“Who’s this?”
“Axl, it’s Rumor. I lost my phone and had to borrow one. Did you text me?”
“I haven’t had time. My boss called me in early to work and we’ve been really busy.”
“Okay, well, I didn’t want you to not hear from me and be worried something happened.”
“I wasn’t worried. I assumed you were busy.”
“Did you see my texts from this morning?”
“Yeah. Sorry, I forgot to text back. I was going to, but then my boss called. Babe, I really need to go. I was helping a customer when you called. We’ll talk later, okay? Love you.”
“Wait! We can’t talk later. I don’t have a phone.” There’s silence. “Axl?” He hung up.
I give Jackson his phone.
“Want to talk about it?” he asks.
“Not really.”
“The long-distance thing can be hard.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be. Not for Axl and me. We’ve been dating for two years. We’re moving into together after we graduate. We have it all planned out.”
“Sometimes plans change.”
“But that’s not what I want. I love Axl. I want a life with him.”
“Isn’t it a little soon to decide that? You’re only what . . . seventeen?”
“Yeah, but if we love each other our age shouldn’t matter.”
The guy at the register calls out our order. Jackson gets up and brings it back to the table.
“How long have you dated your girlfriend?” I ask, taking my burrito from the tray.
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Then why do you have a girl’s clothes at your house?”
“She’s a friend. She stays with me sometimes.” He bites into his burrito, eating almost a third of it.
“Why does she stay there?”
He points to my burrito. “What do you think?”
“It’s good. Might be the only real food I get all day.”
“If you want to come over and raid my fridge, just let me know.”
“I can’t. I don’t have a phone.”
“You want to get one?”
“I don’t have money.”
“I’ll loan you some.”
