Page 38 of The Stalker Snafu

It took me a moment to find my voice. “Hey. Hi, Noah. It’s me. I mean, it’s Emma. Emma Fox? Your girlfriend. Well, the girl you’re seeing⁠—”

Teresa cut me off with a pillow thrown at my face, and I was grateful. Noah miraculously hadn’t hung up yet.

“Hello, Emma.” His voice was neutral, lacking any of the usual warmth.

“Hey,” I said softly, licking my lips and reaching for any form of words. “I missed you at class yesterday.”

Silence reigned for one heartbeat.

Two.

Three.

“I had a conflict.”

I took a deep breath, picking up the nearest pillow—a big fuzzy pink monstrosity—and holding it in my lap. “Right. I get it. So, I was just wondering if you wanted to grab some coffee?”

There was a very noticeable pause, and I picked at a particularly long piece of fuzz on the pillow.

“I’m busy today,” Noah said.

That was as plain as a rejection could be, but I forced some cheer into my tone. “Busy with something fun?”

“Packing. I leave for New York in the morning.”

The pillow tumbled to the floor. This was news to me. “What? New York? Since when?”

The background noise picked up on Noah’s end, and I pushed the phone closer to my ear so I could hear him.

“Since yesterday.”

Panic surged. I wasn’t ready to wait until he got back from an unexpected trip before we could talk. “Can we meet up? I really need to talk to you.”

“Like I said, I’m busy⁠—”

“Please, Noah?” I pressed again, wincing. “Just one cup of coffee.”

He didn’t answer right away, and the line was so quiet I was afraid our call had dropped.

“I can catch the bus and bring coffee to you,” I added somewhat desperately. The other side of the line was silent, and I wanted to scream—but I clenched my fist to rein it in. “Listen. I know you’re mad at me, okay? And I know why. Or at least, I think I do. But you’re my boyfriend, and we need to talk about this. Communication is good, right? I don’t like being shut out like this.”

I waited with bated breath until Noah finally answered. “I can stop by the coffee cart in an hour.”

I let out the breath, rubbing a hand over my chest. “That’d be great. Okay, perfect. Thank you.”

“What are friends for? See you then,” Noah said briskly before the call clicked off, and my hands dropped into my lap.

I stared at the phone for a solid twenty seconds. At least that confirmed it was the friends comment that was bothering him.

“Sounds like that went well,” Teresa said from across the room.

I fought not to grind my teeth together. “I think Noah might be growing a sense of humor.”

“Well, you can only blame yourself for that.”

“On the bright side, he’ll be on campus in an hour.” I smiled, but my shaking knee proved I couldn’t fully hide my nerves.

Now I just needed a plan.