Sixteen Moons [on hold]

[4] Complicated

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CHAPTER 4: COMPLICATED

While I waited where we had agreed to meet up, I had some serious trouble keeping my eyes open. Now I'd had two nights of barely any shuteye and I really started feeling it. My body protested heavily, especially at night, but it was no match to my restless mind. My mind refused to let me sleep. Instead, it kept me occupied trying to make sense of what was going on with Joshua.

Another fifteen minutes later, no one still had shown up and I started to worry if perhaps I had the date or time wrong. Thus, I double-checked the clock on my phone, but it only confirmed the time and date; I had no missed calls or unread messages either. I didn't understand any of it.

All of a sudden, my phone started to ring and I nearly dropped it. It took me yet another moment to realize someone was calling me. With a foggy mind, I answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Layna? Where are you? We’re all waiting for you.”

“I’m here, at the corner of Betty’s, where are you guys? Didn’t we agree to meet up at one?”

In the background, I heard laughter and someone shouted “Go Layna!” but I had no idea as to who that person was. Then again, I was too tired to even do as much as care.

“At Simon’s place,” Melissa said and at the sound of Simon’s name, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Simon? You’re kidding me right?”

“His parents are out of town,” she continued, “and he has the car. He is going to drive us to the lake. Didn’t you get my text?”

“Obviously not,” I muttered. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” With that said, I ended the call and put my phone away, keeping Melissa or anyone else from our group to say anything else.

To get to Simon’s house, I had to pass my own and I hated that I had to ride straight past the only place I really wanted to be: my bed. My heart ached when I passed my house and had to continue towards Simon’s. All the while, I mentally cursed Melissa, or any of the other geniuses that had decided to invite Simon. He was pretty much the last person on Earth I wanted to spend the afternoon with. I didn’t feel the need to see him, let alone now that I felt this tired. So far, my day hadn’t exactly been amazing and the knowledge that Simon would be part of the rest of my day only made me dread the lake trip even more.

Was it because I was tired, or looked up against the trip, but if I moved any slower, I would have fallen over with my bike. Instead of the usual ten minutes, it took me over twenty and I didn’t even mind. At least now, I had already wasted thirty minutes that otherwise I would've had to spend with Simon, and that realization made the thought of today the slightest bit better.

“Finally,” April shouted as soon as she spotted me across the street. “Those have been driving me crazy!” She pointed in the direction of Simon, Melissa and Jackson who were acting like little kids on the front lawn of Simon's house.

April hadn’t even finished saying those words, or Simon already left Jackson and Melissa behind - not that they seemed to notice; they were laughing their heads off. My tired mind took a moment too long to comprehend the signs, and before I could act, Simon had me in his arms. I couldn’t suppress a shiver in disgust. How I had ever managed to date this guy, I had no idea.

“Simon.” I muttered monotonously. Whether I was acknowledging him or simply trying to tell him in a subtle way to let me go wasn’t entirely clear to me, but he interpreted it as a warm welcome.