can you hear me now?

how would you feel if i said to you...

When Hope wakes up the next day, all she wants to do is stay in bed and forget about everything that's happened in the past 48 hours, but she can't. The only thing that prevents her from sinking deeper into her mattress is the loud buzz she hears from her phone, indicating a text from someone. To her surprise, she sees that it's from Landon.

Hi, can we talk?

As much as Hope wants to ignore the message, she knows they have to talk eventually, might as well get it over with now.

I guess...

Great, meet up at the park in an hour?

Yeah, see u then

Hope sets her phone down, releasing a deep sigh. Her eyes catch sight of the small stuffed wolf Josie had given her, and out of frustration she throws it, so hard that it lands on the other side of her room with a loud thud.  Her eyes then settle on the broken bass in the corner of her room that she had wrecked yesterday, and she sighs making a mental note to bring it to a repair shop.

She takes her pillow and shoves it in front of her face, releasing a muffled scream into it. Once she finishes with her muffled screams, she takes a deep breath and tries to calm herself down.

A half an hour after her miniature meltdown, she's fully dressed and ready to leave. Before she does, she makes sure to peak her head into her aunt's office to inform the blonde. She arrives at the park about ten minutes early, sitting on a random bench and simply staring around at her surroundings.

Not long after, Landon can be spotted from the corner of her eye. She watches as he gives her a small wave and sits down next to her on the bench. For a few moments, it's an awkward silence between the two, before Landon breaks it.

"I guess I have some explaining to do."

Hope chuckles, but without any humor to it. "Yeah, you do."

She looks over at the boy, who's keen on staring at the tree in front of him, as if he's purposely avoiding eye contact. A few more moments pass before he speaks up again. "I wasn't actually sick, I lied." He admits.

Hope scoffs. "Yeah, no shit. But why?"

"I just really wanted to hang out with Wade. And escape rooms aren't really my thing."

'You could've just said that, no one would've cared if you said you didn't want to come." Hope states, annoyed with how he handled the situation.

"I know, I know." He pauses for a moment. "It-it's just when I'm with Wade, everything feels different, not like when I'm with you or anyone else."

Hope looks shocked, her eyes widen and all she can say is a simple, "Oh?"

"No! I- I mean, don't take that offensively. Haven't you ever felt a certain way around someone? I don't know, you start feeling things that you've never felt before?" He asks.