“Hey,” he whispers as he takes a step into my room. His eyes glance around as though it’s the first time he’s ever been in here.
“Hi.” His eyes fall back to mine, and I can’t quite tell what he’s thinking about or how he’s feeling. My open door casts a shadow over his face, so I can’t see the shade of his eyes and the emotions within them. “What’d your mom say?”
“Nothing,” he says, his voice low. “Sorry for taking you down with me. I should have just left when the cop told us to.”
“It’s fine.” My anger has fizzled away to nothing by now. We didn’t end up being charged, so I plan to pass it off as a simple misunderstanding between the officer and us.
Tyler opens his mouth to speak again, but the sharp shrill of a phone cuts him off. I can hear the vibrations through his jeans as he reaches into his pocket. His lips falter into a frown when he looks at the screen. “Tiffani,” he murmurs. He looks like he’s contemplating declining the call for a moment, but he shakes his head and shoots me an apologetic glance. “Sorry, I gotta talk to her. She’ll get mad if I ignore her.”
And just like that, everything inside me sinks. Everything drowns. My chest almost collapses on itself, tightening in ways unimaginable as I force myself to keep breathing. Anxiety hits me again in one big wave. I’ve been so caught up in him these past couple hours that I completely forgot he has a girlfriend.
“I’m sorry,” he says again, grimacing at the screen once more before looking back up to take in my frozen posture. I feel sick again, and he seems to notice, because he takes a step toward me but then quickly changes his mind. A tremendous sigh echoes around the room, and he squeezes his phone tighter. “I’m really sorry. I have to,” he whispers. Dropping his eyes to the carpet, he slowly turns around and leaves.
I stand there feeling completely numb while he accepts the call, murmuring, “Hey, what’s up?” just before the door of his room clicks shut.
But his voice has no energy to it at all.
It’s as lifeless as I feel.
Chapter 20
“Eden!” my best friend’s voice yells ecstatically down the line the next morning. Her tone is so high and so sharp that I have to draw my phone away from my ear for a moment. “Finally!”
“I know, I know.” I heave a sigh, which more than likely echoes across the connection. “I’ve been so busy.”
“You keep missing my calls,” Amelia states. There’s a hint of irritation in her voice, which I can’t blame her for. I haven’t spoken to her in over a week. “How was your Fourth of July?”
I bite down on my lower lip. Yesterday is what I’m calling to talk to her about, but her question leaves me a little tongue-tied. I somehow manage to muster up a quick, “Good,” between several uneven breaths.
“Just good?”
“Well,” I say. I bite even harder, my cheeks warming with a rose hue as I stare down at my comforter. “I got to ride in a cop car for the first time last night.”
There’s a long silence, like Amelia is waiting for me to yell “Just kidding!” at her. But I don’t. “What?”
I begin tracing circles on the fabric. “For trespassing.”
“Is this even Eden that I’m talking to?” There are some annoying thuds as she taps her knuckles against her phone. “Hello? Eden Munro, is that you?”
I let out a small laugh. “It wasn’t my fault. My ste—” I stop short as the words catch in my throat. I can’t bring myself to say them, because saying them only reminds me of the reality of the situation. “I mean, Tyler,” I correct slowly, “got us arrested. We would have been fine if he hadn’t opened his mouth.”
“That’s the oldest brother, right?” Her words make me cringe, and it takes me a few seconds to compose myself before I confirm.
“Did you go to the festival?” I quickly ask. My fingers tighten around my comforter as I listen for her reply.
“Of course,” she says with a sharp gasp, as though she’s appalled that I even needed to ask. We always go the Waterfront Blues Festival. “It felt so weird without you there.”
I frown as I run a hand through my hair. “Who were you with?”
“The usual,” she tells me, right before she begins to rattle off some of their names. “Chloe, Eve, Annie, Jason, Andrei…you know, just everyone.” Hearing the names of my friends from Portland casts a tidal wave of homesickness over me. I miss hanging out with them all, and it’s even worse hearing about them all spending the summer together while I’m stuck here.