12
648 Words
Ailith stared at her phone, her cheeks burning.
She had been cool, composed, witty—or at least, she thought she had been. But then Tavian went and called her adorable.
Adorable.
She buried her face into her pillow. What the hell was that?!
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Ailith: I am NOT adorable.
She deleted it. Too defensive.
Ailith: You wish-
Delete
No. Too flirty.
Ailith: Stop talking-
Delete
Ugh. Too rude.
She groaned, dropping her phone on her bed. He was getting to her, and he knew it.
Finally, after five minutes of overthinking, she typed:
Ailith: Go to sleep, Gomez. You need to rest if you don’t wanna embarrass yourself at the game.
And hit send.
Almost immediately, she saw the typing bubble appear.
Oh no. What was he going to say now?
Tavian leaned back against his pillows, a satisfied smirk on his lips as he read Ailith’s message.
She was flustered. He could tell.
Tavian: Worried about me? Cute.
A few seconds passed.
No reply.
He chuckled to himself. Did she just throw her phone across the room in frustration?
He was about to send another teasing text when—
Knock, knock.
“Yo, Tavian.”
His sister’s voice came through the door.
Sighing, he put his phone down and walked over, opening it to see Leila standing there in an oversized sweater, arms crossed.
She raised an eyebrow. “You look… suspiciously happy. Who were you texting?”
Tavian rolled his eyes. “No one.”
“Liar.”
Tavian stepped aside, letting her in. She flopped onto his bed, stealing one of his pillows.
Leila sighed dramatically. “Ugh, I swear, men are the worst.”
Tavian smirked. Here we go.
“You’re here because of a fight, huh?”
Leila avoided his gaze. “What? No. I just… missed home.”
Tavian gave her a knowing look. “Right. Totally not because you and your husband fought. Again.”
Leila glared at him. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
Tavian shrugged. “Okay. Then what do you wanna talk about?”
Leila hesitated, then eyed him suspiciously. “Actually, let’s talk about you. Who was that girl?”
Tavian sighed. “Drop it, Leila.”
“Oh my God. You like someone.”
“Good night, Leila.”
“I KNEW IT!”
Tavian pushed her off the bed. “Out.”
Leila laughed as she landed on the floor. “Fine, fine. But I’m watching you.”
As she walked out, Tavian shut the door behind her.
Shaking his head, he went back to his phone.
No new messages.
Ailith still hadn’t replied.
Tavian frowned.
Did she fall asleep?
He typed:
Tavian: Don’t tell me you fell asleep before replying? Rude.
No response.
Yeah. She was out.
Tavian sighed, running a hand through his hair. She said she wasn’t adorable, but she totally was.
He put his phone on his nightstand, turned off the lights, and fell asleep with a smirk still on his lips.
The next morning, Ailith stared at her phone screen like it was a life-or-death decision.
She had avoided responding all night, but now she had no choice.
Tavian had asked her before—
"Are you coming to watch me play?"
And she hadn’t answered.
Now, she had to.
She typed:
Ailith: Of course, I’ll be there!
…Then erased it. Too eager.
Ailith: I’ll think about it.
No. She had already kept him waiting. Too indecisive.
Ailith: I’ll drop by if I have time.
Ugh. Too casual.
She exhaled, gripping her phone.
Finally, she typed out the truth and hit send before she could change her mind again.
Ailith: I’ll go see you play.
And before she could sit there overanalyzing his potential response—
She turned off her phone and went on her day.
Some battles, she had to retreat from.
- Writer
