Ezra still hasn’t reached out to me, and while my heart is still breaking from his silence, I’m slowly moving forward. Baby steps, so to say. He will always own a piece of my heart, my soul, but I can’t keep pining over a man who can’t accept me. The real me.
“Want to sleep with me tonight?” Roxy asks, locking the front door.
“I’d love to. But I need to study some more and I have an early morning at the diner. I don’t want to wake you.”
She pokes out her bottom lip, giving me a perfect pouty lip.
“Stop!” I give her a playful swat. “Tomorrow, me and you. Your bed though, since it’s bigger.”
“Only if we’re naked,” she says.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” I take hold of her hands and pull her into me, my lips pressing against hers, giving her a chaste kiss.
“I’m falling for you, Felicity Montgomery.”
“And I’m falling for you too, Roxanne Cross.”
She lets go of one of my hands and reaches back, turning off the light as we move down the hallway hand in hand until we reach her bedroom.
“Well, this is my stop,” she says with a chuckle. “Sure I can’t change your mind?”
“Positive. But tomorrow, you can.”
“Pinky promise?” Roxy holds out her left pinky, waiting for me to interlock mine with hers. When I do, she lifts our joined hands and we both lean in and kiss them at the same time.
We drop hands and she steps inside her room, closing her door behind her, but not before giving me one final wink. “If you get lonely, just come cuddle with me.” With her last word, the door shuts and I continue on to my room.
I close the door softly behind me, turn on the light, and head to my dresser to put on my pajamas. If I’m going to be studying, I might as well be comfortable. Once I’m done, I pick up my bookbag and sit down on my bed. Crossing my legs, I take out my Psychology book and notes and get comfortable. It's time to learn all about Schizophrenia. The more I read, the more I hope I don’t have it. I’m definitely at the right age that the first symptoms start to appear.
A buzz cuts through the quiet, a low tremor against the wood of the nightstand.
Bzzzz…bzzzz…
At first, I don’t move. Too lost in my studying. It’s probably just Roxy from the other room trying to entice me into bed with her. But then it buzzes again, more insistent this time, almost like it knows I’m ignoring it, wanting to finish this chapter and the next, quiz myself, and then go to bed. That’s my priority right now.
I glance toward the nightstand. The phone screen lights up briefly, casting a soft glow across the room. I can’t tell from this angle who it is. Just that it’s a notification of some sort, a missed call, a text or possibly an email.
With a quiet sigh, I drop the book, prop myself up on one elbow and reach over. My fingers brush the cool surface of the phone as I drag it toward me. The vibration buzzes against my skin, a little jolt that breaks the stillness.
The screen lights up fully as I lift it.
And for a moment, my heart catches.
I close my eyes and open them again, taking another look, hoping that what I’m seeing is reality and not some illusion.
I take another look. This time, I pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.
“Ouch,” comes out louder than I intended and I pause, my eyes focused on the door, listening for any sound that may have woken Roxy up.
Nothing.
I let my thumb hover just above the screen, my pulse ticking a little faster as the light reflects in my eyes. A deep breath in and exhale slowly. I do this three times until finally my nerves are calm and then open the text thread.
Ezra: Are you awake?
Ezra: If you are, and ignoring this, then I understand.
Ezra: I deserve it. I’ve been a dick.
