章節 56: Chapter 54
" We're not, " I curtly said in an attempt to delete the assumptions from his head. He slowly nodded, looking almost as uncomfortable as I felt, then he turned back to his friends before he looked at me again. Clearly desperate to leave.
" Okay, well if you happen to find out then please tell me. "
" Sure, "
" Bye, " he turned around and left. The conversation felt weird without it needing to be. And I knew I was the one to blame for that, if only I could stop overthinking things for a second.
I tried calling Austin two more times before I got to work, and I realized that I was severely obsessing. So I switched off my phone and placed it in my backpack and made a vow to neither call nor text him till the following day. But then I realized that there were chances of him calling me while my phone was switched off. A realization which drove me to switch it on, and when I got to work, I was using it strictly for research purposes when I decided to just send one last text.
The last one was followed by three more.
But honestly, the day was coming to an end and there was still no reply from him. How was I supposed to stay chilled? And I was mostly frustrated because I was almost certain that apart from me, no one else had spoken to him. I must have been the only one with his new number. And what if I chose to stay quiet about it and then something bad happened to him?
" Austin!" I angrily groaned, burying my head in my hands and trying to think clearly. He was putting me in a really tight spot, and his reluctance to answer either my phonecalls or texts was only increasing my frustration. The next time I saw him I was definitely going to give him a piece of my mind. Whatever he was doing wasn't right,I didn't care about the reason behind it. A number of customers came in and I had to activate my diligent worker face and help them out. I knew I always stayed there till late, but normally I never thought about the hours. It helped them to go faster, but on that particular night, it seemed as if the time wasn't moving at all. I was either pretending to be reading or staring at my phone screen. I ought to have known something was up when his backpack looked like it was actually carrying things the previous day, but I had been too invested in him to pay much attention to such details.
And as I was walking back to my apartment I started to really overthink. Like, on an entirely new mentally unstable scale. That boy did that to me, he drove me mad in ways no one could possibly understand. I started to imagine very unlikely scenarios. What if he was in actual danger, or what if he was never planning on coming back and had only called me last night to secretly tell me bye without me even realizing it. The crazy kid was turning my life upsidedown and there was nothing I could do about it. When I said I liked him I didn't mean it in the typical teenage fashion. It wasn't a crush.My feelings had been bred and reared for years, only getting stronger as time passed. And I was starting to believe that the five years apart had only strengthened them instead of doing the opposite. I now felt as if I had to maximize every chance I had with him. Which I wouldn't be able to do if he was fucking missing!!
My phone rang as I neared my apartment. I could hear dogs barking in the distant, and someone was playing music in their house a little too loudly. A siren was wailing somewhere and there was laughter from another distant part. I stopped and took the phone out. The task was done in less than three seconds, but within that little time I was able to ask myself what I would do if it wasn't him calling. How terrible I would feel.
But it was him.
And I was scared that he might cut the call so I immediately answered.
" Hi-"
" Don't fucking 'Hi' me dammit! " Were the first words I angrily spoke. His response was pure silence.
" Ooooow.." he said before he hissed. An indication that he knew very well why I was mad.
" Where the hell are you?" I demanded, calling out his name when he didn't respond.
" Miles told me you run away from home? Dude, why on earth would you do that?"
" And then you switch your phone off? I almost thought you had been kidnapped or something!" That was a bit of exaggeration but as long as he got my point.
" We literally talked last night, don't you think you should have told me about all this?"
" But--"
" I had to lie that I haven't talked to you because I had no clue why you even ran in the first place, but I'm sure--"
" Kyle, "
That tone again. That lax tone that was overflowing with his casual flair. Like he wasn't at all affected by the situation and was willing to give me all the time I needed to vent out my anger. Because that's what I was feeling, I was angry with him for not trusting me enough to tell me whatever was going on.
I stopped talking and waited as I kept on walking to my apartment. He audibly sighed and took in a deep breath.
