Page 13 of Fragments
She laughs again, my stomach twisting a little at the sound. “Lex Luthor, the sweet talker.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this late-night booty call?” I tease, grinning while she chuckles some more.
But it fades off, and she murmurs, “I just wanted to check on you. After… earlier.”
My own smile falls as I stare up at the ceiling. “Thanks. I’m fine.”
She’s quiet for a moment before asking, “You sure?”
“Yea,” I breathe. “Just the usual… parents not understanding me, wanting me to be someone I’m not bullshit.”
“I feel you,” she says quietly.
“Do you?”
Leah goes quiet again. And I desperately want her to open up. Give me something more personal, somethingdeeperto work with here.
We’ve been talking online for years, and I still barely know anything about the girl. She knows everything about me, along with the rest of our little crew. None of us are shy when it comes to spilling our guts. We talk about where we’re from, our family lives, school, and work. It’s like I said, these are honest to Godfriendships, and Leah is a big part of that.
But she’s the mystery man of the group.The Phantom Stranger.
We’ve seen her face. We know she’s real… But that’s pretty much the extent of it.
“Don’t take it to heart, Luth.” She ignores my question, keeping the focus of conversation on me, as usual. “I’m sure your parents are proud of you.” I scoff at that, and she mumbles, “At least you know they love you. At least you… have them.”
My stomach wrenches. I really want to ask what she means by that.
Is she an orphan? Are her parents gone? Is she… alone?
But instead, I nestle up in the softness of my chair and sigh. “Leah… have you ever been in love?”
“Wow. Way to get super heavy on me,” she snorts.
I grin. “I’m serious. Have you?”
She pauses, as if she’s thinking about how to answer. And now maybe I get why she didn’t FaceTime. It’s probably harder to disguise the truths she doesn’t want to tell with me looking at her.
“I don’t know if I believe in love,” she speaks softly. Ifeelthe emotion in her tone. “What about you?”
An odd sensation of longing sets in my chest, and it confuses me.
I don’t do relationships. At least, I never have before, and I don’t think I necessarily care that much that I haven’t. Granted, I’m a guy in his teens, so the hormones are definitely there, but with technology these days, getting off is much easier for us hopeless nerds.
I’ve had phone sex before. Sometimes I do the sexting thing on Snapchat. But when it comes to being able to expressrealinterest in someone, face to face, I guess I’m as inexperienced as they come.
It might just be the way I am, like the social anxiety thing. Maybe I’m not meant to experience being with someone for real…Surely, physical relationships aren’t for everyone, right?
But right now, thereissomething there. And it’s unfamiliar.
Is it love? Do I feel it for Leah?
Or am I just wishing I could feel it with someone else?
“I’m not sure if I know… how to feel it,” I stammer. “Love, I mean. It should feel obvious, shouldn’t it?”
“Yea, it probably should,” she sighs in my ear.
“Maybe I love you,KillaClam.” My lips twist, and she laughs softly. “I mean it. We should… love each other. Just as friends, or whatever. Because I think love is… important. Even if I don’t really understand it.”
