Terrestrial Alien ✔

Chapter 33: Still Waiting

That same day, before sunset...

-

Ying

"Maggie...?" I mumble over the buzz of the tv.

There's slashing sounds and rustling and grunting as the two characters on-screen tustle, though I'm not really paying attention to them. It's probably Buffy versus another frightening monster. (She's pretty badass, so she's probably going to pull through as always.) The show is what Maggie invited me over to watch with her. I'm seated on some pillows on the carpet, my back against the couch, as Maggie lays sprawled over top it.

It's not that I'm not interested in the show, I am, it's just...

My gaze is trained down on my phone in my hands.

"Hmm? What's up, baby girl?" Maggie asks belatedly, and I feel her hand drifting distractedly through my hair, her eyes glued to the screen. The touch and the nickname have my face feeling warm, and... why is my heart beating like this? Helplessly, I find my voice closing up on me in a familiar way.

Darn it, Ying, I think. You've been able to talk to her before. Why is now when I'm suddenly losing my voice?

Maggie seems to notice my silence, and I hear the couch cushions shifting behind me as she sits up, reaching for the tv remote. A moment later, there's a click, and then the sounds of the kerfuffle on-screen are silenced as she pauses the show.

"Is something wrong?" Maggie asks, her voice softer this time as she gives me her undivided attention. For some reason, my face only feels warmer, and I tilt my head down, away from her. "If it's the show, I'm sorry, it is a bit violent. Maybe we could..?"

"N-no..." I manage to stutter. "It's not the show... It's just..." I purse my lips, my eyebrows drawing low as I look down at the phone in my hands again. The screen that stares back is blank, and I know if I checked again, I'd have no new messages.

The couch creaks as Maggie leans over my shoulder, and I tense somewhat. I know the moment she sees what's in my hands as she exhales a long "Oh" of understanding.

"It's him again, isn't it. He hasn't responded?" She asks sympathetically, and I can hear her frown in her voice.

I shake my head "no". He hasn't yet. It's kind of frustrating, but also nerve-wracking at the same time. Has he even seen my text? Is he ignoring me? He brushed us off at the rainout, and that'd kinda stung. But he'd seemed so focused on something else...

We'd watched as he'd led a black-haired guy from the crowd out into the foyer. The guy had looked like a college student, and I'd never seen him before. Which is weird, because I feel like I know most of the athletes in our district, even if I don't talk to them. I go to a lot of games after all, for the student newspaper.

I remember Maggie commenting with disgust as we'd watched him walk away: "If he can't spare you the time you need, girl, then he's not worth that time."

I turn to look back at her now, and it's in time to see her flop back against the couch cushions with a throaty sigh.

"Joshua..." She groans with frustration. "I swear, I don't know what's up with that boy lately... I'm sorry, Ying. You don't deserve this kind of treatment." She turns her head to look at me as she says this, and I find myself getting slightly lost in those eyes of her's. She's not wearing her fake glasses at the moment, and she looks so cute.

"N-no, it's okay." I try to assure her, embarrassed by her words. She's so nice...

In my lap, I'm gripping my phone tighter. I want him to message me because I want to try and sort everything out. I want to let him know why I didn't come to our date—I'd been at home, trying to distract myself with anime while also trying not to cry—and I want to tell him about the text message I'd gotten from Maggie.