Hollow Twilight - A LitRPG Novel

Chapter 19

The phone case was starting to wear down on the sides. Reid could feel it in his fingers as he flipped his device over, then over again. He slid his thumb along the sides, noting where the rubber became rough again compared to where his constant usage had worn it down into something ultrasmooth. He tugged at the corner, popping his phone out partially before jamming it back in. Over and over.

He had realized, in his thirty seconds of standing outside one of the school's entrances, that Reily hadn't really texted him since they had gone to the school on the weekend. He hadn't seen or spoken to her at all before that lunch meeting, only for her to request a personal chat.

There was no good coming his way. He had determined this was some sort of reckoning, made even worse by the fact that Kari and Reily already knew each other. That meant when he had encountered Kari in the school, Reily would've also recognized her voice and yet...she left. Immediately. He could still see her eyes in his memory, the sadness he perceived behind the sky blue.

"Oh good you're here." Reily burst through the doors and Reid nearly dropped his phone in surprise, barely managing to hold on and stuff it into his pocket in one awkward motion.

"Yes," Reid replied, trying his best to recover and look suave. There was nothing for him to lean on as he was a few steps away from the wall to avoid the doors when they swung out. So he just clumsily posed against nothing before giving up. "What's up?"

"It's about...last weekend." Reily ran her fingers through some strands of hair, her eyes briefly matching Reid's before darting away. This was all of his worst fears made manifest, as predicted. Time to explain his way out of seemingly meeting up with another woman.

"Listen that wa-"

"No," Reily cut him off, shaking her head gently. "That was totally my fault. My mom is really...hard on me. She doesn't like me being out and stuff so I told her it wouldn't be that long and then she was all like where are you, where are you? And she was texting me saying a bunch of stuff and it just...sorry, I had to go home so suddenly."

Reid blinked, very slowly. He imagined an elderly woman at a keyboard, finger hovering above each key, pressing down with minimal force, lifting to find the next key. Agonizing. That was how fast his brain was going in processing this information. Apparently he wasn't in trouble, instead he was getting an apology? And sure, lots of people had strict parents, his dad was barely paying attention but most people had some limits. This made sense. It was miraculous but it made sense.

It also meant Reid was very rapidly approaching some sort of remote possibility that this girl actually did like him, wanted to hang out with him, and was genuinely sad before because she had to bail on him. And that was a foreign concept he just wasn't ready to grapple with.

"Oh," he replied. His tongue felt like it had swollen to twice its usual size as it dragged itself around his mouth to help form sounds. "That's ok, I get it, parents can be jerks."

Reily visibly perked up, her eyes glimmering. "Exactly!" She paused and reached into her purse at her side, rummaging around for something. A breeze picked up between them, wrapping around Reid's legs. Each day was getting colder as they marched through fall into winter. He felt it on the tips of his ears; they didn't like the change.

"Was that it?"

"One sec." Reily held up a finger before diving into her bag with both hands. "Like I swear I put it here...I know I....found it!" She withdrew her phone. "Mom will already be checking to see if I'm heading home, can't keep her waiting."

"Right."

Reily didn't move, only smiling at Reid, who did his best to return the smile, though he wasn't sure what the next move was supposed to be.