I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth; I try to recover by quickly asking, “What movie are you going to see?”
“Kat I—” His voice is tight, strangled, and he sighs audibly. “I hope you have a great time with Chris. You deserve to have a great night out. Sorry, I just remembered I told Clive I would pick him up, so I need to leave early. Have a great night.”
The shift in his tone is so significant that I feel it in my bones. I want to do anything to change it back to what it was at the beginning of this conversation.
“Sam. What’s—”
“I’ll text you tomorrow. Good night, Kat.” And the line goes dead.
“What the fuck?” I’m left stunned.
Ican’t believe Sam just hung up on me. He said goodbye but didn’t even give me a chance to say anything.
He must be upset that I’m going out with Chris tonight. But it's not like it’s a date. Right?Is it a date?I kick myself for not clarifying this point.
I’m not interested in dating Chris.
No, I’m only interested in dating a certain six feet, three inches, brown-haired, brown-eyed, tattooed man who just hung up on me.
With Chris, it would just be nice to have a friend in Charleston. Sophie and Kristen both moved away a couple of years ago. With Liv in Columbia, and Ethan—I don’t have anyone left.
Before I can continue much further down this rabbit hole, I get a message from Sam.
Sorry I cut our call short.
I really do hope you have a great night.
Have fun with your friends, Sam.
He doesn’t send another text, and I’m left reeling. Instead of spiraling with my thoughts, I dial Liv’s phone number.
“Fucking finally! Do you know I’ve been waiting all day for you to call me? Did you forget about me already? I know the wholeoutof sight, out of mind thing. But my God, woman. It's only been one day!” I hear Talia laugh in the background, and the sound helps me relax.
“Sorry, Liv. I promise I haven’t forgotten you… yet. But give it another week, and I make no guarantees.”
“I swear to whatever god exists, if you even think about forgetting me, I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do, drive to Charleston and cry at your door until you let me in.”
“You know that just makes me want to pretend I’ve forgotten you, right?” I laugh at the vision this conversation creates. “Then you’ll have no choice but to move to Charleston and be my roommate again.”
“You know I would, but I can’t leave Talia. Did you know she has no idea how to operate the espresso machine? I have to teach her immediately, cause you know I can’t be held responsible for makingmy own coffee.” She says the last words slowly, enunciating each one.
“Oh, you poor thing! Whatever will you do?” The sarcasm drips from my words.
“What are you up to? Are you unpacked yet? I know you hate boxes and clutter.”
“No, not yet. I unpacked my clothes. But I wanted to talk to you about something.” I take my feet off the coffee table and lean forward, my elbows on my knees.
“What’s up, girl?” She’s serious now.
“I just had a weird conversation with Sam, and I’m not sure what it means, or how to, I don’t know, fix it?”
“Tell me everything.”
I relay the conversation to her, including my interpretation of his tone. She listens quietly until I finish.
“So, what did I do wrong?”
“Ok, first, Chris, as in the guy Sophie dated senior year?”
