The Lift

19

Preston and David went 12 days without talking. The closest contact they had was when she texted Alex to tell David to stop watching her stories on Instagram. (She had unfollowed David, something that spent him into a tailspin for a whole day.) Alex told her to just block him, which she refused to do.

Preston's life was pretty uneventful during those 12 days. Life without David was good, if not great. Sure, sometimes it was a bit less exciting, but that wasn't a bad thing. At least, that's what she told herself. Everybody needs a break from watching their friends get blindfolded and traumatized.

"This is what my life in California would be like if I never met David," Preston thought almost daily. She spent much more time alone and often felt much more productive.

Though every now and then she would feel this gnawing inside, like she was missing something. But every time she did, she drowned it out with distractions: climbing, eating, photography, yoga, cleaning, the list went on.

The feeling was in direct opposition to the feeling she felt that it was all for the better. Ultimately, she didn't have to lie to David anymore (or anyone else). She even let herself start imagining what it would take to keep this up and really cut off all future contact.

But the longer they went without talking, the stronger that gnawing feeling became. It started overpowering the feeling that things were better this way... It seemed her heart wouldn't let her quit her friendship with David.

David went about his normal vlogging during those 12 days. As far as the viewers knew, David was as happy as ever. (His friends saw a slightly different side: a mopey side that only sounded excited when he was vlogging and immediately after the camera turned off he went back to sulking.) But in every video he left little Easter eggs and references that only Preston would get, hoping she would see and call him.

Every few days he'd pick up the phone and hover over her number, just daring himself to call or text her. But he couldn't bear the potential rejection of calling or texting and not getting an answer. He decided he would rather live in ignorance than silence.

By the twelfth day of zero contact, David hadn't given up hope of talking to Preston again, but he was finally coming to terms that their friendship might not be the same. In the few months she had lived in the area, the longest they'd gone without talking was only a few days, and that happened right after they met. Suffice it to say, he struggled with the possibility.

On the morning of the thirteenth day, a Sunday, Preston woke up to an email about a photography contest she had entered. David had encouraged her to do it. She had won! And with it came a $5,000 prize.

That gnawing feeling came back with a vengeance in that moment. So this time, without thinking, Preston chased it instead of pushing it back down. She was both so tired and excited that she immediately called David. It was as the phone rang a few times that she realized what she was doing. Her heart started pounding and her hands shaking.

Mortified, she was about to hang up when a groggy David finally answered. It was almost 11 am, but Preston knew he had been partying the night before. Alex had been drunkenly texting her a play-by-play of the night, and of course the focus was on David.

"Press, hi, what's wrong? What do you need?" David asked groggily. He clearly assumed the only reason she would call was an emergency.

She froze for a second before answering, her mind and heart at bit at war. "I won the photography contest," Preston said holding her breath.

Suddenly David perked up. "Preston! That's amazing. I'm so proud of you. We have to celebrate. What are you doing later this morning?" As the question came out of his mouth his voice dropped off.