I woke up the next morning with a smile still lingering on my lips, the kind you can't hide no matter how hard you try, it was the 'afterglow' Travis' voice still echoing in my mind, the way his hand had brushed mine at our date, the look in his eyes after we kissed, every little moment replayed in my head like my own personal movie.
The sunlight was sneaking in through the curtains, painting golden lines across my room, I rolled over, hugging my pillow and just… sighing, I wasn't the kind of girl who fell for someone this hard, but last night had been special different.
Sunday mornings were always quiet in our house, and today was no different, I could already smell Mom's cooking from the kitchen, since its Sunday, it was her sacred day to rest, but somehow she always ended up cooking anyway, that's just how she was resting meant 'puttering around and feeding people',
I got up, brushed my hair into something that looked halfway decent, and padded into the kitchen, She was already sitting at the table, with a steaming mug of tea in her hands,
"Morning, sleepyhead" she greeted, raising an eyebrow when she saw me practically beaming,
"Morning, Mom!" I said, trying to play it cool, but I could feel the corners of my mouth twitching up again,
We started eating breakfast which was scrambled eggs, toast and the best crispy bacon in the world and I tried my hardest to keep a neutral expression, but every few seconds, I caught myself smiling at my plate, remembering little flashes of last night, the way Travis had leaned in just a little too close when he was talking, the way he had drove me home like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Mom noticed, of course, she always noticed when Im acting out of the ordinary,
"Okay" she said, putting her fork down and giving me THAT look, "Why are you smiling every three seconds? Did something happen yesterday?"
I almost choked on my toast,
"No! I mean… nothing happened", I said quickly, waving my hands a little too much, "I was just… thinking about some...stuff",
"Uh-huh, I see..." she said, sipping her tea, eyes still locked on me like she could read every thought in my head,
"Well, whenever you're ready to tell me about this 'stuff,' you know Im always here my dear",
I laughed nervously, she was right though, I probably would tell her eventually but not yet, it was too fresh, too fragile, like a secret flower I wasn't ready to expose to the wind.
But even while I sat there, I couldn't ignore the small knot of worry forming in my chest, I had texted Miley last night after the date, twice actually and she hadn't replied, I'd even called her, but all I got was her voicemail. That wasn't like her, she was the kind of person who always had her phone glued to her hand, especially when it was me calling.
As the morning went on, the silence from her side started to feel heavier, I kept glancing at my phone, waiting for the screen to light up, but still,
Nothing!!!
By the time I finished breakfast, I couldn't take it anymore,
"Mom, I think I'm gonna go see Miley for a bit" I said, trying to sound casual,
She raised an eyebrow but didn't ask too many questions,
"Alright, just don't be out too long, and take a jacket, it's colder than it looks out there",
I grabbed my jacket, slipped my phone into my pocket, and headed out the door, the air had that crisp Sunday morning smell clean, with just a hint of someone's distant laundry detergent, the streets were quiet, only a few cars passing by.
As I walked, I kept thinking about what could've happened, maybe she was just sleeping in, maybe her phone had died or maybe, my stomach tightened, maybe something was wrong, Miley wasn't just my best friend, she was the kind of person I could tell anything to and if she was avoiding me, that meant something . big had happened.
By the time I reached her street, my steps had quickened without me realizing it.
Miley's house wasn't far, so it didn't take me long to get there, her place was always easy to spot, the little blue mailbox at the front, the row of flowers her mom took care of even in winter, and the wind chimes hanging by the door that sang whenever someone walked past, normally just being here gave me a warm feeling, but today it felt different.
I knocked and waited, my hands shoved into my jacket pockets against the chill, a few moments later, her mom opened the door with a smile, "
"Oh, Mercedes! How are you, sweetheart?",
"I'm good, thanks" I said, trying to sound casual, "Is Miley home?" I asked,
Her mom shook her head, "No, she went out earlier",
For a second, I just stood there, blinking,
'She went out?!', I asked myself,
Miley didn't "go out" without telling me first at least, not since we became friends,
"Oh… okay", I managed, forcing a little smile, "Do you know when she'll be back?",
Her mom shrugged lightly, "Not sure, She didn't say",
That was when the weird feeling in my stomach twisted a little tighter, first she wasn't answering my calls or texts and now she was out somewhere without telling me? I knew Miley could be spontaneous sometimes, but this…this wasn't her.
