared secret with Thea settling back onto his shoulders. He was not just her brother on paper. He was the keeper of her worst moment, the only other person in the world who knew how close she had come to disappearing completely.

And he had no idea what to do with that knowledge.

He finally turned and walked into his apartment building, the familiar weight of it all a heavy, constant presence.