chapter 6
He didn't show up Monday.
Or Tuesday.
And by Wednesday, the seat beside me started to feel too big.
At first, I told myself it was fine. He said he'd be gone. It wasn't like he disappeared without warning. But knowing something and feeling it are two different things.
I still glanced at the door whenever it opened. Still caught myself saving him a seat at lunch, even though I knew he wouldn't come.
By Thursday, people stopped asking where he was.
Except Mia.
"You okay?" she asked as we walked to the cafeteria.
I nodded. Lied. "Yeah. Just tired."
But it wasn't just that.
It was the quiet.
The kind of quiet that hurts.
That afternoon, I opened my messages, half-hoping he'd sent something. A photo. A meme. A "you won't believe what my cousin did" kind of text.
Nothing.
Just an old message from three days ago:"Made it here. Wifi sucks lol. Talk soon?"
I stared at it longer than I should've. Typed "okay" and erased it. Typed "miss you" and erased that, too. Then finally just locked my phone and threw it on my bed.
The next morning, something strange happened.
I didn't save the seat beside me.
I sat down and let it stay empty.
And it hurt. But it also felt... honest.
Because pretending he was still there wouldn't bring him back.
And maybe, just maybe, if he missed me too—He'd notice the empty space beside him, wherever he was.