Under the Stars

23. You dummy

Chapter 23: You dummy

Mia's POV

*****

I tossed and turned in my bed, unable to sleep a wink. The only thing I could think about was the fact that something might have happened to Theo. Only thinking about it made me feel as if I got a lump in my throat, making me want to scream. 

What I was feeling in that moment was indescribable. I felt numb and lost, and I longed for it to be morning so I could get answers. Thank my lucky stars, the next day was a public holiday, and Layla and I had made plans to talk in the morning. Layla's Friday was like my Saturday, and in that moment, I could not be happier about it. 

Not knowing what was going on scared me, and I started thinking about what I would do if Layla didn't call me in the time we had agreed. I couldn't imagine what would happen to me if something had happened to Theo. Every time I allowed myself to think about what could have happened to him, I instantly felt as if I was going to cry. 

I sighed, and knowing that the morning would come sooner if I slept, I tried to think about other, less scary possibilities. I thought of how maybe he had forgotten some money and needed his parents to lend him some. I thought of how maybe he peed his pants, and needed his parents to go bring him a new pair. With a small chuckle, I finally allowed myself to relax, eventually falling asleep with the thought of Theo in my head. Something which I had seemed to be doing a lot during that time. 

As I woke up the next morning, I had seemed to momentarily forget about the thing which had occupied my mind so thoroughly. That small sense of peace didn't last long, however, because a couple of seconds later, all of the memories came rushing back. My heart started aching as soon as they did, and once again I found myself anxiously waiting for the time Layla and I had to talk. 

My anxiety certainly did not make anything better. Day and night, I worried about something, be it my parents, Julia, Sophie, or myself. The moment Layla entered my life, all of that overwhelming anxiety had seemed to ebb away. Without even trying, she had managed to do the thing which so many other people had tried to do. She managed to make me forget about all of my troubles in the world, and allowed me to focus on myself. 

I was finally able to see that I had been worrying about things when there was absolutely nothing to worry about. I overthought things, my brain instantly rushing to the worst possible scenarios without even regarding any other possibilities. My parents found it silly that I worried so much, and that surprised me, especially coming from my mother. 

I often felt as if they tried to disregard the fact that I might have needed help. Many people did. Then Layla walked into my life, and without even needing me to tell her, she instantly knew what I was going through. She never told me to stop worrying, she was never annoyed at me because of my sudden bursts of negativity at times. Instead, she helped me see the positive, and I knew that with her in my life, the world would always seem so much more brighter. 

Yet how could I not be worried when she straight up told me that something had happened to him? I had no context whatsoever, and I was pretty sure she didn't either. The more I thought about it, the more I felt as if I was going to throw up, and that was how I knew that my anxiety was getting bad.

I knew that I had to talk to one of them, and quickly. I wanted to message Theo so desperately, but I knew that I would be even more worried if he didn't answer. Even if nothing bad happened to him, he still had early basketball practice every Friday and Saturday, which meant that he wouldn't be able to reply to me anyways. My only hope of knowing what was going on was talking to Layla, but I still had about an hour before she would be available to talk.