Kennedy was waiting for them by the elevator in a striking red dress and leather coat. She threw her arms up with a shriek of excitement. "Alistair! It's so nice to meet you!"

"Likewise. You must be Kennedy."

"Oh! You know who I am. Benny, you're doing your job!"

"Yeah, only because every story I tell involves you."

"All good things," Kennedy said, and hugged Alistair against his will. She waved them all along like a mother at the zoo herding children into a neat, single-file line.

The security man at the elevator confirmed their invites before swiping his card and sending them up to the designated floor. In the elevator, Kennedy turned to them all with her bright lipstick and delicately curled hair. "This is going to be so much fun, trust me. This is the second party she's done like this and the first was a hit. I think the turnout's gonna be twice as insane this time."

"Benny said it was... themed?" Alistair said, arching a brow.

"You'll see," she said, and winked at Micah as she did. Micah squinted at her. He already knew the theme. Matchmaking... He despised it.

Most matchmaking parties weren't built for people like Micah. Speed dating was a nightmare. His forward mentions of, "I'm not looking for commitment," were always met with disappointed grimaces and little interest to talk about anything else.

The doors clunked open and Kennedy led the charge. She held Micah by the hand, toting him along like the diligent puppy he normally was for her. That day, however, he wanted to drag his feet.

They're all gonna look at me like a freak. Like my self-appointed ex-boyfriend did earlier today, he thought.

The apartment door was open. People were clustered in the hall on their phones, drinks in hand. Micah eyed them all before crossing the threshold. He glanced over his shoulder at Benny, who beamed at him in encouragement.

At the door, Kennedy swiped up stickers from the entry table with her and Benny's names on them. She peeled the back off and slapped it onto Benny's chest, followed by two blank stickers for Micah and Alistair.

"This is a horrible idea for me," Micah told her in an aside that she brushed off quickly.

"Trust me. This will do you wonders."

"It never has before."

"Yeah, but you've never had a partner hand-picked for you before, either," she said. He squinted at her, unconvinced. She rolled her eyes. "You fill out a survey. And then it automatically pairs you with a compatible match."

"Yeah, and no one's going to match with me," he insisted, but Kennedy rolled her eyes once more and turned away completely.

He gave up and, begrudgingly, scribbled his name onto the sticker. It wasn't like he needed it to be legible or anything. He peeled the back off and pinned it to his chest as Alistair did the same.

"What, exactly, is going on?" Alistair leant into Micah to whisper it.

He sighed, arms crossed. "Matchmaking event. Wouldn't have come if I knew."

"Ah," Alistair hummed. He straightened up, hands in his pockets.

Benny fetched the instruction sheet off the table and held it out to Alistair. While he was busy tending to his brother, Micah wandered off in search of booze, which he found in ample quality near the balcony window.

One thing Micah did appreciate about Kennedy's dating events, however, was the ambiance. The flat was massive and elegantly decorated—definitely someone Kennedy would know personally. Art was strewn across the walls and mini disco balls hung from the chandelier overhead. The glassware for the drinks was thrifted crystal.

In the smattering and scattering of silver disco lights across the room, a bell chimed. The host was standing up on a chair, declaring, "Alright, everyone! The survey can take up to ten minutes to complete, so at the fifteen minute mark, we'll start the pairing! I'll turn off the music so everyone can concentrate. So please..." She gestured with a finger to her lips for everyone to be quiet.

Micah rolled his eyes and, to his utter disdain, they landed on Kennedy cruising toward him with a scowl. She jabbed a finger at him, hissing, "Do the damn quiz, alright? I mean it!"

He stuck his tongue out at her. She took his phone from his pocket—talk about violation!—and tapped in the code. "H-How do you even know my passcode—" he started, but Kennedy was already thrusting the screen back at him. The survey was up.

"It's worth a shot, you know," she said. "Maybe you'll find someone as disinterested in relationships as you are."

"Whatever," he muttered.

Kennedy landed a red-lipsticked kiss on his cheek before being dragged off by one of her girlfriends to whisper in the corner over Kennedy's survey answers.

Micah glanced at Benny, who was huddled together with Alistair answering questions on his own phone. Alistair's eyes were on his screen, a somber, firm look upon his face as the music cut out. A vacuum of silence followed.

Sighing, Micah submitted himself to his worst form of torture.

I don't do hookups
Hard no. Hookups were all Micah did, apparently.

I believe in star signs
Moderate. Kennedy was awfully convincing in this field of study.

I judge people who misspell basic words
Absolutely. No notes.

