“Hey babe… I just woke up. What’s up?” Troye’s groggy morning-voice greeted Tyler on the other end of the phone.
“Listen,” Tyler began, then paused; thinking of what he would say next. “Troye, have you turned on the TV yet today?”
“No, what’s going on? Something exciting?”
“Um…” Tyler was at a loss for words.
“I’ll turn it on now. Gimme like two seconds.”
Troye grabbed his remote and turned on the television. “What channel?”
“The news channel.”
“The news channel? Are you on the news? Again? Why don’t you sound happier?!” Troye finally switched the channel.
A tragedy has come upon California in the Los Angeles area, all citizens are asked to stay indoors and find a place of sturdy shelter, if you are outside or in a car, please exit and carefully move to an evacuation area.
Troye’s eyes darted back and forth on the screen, reading the scrolling message that kept saying, “Breaking News! An 8.6 earthquake strikes California!”
“Baby, what’s going on?” Troye swallowed and tried to compose himself. “Are you safe? Are you okay? Please tell me everything is okay. Please.”
“Troye, I’m on the freeway.”
Troye’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Get off! Get off the freeway! Run! What the hell are you doing talking to me when you could be getting to shelter?!”
“I’m running, Troye. Listen.” Tyler pulled the phone away from his face and held it out. You could hear the wind blowing past him as he ran, and panicking, screaming people in the background.
“Oh. God. Get off the phone with me.”
“Why the fuck would I do that?” Tyler was breathing heavily as he ran.
“So that you have a better chance of NOT DYING Tyler!”
“Troye. I am not going to die, calm down. I’m getting off this bridge, and I’m making my way to somewhere safe.”
“I can’t handle this. You can’t leave me. You need to be okay.”
“TROYE, I’M GOING TO BE FINE. Please stop overreacting!”
“Overreacting? Overreacting?! You just aren’t reacting enough! Why don’t you care?!”
“Troye, I am panicking so much on the inside. I am trying to have a conversation with you without sounding mad.”
“Are you off the bridge?”
“Almost.”
“Is the bridge shaking?”
“No shit the bridge is shaking. Can’t you hear everything that’s going on around me?”
“Barely.”
“Okay well there is a building that should be safe right near here.”
“How close is it?”
“About five minutes.”
“Five minutes? Do you know how much could happen in five minutes?”
“Of course I know what could happen. But I also can’t change how far away it is. So I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be sorry… Just... try and get there as quickly as you can.”
