Whenever You Remember

Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five:

To shake off last night's displeasures, I took a shower as soon as I woke up the next morning. Elise hadn't come home last night, so I figured that she had stayed at Andrew's place.

I didn't have to work today, since I didn't officially start until next week, so I took the time to sit down on the couch was a hefty bowl of Lucky Charms and watch cartoons. Scooby Doo happened to be on, and I found great delight in it.

Shaggy and Scooby's compulsive need to eat never gets old.

My phone chorused out the Wobble ringtone, and I slid it open.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hey, Soph, are you home?" It was Will.

"Yes."

"Can I stop by?"

I contemplated this. I wasn't, as one might say, 'dressed to impress.' Leggings, baggy T-shirt, and tangled hair, but it was Will and there really wasn't any point at worrying what he thinks of me now.

"I guess," I gave in, knowing it wouldn't hurt to have some company for a little bit.

"Great, I'll see you soon." And then the line went dead. Not even thirty seconds later there was a knock on my door. When I got up to open it, sure enough, Will was already there.

Answering my unasked question, Will said "I called from your lobby." I laughed a little and moved aside for him to come in.

He sighed, "I'm sorry for kind of leaving you last night. I took way too long and I shouldn't have expected you to just wait, I'm sorry."

I nodded, and then a small silence lapsed over us. Even though I was still annoyed at him, I found myself saying, "Well, I'm just hanging out and watching Scooby Doo. So if you don't have anything to do..." I let my invitation trail off.

He brought out his dazzler and said "Some things don't change, do they?"

"No, they sure don't."

We made it smoothly through two Scooby Doo episodes. Of course, we argued during pretty much the whole show, but that was normal. Will always think he knows who the criminal is, but then when I correct him he get all defensive.

At the start of the second episode, Will got a phone call and grumbled to excuse himself. I didn't think much of it until the episode was mostly over and he still hadn't returned. A little irritated, I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of milk. After a moment, Will came walking back in.

"Sorry bout that—"

"I don't really need to hear an apology," I snapped at him.

He ran a hand through his hair, "I know, but I felt like it was necessary."

"No, it's not really necessary. Apologies are only really necessary if you intend on changing the way you act."

My small outburst seemed to surprise him. "What's wrong with the way I act?" The defensiveness was starting to make its way into his voice, and I was beginning to dread the upcoming conversation. Unlike our usual bickering, this did not carry a light hearted tone.

I felt frustrated. I don't know why Will's mysterious, lengthy phone calls were bothering me, or why I was even making an issue out of this. I couldn't voice what I was feeling, and that was just riling me up even more.

I let out a deep breath, hoping it would calm me down a little bit. "I just don't get why you've been blowing me off with all these phone calls," I stated as calmly as possible. "You haven't bothered to tell me what's going on, even. Is something wrong? Or is a girl? What's the deal, you've been acting really weird."