Chapter eleven
Dylan
Three months later…
I hate birthdays now. Not all birthdays, just Devyn’s. She had been gone for three months now. Three months of texts. Three months of phone calls. Three months of trying to act like everything was normal when it wasn’t. Three months of missing somebody every single day.
Today would’ve been easier if it wasn’t her birthday. But of course, it was, which meant I had spent most of the morning thinking about last year… back when she was still here.
Back when we spent almost every afternoon in the stables. Back when I didn’t have to calculate time differences just to talk to her. I sat on the bleachers outside the gym staring at my phone. She still hadn’t said anything.
There was no text, no call and no response. I sighed again before returning my stare to the screen. Again, nothing. I had already sent her a birthday text earlier that morning.
I even sent a voice message, which was something I normally wouldn’t do. But today was important and that made the silence worse.
“You waiting on a lottery ticket or something?” Malik asked as I looked up at him.
I rolled my eyes and replied, “Nah.”
He sat beside me and asked, “Then why you keep staring at your phone like that?”
I looked down at the screen again. Honestly, I didn’t even realize I had been doing it.
“It’s Devyn’s birthday today,” I said.
Immediate understanding crossed his face. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“You texted her?” Malik asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, since this morning.”
“And?”
I held up my phone. “And she ain’t respond. She ain’t said shit yet.”
Malik frowned. “Nothing at all?”
“Nope.”
That was enough to irritate me. Not because I thought she had forgotten about me because I knew she wouldn’t. But still, a text back would’ve been nice.
Malik looked at me for several seconds then he busted out laughing.
“What?” I asked, wondering what the fuck he was laughing at.
“You stupid boy!” he said as he continued to laugh.
I frowned because I was still clueless. “What are you talking about?”
“Dylan.” He side eyed me with a smirk.
“What?” I asked.
“Ain’t y’all in different time zones?” he inquired.
The realization hit me immediately. I stared at him then blinked before cursing under my breath. “Damn.”
Malik laughed harder as I shook my head.
“I keep forgetting about that shit,” I admitted.
His shoulders bounced with laughter. “Clearly,” he said.
I couldn’t help but laugh too because honestly, he had a point. Half the time I forgot Devyn was six hours ahead of us, which meant she was probably either in class or doing something else important. Not sitting around waiting for my text.
“Just chill.” Malik stood up and slapped me on the back. “She gon text you back.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Stop acting crazy.”
I rolled my eyes. “Man, shut up.”
He laughed then tossed his backpack over his shoulder. “C’mon.”
I shoved my phone back into my pocket then stood up. The two of us started walking across campus towards the parking lot. The conversation between us shifted to basketball then teachers then some fight that happened earlier that week.
For a few minutes I actually stopped thinking about Devyn and checking my phone every thirty seconds. As Malik and I continued to walk, a familiar voice interrupted us.
“Hey Dylan.”
I immediately knew who it was… Tyla Smith. Malik smirked before looking away.
I turned around and smiled. “What’s up?”
Tyla smiled a little too hard. She had been doing that a lot lately. Actually, ever since word got around that Devyn had been sent to boarding school. Not that Devyn was my girlfriend. At least we hadn’t made it official, but apparently everybody else had decided she was.
Which meant the second she left, certain girls suddenly became interested in me... Tyla included.
“You headed home?” she asked as she fell in step beside me.
“Eventually.”
Malik immediately slowed down, leaving me alone with Tyla.
Traitor.
I shot him a look, which he pretended not to notice.
“I haven’t seen you around much.”
I shrugged. “I’ve been busy,” I said.
“Too busy to text people back?” she pressed.
I laughed because she wasn’t exactly approaching me subtly. “Nah.”
Tyla smiled. “Good.”
For a second neither of us spoke. Then my phone vibrated. Immediately my heart jumped with an automatic reaction. I pulled it out and there it was… a text from Devyn.
Just seeing her name made me smile. The kind I couldn’t stop even if I tried. Tyla noticed instantly as her smile disappeared just a little. Not enough for most people to notice but enough for me.
“You gonna answer it?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
My answer came without hesitation because of course, I was. I opened the message immediately.
Devyn ??: Sorry! I was in class! Thank you for the birthday message. I miss you so much ??
Just like that, my entire mood changed. Malik looked over my shoulder then grinned.
“Told you,” he said.
I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling too hard to argue. Three months later, thousands of miles away in a different country at a different school living a totally different life, and somehow, she still had the ability to make my day with one text.
I quickly typed back.
Me: I miss you too. I hope you’re having an amazing day
Then I slipped my phone back into my pocket. Tyla was still standing there waiting with a hopeful smile. And for the first time all afternoon, I felt a little bad because she was nice girl… pretty too.
The problem wasn’t Tyla. The problem was that every time another girl smiled at me, all I could think about was somebody on the other side of the world. And unfortunately for Tyla, that didn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.