LOVELORNED CHAPTER TEN
452 Words
LOVELORNED
Chapter 10: The Call
The call came at 7:03 PM.
Exactly.
I was on my bed. Lily’s journal in my lap.
Kayla was blasting music down the hall to “give me privacy.”
I answered on the second ring.
“Hey,” Caleb said.
“Hey.”
Silence.
But not awkward.
The comfortable kind. Like we used to have at the curb.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“People kept staring in class,” I said. “Thanks to you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I found something today,” he said. “In my old stuff.
A video. From Lily’s 16th birthday.
You’re in it. You’re stealing cake and blaming it on me.”
My chest hurt. Good hurt.
“Send it to me?”
“Only if you send me one too,” he said. “Fair trade.”
We talked for 2 hours.
About Lily. About stupid classes. About the book he wrote and the parts that were real.
He didn’t ask for anything.
Didn’t push.
Just… talked.
Like we were 17 again. But better.
“Can I ask you something?” he said near the end.
“Yeah.”
“Do you hate me? For leaving. For not telling you sooner.”
I thought about it.
About 4 years of anger.
About the photo. About the journal.
“No,” I said. “I did. But I don’t now.”
A shaky breath on his end.
“Good,” he said. “Because I don’t think I could survive it if you did.”
We hung up with a promise.
Coffee. Friday. No cameras. No Addison.
Just us.
I fell asleep with my phone on my chest.
The next morning I woke up to 40 notifications.
Caleb’s post had 2 million views.
#LOVELORNED was trending.
And the top comment:
“The girl is @maya.j_03 from UIC. She’s in my econ class.”
My name.
My school.
I scrolled.
Someone posted my old photo. Age 16. With Lily.
Someone found my f*******:.
And one DM. From Addison.
“You think you won? He’s using you for PR.
Wait till he gets bored and leaves you at another pier.”
I threw my phone.
Kayla ran in. “What happened?”
I showed her.
Her face went hard.
“We’re calling campus security. And we’re calling him.”
I picked up my phone.
Called Caleb.
Straight to voicemail.
Texted: “Are you okay?”
No answer.
30 minutes later, his publicist posted:
“Caleb Reed will be taking a break from social media due to personal matters. Thank you for respecting his privacy.”
He disappeared.
Again.
TO BE CONTINUED... Chapter 11: Gone Again
- Writer
