Page 120 of Townshipped
Stalkerish. Definitely not.
Backspace, backspace, backspace.
Mallory:So, what’s new?
What? No!
I grab a decorative pillow and scream into it.
Then I start talking to myself.
You can do this. It’s a simple text. Either he has feelings for you or he doesn’t.
Right?
Right.
I’m losing it.
I pull myself together. Maybe if I say something instead of typing, things will flow more smoothly. I push the microphone icon and start speaking in the speech-to-text function.
Mallory:Hey, Aiden. It’s me, Em. I just wanted to let you know I miss you. And the kids. But mostly you. I was talking to Gabriela … about you … and I realized I might not have really let you know how much I miss you.
I laugh. Definitely not sending that one.
I hit delete, but then …
No. No, no, no, no, no.
I hitsendby accident!
And not only that, the wordreadpops up under my text, taunting me like a playground bully.
The text went through to Aiden, and he read it!
There’s no turning back now.
I immediately pull up Gabriela’s number and call her.
“Hey, chica! Miss me?”
“Argh! Ahhh! Gah! I’m an idiot!”
“Mal?”
“It’s me! I sent Aiden a text.”
“Good girl!”
“No. No! Not good girl. I kept writing the text, then deleting, and everything I wrote was all wrong, so I did speech-to-text, and what I said then was wrong too. I went to delete what I had recorded, but I accidentally sent it!
“I need to move. I need a new phone. I need to legally change my name! Maybe I can go overseas as an uninhabited island caretaker somewhere remote in the Caribbean. Or I could be a cork harvester in Morocco, or a dabbawalas in India.”
“A what?”
“The guys who deliver boxed lunches.”
“Let’s hold off on the life-planning until we see his reaction,” Gabriela suggests.
