Page 72 of Finding My Forever

The hours passed quickly. The last order had just gone into the fridge when Mom walked in. She looked at the desk and smiled.

“You did all of those?”

I continued cleaning up my work area. “I was in the zone today.”

“Thanks for doing that. Sky already closed down the front so we’re ready to go.”

I took off my apron and followed them out through the back door.

“Thanks again, Sky. I’ll start setting up interviews tomorrow.”

“No problem!” She got into her car and waved before pulling out.

I was almost in my car when Mom turned to me. “Why are you so quiet today?”

There was no use in trying to blame something else, like cheer or school. “I haven’t heard from Liam.”

She looked down for a beat before meeting my eyes. “It will work out, April. I promise.”

As much as I wanted to believe her, there was no way she could make that guarantee. Not even Mom couldn’t fix this one for me.

“Thanks. I’ll see you at home.”

I spent the drive debating between running to my room and checking my phone or staying downstairs and giving Liam more time to reply. By the time I parked, the curiosity was too much. I ran into the house and straight up the stairs. My phone was sitting on my bed, taunting me. It knew whether or not he replied.

I really wished Sophia or Katie was here with me. I could have one of them check first. Maybe I could call Beth from the house phone and ask her to come over. She would understand.

She would also tell Elise, and that would give them enough ammo to combine forces to mock me forever.

No. I could do this. With just three steps I was at my bed. Staring down at the black screen. One. Two. Three.

I grabbed it and the screen lit up. Plenty of missed texts and calls. I scrolled through…Katie, Katie, Sophia, Mom, Sky, Gwen, Katie, and Beth.

So, there it was. Over twenty-four hours and no response. Disappointment I hadn’t been expecting flooded over me. A tear escaped before I could comprehend what had happened. I wiped it away and read through the missed messages. There was no use crying over it…yet.

Katie had been wondering where I was in the morning, then asked what was wrong with me after practice. I owed her an apology. Just because cheer wasn’t the first thing on my mind didn’t mean I could slack off. Katie and the rest of the team deserved more of me.

Sophia was asking if I heard from either Liam or Eli. Apparently, they were both blowing us off. Eli and Sophia may not have held hands or kissed, but they got close. He even convinced her to apply for the NYU summer program. I think he liked her, but her mind was made up about ASU. I think he was trying to get her to change her mind, eventually.

Mom and Sky were letting me know we were a man down at the store, and Beth was asking if I heard from him yet.

I checked my missed calls but they were all from Mom and Katie. I fell back on my bed and wrote out an apology to Katie and Gwen, told Sophia they were ignoring me too, and told Beth I hadn’t heard from him.

One day had been rough. How much longer could I take this?

I was overreacting.

If Sophia was here with me, she would tell me that. I looked around my room for any sign of what I should do.

Nothing.

I wasn’t getting struck with inspiration for anything.

My phone was heavy in my hand. I needed to talk to someone. I hit Sophia’s name and waited, praying she would answer.

“Hey girl.”

Hearing her voice made me smile. I missed her already. “Hi.”