I try again.
Still voicemail.
Maybe his phone is dead, too.
I pull up my messages.
@lee.haven
Where are you?
The message delivers but doesn’t go to read.
I wait.
Nothing.
My hands shake as I type.
@lee.haven
Sorry about last night. Can we talk? I’m at the library.
I send. I wait. Still nothing.
My thumb hovers over Kai’s name, ready to try calling again, when I notice the VibeFeed notifications again. Kai usually uses the messaging app to text me, but maybe in his drunken state, he sent VibeFeed DMs instead. They could clue me in to where the hell he is.
But when I open VibeFeed, all I see are three new messages from Bastian.
I should not open my DMs. I should just delete the app and pretend last night never happened.
I open my DMs instead.
@inherentvice
There’s my sweet girl.
My stomach flips.
@inherentvice
You don’t have to tell me who hurt you.
I already know.
He knows, because Bastianalwaysknows.
I read it twice, three times, four. But the sick, shameful thing coiling in my gut isn’t fear.
No one’s ever made my paintheirproblem to fix
Not the teachers who saw my dirty clothes and skinny legs. Not my neighbors in the trailer park.
@inherentvice
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream
Sleep well, sweet girl.
