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“I know you aren’t in arelationship.” He paused to gauge my reaction. When I didn’t have one, he continued, “But if you care, man, sometimes it’s just easier to apologize. And if you and Maci don’t do apologies, then be the one to reach out first.”
Connor had good intentions, but when he compared my friendship with Maci to a relationship, the bacon I just ate churned in my stomach. I didn’t want to have to worry about this shit.
“I’m gonna run over to Katie’s, and I’ll probably stay there tonight,” Connor said.
I nodded just as my phone buzzed in my pocket. We both knew the subject was dropped. After Connor left, I washed the dishes in the sink and headed back to my room. My phone buzzed again, and I pulled it out to see who it was.
Reagan:
Sorry to head out so early. I had to work this morning.
Last night was fun ;)
Sirens wailed around in my head. I fell onto my bed and dragged my hands over my face. I was at the point where I had too much space, so much space that I was starting to recycle through girls I had slept with before.
I jumped into the text thread I had with Maci. I could already see Connor’s smug smile as I quickly typed out a sentence just to delete it.
How the fuck did I start this up again? I told her I wanted space.
The only time I saw her after that was when she walked into my apartment with the guy she was fucking while I was ushering the girl I just fucked out. Neither of us really had anything to apologize for, so that just left me with Connor’s advice of saying something first. Some suggestions before he left would’ve been nice.
My phone alerted me that it was in low battery mode. I must not have plugged it in last night to charge.
“Did that bitch take my charger?” I mumbled under my breath and searched my end table.
Now Reagan had something to reach out to me about. She and Heather must’ve been cut from the same crazy cloth.
I dug out my spare cord from the top drawer of my dresser and froze. My hand brushed over the rough edges of the envelope, and the stamp of red ink stood out against everything else.
The letter my mom gave me was still unopened, the same as the day she handed it to me before I left Charlotte. I pulled it out and examined the familiar postage.
MAILED FROM
A STATE
CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTION
Time moved slowly as I continued to stare at it as if my eyes would burn a hole through the envelope and the words would be read to me. I sat down on my bed and swallowed. At first, I hesitated. But eventually, I slid a finger underneath the sealed flap and tore open the letter. I unfolded the paper inside and held it in my hands.
For the next half hour, I read a letter from my birth father, John Krane.
Chapter44
Maci
February 2016
I staredat the blinking cursor on my laptop screen. There was only one class left in my schedule before I could head home, and somehow I managed to put off an article for Educational Psychology until the last minute. I had an hour break before that class started, but I had no idea how to begin the assignment.
I rubbed my temples and itched my forehead with my beanie. Even though I was sitting inside the student union, I was still freezing. I drained the rest of my iced coffee and crossed my legs. I’m sure my cold choice of caffeine didn’t help me either.
In a way, I still felt like I was recovering from this past weekend. Katie and I followed Sam around downtown BG for both Friday and Saturday nights. I found it a little strange that Katie chose to go out without Connor on both weekend nights, but I decided that it wasn’t that much of a red flag that I needed to ask her about it. I wasn’t sure how much the Tyler stuff was being pushed into her relationship since Connor’s dad got Tyler off campus. I assumed that was the source of the space between them.
But still, I enjoyed my time with Katie this weekend and the rest of our usual gang. It felt good to have a little taste of the past before Katie and I met the guys from Apartment 4G at Falcon’s Point.
My phone buzzed next to my laptop, and my playlist was interrupted by my ringtone. I winced as the loud tune flowed into my headphones, and I hit the green answer button. “Chase?”
