Meet Me After Class

Chapter 66: Closure

Later that evening, after we got back from the beach, I found myself anxiously pacing around my room, my phone gripped tightly in my hand. I had been mustering up the courage to make this call for the better part of an hour.

Before I could talk myself out of it again, I tapped on Adam's number. My heart pounded as the line began ringing.

"Wendy?" Adam answered after a few rings, clearly surprised to be receiving a call from me. "Is everything okay?"

I exhaled shakily. "Hey, yeah, everything's fine. I just... need something."

There was a brief pause on the other end. "Of course, anything. What do you need?"

Here goes nothing. "Jay's number?"

Adam sounded even more confused now. "Jay's number?"

"Yes. I want to ask him about something."

There was a heavy sigh, then the sound of tapping on his phone screen. "Alright, I'll text it to you. What's this all abou—"

"Thank you!" I rushed out before he could finish his question. "I really appreciate it."

I ended the call because hearing his voice only made me miss him. I clutched my phone to my chest, the anxiety still fluttering in my stomach. Just a couple minutes later, Jay's number appeared in a new text from Adam.

I didn't allow myself to hesitate this time. Quickly, before I lost my nerve, I typed out a message.

"Hey, it's Wendy. Got your number from Adam. Any chance you're free to meet up?"

My thumb hovered over the send button for a long moment before I finally hit it. Now there was no going back.

Jay's reply came through almost instantly: "Sure thing, when and where?"

I exhaled slowly, steeling myself as I typed out the location.

"Pete's? Say, 6 p.m. tonight?"

Within seconds: "See you!"

I tossed my phone onto my bed, suddenly feeling lighter. This idea was kind of wild and, most likely, a bit crazy. But after everything with Adam, I felt this urge to be far away... like thousands of miles away from him. Away from all the feelings. Just me, my backpack, and a fresh outlook on life.

I collapsed backwards onto the hardwood floor of my bedroom, limbs splayed out as I stared unseeingly up at the ceiling. Despite all the anime binge therapy and self-help YouTube videos, my mind still inevitably wandered to Adam. What was he doing at this exact moment on the other side? Was Karen there with him?

I squeezed my eyes shut, attempting to forcibly shrug off the image of them together. This was supposed to be the acceptance stage, right? Accepting the things I could no longer control, like Adam being the perfect boyfriend for Karen.

Except no matter how hard I tried to make peace with it, the dull ache still pulsed in my chest a few minutes later when the door to my room creaked open. I didn't need to open my eyes to know it was Belle sauntering in unannounced.

"I'm okay, I swear," I said quickly, squinting one eye open a slit to look at her. "No need to badger me into starting another soul-sucking anime series as an avoidance tactic."

Rather than respond, Belle simply lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the floor near my feet, eyeing me carefully. I hauled myself upright, mirroring her pose as we regarded each other in silence.

"I just came to tell you..." She began after a moment, plastering on what I recognized as her voice of reason. "Give this whole gap year thing some real, serious thought, Wendy."