Page 22 of Feels Like Coming Home

I tried for weeks to get him to talk to me. I sent him texts, called him at least every other day, and even tried calling him at his house. When his mom told me he wasn’t there even when I knew he was, I decided it was a lost cause and gave up. If he wanted to choose his girlfriend over me, so be it. I would carry on without him and our friendship just fine. But here he was now, sending me a message, reaching out for the first time in months.

Something I’d been secretly longing for.

I took a breath, knowing good and well I wouldn’t be able to get back to writing my paper without knowing what he had to say, and swiped my thumb across the screen. I tapped on the message to open it.

Hey.

Hey?

Literally just ‘Hey’? Are you freakin’ kidding me? He drops me like I'm a carrier for the black plague for four months after being one of my best friends since kindergarten, and all I get is a, ‘Hey.’?!

My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I struggled to come up with the right reply.

Hey.

I typed it in, deleted it, then retyped it and hit send before I could overthink it any longer. If he was going to break the ice after four months with a ‘Hey.’ then so was I. My phone buzzed again and I nearly dropped it, surprised by how quickly he sent a message back.

What are you doing right now?

What do I say? Do I lie to him and say I’m doing something with people? Should I make it sound like I'm super busy instead of cramming to get this freakin’ paper done? Maybe I should make up a story about some hot guy I met and how I'm getting ready for a date with him…

I’m trying to finish a paper and you’re interrupting me.

Okay, I could have come up with something a little juicier, but I was always taught that honesty is the best policy.

That’s cool…are you busy?

Is he for real? I just told him I'm writing a paper. I swear to God boys don’t listen.

Or read, clearly.

I just told you I'm writing a paper, and it’s due on Friday.

Let me guess, you’re just starting?

His response instantly annoyed me. Damn this boy and him knowing everything about me. I could just see his face sending it too, smug and arrogant, knowing that I had waited until the very last minute to do my work.

Why did the thought of his face make my cheeks flush?

No, I didn’t just start it. I'm actually trying to finish it, so I’ll just text you later, okay?

He responded immediately.

I want to see you.

He’d sent it back so quickly even after I had tried to shake him off.

He wanted tosee me?What the hell for?

I thought about it for a minute before replying, chewing on the inside of my cheek. My heart was suddenly pounding very loudly from inside my chest.

Why did Cam want to see me? He and I haven’t spoken a word to one another in four months and now he wants to see me?

Part of me wanted to say, “Yes! Let’s meet up, I will come right now and see you!” but another part of me—the logical part—told me I should tell him to shove off and leave me alone.

Sure, I had been in the wrong for what I said, but he was way more in the wrong for choosing his girlfriend of two point two seconds over his friend of more than ten years.

I don’t know Cam, I really need to write this paper.

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