Chapter 3
January 2019
~TRAVIS~
I wake up the next morning and immediately check my phone for notifications. On the lock screen, I see that I've finally gotten a response from Jenny after I texted her last night to let her know that I wasn't still mad at her, followed by a stupid email from Apple News. Beyond that, I don't see any notifications from Instagram, so I decide to open up the app to check the status of my follow request on Elijah's account. Once I've found his profile again, I see that it still says "Requested" on the follow button so I take that to mean that he hasn't confirmed nor denied my request. Usually if it no longer says "Requested" on the follow button and the account is still private that means that the request was denied. So either he hasn't checked Instagram yet or hasn't decided whether to allow me access to his profile. It's whatever though. I'm sure some form of action will be done by the end of the day.
In the meantime, I have to go to work, so thankfully I'll have something to keep my mind away from this ridiculousness. Come to think of it, I honestly can't believe I'm actually stressing over this shit. This is something that stupid teenagers stress about. Something that only petty people who have nothing better to do with their lives stress about. It's fucking Instagram for fuck's sake! So what if he confirmed or denied my request? Big deal! Is it gonna change anything that's currently going on my life?! No! I fucking knew that I would regret my decision to make the request but yet I did it anyways and here I am stressing about petty bullshit just because I was curious to know whether or not he was still mad at me. I am too old for this shit!
When I see Jenny at the office, she tries to apologize to me for the hundredth time but I quickly brush her off to let her know what I ultimately ended up doing.
"So basically you got mad at me for nothing!" She says, slightly annoyed but not angry.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just started thinking more about it after you had left and I figured since he already got the notification, might as well wait to see how he responds to it, ya know?"
"Oh and what happened to keeping the past in the past?"
"You know I contradict myself all the time."
"Yeah, don't I know it."
"I blame you though... you were the one who started this whole thing."
She chuckles. "So has he responded to it yet?"
"No, he hasn't confirmed nor denied my request."
"Damn. That's not good."
"Why's that not good?"
"Well, it's not bad either. It could just mean he either hasn't seen it yet or he isn't sure what to do about it yet. Either way, why are you acting so worried? If he denies you, then that means he still hates you which you've already known for the past twelve years, so where's the problem?"
"I don't know... I just... wished that he didn't hate me anymore. I know it was my fault for what happened but..."
"Wait, it was your fault? What did you do?"
"I don't want to talk about it." For some reason, I still don't feel comfortable telling her after five years of friendship. I honestly don't even know why. I guess I just don't want her to look at me in such a vulnerable way. Maybe some day I'll work up the courage to tell her the full story. Or to tell anyone, for that matter.
"I understand... but you gotta stop dropping these little hints because you're just piquing my curiosity, asshole!" She says with a laugh.
"Sorry. I promise, I'll tell you the truth of it all when I'm ready."
YOU ARE READING
Summer of '07
Romance[boyxboy] Travis Tucker, a paralegal who is unsatisfied with his life, is reunited with his former best friend from high school, Elijah Radford, after having not spoken to him in twelve years following an incident that occurred between the pair duri...
