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Twenty-Seven
Junior
I pullout my phone to check the time again. It’s four thirty-five. I have to be at the stadium in about twenty minutes to get ready for the game but Eliza was supposed to meet me here in the study room at four.
Where are you?
I send the text but I don’t expect a reply. She hasn’t replied to the last three I sent her since I got here.
There was something wrong last night, I just knew it. I could feel it in my gut all night long but I didn’t do a damn thing about it. And now she’s gone, ignoring my texts and I can’t think of a damn reason why.
I grab my jacket and rush down the stairs to the ground floor.
Eliza has a show tonight so she should be heading to Talon Hall now, if she’s not there already. I push through the crowds of gathering students and sports fans as I cross campus, all of them heading towards the stadium to witness the final game of the season — the one that determines our status in the regional championship, which was the other thing that kept me awake all night. I honestly don’t care much about that right now.
I have to find Eliza first.
I reach the quad with long, eager strides but I grind to a halt the second I see her just outside of Talon Hall.
“Ellie!”
She doesn’t acknowledge it but I know she’s well within earshot distance. Even her pace quickens — like she’s purposefully trying to outrun me. She grabs the door handle and throws it open, rushing inside and leaving me behind.
“Eliza!” I follow her in and rush across the lobby to cut her off. “Hey, wait a second…”
She halts with her head down, barely even glancing up at me. “Hey, Junior.”
I stare into her pale face, catching all the emotion as it bleeds from her ice-blue eyes. “Ellie, what’s going on? Why didn’t you meet me?”
She blinks and twitches around, glancing at any and everything other than me. “Sorry, I forgot.”
“You forgot?”
“Look, Junior, I really need to get backstage—”
I grab her arms to keep her in front of me. “Ellie, stop.” She deflates, heaving out the last of her breath. “I need to know what’s going on with you.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Junior, please—”
“Ellie, look at me.”
She finally looks up, making eye contact for one fleeting, painful second. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore, Junior.”
Every muscle in my body flexes but it’s not enough to stop the deep, piercing pain in my chest.
“Why?”
Eliza closes her eyes. “I… just think it’s time,” she says. “I mean, we always knew it’d end eventually, right?”
I shake my head. “What happened?”
“Nothing happened—”
“Ellie—”
