“I wasn’t expecting to…”
Nick kisses me again. I turn my face away.
“Maybe we shouldn’t,” I say.
“Come on,” he says, leaning in again.
But I push him back a little. “Sorry. I don’t know if I want to tonight.”
“You’re serious?”
He stares at me intently. Maybe he’s expecting me to change my mind. But I don’t say another word. Then he releases a breath, straightening himself up. He grabs his phone, turning off the music.
“Why don’t you go then,” he says.
“Uh, what?” I stutter.
“I said you should go.”
I don’t know what to say. It’s still snowing outside. I haven’t thought about how I would get home. “I’m sorry if I…”
“Just get your stuff.” The warmth in his voice is gone. He’s like a different person.
“Sorry,” I say again.
I rise from the sofa, feeling light-headed. The room is twirling a little, making it hard to stand straight. I wish I didn’t drink that last glass of wine. I shouldn’t have had anything to drink at all. I grab my phone that’s dead and look for my shoes. Nick opens the door as I’m still struggling with the laces. Then I step out into the cold.
“Thanks for inviting—”
The door slams in my face.
I stand on the steps for a moment. Then I turn around, facing the cold as I make my way down the street. Snow falls on my head and shoulders. I can’t believe Nick threw me out without a jacket. I should have just gone home instead of coming here. I wish I’d never responded to him in the first place.
The streets are covered with snow. I’m not sure which way is home. My phone is dead, so I can’t look up the nearest train stop. I’ve never been to this side of Lincoln Park. I can barely read the street signs. My vision is blurred from the tears that are falling. I don’t know if I’m going the right way. I feel completely lost, wishing someone would come find me.
My body is trembling now. I don’t know how far I’ve walked. But it feels like I’m about to fall over. The world is spinning around me, making it hard to keep my eyes open.I stumble upon an empty bench in the middle of the park. The next thing I know, I’ve laid myself down, ignoring the snow. There’s nothing I can do about it, anyway. At least the alcohol has numbed me from the cold. I can’t feel anything except the emptiness inside me.
Where did you go, Haru? I wish I could see you one more time.
Streetlights swirl above me. I take a deep breath and finally close my eyes. The snow continues to fall, settling over me like a thin blanket. I feel my body slowly shutting down. I don’t care what happens to me tonight. All I want is to fall asleep and disappear from the world. I’m tired of waiting for people who are never coming. As my mind slowly drifts off, everything around me fades to nothing.
The sound of footsteps wakesme up. For a second, I think I’m dreaming. Maybe a branch fell from one of the trees. Or maybe it’s Haru, coming to find me. I open my eyes slowly. Someone is standing beside the bench. It’s too blurry to make out a face. Then my vision clears, letting me see her perfectly. I rub my eyes, wondering what she’s doing here. Jasmine’s hair glows slightly from the light reflected off the snow. She’s more slender than I remember, and her skin is pale. She doesn’t say anything at first. She stares at me for a moment. Then she brushes snow off the bench and says, “Mind if I sit here with you?”
I push myself up, letting her take a seat beside me. It’s silent for a moment, snow falling gently around us. I’m not sure how she found me. My phone is still dead. How wouldshe even know I was lost? Isn’t she supposed to be on the other side of the world right now?
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I came to see you,” she says.
“How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t too hard.” She smiles at me, moving her hair behind her ear. “What are you doing, sleeping on a bench?”
“I got lost.”
“How long have you been out here?”
“I don’t know. A while.”
