"I need space." Those were the words Jacky said to Ryan the night before they both left for separate colleges. Now, each of them will try to learn who they are without the other. Will their paths lead them back together?
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Jacky
"You going home for the long weekend?" Braedyn asked on Friday, as he and Jacky were eating breakfast: Braedyn had a mess of scrambled eggs with ketchup and home fries, while Jacky had toasted a bagel and slathered it with cream cheese. A bagel and coffee, breakfast of hangover champions. He'd had way too many last night after how his date with Fox had ended.
"Yeah. My mom's picking me up after my last class. What about you?"
Braedyn bobbed his head. "Same. I can't wait, my mom said she's making all my favorites. Steak tips, chicken pot pie, and a surprise. I kinda hope it isn't tacos, but it's probably tacos."
The dining hall had a taco bar, which was amazing, but they'd both had their fill of Taco Tuesday, and Taco Thursday, and Taco Everyday. Jacky's body composition was probably 50% tacos and 50% pizza.
"My mom's probably going to make spinach lasagna," Jacky said. "She's vegetarian."
Braedyn nodded. "Not gonna lie, that sounds kind of amazing. I have not been eating enough vegetables." He pushed the food around on his plate, then asked, "Are you going to hang out with your old friends?"
"Probably." That reminded Jacky to check his phone. Cody hadn't responded to the text he'd sent last night, and it was pissing him off. The lack of notifications meant that Fox hadn't sent anything either, and that was a little relief.
They had gone to an open mic night, which Jacky had only seen in movies. It was nothing like in the movies. Lots of people playing guitars and singing depressing songs. A few people reciting rap-like poetry, and one very angry woman with buzzed hair and heavy eyeliner who shouted a manifesto entitled "Put Down Your Fucking Phone And Listen!"
Fox had been fiddling with a folded piece of paper, something he clearly wanted to read. "You gonna get up there?" Jacky had asked, and Fox had shoved the paper in his pocket and said, "Alas, my courage fails me."
The change in personality made Jacky sit back a little. Fox had always seemed so confident. So Jacky had held out his hand. "Let me read it."
"Oh no," Fox said, shaking his head. "No, no. I'm not ready for that."
"Then why the fuck are we here?" Jacky asked, probably too harshly, but at this point they hadn't really continued their conversation due to the people onstage demanding their attention, and Jacky was feeling impatient.
Fox hadn't looked at him. He'd stared down into the dregs of his latte, then said, "I have to go."
And Fox had stood up and left without another word.
Jacky sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes trying to process what had just happened. He didn't know Fox well enough to know if there was something happening in his personal life that he hadn't told Jacky about, or if he was a modern male version of Emily Dickinson.
