Love Her

Page 5

I stood for a moment with the phone still in my hand.

It only took about two minutes of staring at the silent kitchen phone to decide that I wasn't staying home today. I considered my options.

Maybe I should call Sarah?

I sighed and put the phone down. Getting up, I crossed the living room to the front door, pulled on my shoes, and took a deep breath.

I opened the door to see Melissa standing there, her hand raised as if she were about to knock. I wanted to call out a greeting, but my throat was too dry. I couldn't quite seem to catch my breath.

"Hey."

"Hi," I answered, and then stepped aside so she could come into the house.

She did so, and we both made our way to the couch.

"I thought you were going to call?" I questioned.

"I thought you might need a friend." A strange feeling passed through me when she said the word 'friend'.

"I heard about the breakup."

I slowly nodded.

"Do you want to talk about your split with Daniel? It seemed pretty-"

"Could we please not talk about that? I can't stand it."

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I said anything."

"Don't feel bad. If things were different, it would be nice to finally be able to talk to someone about it."

The sun was starting to set and the sky was turning a coppery color as the thin layer of clouds cast shadows down on the ground at odd angles turning the white leftover snow into crimson, scarlet, and amber. To the east, the endless sky was showing some stars while turning a plum purplish due to the setting sun. I looked up, wishing the sun wouldn't fade to night. We were sitting on my bed, going through her matches on Findr. She had gone downstairs to get us some drinks.

"It's nothing," I repeated to myself over and over again. "Everything can go back to normal."

I could feel something, panic maybe, building up in my chest. I sat in my chair, pulled my knees up, and wrapped my arms around them. Something was very wrong, maybe more wrong than I'd realized. I tried to get control of myself, to reason with myself.

What's the worst that can happen? I flinched. That was definitely the wrong question to ask. I was having a hard time breathing right.