I thanked her mom and stepped inside for a bit, she offered me some juice and I accepted, even though my mind wasn't on the juice at all, sitting there in Miley's living room felt strange, I'd been here so many times before laughing with her over dumb memes, talking about school gossip but now it was quiet, too quiet.
I told myself I was just being paranoid, maybe she'd gone shopping with Josh or maybe she'd left her phone at home, there had to be a simple explanation… right?
Still, I decided to wait, maybe she'd come walking through the door any second and I could pretend to be all casual and say, "Oh hey, fancy seeing you here", before getting to the real question, why she'd been ignoring me,
So I waited.
Minutes turned into an hour, the juice went stiff in my hands, her mom kept glancing at the clock and saying things like,
"She should be back soon" but even her voice didn't sound certain anymore,
I tried to distract myself by scrolling through my phone but every time I checked there was still no reply from Miley, bot even a "seen" mark, that stung more than I wanted to admit,
Eventually, I realized I was just sitting there, staring at the front door like a lost puppy, it was starting to feel pathetic, with a heavy sigh I stood up, thanked her mom for the juice and told her I'd see Miley at school tomorrow.
The walk home felt colder than before, rhe happy glow from this morning was gone, replaced by a heaviness I couldn't shake, I kept replaying all our recent conversations in my head trying to figure out if I'd said or done something wrong,
By the time I got back to my room, I'd already made up my mind, if she didn't want to talk today, fine but tomorrow was Monday and school meant no escape, I was going to find her and get some answers, whether she wanted to give them or not.
Monday morning came faster than I wanted, normally, I'd drag myself out of bed with half my face still in my pillow but today I was wide awake the moment my alarm went off.
I got dressed quickly my favorite jeans and a blue soft hoodie and my hair looked normal and shorter, perfect.
I wanted to look nice just in case I ran into Travis today which Im very certain I will, but my first priority today was Miley, I had so much to tell her about yesterday's date how Travis smiled at me in that small, rare way of his, how we actually talked without much awkward pauses and how we kissed, my first ever kiss, but before I spilled all that, I needed answers.
Her disappearing act had been eating at me since yesterday.
Mom had already left for work by the time I came downstairs, so the house was quiet, I made myself a quick breakfast toast and tea then barely touched it before heading out, my mind was too busy rehearsing what I'd say to Miley.
By the time I reached school, my stomach was buzzing with a mix of excitement and nerves, I scanned the courtyard expecting to see her leaning against the lockers or waving at me with her loud and sweetly extroverted self, but she wasn't there.
'Okay, maybe she's already inside', I thought to myself,
I checked our usual hallway hangout spot, but it was empty, I even poked my head into the library just in case she'd gotten there early to study, but still nothing.
That uneasy feeling from yesterday returned, heavier this time.
When the bell rang and I took my seat, I kept glancing at the door, half expecting her to walk in late with an excuse, but the first lesson came and went and her chair stayed empty.
Between classes, I pulled out my phone and tried calling her again, but it went straight to voicemail, Isent another text, hust a simple,
-Where are you? Im worried- (sent)
but like all the others, it went unanswered.
By lunchtime, my worry had turned into something sharper, this wasn't like her at all, Miley loved school gossip too much to skip a day without warning me first.
I sat with some classmates, nodding along to their conversations, but my mind wasn't in it, every few minutes, I'd sneak a look at my phone, hoping for that little notification bubble to pop up with her name but still nothing.
I even tried looking for her boo, Josh, and he was no where to be seen too, he didnt come to school either.
That was it, I decided, pushing my tray away, after school, I was going straight to her house again and this time, I wasn't leaving until I saw her.
School felt… empty without Miley.
It was quiet, too quiet for me, normally, my day would be filled with her loud laugh echoing through the halls, her dramatic retellings of every minor inconvenience, and her habit of dragging me into conversations I didn't even want to have, but today? It was like someone had turned the volume of my life all the way down.
I ignored Tyler, I didnt want him adding to my stress at all, Ill confront him when Im ready, but fow Ive got bigger fish to fry.
