I Choose You

Out of Love

"There's not a thing I could say

Not a song I could sing
For your mind to change
Nothing can fill up the space
Won't ask you to stay
But let me ask you one thingOh, when did you fall out of love?
Out of love
Oh, when did you fall out of love with me?"

Out of Love by Alessia Clara

***

So many things were running through my head. I had no idea why Icarus had ended things with me. We hadn't even gone on a proper date. That was unless one counted our walk in the park as an official date. Even still, I had no idea what I had done to randomly warrant him not wanting to see me anymore.

On the flip side, I was irked. I had wasted time and energy over the past several hours considering how I was going to end things with him. Granted he had made my job a heck of a lot easier, it still bewildered me as to why he was the one ending things.

My fingers hovered over the cell phone screen, hesitantly considering my reply. I did not want Icarus to know my address. Then again, if he was the leader of the Hallow gang he could probably obtain my address with ease.

Sighing, I contemplated what to do.

Me:
Can you meet at 3PM tomorrow at O'Mally Park?

After pressing send, I bit my bottom lip out of anxiety. I had figured that O'Mally park was safe because it was a public place. In addition, the park was less than a block from school and I had to pass it in order to get home.

It would be easy to tell Dad that I was going to walk to and from school. My shift at The Maine Tearoom did not start until 5PM. There would be plenty of time to get Turtle and make it back home in order to get ready for work.

My attention went back to my phone after I realized I had come up with a good plan.

Icarus had yet to respond.

With a heavy sigh, I tossed my phone down beside me on the bed. The silence of the room became deafening. I found myself humming the familiar tune of Lavender's Blue (Dilly Dilly).

My eyes felt more and more like a weighed downscale over time. I was about to drift off into sleep when my phone dinged. The sound was like cold water being splashed on my face.

I jolted to a sitting position and grabbed my phone. Knots formed in my stomach concerning what Icarus had to say next.

Unknown:
Are you going to open your window or leave me to freeze my balls off?

An unexpected relief washed over me that it was not Icarus.

I found myself chuckling because despite the unknown number never being saved to my phone I knew exactly who it was. With a smile, I leaped off my bed and raced over to my window.

The latch was cold and the glass was fogged over from the bitter night's weather. I quickly opened the window and stuck my head out. A chill cascaded over me as I faced an empty front yard and street. There was no one to greet.

The corner of my lips twitched down. I closed the window and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. It soon dawned on me what had happened.

Going back to my bed, I found my phone and quickly sent a reply.

Me:
No can do. I'm not there.

I changed the unknown number to Alexander as I crawled back on my bed. Sitting Indian style in the middle of the mattress, I couldn't help but stare at the cell phone screen, waiting for a reply.