Fair Game

From Candypedia
Fair Game
Chapter104 of 129 (list of chapters)
PublishedSeptember 17, 2018 (2018-09-17)
Page count34
Major charactersPaulo, Matt, Jordan
Minor charactersMadison, Jessica, Daisy, David, Rachel, Tiff
LocationsBowling alley, Roseville neighborhood
Collected inVolume Seven
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Paulo spends Madison’s surprise eighteenth-birthday party on a mission for Matt, trying to find out whether Jordan likes boys. Between the fake flirting, a daydream with a surprise cameo, and a long cry at a red light, he learns rather more about himself than about Jordan.

Synopsis

Jessica has gone all out for Madison’s surprise eighteenth-birthday party: pizza, pineapple soda, a whole corner of the bowling alley, and a solemn guarantee of “No weirdoes.”[1] The one snag is Jordan, who spent his plus-one invitation on Tiff.[2] She barely looks up from her phone before riding off on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle.[3]

Over by the ball racks, Matt admits to Paulo just how deep his crush on Jordan runs. Jordan has pulled him out of some genuinely dark places, but Matt is sure the whole thing is hopeless.[4][5] Paulo insists that checking is simple, and demonstrates with a blunt “Dude, you gay?” Matt plays along with a bashful “Y-yes?”, but when he turns the question back around, Paulo panics and denies everything, which pretty much proves Matt’s point about why he’s never asked.[6] Matt can’t risk losing Jordan as a friend, so Paulo volunteers to find out for him.[7]

Back at the table, Paulo quietly sizes Jordan up, trying to work out whether he finds him attractive at all.[8] His daydream of Lucy wearing Jordan’s red jersey morphs into a shyly smiling Mike, and Paulo topples backward out of his chair.[9]

Paulo follows Jordan into the men’s room and corners him at the sinks. He lays the flirting on thick and ends up pinning Jordan against the wall.[10] Jordan is flattered, but turns Paulo down firmly — he isn’t into guys, not even a little.[11] Paulo yells “SIKE!!”, claims the whole thing was a prank, and insists Jordan’s sister is all he really cares about.[12] Jordan furiously grabs him by the chest and warns him to stay away from Lucy for good.[12]

Paulo saves the bad news for the drive home, once Jordan has been dropped off. He apologizes and reports that Jordan is straight and pretty sure of it too.[13] Matt tries to take the news gracefully. While the car idles at a red light, Paulo clumsily tells him he can do better than Jordan. Matt slumps against the wheel and says, “I’m scared.”[14] Sometimes he doesn’t want to be gay at all, he admits, and he’s terrified of only ever finding guys who would hate him for asking.[15]

By now Paulo is crying too. He hugs Matt and promises him a future husband far cooler than Jordan, rich and funny and bound for a Hawaii honeymoon. “He’ll love you SO DAMN MUCH! I FUCKING PROMISE YOU!!”[16] Then Paulo asks what chance he has if there is no hope for Matt.[17] Matt ends up holding a sobbing Paulo until they both start laughing.[18] They drive on, and Matt gets the last word: “We’ll show ’em.”[19]

