Falling in the Dark | ✓

12 | Ignored

My phone belts out its generic ringtone, the trilling sound muffled by the din of the university cafeteria. I pull it out of my pocket and squint at the screen.

Liam Archer.

He called me for the first time on Tuesday, the day after Felix and I went on the night drive. And he's been calling me ever since, but never more than once a day. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I had answered his call reluctantly and told him I couldn't talk and that I would call back. But yesterday, I had just left his call to be ignored. I felt awful as I typed out a text with an inadequate apology promising to talk soon.

I didn't call him back.

And now his name is flashing on my screen, angry and urgent.

I nearly jump out of my seat when Vera says, "Aren't you going to get that?"

She and Astrid are looking at me from across the table curiously. Astrid is holding a piece of celery halfway to her mouth, her cobalt eyes studying my face. Vera's braid hangs over her shoulder like a piece of bright red-orange rope as she tilts her head to peer at me.

"Uh, maybe later," I say vaguely, pressing the ignore button and setting my phone on silent mode before tucking it deep into my pocket.

There's a brief moment of silence before Astrid starts talking again in her usual, excited way about a 'scandalous' fight that had broken out between two drunk girls in her class over a borrowed dress. Vera listens with interest, but her wide eyes are so bloodshot and tired that I'm starting to forget what they normally look like. These days, she's seeing her other friends even during weeknights, staying up late enough to be too tired and sick for class the next day.

Suddenly, Vera bursts into laughter at something Astrid said. I fix my face to resemble a smile and pretend as though I was paying attention. I watch Astrid guiltily as she gestures animatedly with her hands, looking pleased that she's made us laugh.

Our small table in the cafeteria is bathed in a smattering of late afternoon sun that shines in our faces lazily. The light makes the goopy mac and cheese on my plate look shiny, like gold. As I swirl my fork around the pasta, all I want to do is shut myself in that cramped little closet in my room, listen to my favorite guilty pleasure songs and try to forget the world for a while.

❅

I throw the door to our room open with an anticipatory flourish. In my mind, I've already decided that I will change into my favorite green pajamas, put on my headphones and hunker down on the floor of the closet. But when I walk into the room with Vera trailing behind me, I find Liam sitting on Vera's bed with his legs swinging off the side.

"Oh my god," I gasp, clutching my chest as my throat constricts in shock. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Liam says, looking up from his phone. He stands and straightens his plain white t-shirt.

Vera steps around me to greet her boyfriend, standing on tiptoe to give him a small peck on the lips. It's the kind of kiss that usually made me feel happy for Vera even though I would outwardly make a show of gagging, much to her, and Liam's, amusement. But today, I feel my stomach churning in discomfort. Maybe that mac and cheese wasn't a good idea.

"Hey," she says to him as she sits cross-legged on her bed and leans back against the wall. "What are you doing here?"

"I borrowed this from a friend," he says, reaching into his simple gray backpack and pulling out a DVD.

"Ooh," Vera smiles in delight and takes the rectangular box from Liam's outstretched hand. She studies the cover of a cheesy horror movie from the early 1990s. "Let's watch it now!"