I did bump into Celia, Travis's little sister in the hallway between classes. We talked casually about art of course, just some light banter about artworks but it wasn't the same, Celia was sweet and innocent but she wasn't Miley.
That Best friend energy was different, Miley knew me inside out and without her the day just felt, super flat.
Every class dragged on painfully slow, ny eyes kept flicking to the clock like that would make time move faster, it didn't.
Finally oh finally, the last bell rang.
I almost sprinted out the door, the warm afternoon air hitting my face as I stepped outside, I was ready to head home, and then swing by Miley's place, maybe just sit and think for a while, anything but be stuck inside those walls and then I saw him,
Travis.
He was rode his motorcycle like it was nothing, looking as effortlessly cool as ever, that black power bike of his gleamed in the sunlight and his black leather jacket clung to him in a way that made my stomach flip, he'd come to pick up Celia, like always, but I couldn't help it my heart soared.
I hadn't really seen him since our date on Saturday, we hadn't talked much online either, so seeing him here in person, felt like a small gift, my chest filled with this warm, giddy excitement, the kind you can't fake, without thinking and without caring who was watching, I walked straight toward him, smiling like an idiot,
When I reached him, I wrapped my arms around him in a hug that was pure instinct, just being close to him felt right, familiar and safe,
Except... it wasn't,
He didn't hug me back.
At first, I thought maybe he was just caught off guard, but when I looked up, expecting to see that little half-smile he sometimes gave me, I froze,
His face was dark not the neutral kind of dark, the kind that feels heavy like a storm about to break, his brows were drawn tight, and his eyes, they weren't soft, they were sharp, cold, almost irritated,
I loosened my grip, with my voice small, I asked,
"Travis? What's wrong? Why do you look so—",
No answer, just a look, look that made me feel like I was a problem, like my very presence was somehow a burden,
My heart skipped then I asked again,
"Hey… are you okay? Did something happen?"
Nothing still,
I asked a third time, my tone edging into concern and that's when it happened,
His voice cut through the air, sounding so sharp and harsh,
"Can you stop talking? You're starting to piss me off",
The words hit me like a slap, my breath caught in my chest, my mouth falling open slightly, that wasn't him was it?
I tried to steady myself, to understand, "Travis… what's wrong with you? Why are you—",
"Listen, Mercedes" he said, his tone dimmed flat, almost bored, like he'd rehearsed this,
"Don't think me and you can ever be a thing, what?! you thought I'd want to hang around with a high school girl? That silly little date and kiss… it was just for fun, I don't like you at all, you're so gullible, falling for some stranger guy you met on an app, we're nothing okay, So get a grip and stop hanging over me", he said and rolled his eyes,
I couldn't breathe.
The words poured out of him effortlessly like water from a tap but each one was a blade slicing straight into me, my chest tightened my legs felt rooted to the ground and my brain struggled to process what I was hearing,
A hot, prickling wave of shame spread across my face, I must have looked so hurt, so exposed, but he didn't flinch at all, he didn't soften, he just walked past me like I was nothing more than a stranger in his way,
He reached Celia who had been waiting nearby, she must have heard everything her eyes flicked to me, wide and uncertain but she didn't say a word, she just let her brother take her hand and lead her to the bike,
For a split second, I thought she might turn around, might come over, might…even say something, but she didn't, she looked scared and timid, she climbed on behind him, and with a roar of the engine, they were gone,
Leaving me there, alone.
I stayed frozen in that spot, my arms hanging limp at my sides, my heart still beating but somehow feeling broken all the same,
It was all a lie.
A silly, stupid game.
The date, the kiss, the way he looked at me that day, I thought it was real, I thought HE was real, the stranger I met online, I thought his feelings was real,
I felt my throat tighten, but no tears came yet, my mind was too foggy, my body too stunned, I just stood there, the world moving on around me, my heart and head caught in the moment like shattered glass suspended in air,
Maybe I was dreaming, maybe if I blinked hard enough, I'd wake up and laugh about how ridiculous it was,
But no, this was real,
And reality had just struck me like a thousand bolts of lightning,
I'd been played all this time,
Played like a fool.
But...WHY!???...