Say Hello For Me

t h i r t y - f o u r || the sweatshirt

It's almost ten o'clock when Nessa's phone starts to vibrate against her desk, pulling her undivided attention away from the nearly blank canvas hanging in front of her. She carefully grabs the phone with her fingertips, trying her best to not smear paint from her hands onto the screen.

"Hello?" she answers hesitantly, transferring the cellphone from her hand to in between her ear and shoulder. "Who is this?"

"Hi, Nessa," a deep but familiar voice responds.

"Liam?"

"How could you tell?" He chuckles.

"It's not the first time I've heard your voice over the phone, remember?" The words bring back more memories for the both of them than Nessa could have ever anticipated. Neither of them know how long it's been since they were forced to listen to each other's voices over a phone line. "So, how'd you even get my phone number?"

"It was in Vy's phone."

"Wait, you looked in her phone?" Nessa asks, stuttering slightly at the information. "Look, Liam. When I suggested that you should look in Delilah's phone before you did anything irrational, I wasn't saying that you should snoop through every girl's phone after that."

The line remains silent for a couple seconds before Nessa adds, "Especially your own girlfriend's!"

"But I asked for permission this time!" Liam says defensively. "When I asked Vy for your number, she just said to take it from her phone directly."

"Why'd you need my number?"

Liam waits a little bit before he asks, "Did I happen to leave my hoodie at your place last night?"

"I don't know," she responds. "Let me go check the living room really quick."

Nessa drops all of her paintbrushes onto the table, the brushes' collision with the table creating a rumbling sound. Liam almost asks what she's doing, but he refrains himself. Instead of lifting her feet when she walks, she drags the soles of her shoes against the floor on her way out of her room. When she comes to the couch they were working at last night, she sees Liam's maroon hoodie sitting in a pile on the couch cushion.

"You left it here last night," she follows up with. "Are you going to come by tomorrow to pick it up?"

"I don't have time to swing by tomorrow."

"Sometime next week then?"

"I'm busy," is his excuse.

"I'm busy? What kind of answer is that, Liam?" Nessa asks. "Don't you want your hoodie back?"

Before Liam abruptly hangs up the phone, he says, "I've really missed talking to you on the phone, Ness. You can keep the hoodie. I'm sure it would look better on you anyways."

***

The next morning, Liam's too busy staring at his phone screen to realize that Vy's digging through his closet on the other side of the room. He's too caught in his own world to hear the drawers sliding open and slamming shut. As he subconsciously runs his thumb over Nessa's number in his recent calls log, he wonders if he should even call her again.

"Where is it?" Vy mumbles just loud enough to catch Liam's attention.

"Where is what?" he asks, propping himself up in his bed using his elbows and forearms. He watches her scan his clothes hanging from the rack.

"That maroon sweatshirt. You know, the one I love on you?" Vy says. "I can't find it anywhere."

"Oh," is all Liam can muster in that moment. He knows exactly what she is talking about now. She won't be able to find it.

"Oh?" Vy repeats after him, turning around to face her boyfriend. "Do you know where it is or something?"

"I think," he starts, "I think I lost it."