I expected coming here would be a lot, but I hadn’t anticipated the internal feelings. I didn’t plan for guilt and… something I can’t put my finger on. Something that’s making me feel weird about how much I’ve changed. I word-vomited all that to Trey, and I’m not sure he really understood what I was trying to say. Maybe it was weird, but hey, I do that sometimes.
Either way, it’s true. We’ve all changed, even if everyone is pretending they’re the same while we’re together. It’s just a little harder for me to pretend, to so easily slip back into the guy I was then. Though, like most things, I’m sure it’s just me overthinking this and no one notices it but me.
Except Trey, who won’t stop asking me what’s wrong. He’s starting to sound like my mother.
The shower gets hot quickly, and I jump in and wash up. Once I’m dried and dressed, I pull up directions on my phone as I make my way to the elevator, wondering if I should have texted Trey about going to lunch together.
I don’t mean to be anti-social or not thoughtful, but I’m so focused on what I have to do all the time that I don’t always think of others.
When I step off the elevator, I tap on Trey’s name to call him. I bring the phone to my ear. It rings as I make my way out of the hotel and onto the busy street.
“Hello?” The word echoes, and I look around.
“Trey?”
“Yeah?”
I look around again, sure I’m hearing him twice. Then I spot him, standing by a coffee cart a few feet away. He looks like he’s posing for a photoshoot. His clothes are nicer than anything he used to wear in college, but I hear he makes a lot of money so that’ll do it.
I end the call and walk up to him. He’s frowning at his phone when I reach him.
“Hey,” I say.
He looks up, confused before he breaks into a grin.
“Hey,” he laughs. “I thought we got disconnected.”
“Are you sneaking food?” I question.
“Me? No. Never.” He winks. “Just need some caffeine. You want one?”
I hold my hand up. “I’m good, thanks.”
I had a cup in my room. It wasn’t the worst coffee I’ve ever had, though I did splurge and get a nicer room. I don’t travel often, and I wanted to be comfortable.
“Are you walking to the restaurant?” I ask.
“Yep. Fuck Ubers.”
“Uh, okay…”
He laughs again. “Bad experience with them. I prefer to drive, but you’d have to be insane to drive in this chaos,” he says with a chuckle.
“Do you, uh, want to walk together?”
His eyes narrow slightly, a smirk forming on his lips. “Yeah, Huds. Let’s walk together.”
There’s something in his tone that feels weird, but again, it’s probably just me.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I ask.
“Nope. Just know we have to go this way.”
I pull out my phone and open the maps app again, clicking on the address for the restaurant.
“Twenty minutes,” I say. “Not bad.”
“I could use the workout.” He shrugs.
