𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲

Chapter 35

— Chapter 35 —
Unexpected Visitors

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E L L I O T

I couldn't help but read over the text conversation on my phone again, a nervous feeling in my chest.

Riven McCallister
Today at 10:16 am

Riven:
Okay, something definitely got lost in translation.

Riven:
Do you maybe feel like filling me in on why you decided to give James a shiner, or...?

I hadn't stopped to think about how confused Riven would have been at the events of last night. He must've thought the three of us were just going to chat and catch up on the last few years... not get into an argument in the middle of a parking lot. But how on earth was I meant to explain this to him?

Elliot:
James and I ended on bad terms.

Elliot:
I'm sorry for not telling you about it earlier. But I don't think it's a good idea for me to be around him right now... that's all.

Riven:
Explain. Now.

So I spent the morning filling Riven in on what happened. Between James and I five years ago, and what happened last night. It was difficult to find the right words. Riven seemed to understand, for the most part, and even offered me advice at some point. It was nice to be able to talk to him about it. Until Noah, I'd never felt confident to open up about it to someone else. And Riven felt like the right person to tell.

Riven:
I was a total ass for bringing him over last night... I'm so sorry.

Elliot:
Don't worry about it. You couldn't have known.

Riven:
Well, thanks for telling me at least. I hope you guys find a way to work it out.

Elliot:
I'm not so sure on that one, to be honest.

I didn't know if James and I were even capable of righting the wrongs we'd done to each other. He wasn't the same person that I fell in love with all those years ago... because he betrayed me.

He abandoned me.

And I didn't know if I was strong enough to forgive him for that just yet.

Leaving my phone somewhere off to the side, I rubbed my tired eyes and pushed my hair out of my face.

It was late in the afternoon, and Noah had been out of the apartment all day. I hadn't gotten the chance to see him before he left, but the Kawasaki was still sitting outside. I figured he must have gone to work.

Sitting comfortably on the seat of the bay window in my room, I tapped anxiously against the lid of my black laptop and watched the trees swaying happily in the distance. Sunlight flittered in warmly through the translucent curtains. Fuckass had managed to find its way into my room, strangely curled up around my ankles at the other end of the bay.

I had my earphones in, randomly shuffling lo-fi music over the chirping of small birds outside.

As the laptop finally started up, I found myself tending up nervously.

I hadn't looked up the statuses of my college applications in a while. I figured it was about time to check—I figured that surely someone would have gotten back to me by now.