Character dynamics

Paulo's daydream of Lucy in Jordan's red jersey morphs into a shyly smiling Mike, and Paulo falls backward out of his chair.
The daydream was going fine until Lucy turned into Mike.
  • Paulo and Matt: Matt has been gently mentoring Paulo since coming out to him on the beach trip in Golden Hour.[20] At the party, he trusts Paulo with his crush on Jordan and his fear that asking about it could cost him the friendship. Paulo offers to find out whether Jordan likes boys and delivers the answer himself. Later, he admits his own fears while sobbing in Matt’s arms. Matt’s closing “We’ll show ’em.” expresses the support they now offer each other.[19] Veronica has said Matt never had feelings for Paulo, seeing him “as more of a confused kid to mentor”, though “There’s clearly a connection there!”[21]
  • Paulo and himself: Paulo begins the evening by saying he has “crushed on girls all my life”.[5] He then studies Jordan to work out whether he’s attracted to him, daydreams about Lucy only for her to turn into Mike, and panics whenever anyone questions his sexuality. At the end of the night, a tearful Paulo asks what chance he has if there is no hope for Matt.[17]
  • Matt and Jordan: Matt tells Paulo about his long-standing crush on Jordan, then learns that Jordan is straight. Jordan is the friend who “pulled me out of some really dark places”, so Matt says he cannot risk losing him by asking about his sexuality.[4] Once Paulo brings back the answer, Matt says it is better this way and calls Jordan the little high-school crush that does not go anywhere. His exhaustion still shows.[13] Jordan himself never learns a thing.
  • Paulo and Jordan: Jordan says they’re “sorta friends now”, but Paulo’s fake flirting and panicked prank claim leave him furious. Jordan grabs Paulo by the chest and warns Paulo’s whole circle to stay away from Lucy.[12] Paulo quietly says there is little chance of that anyway. His last conversation with Lucy ended in a screaming match in High Expectations.[22]
  • Jordan and Tiff: Tiff spends Jordan’s party invitation ignoring everyone for her phone, then rides off with another guy.[3] Later that evening, Jordan still insists that he and Tiff are meant to be.[23]

Trivia & observations

Paulo throws his arms around Matt at the steering wheel, both of them crying, as he shouts "He'll love you SO DAMN MUCH! I FUCKING PROMISE YOU!!"
Paulo’s pep talks are loud, profane, and completely sincere.
  • David’s bowling-shoe routine, complete with white gloves, a “Gotta speed, keed.” and a request to be flown “up to the big ring”, is a Sonic the Hedgehog bit, catchphrase and all.[24]
  • Paulo’s “simple” method has been tried on Paulo himself before. David once fired a near-identical “You GAY or somethin’?!” at him after he’d turned down both Lucy and Tess, and got the same flustered denial.[25][6]
  • Veronica’s commentary explains Paulo’s “two colors means twice as fortunate” line. Khao Manee cats are believed lucky because of their odd-colored eyes, though she admits the line was “kind of… bizarre” coming from Paulo.[10]
  • The traffic light cycles from red to green to yellow and back over the car scene, changing the color inside the car while it remains stopped.[26] Veronica lampshades it in her commentary: “Good thing there’s no traffic at this time of night. I KNOW YOU’VE ALL BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS”[17]
  • Per Veronica’s commentary, Jessica’s “weirdoes” would have been “randos” if the story weren’t set in 2008.[1]
  • Of the daydream morph, Veronica observes that “Mike has attended the party in spirit.”[9]
  • Veronica says she tears up “without fail” every time she rereads the page where Paulo makes his promise to Matt.[16]

Related chapters

  • Golden Hour: During the beach trip, Matt came out to Paulo around the campfire and told him about his parents rejecting him. He also let a curious Paulo hug him while “testing something out”. That conversation provides context for Matt trusting Paulo with his crush on Jordan and his fear of rejection here.
  • Sugar Substitute: A short follow-up told from Jordan’s side of the bathroom scene. He tells Matt “So Paulo hit on me”, decides Paulo “seems lost” rather than malicious, and even floats the idea of setting the two of them up.
  • Total Recall: At junior prom, Jordan asked Paulo for girl advice and the two of them buried their old feud, while Tiff ditched Jordan’s invitation for another guy. The evening ended with a late-night drive in Matt’s car, much like this one, except that one finished in a crash.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 2
  2. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 4
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 5
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 7
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 8
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 9
  7. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 10
  8. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 13
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 14
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 20
  11. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 21
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 22
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 26
  14. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 28
  15. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 30
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 31
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 32
  18. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 33
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 34
  20. ↑ Chapter 90: Golden Hour, page 38
  21. ↑ “Ask response on whether Matt and Paulo ever had feelings for each other”. 2026-04-13.
  22. ↑ Chapter 100: High Expectations, page 26
  23. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 23
  24. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 3
  25. ↑ Chapter 54: Back and Forth, page 4
  26. ↑ Chapter 104: Fair Game, page 27
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