Write Me A Love Story

Chapter Twenty-Two:

And why is hard for others to accept your defeat?

*

Sleeping wasn't easy. I regretted my text after I sent it. I spent an entire month working on this draft, pouring my heart into it, but last night's panic sent me back to square one. Not even, back to the day before Nancy had even shown me the paper. To when I couldn't think of a sentence and settled on the idea that it was fine.

I was afraid then. Last night, something came over me; I was terrified. Fear and anxiety boiled in my stomach until I felt sick. Sick enough to tell the one person who made me feel on top of the world... to leave.

Groaning into my pillow, I turned my head to look at my window. The curtains were partly opened, letting a little light in. It was enough for me to see my socks were lazily thrown on the floor, the extra pillow that'd fallen while I probably tossed and turned in my sleep, and the blinking light on my phone. A notification.

Biting my lip, I reached over to my side table to grab it. My thumb unlocked the screen.

My heart thought it would be another text message from Reece, but it wasn't him. Our thread conversation had been the last thing I'd opened last night, and his response to what I said hurt but made me smile.

Reece—I believe in whatever you decide to do.

When I read it last night, it hurt because I felt like he gave up on me. But I gave him all the reasons to in a span of a few hours, right? I had it coming. But this morning, rereading it after some slight, I sighed because... he let me be me. He let me fall. And sometimes, you needed to fall to learn.

This would be my path, right?

But the unread notification stayed at the top. The white bolded 'M' for my email stared at me. I rarely got them, unless it was super important. And I hadn't done anything recently to receive one. Biting my lip, I tapped it and let my inbox open for me.

Immediately, I jumped straight up in my bed, practically rolling off. "What!"

Camila Rodriguez, your contest submission has been received. Good luck!

"No, no, no." I dropped my phone on my bed, reached for my socks, and lazily put them on my feet. "How, how did this happen?"

Nervousness swelled in my chest. I grabbed my phone and quickly walked into my kitchen My laptop was still there, closed and untouched. A small sigh of relief left me but it still made no sense. Was this a spam email? Was this fixed? No. Looking back at my inbox, that was indeed the correct sender, and with my name in large, bolded letters, I knew it was intended for me.

Sitting in my kitchen chair, I stared at the stickers that decorated the top of my laptop and bit my lip. Franny appeared beside me and meowed. I glanced at her. "I'll feed you in a second, Queen," slowly lifting the screen, I held my breath, "I just need to check something."

She chirped and purred, circling my legs under my chair.

I entered my laptop pin code. My document sprang back to life. Everything looked normal, until I saw an additional two lines at the bottom of the document. The same two lines that I'd written but deleted multiple times. The last edit time was after I'd gone to bed, after I decided I wouldn't take this chance.

After... I texted Reece.

He has access to this document.

"Okay, Franny, come on." I moved quickly. I hurried over to her box of canned foods and opened one for her breakfast. Then I skidded back into my room and pushed my feet into my shoes. My heart slammed in my chest as I turned back for my front door.