Dialogue 500

“Let’s play a game while we’re stuck in here.”
“What’s it called?”
“Question. We ask each other questions and we have to answer them honestly. I used to play it with my friends all the time when we had nothing to talk about.”
“Alright.”
“What’s something you hate about yourself?”
“I hate how I’m good at sports.”
“Why does that matter?”
“It makes me popular and then everyone thinks they know me. I can’t stand it. You?”
“I hate how I can’t stand up for myself when I need to.”
“What do you regret the most?”
“Lying to my mother. I don’t do it as much anymore, but I used to lie to her about everything and I feel terrible about it. You?”
“Abusing my little brother when he was younger.”
“Everybody does that.”
“I did it to extremes that I’m not willing to go into.”
“Fine by me. What was the most troubling thing from your childhood?”
“My dad yelling and screaming at my entire family because we weren’t what he wanted us to be. He wanted my brother and me to be more athletic and my mother to cook more. He did it numerous times, and things like that made me who I am today. And I hate him for it.”
“What an asshole.”
“I know. You?”
“Watching my father physically abuse my mother. He cheated on her right in front of her and made me watch.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“I know.”
“What’s something you’ve always wanted to do?”
“Get trapped in a room and play a game with someone I barely know. But seriously, I’ve always wanted to let go and stop caring about life and have fun, just for a day.”
“You’ve never gotten a chance to do that?”
“Never. And I probably never will. You?”
“I’ve always wanted to quit sports in general and run away from home. I even have a bag packed in case I decide I want to do it.”
“You’re not as much of an asshole as people say you are.”
“I am, you just don’t know it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I’m cold and mean to almost everyone that comes up to me for no good reason whatsoever.”
“Why?”
“They think they know me, they think they’re friends with me. I’m so tired of everyone knowing me, and it’s easier to have everyone think I’m a douche than to have them love me and annoy the hell out of me. It’s impossible to get a quiet moment to myself without my phone going off or someone asking me to do something. I haven’t been truly by myself for years, and I hate it. I want to run into the woods, not pay any taxes, and just live to distance myself from others. But in these few minutes, I think that you may be the only person I would be willing to take with me.”
“See? You’re not an asshole.”
“Because you’re different from everybody else. You have no idea.”