The corners of my mouth tug.
Please let it be me.
“I was,” she starts, letting out a quiet laugh, barely there, but I catch it anyway. “Thinking about my driving skills.”
That pulls a smile out of me instantly. I shift on the balcony sofa and stretch out on my back, staring up at the sky, where the first faint stars are starting to show.
“Yeah, about those. They're pretty bad.” I try to keep my voice serious, but it slips.
“What? You said I was doing well!”
“But I’m a liar, remember?”
“Right. I’ll remember that now.”
Another quiet moment settles between us, but it doesn’t feel awkward. It feels easy.
“Could you tell me about your day?” I break the silence.
She laughs under her breath.
“It was pretty boring, to be honest. What part of it are you interested in?”
“Any part.” I shift, phone pressed closer to my ear. “All of them.”
“Well, school was fine, Fridays usually are. Are you going to school?”
Shit.
I stare up at the sky, jaw tightening.
“You still haven’t told me about the rest of the day.”
“Aren’t you a little insistent? I also want to ask you something.”
“Okay,” I exhale quietly. “I’m sorry. I’m homeschooled. It’s weird, I know. Let’s get back to your day.”
“Wait, it’s not weird, it’s interesting. How does that work?”
Oh God, please, no.
“How tired are you?”
“A lot. Why?”
“Then you should sleep,” I say, forcing my voice into something steady.
A small pause.
“Why did you call me, Kasien?”
Kasien.
The way she says it—slow, soft—it hits harder than it should, as if I’m hearing the name for the first time. I close my eyes and take a breath.
“Because I wanted to hear you. But,”
Fuck it. No point holding back now.
