Chapter 1 #2
yeah, this isn’t the most conventional
I’m nervous too.
I let loose the breath I was holding.
Esper
I haven’t done this before, but desperate times…
Reed
call for desperate measures.
Esper
exactly.
Yeah, I should delete my account. I obviously don’t know how to talk to people anymore.
Though it seems Reed doesn’t mind. He takes over the conversation.
Asking me more questions about what I go to school for and how long I’ve been in Maine.
I moved here for college as this was the only school that offered me a full ride.
I moved here from a small town in Michigan and now I’m living the coastal college town life in Maine.
He was born and raised here. He says he’s got a huge family and commutes to school. Helps out at his family’s business.
My cheeks are rosy as I text him, the constant flame of my face egging me to shut off my phone and pretend I never made a match even as the conversation flows easily, but my fingers fly across the screen.
The numbers on the clock tick on. Tiredness weighs on my eyes, but this isn’t as awkward as I thought it’d be.
Esper
What is your family business? You aren't mafia are you
Reed
No, it’s more lowkey
Esper
Exactly what a mafioso would say.
Reed
haha, we manage a plaza right outside the downtown area.
I roll around in my bed, snuggling with my light gray blankets and wrapping them around my head. My eyes drift to the clock. Three AM is normally my bedtime on a Wednesday since I have a class at eleven in the morning, but…
Reed
what has you up late?
Esper
A paper on different shades of blue and how differences affect people. HBU?
My eyes start to droop, my blinks lasting longer and longer as the three bubbles dance on my screen.
Reed
yeah, night is much cooler than days lately.
Esper
Have you always been a night owl?
Reed
yeah it's the only time I get to myself.
Actually I had a mini panic attack thinking I’d have no one for my next heat so I logged back into my Heat Seekers account… Just in time to see I have a match.
The admission shocks me a bit. I stare at the screen, the sleep easing away as the need to be honest fills me.
Esper
same.
I can feel the itch under my skin and my scent. Gosh my scent is driving me crazy. It’s soon.
I’m a little nauseous sending the text. Being the most honest I’ve ever been with a stranger. The compulsion to somehow retract the word vomit threatens to take over my fingers, but I refrain.
Reed
do you have other mates?
Esper
no, I don’t.
Reed
me either. I’ve matched with a whole Pack before… that’s why I ask.
Esper
Oh, that is… interesting? Idk. I try not to judge. Maybe we should meet? Like coffee or something—
I erase the text before I send it. I pull the blanket over my head, wanting to scream at how socially undeveloped I am. I stare at the screen. Unsure what to say.
Maybe we should talk for a few more days? Get to know each other better? But what if I hate his scent? What if he’s an ass in person?
Maybe mom was right. Prince Charming isn’t gonna find you in your dorm room. One date wouldn’t hurt, right?
My eyes burn as I think back to the last text he sent me, lighting up my phone as the only notification I got last night when I woke up this morning.
Esper
I would like a Pack, one day, but thats not what im expecting.
Reed
I’m not sold on a Pack. But you, I’m pretty sold on you.
goodnight Esper.
I fell asleep. I fell asleep and didn’t respond. God, am I the ass? I run a brush through my hair before I make my way out of my dorm, locking my door on autopilot. I have class in about ten minutes and I’m more worried about Reed thinking I don’t like him than about being late.
How do I fix this? Did I ruin things because I didn't reply to the first overtly flirty message he sent?
What if… What if I just…
As I fast walk my way toward my class, stomach twisting, I pull my phone from my pocket and open our chat back up. I try not to trip over my feet as I grip my backpack strap in one hand and text with the other.
The least I could do is heart his message, let him know I'm definitely interested. Double tapping the message a heart appears on his messages from last night.
ESPER
good morning Reed!
That should fix this, right? Hopefully he’ll wake up to this and maybe not even notice I didn’t reply last night. He said he was a night owl. Maybe he doesn’t get up ’til noon or something.
My dark wash jeans and gray fitted t-shirt scream my favorite season, fall, in this late summer heat.
My backpack is tight against my back as I speed walk to Photography with Professor Wilde.
For someone into design, photography is not coming easy to me whatsoever, so if I have any hope of passing, skipping class isn’t an option.
Professor Wilde is leaning against the front of his desk by the time I slink into class.
Sitting in the first open seat, I unpack my bag and pull out my laptop, trying not to think about the notification I’m dying to see pop up on my screen.
For the first week of class, Professor Wilde informed us we’d be taking notes as little as possible, that learning is about doing.
But the curriculum required some testing and notes so we’d try to get that out the way first.
Which I appreciate; I’m not the best tester either. I’ve never failed a class before and I had great grades in high school, but I had to work damn hard for those grades that seem to come easier for my peers.
Just as I pull up the class textbook, my phone buzzes in my pocket. As discreetly as I can, I slide the phone from my pocket onto my lap, under my desk. The screen light flashes on, and I see the text I was hoping to see.
REED
good morning beautiful
My face flushes. Professor Wilde starts his lecture before I can respond, but gosh, I can’t wait to text him back.