Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 15

Joe rolled over in bed. He could hear his cell phone ringing; but he couldn't bring himself to answer it. He knew that the call wasn't from Zoey, and he couldn't handle the disappointment that was going to wash over him when he saw that he had no notifications from her.

He wiped his eyes, which had finally seemed to slow down on the tears. What was Zoey doing right now? Was she upset? Was she hurt? He hoped whatever she was doing, it was something to make her feel better. He just wished he was the person who made her feel good.

His phone rang again. Joe groaned, hating the small sliver of hope that found its way into his chest every time his phone buzzed. He sighed, reaching out without looking. He flipped his hand around his bed until he managed to find his cell phone.

Brian Holden                                             Now
Missed call
_______________________________
Lauren (lil shit)                                        10m
call me so I know that you're okay.
_______________________________
Darren🤘🏻🎸                                                24m
also pls send me law homework thx bbe😊
_______________________________
Darren🤘🏻🎸                                                31m
whaddup. finished your big solo for HP musical. hit me back. _______________________________
Lauren (lil shit)                                         35m
Missed calls (3)
_______________________________
Brian Rosenthal🎵                           6:52 pm
Hey, just letting you know I'm home safe since you wanted to know. hope everything's good with you.
_______________________________
Lauren (lil shit)                                  6:45 pm
Missed calls (2)
_______________________________

Joe felt his heart drop into his stomach. Nothing from Zoey. He should've known.
He threw his phone to the edge of the bed, having not taken in a word of anything on the phone screen since he'd merely skimmed over looking for Zoey's name. Should he text her?
No. She told him that she didn't want to hear from him. He should respect that.

But at the same time, shouldn't he let her know that he cared? Maybe she'd respond if he did.
Crawling over to where he'd thrown his phone, he wiped his eyes yet again as he unlocked it. He could barely type because of how badly his hands were shaking, but he managed to write out "thinking about you. Love you. Please talk to me."

He typed and deleted that same string of sentences about fifteen times before finally bringing himself to press send.

He took a deep breath, reassuring himself. This was his girlfriend. She'd be open to talking to him soon. She just needed validation that he loved her.

Despite his reassurance, he closed his phone and put it face down nearly as soon as he'd pressed send. He was too terrified to see if she'd read his text. Should he check her location? He shook his head no. They only shared that with each other in case something were to happen to the other. It wasn't for him to check to see what she was doing. He trusted her.

His phone rang. He practically sprung up to his feet as he grabbed, confident that it was her. It had to be her. She wouldn't just ignore him.
He checked the screen. It was Lauren again. He resisted the urge to throw his phone out the window as he declined her call. Instead he tossed it to the ground, which probably wasn't best for it but he couldn't bring himself to care.

He sank down onto the floor, his arms shaking as he tried to fight off the tears that he could feel welling up in his eyes. He knew that he needed to calm down. She probably hadn't even seen his text yet. He'd just sent it. He grabbed his phone off of the floor, going to his text thread with Zoey.