Chapter 6
six
Easton
“You’ve reached the voicemail of Maddox Barnes. Please leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
The tone beeps, but I end the call. I stopped leaving voicemails days ago.
I stare at the phone, my teeth digging into the inside of my cheek.
Two weeks. It’s been two weeks, and he hasn’t answered a single call.
He barely answers my text messages. If he does, they’re one- or two-word responses.
Every request I make to chat gets ignored or passed over with a sorry, the day got away from me.
The fall semester hasn’t even started yet. What has him so busy?
And that’s the thing. He's not.
He’s actively avoiding me.
I don’t understand what I did to upset him.
I drag a hand down my face and close my eyes.
Think, East. Think. What were the last few days like before I left?
Did I do something to piss him off? I had thought things seemed off the morning he dropped me off at the airport.
Clearly, I was fucking right. But why are they off?
Maddy and I have fought before—how could we not?
We’ve been friends since we were little and have gotten into it over the stupidest shit.
This feels different, though, and Maddy has never given me the cold shoulder like this before.
“Yo, Winters! We gotta go, or we’re gonna be late.” Rosario’s voice booms from the living room.
I click the side-button on my phone and pocket it.
Thank God for baseball. I’ve thrown everything I have into it.
I bury every anxious thought, every fear over what this distance could mean, behind my swings, behind my throws.
I’ve been crushing the ball like a slugger.
I work myself to the bone so that it’s lights-out the moment my head hits the pillow. No time to wallow.
My best friend doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.
But at least my coaches are impressed.
Silver linings and all that.
Silver linings fucking suck.