Before I could type more, he hit me with an immediate text.
WTF?!
We’re getting ready 2 land. Can I call u this evening?
He didn’t respond right away, but eventually he did.
Just...just tell me ur coming home soon.
I stared at his text.Coming home.
Yeah, no doubt about it, Talon was home now.
∞∞∞
Talon~
I felt like I was losing my goddamn mind.
When I had received Kenzlee’s text telling me there had been a family emergency, I had been waiting for her by her locker to walk to fourth period together for a few minutes already. Panic had already begun to set in wondering where the fuck she was, so when I got her text, it helped, but didn’t.
I spent all fourth period very aware that she wasn’t sitting next to me and worrying about her family emergency. Then my thoughts turned darker when I started to worry if she was going to be expected to go back to her parents’ house because of this emergency. By the time lunchtime rolled around, my mind had gone completely dark, and I had Alexandria trapped against her locker demanding explanations that she couldn’t give.
All I could get out of her was that there was an emergency with Kenzlee’s dad and Kenzlee’s mom had called for her. Alexandria swore she didn’t know the details, and I was forced to believe her because she didn’t seem overly upset. I figured if there was a death in the family, or something like that, Alexandria would have been pulled out of school too, wouldn’t she have?
And, then, because Kenzlee was right, and I was an insecure asshole, I spent lunchtime thinking back to those fucking assholes at the fights from Madison Prep. Would being back home and around all that money and class make Kenzlee homesick? Would it remind her that she can do better than Lakeside? I had been so consumed with my dark uncertainties, by the time seventh period rolled around and Kenzlee’s absence was back in technicolor, I had scheduled my name for another fight the upcoming Friday. While the money was always a good enough motivator, this one was because I was full of frustrations I didn’t know how to handle any other way.
It was eight o’clock at night before I finally got a phone call from Kenzlee. “What the fuck, Kenzlee?” I snapped at soon as I answered the phone.
“Talon…” she whispered, sounding exhausted.
“What?” I snapped acting every bit the dick. “How the fuck are you going to take off and not tell me why or where you’re going?”
Her voice sharpened when she said, “I told you where I-”
“You told me shit,” I accused, interrupting her. “I got a fucking text about a family emergency, and that’s it. What the fuck was I supposed to do with that?”
“You were supposed to realize there was a family emergency, and that everything is not about you,” she flung at me. “I told you I’d call you later. It’s not like-”
“Like the weekend you left me hanging?” I knew I was sounding like a spoiled brat, but I couldn’t help it. I was agitated and pissed.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” she yelled. “I swear to God, I do not have time for your bullshit, right now, Talon. If you don’t think I’ll hang up and go silent on you, you’re wrong.”
“Oh, I have no doubt you would,” I agreed. “I’ve already have a healthy dose of your avoidance and silent treatment, White.”
“Fuck you, Talon,” she snapped. “Just fuck you.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, the click of the phone going silent is what snapped me out of my assholishness.
Kenzlee was dealing with a family emergency, and she was right. I was making this all about me because I didn’t know how to have a fucking girlfriend. I was like a needy child whose mother was dropping him off at daycare for the first time and couldn’t handle being left to his own devices.
I dialed her number, and as predicted-and deserved-she didn’t answer. I called again. And again. And again. And again, until the calls went directly to voicemail.
I had to laugh, though it wasn’t a happy laugh. For all her refined sensibilities, Kenzlee had balls.
I fired off a text hoping the immediate ‘sorry’ that would flash across her screen would be enough for her to answer the phone.
I’m sorry, baby. I’m an asshole.
