The next morning, my alarm blares with a loud ‘BZZ!’ I immediately snatch my phone, glaring at it with halfway open eyes. I shut the alarm off and continue to just lay there. I can’t even fathom getting up today, especially after all the shit that went down yesterday. I need at least a month to recover.

  For one, too much social interaction. With too many new people. And there’s also that message. That could be the catalyst for a new journey. Something that I could only ever dream of as a kid. This almost seems too good to be true. I checked the photo again. All I would have to do is call that number.

  I don’t know, damnit. I’m still so young, and I have no experience in detective work. What if they’re trying to prey on me? Lure me over there and kill me. Just like all those other people? I know it sounds unlikely, but with a website as sketchy and hastily made as that, you really never know.

  I inhale sharply, and sit up from my bed. A dull ache goes through my shoulder. I must’ve slept on it wrong. I groan; this is a horrible way to start the day. Do I really even want to go to class today? My body aches in all the wrong places. I feel like an old lady.

  I throw my feet over the edge of the bed, and stand. My legs shake at first, but I hold onto the side of the cardboard-like mattress for dear life until they stabilize themselves. I sway all the way to my bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror.

  My pin-straight hair is a complete mess; the phone screen got that right. I rummage through my drawers, trying to remember where I had put my brush. I eventually found it. It’s a simple blue plastic hairbrush. I run my finger over the bristles. It’s somewhat painful, but soothing in a way. I grab a small part of my hair and start brushing.

  I mutter a few small ‘ow’s. I haven’t had hair this tangled in a while. I check the time again once that section is brushed out. The phone reads 9:24. By now, I’d be making my way out to breakfast. That’s at least what I did yesterday. If I did go to class, I’d probably be late. Should I even go today? It would be the second day of class. I have to go.

  Do I, though?

  I check my phone, and my messages. Drier than the Sahara desert, of course. I could always just text Finn and ask him what I missed. I have his number after all…

  My fingers jolt when I realize I still need to brush the rest of my hair. It looks strange, with one little part of my hair being perfectly smooth, and the rest of my hair being everywhere. I take another section, a larger one this time, and start brushing. I’m already starting to get tired of this. After brushing around half of my hair, I give up. This can be my afternoon problem. It’s not like anyone is going to want to go out with me. Right?

  My phone buzzes. I pick it up, hastily reading the message. It’s Remi.

  Something about wanting to… hang out. My entire face drops. You’re kidding.

  I gently place my phone down before backing up from the bathroom counter and putting my hands up. I close my eyes tightly and take a deep breath. I interlock both of my hands together. An inhale, and an exhale. I had quite literally just hoped that this wouldn’t happen today. I groan, letting out a fake cry.

  I pick up my phone again, and see what time she was hoping for. 11AM? Hell no. I love Remi, don’t get me wrong, but I will not be ready in the slightest by the time eleven rolls around. I shake my head, lips pressing into a thin line before I respond with a ‘no sorry’. She gets back immediately with an emoticon. The frown one specifically. A string with a weight attaches itself to the bottom of my heart. Naturally, it starts to drag it down. I hate having to reject her. Every time. But there’s just no possible way I can make it.

  ?

  The time is 12:40. My class ended roughly an hour and forty minutes ago. I lounge on my sofa. It’s tiny, with worn leather coating the bony structure. I found it in an auction during the summer for $15. For a broke college student, this couch is my prized possession. My child, even. I run my hand across the rough, probably fake leather.

  I get four notifications back-to-back from my phone. My face scrunches up. That almost never happens. I check them with a raised eyebrow. Both eyebrows shoot up. I have a 0% in Mr. Carter’s class. Holy shit. Four missing assignments? What the hell!? I had memorized the number on the sticky note, I might just have to text him or something to see what I missed. I pull up a new message, and type in the number. For a moment, I pause. My thumbs hover right above the screen as my brain starts flying through the options of how to text him. Wait.

  He could be in another class right now. I don’t want to disturb him.

  But I also have a zero. As my final grade right now.

  Eh. What’s the harm? The least he could do is not respond to me.

  My thumbs move at the speed of light over my screen, typing up an entire paragraph.

