Burnt Out | J. Kirstein

|13|

It's been two weeks. Christmas has passed and today is New Years Eve. You've been enjoying the empty campus and the quiet coffee shop where you can sit and work in peace.

You've been trudging around mindlessly, trying not to think about the holidays without your mom. Being alone is comforting, but not when you know most students on campus are back home enjoying their time with their families.

You aren't able to do that and you have to accept it...

As you're walking into your room, your phone buzzes. You pull it from the pocket of your jeans and shut the door with your foot, reading the text as you maneuver over to your bed.

Hey, it's Jean. I have a favor.

You freeze up, not sure what he could want from you. But you text back, finding that it's the nice thing to do and it'll feed your curiosity.

Can you come get me from the airport?

You don't have his number saved, but he has yours. You wonder where he got it from. Maybe Reiner. Maybe Armin. Or there's the possibility that you gave it to him and you just don't remember. Who knows...Either way, he's texting you now and that annoying jump in your heartbeat is back.

You look at the clock and it reads 5:45 pm. You don't have any other plans for the day, so you don't have a legitimate excuse to say no. You could easily come up with one, but you won't...

Right now?

Jean: Yes please. My ride bailed.

Give me thirty minutes.

Why is he back so early? Shouldn't he be home with his family? Is there no one else that can get him from the airport?

With all these thoughts running through your mind, it's causing a slight headache, but you change out of your casual clothes that have been clinging uncomfortably to your body all day and go for something less claustrophobic. The drive isn't exactly far, but wearing jeans while driving longer than ten minutes is some unnecessary discomfort that you don't need.

~

Your hands grip the steering wheel tightly as you wait outside the airport where Jean had told you he'd be. You stare at your knuckles that are a shade lighter due to the strong hold you have on the wheel.

The music coming from your stereo is loud enough to muddle the sound of your heart beating in your ears, but not quite loud enough to silence it completely. If you let go of the wheel now, you know your hands will be shaking, so you take a couple deep breaths and try to relax.

The two weeks without any distractions and trying to get rid of your feelings for Jean has just led you to imagining the moment you see him again. Obsessively. Picturing the view of him standing in front of you with his cute smile and broad shoulders. All you've been wanting is to see him again...

And now he is.

His tall figure walks out of the automatic doors and into the light of the setting sun, casting an orange hue onto his soft skin and light hair.

He looks around and you honk your horn once to show him where you're parked. His eyes snap towards you and pierce your heart through the glass on the windshield.

You take a deep breath while he walks over and opens the back door to set his bag down on the seat and then you watch as he moves into the passenger side of the car.

"Thank you," he pulls the buckle over his body.

You nod. "No problem. Why'd you cut your break short? You still have another week."