" I'm sorry, "
What was he even apologizing for precisely?
" Where are you?"
" I can't tell you that. "
" Austin!"
" I can't. "
" Why not?"
" Because I need to let go of all my frustration before it boils over and burns everyone around me. "
I frowned. What reason did he have to be so angry that he decided to ran off?
" Tell me, I'll come over and help you out then. "
That sounded so strange, my mind itself was starting to get too crooked. And if I was imagining such things then I wondered what could be going on in Austin's mind. I was sure he wouldn't turn down such an offer, but he did.
" I'd love to, but when I'm near you I forget my troubles and they always end up coming back afterwards. I don't wanna forget them Stevens,I want to terminate them completely. "
That was all the guarantee I needed to know that he wasn't going to be telling me where he was. I asked him when he was planning on coming back and he said he had no clue. I didn't like the sound of that.
" This isn't cool, do you have any idea how worried I was?"
" I'm flattered. "
" I'm not joking. "
" Neither am I...and I wanna see you too. "
" So come back, " he once again grew silent. Then he asked me whether I had gotten off work yet. I wanted to remain in that topic but he clearly didn't, so I let it be and told him I had just gotten to the apartment and was about to head in.
" No wonder it's so loud. "
" You'll get into trouble with the school, you know that right? You can't just miss all those classes and get away with it. "
" I surely hope not, otherwise the educational system is broken. "
" I'm being serious--"
" Enough about me and my absence. I just read your texts. Someone was concerned, " he chuckled. I instantly regretted having sent him so many of those. I asked him why his phone was off and he said he had been dealing with something. It wasn't the first time I had heard that and I was starting to grow more curious. But I decided that conversation would be better off held in person, so despite my lingering anger, I still managed to focus on the present and pretend he hadn't done the crazy shit he had actually done. I unlocked the door to my apartment and headed straight for the couch, the lights had been off so my mom was most likely not around. I didn't even know whether she still worked at the diner.
" You threatened to kill me if I didn't reply to your texts. "
" I was tired, you should delete them. "
" You wish! I might even set them up as my screensaver. "
" That's some psychotic serial killer behavior. "
He laughed this sweet short laugh that ended way too soon. Making me recall the times when an hour wouldn't pass without him laughing at something that I didn't necessarily find funny. A quality of his I had always treasured.
" Well, I'd definitely kill for you. "
" What is that? A pick up line?"
" It could be. "
" Then it's the lamest one I've ever heard, when did you become so cheesy?"
" Do you want me to give it another go?"
" No! Spare me.. please. "
He went oddly silent for a while, and I git the impression he was thinking something over. Then he called out my name again in a time that suggested he had something serious to say.
" Yeah? "
" Do you by any chance play soccer? Cause you're definitely a keeper. "
" Holy mother of God!" I sarcastically exclaimed before shaking my head. His laughter from the other side made me smile and I was glad he wasn't there to see it.
" You looked that up, didn't you?"
" Of course not, the Wi-Fi here sucks. But our connection on the other hand...."
" Someone save me. "
" On a serious note though, I miss that sparkle in your eyes.. the sun must be crazy jealous. "
" It's eleven o'clock at night Austin. "
" You just had to ruin it, didn't you?"
" It was destroyed way before you said it out loud. "
" One more?"
" I've unleashed a monster. "
He didn't even have to try, simply listening to him calmed my nerves. He wasn't even close yet he managed to ease me, make me feel as if everything was okay and I had no reason to worry. And that was why he was irreplaceable. Why no one I would ever meet would even come close to comparing to him.
" You're mine, you know that right?"
" Just quit it already. "
" That wasn't a pick-up line...I'm just reminding you of the facts incase you forgot. "
My heart started racing. I liked those words way more than I ought to have. But what I really found attractive was the fact that he was so open and confident about saying them out loud.
" Kyle, "
" I know. "
I could almost feel his satisfied smile from where I was. We were getting too comfortable with each other. things were getting way too real.
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