  ‘Hey. It’s Tomi. I missed class today, clearly, and I have four missing assignments and my grade is a zero right now so I just wanted to know what I missed? Thanks.’

  I read over it nine different times.

  That’s good enough to send, I think. Before my anxiety can object, I press send. I put my phone completely down, and get up from the couch for a moment. That was my first time texting Finn. Ever. I pace around the dorm, hands shaking like I’m trying to remove any sort of negative energy. That is obviously not working though, because my heart is on a triathlon. It feels good though, not like my normal anxiety. I’m more like a little middle-schooler.

  I make nine laps around the dorm, before finally sitting back down. Did he text back? I check again. Oh my god. I actually got a response. My eyes practically pop out of my head before I read the message. He had just sent me photos of the assignments. Four of them were on paper, and they seemed to be just notes based on basic identification. The text he sent after those photos though almost made me squeal.

  ‘Here you go <3’

  Okay, that’s a lie. I actually squealed. I resist the urge to get up and yell to the sky, as that would probably piss my neighbors off. I check the text over and over, getting progressively more excited as I read it.

  A knock at the door snaps me out of it. I glance at the door. There are only two people that know where my dorm is right now, and those people are Remi, and Amy. If it’s Amy, that makes sense. But also not at the same time. Why would she give the time of day to come see me? Even for the project?

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  It could be Remi too, but I already told her I couldn’t hang out today, and Remi respects boundaries pretty well. I shrug and hop up from the couch. I try to see through the peephole, but I am too damn blind. The door swings open, and Remi stands there with a worried expression on her face. She’s also holding a little basket of stuff.

  ‘Can I come in?’ Remi asks quietly. I step out of the way immediately, and she starts to explain herself.

  ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, but you seemed to be dry this morning, and that’s not usually how you are so I got worried…’

  A small smile graces my lips. Of course she’d be worried about me.

  ‘No problem. Just come in, girl. What’s in the basket?’ I close the door behind her, trying to take a peek inside the basket. She dodges my gaze and makes her way over to my sofa, hiding the basket behind her back.

  ‘Hey, no peeking!’ she giggles, ‘It’s a surprise for later if you tell me what is going on.’

  Man. This girl knows me too well. She knows damn well I can’t resist a surprise. If there’s food in there, then it’s an automatic yes. Otherwise I can resist. I think.

  ‘What do you mean? Nothing’s going on,’ I snort. My fingers subconsciously tap on my thigh.

  ‘Come on, Tomi. You think I’m dumb?’ Remi’s expression hardens.

  ‘Finn told me about yesterday. He said that you ‘freaked out about a project’ in your class. What was the project about?’ She crosses her legs. I must be rubbing off on her too much. She’s clearly not going to give up on this.

  ‘Ugh. Fine. I’m in forensics with him, and my professor assigned a project. One, I got assigned with Amy. I was not screwing around with her last night, we were just working on the project.’ I shudder at that very thought. Disgusting. Remi snickers, but gestures for me to continue.

  ‘And two, the project was researching a random crime scene that my professor gave to us…’ my voice trails off. Remi seems to understand immediately, as her body completely stills.

  ‘You got assigned Heki, I assume?’

  Her words hang heavy in the air for a moment, before I nod.

  ‘Oh my,’ her hand goes over her mouth, and she moves closer to me.

  Her arms wrap around my back, and she squeezes me as much as her tiny body can muster.

  ‘I’m so sorry, that must’ve been awful,’ her face buries itself into my shoulder, and her long red hair gets all in my face. I spit some of it out with a playful huff.

  ‘You know how much I love you, dude, but get your hair out of my face.’ I adjust her hair so that I’m not eating it as lunch.

  Remi simply ignores me and pushes the hair back in my face. How rude. I shake my head in faux annoyance. Although I put up this metal wall, Remi manages to melt right through it every time. That’s one of the things I love about her.

  ‘Anyway, I told you what’s up. Now what’s in that basket?’ My neck extends to an unnatural extent to see over Remi. She immediately puts her hand on my eyes, though.

  ‘Nuh uh. Not yet. I’m not done hugging you,’ she murmurs.

  I scoff, but that scoff turns into more of a laugh.

