The 18th Shade Of Summer (Fractured Script Series #1)

CHAPTER 13

"I thought it was a joke," he said quietly. "Like... like you were teasing."

'I guess it's because of the smiley face '

I turned and walked back to my unit. I thought he was going to stop me but I didn't feel any hands on me. I didn't slam the door, but I did shut it quickly. Leaned against it for a second after.

I went back to my chair, stared at the formula still half-solved on my laptop screen, I'm not angry at him, I just feel annoyed because he didn't do such a simple request.

I calmed myself first. I had to. My chest was tight and my thoughts were scattered all over the table, like the reviewer sheets I couldn't even read anymore.

Outside the window, the sky had turned heavier, thick gray clouds rolling in like a warning.

Is there a storm coming? I wondered, though I didn't check. I just kept staring for a few more seconds, letting the weight of the clouds sit with me.

Eventually, I forced myself to return to the desk. I picked up my pen again, the same formula still waiting on the screen. My eyes stung a little. I couldn't tell if it was from exhaustion or guilt.

I didn't have to yell at him.

Maybe I could've said it softer. Maybe the smiley face on the note confused him. Maybe... I just didn't want to admit I overreacted.

Hours passed. I didn't stop. I answered page after page, barely checking the clock. The silence from the other side of the wall helped.

Then, while I was scribbling out the last question, a soft guitar strum broke through the wall.

I paused, pen mid-air.

It wasn't loud this time. Just enough to bleed through, like a ripple across water.

The Most Beautiful Thing — Bruno Major.

I didn't move, but I didn't focus either. My eyes stayed on the paper but my ears... my ears were completely elsewhere.

"Will it be a pavement or a sidewalk,
When I finally lay my eyes on you..."

His voice was soft. Not perfect but real. A little husky on the low notes, like he had been talking too much today. It carried warmth, and something else I couldn't place, like he was trying not to sing too loudly, like the song was meant for someone sitting close.

"Someone I've already loved...
Or will you find your way out of the blue?"

I set my pen down.

My hands were still. My heartbeat wasn't.

I don't know if he was singing for himself, for the sky outside, or...for me. Maybe it was just a song he liked. Maybe it was nothing. But maybe that was the worst part—that I didn't know, and I wanted to.

I didn't know when I started holding my breath.

"Will it be my flat or your apartment,
When I finally realize I do..."

I leaned back in my chair, eyes fixed on the wall. Still not saying anything. Still not moving. Just listening.

"Will we meet on Baker Street
Or find ourselves on Melrose Avenue?"

I closed my eyes and listened, willing the wall to disappear. Willing everything in between us to fall away. I listened like he was right in front of me. And slowly, in my mind, he was.