"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
On the drive home, Jacky's mother was full of questions, both about school and about Ryan. Jacky had finally broken down and told her last week, mostly because she kept asking about what Ryan's favorite meals and he needed to prepare her for the fact that Ryan wasn't going to be staying with them. "But what's Ryan doing this weekend?" she asked.
"I haven't talked to him since before college," Jacky said, even though that was kind of a lie – there had been the drunken Snapchat exchange. "He got an apartment in Boston."
"I didn't know he was doing that."
"Neither did I," Jacky said bitterly. Then he told himself, I broke up with him, like that made it all better.
"So you don't think he's coming back home at all?" Mrs. Jennings asked.
"Mom, he lived in a group home. He's definitely not going there."
As they drove through Jacky's hometown, which seemed much smaller than he remembered, he scanned the faces of people walking along the sidewalks, and even craned his head to look at Ryan's old house, which had been sold shortly after his mother had died. When they got home, Jacky found himself feeling disappointed.
He unloaded his laundry and began to sort it, before his mother came in and said, "I'll take care of this. Why don't you call Cody? His number's on the fridge."
Jacky, who had been thrilled to have his mom take over his laundry, stopped at the door. "I have Cody's number."
"I think he lost his phone or something. He called last weekend looking for you."
Cody losing track of Columbus Day weekend was on brand for him, and the knot of tension in Jacky's stomach uncoiled. He didn't understand why Cody hadn't asked for Jacky's number but who knew what was going through Cody's head. Jacky was just glad that Cody wasn't mad at him.
He punched in the number on the Post-It from the fridge and headed up to his room as it rang. On the second ring, a female voice answered, "Zizza Za, can I take your order?"
Jacky stopped. Stopped walking up the stairs, stood there with his mouth open, unable to comprehend what was going on. Zizza Za was a pizza place near the mall.
"Hello?" the voice said.
"Uh, sorry, wrong number," Jacky said, and hung up.
He headed back downstairs and peered at the Post-It note, then at the number he'd dialed. It was the same number. Could be that his mother had written it down wrong, but Jacky had a bad feeling. He dialed the number again.
This time, the female voice sounded less than perky. "Zizza Za, can I take your order?"
"Hi, uh. I'm looking for Cody? Cody Mitchell?"
The girl on the end heaved a sigh. "He's not scheduled to be here until four. Which means you shouldn't bother calling back until five."
Just to be a dick, Jacky said, "Okay, and do you do Hawaiian pizza?" He walked into his bedroom and gazed around at the preserved space where he used to be a high school student. His bed reminded him of his last night here, lying in Ryan's arms. He turned around and looked at his desk, the surface clear of everything and calendar tacked above it still showing August.
