Page 8 of It Never Was

I hope whoever's phone that is grabs it before—

"Who here is the one so popular that they have their phone going off the first day of lecture?" the professor calls out as the phone alerts of another text message. The sound is louder than before now that the whole room is silent.

Just turn off the phone already, geez!

Finishing my sentence in my notes I feel a slight touch on my shoulder. Looking over to see why someone is touching me, I see the guy next to me with his slicked-back hair and brown eyes. His eyes drop to the floor next to me.

"What?" I whisper confused.

Mr. Persistent looks back up at me with urgency in his eyes, pointing his finger at my bag.

FUCK…of course…

I snatched my bag from the floor, realizing I was said obnoxious person whose phone is ringing off the hook. Rapidly I grab it out, my screen lights up again and texts from Devon pop up on the screen. I click the power button, turning it off.

Dammit!

"Ms. Attention, there seems to be a trend here, huh?" the professor says as he raises his eyebrows at me. I noticed his gray mustache twitch in annoyance.

"No, no trend, sir. Just a bad day. Sorry." He doesn't look convinced.

"Let's hope." He continues where he left off in his lecture.

This is chalking up to be a great school year.

With my two classes finally done for the day, I glance at my watch to see it's a little after 7:00 pm as I basically drag myself back to the shop for my car. Approaching, I see the lights in the shop are off except one by the door where Paul is waiting. He opens the door and locks up before walking towards my car, reaching it at the same time I do.

"You look tired," he says, looking my face over.

"I am a little, first couple weeks are always an adjustment period trying to find the groove of the new class schedule," I say to him as I unlock my car and throw my bag across to the passenger seat. Leaning on the driver's door, I rest my chin on my arm. My blinks start to slow down, my eyelids heavy as the stress of the first day back to classes catches up to me. Adrenaline leaving my body, wanting my limbs to relax.

"You okay to drive home?" I can see the rawness in his eyes. He cares if I get home safely more than he shows.

"Yes, of course! That's what Slipknot is for!" I grin up at him as his face crinkles in disapproval.

"I don't know how you listen to that stuff, but if it keeps you awake enough to get home safely, then blast it till your windows blow out."

I chuckle at his words, which grants me him tussling my hair quickly before backing away as I get in the car and lock my doors. He does this every time he is at the shop, and I come back late from my classes. He says he doesn't trust people. I don't either. I am grateful for his caring acts like these. Makes me wish he was my parent my whole life instead of my mother and absent father.

The engine starts and the sound of Wait and Bleed fills the car. Paul shakes his head as he walks to his truck. I can't help but giggle as I pull out of the parking lot and head down the road towards my house. The music does its job to help keep my mind from remembering that I have been up since 3:00 am. I go to reach for my phone out of my bag. Eyes still on the road, I ruffle through it blindly.

Finally finding it but curious as to why my screen is not responding to my touch, my eye flicks between the phone and the windshield.

It dawns on me. I turned it off in class and forgot to turn it back on. Holding the power button down, my shoulders sway to the music, my body starting to fight off the exhaustion.

Once my phone powers back up, I see I have a text from Willow asking about what Paul wanted to talk about, but before going to answer it I also notice three missed calls and eight texts from Devon. I open them up, my eyes flicking from the road to the screen again.

DEVON: Hey, babe want me to come over tonight so we can make up properly? ;)

Babe?

Hellooo?!

You could just say no you don't have to ignore my messages, Ryen.

I thought we made up Ryen? Was that all just bullshit for me to get out of your way?

Why is your phone going straight to voicemail?????

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