I am a proud person
Moderate. Micah knew what he wanted, but people tended to judge that. He could only handle so much judgement against his sense of pride, it seemed.

I take pride in my nonconformity
Absolutely. In Micah's esteemed opinion, it was everyone else's pride that was getting in the way of his own. He didn't take pride in injuring peoples' egos for presuming to be his boyfriend—!

Intention always matter more than outcome
Moderate. Micah's intentions tended to lead to less ideal outcomes. Like his vinyl being shattered against the wall—!

I don't have any toxic traits
Hard no. See notes on every other answer.

Happiness is a choice
Moderate. Micah didn't have a good answer for this one.

I would always back my partner up publicly if they caused a scene
Hard no. One of the many reasons Micah was against the notion of dating. He didn't want to feel responsible for anyone else's decisions, and if causing a scene was a decision, Micah wouldn't be there for it. This answer was bound to skew if he looked at it from a different angle—from the angle of his friends. He would back up Benny and Kennedy in a heartbeat and, unfortunately, had. He had a scar on the back of his neck from being hit with a bottle for backing up Kennedy at a party once.

I would sacrifice stability to pursue a passion
Hard no. Micah didn't even have stability, but he imagined if he had it, he wouldn't give two shits about passion to keep it.

I generally like to take control during sex
Absolutely. No notes.

I would have a threesome
Absolutely. Micah requests that this question be changed to "I have a threesome (or several)".

Flirting is a form of cheating
Hard no. See all other notes.

I'd rather stay single forever than marry the wrong person
Absolutely. In fact, he'd rather stay single forever and ever, amen, thank you very much.

My partner can go through my phone
Absolutely. This has led to disaster in the past, but Micah has always presumed to be transparent regardless. It wasn't his fault people had selective hearing about his relationship priorities.

My partner can be friends with an ex
Absolutely. Mostly because Micah didn't plan on having a partner and refused to control their choices. Hell, Micah was best friends with his past sexual conquests. In fact, he was living with one.

I would never bring a hookup home to an unmade bed
Hard no. Experience can corroborate this for Micah.

I prefer kinky sex
Moderate. Micah prefers the scale to be from vanilla-to-rough, though he wouldn't mind silk ropes. Or blindfolds. Spanking. Toys. Micah changes his answer to "Yes", one step below "Absolutely".

I need to be in a "power couple"
Hard no. See all other notes. Micah believes this impossible to achieve with his lifestyle.

It's important to me that my parents approve of my partner
Hard no.

I like to play things by ear
Absolutely. Though Micah would never stumble his way into a relationship of his own volition.

I like drama
Moderate. Not the kind of drama he causes, mostly, though it is fun to tell his crazy "ex" stories among friends. If he had to choose, he preferred to listen to Kennedy's drama.

Amongst filler personality questions, Micah completed his survey and submitted his answers. He lowered his phone to his side, sighed, and searched for Benny. The party was still quiet, but when the host raised the timer on her phone up, Micah clocked that they had just under a minute left.

Benny beamed at him, giddy and vibrating with excitement.

Micah grinned. "Yeah, you would like this sort of thing," he whispered accusingly.

"Oh, come on. I mean, Kennedy and I wanted to bring you to this but you were seeing that guy—"

"I was not seeing that guy—"

"Semantics. Anyway," Benny said, waving his hands. "We just think a proper match up might be good for you! All the committed people will be paired together, and the noncommitted people will be—"

"Committed institutionally," Micah said. Between them, Alistair snorted. "Yeah, and what noncommitted person is attending a matchmaking party."

"You never know!" Benny whispered just as the timer went off.

With a grand show of her phone, the hostess with the mostess waved her screen for all to see as she clicked the dreaded "Make matches!" button. Micah's heart sunk to his stomach, hard as a rock, as the music cranked up again.

A moment later, she shouted, "Alright, everyone, you can reveal your matches now!"

Benny at once was buried in his phone, gasping with excitement at the name that appeared. He grabbed Alistair by the arm, saying, "I gotta go find my person. Have fun though, alright?"

Alistair laughed, nudged him encouragingly, and said, "Go get 'em, tiger."

Micah rolled his eyes and said, "I can't believe he brought us to this thing."

"It's not so bad," Alistair said, and turned his eyes back down to his screen to reveal his match. Micah, annoyed, followed suit. He gritted his teeth, tapped the button, and read the name.

A familiar name.

His eyes jumped up to Alistair. He jolted at the startled way Alistair was already staring back. Micah's name was on Alistair's screen.

Shit.