  ‘Come on~’ I tease, ‘Let me see!’ I move her hand out of the way without much effort. Her arm is around the same width as a small vase anyway.

  ‘Ugh, fine,’ she relents and lets go of me. I immediately snatch the basket, and I practically see stars when I peer inside.

  Mama’s homemade tempura? Rice balls? Turtle chips!? I look at Remi, eyes wide as saucers.

  ‘Whu–how did you get all this?’ My voice raises two octaves, and I snatch the container of the tempura. I open it up and stuff my nose inside, smelling it. A soft hum leaves my lips in pure, unbridled satisfaction and nostalgia. I don’t care if I’d only been away from Mama for a few weeks, this brings me back to my young days.

  God, I sound like a grandma.

  ‘I went over to your Mama’s house. She was pretty excited to see me, so she gave me the tempura and a few of those onigiri,’ she explains with a soft smile. That sounds like Mama. Even though she doesn’t seem all that friendly, she absolutely loves Remi.

  ‘Aw, that’s adorable. Thanks so much,’ I hop up and slide to the kitchen in my socks, grabbing some chopsticks and taking a bite of one of the shrimp.

  Remi must’ve seen the look in my eye, because her smile widened. She checks the time, and her face drops for a moment.

  ‘Oh–I’ve gotta get to my class. Cya!’ She grabs her keys and practically bolts for the door.

  ?

  I lay in bed later in the night, just scrolling my feed on Instagram. Nothing in particular, just something to lighten the weight of my eventual decision. I don’t want to have to choose right now. I’ll put it off as much as possible until they give me a reason to choose.

  My phone buzzes, and I look up at the notification.

  Finn? I wonder what he wants.

  I pull up the message. It reads:

  ‘Can we call?’

  Well, that’s random. I read over the message at least nine more times to make sure I’m reading it right. There’s no way. My brain racks through the different possibilities of what he could want. You know what? What’s the worst that could happen? I dial his number. Four rings before he answers.

  ‘Hello?’ At the sound of his voice, my chest tightens and I feel my face heating up.

  ‘Hey, it’s Tomi. You wanted to call me?’ I put him on speaker, placing my phone down and just laying in the bed.

  ‘Yeah. Just wondering why you didn’t come to class today. I got a little worried is all,’ he says softly. The sound of rustling comes through the phone. Must be trying to get himself comfortable.

  ‘Oh. I’m just,’ I pause for a moment. How do I explain to him that I’m so completely overwhelmed by all of the shit that happened yesterday that I can’t possibly take anymore? ‘I’m just not feeling all too well.’

  I try to sound as nonchalant as I can. Can’t have him calling me out.

  ‘Ah. That’s ok. You’re missing a lot of work, though.’

  ‘I know, I know. I saw my grades,’ I dismissed him. My hand flicks, even though he can’t see it.

  ‘If you’re feeling a little better, then you should definitely come in. Like, half of the class was gone too. I wonder if something’s going around,’ Finn starts to ramble a little, before stopping himself.

  ‘Anyway, yeah. It was lonely without your resting-bitch-face.’ I can practically feel his grin through the phone.

  I can’t help but scoff. I do not–well–yeah I do.

  ‘Come on, no need to be so rude,’ I murmur, although it’s less of an actual annoyance.

  ‘Well, you do, honestly.’

  ‘Goodbye,’ I roll my eyes and hang up. Shit. I hope I didn’t sound too mean.

  As quickly as I hung up, I typed out an apology.

  ‘Oh my god I am so sorry if that sounded mean’

  I flop back in my bed and bury my face in my hands. Oh god. What if he didn’t like that and now doesn’t like me?

  Okay. I’m obviously spiraling a little bit. Calm down, Tomi. You’re going to be okay. From what I’ve seen, Finn is the kindest, most understanding guy alive. He’s probably not going to take it personally.

  ‘You should definitely come in.’

  Yeah. I should. Maybe then, I’d be able to reconcile, and I wouldn’t have to miss any more work. I close my eyes and breathe. If I go to class tomorrow, I actually need to sleep. I can’t go in looking like a zombie. Especially since the man of my dreams is in that damn class.