I sit at the breakfast table, the slow sprawl of morning light pouring through the glass walls and pooling around me like something poured from a pitcher.
My phone rests in my palm, warm from use. The screen glows with Sum's messages—an entire ocean of them, each one more desperate than the last, climbing over each other like waves trying to reach a shore that keeps pulling away.
Sum: Ellis, why aren't you replying? Are you ignoring me? Seriously, Ellis...
My thumb moves slowly. A calm sweep down the screen.
Sum: You know you're my only friend. How could you leave me like this?
I scroll further. Deeper into his spiral.
Sum: Ellis, are you really not going to talk to me?
Sum: Are you really angry at me? I swear I didn't do anything intentionally. I didn't know your wifey was such a lightweight.
I pause there.
Such a lightweight.
The memory flickers—uninvited, unwelcome.
