Waiting On a Text

Things We Don't Say

It became normal before Zuri realized it had.

Toby knew when she had an 8 a.m. class. He knew which lecturer she complained about the most. He knew she hated being called on when she hadn't volunteered an answer. He knew that if she said "I'm fine" twice in the same conversation, she probably wasn't.

Zuri knew his internship schedule almost as well. Which days his manager liked to schedule unnecessary meetings. That he hated Lagos traffic but somehow still underestimated it every single morning that he took his lunch too late whenever work got busy.

Neither of them had sat down and told the other any of this. It had just accumulated.

One Thursday morning, Zuri was rushing to class when her phone buzzed.

Toby: have you left?

She looked at the time. 7:48.

Zuri: yes

Toby: you're lying

She stopped walking. Zuri: excuse me?

Toby: if you've left, why are you replying this fast?

Zuri: maybe I'm walking fast

Toby: you're probably still looking for your shoes or ID card

She looked down. She was wearing slippers. Her shoes were in her hand.

She laughed despite herself.

Zuri: mind your business you wizard

Toby: exactly what I thought

She slipped the shoes on properly as she walked, earning a confused look from a girl coming the opposite way. She didn't bother explaining.

That afternoon, she sent him a picture of the food she'd bought from the cafeteria.

Zuri: look at what I was served

Toby: that's not food

Zuri: exactly

Toby: why did you buy it?

Zuri: I was hungry, and it was the closest option because I still have classes till 5 pm

Toby: you people in school have suffered

Zuri: you people?

Toby: yes you students

Zuri: you're not a student again?

Toby: unfortunately I'm now a responsible working adult

Zuri: since when?

Toby: since I started waking up at 4

Zuri: waking up early doesn't make you responsible

Toby: you're just jealous because my alarm respects me

She laughed at that, shaking her head as she put her phone away.

That night, they stayed on call longer than usual — not because either of them had anything particularly important to say. Toby was in his room, tired from work. Zuri was sitting cross-legged on her bed with an assignment open in front of her, staring at the same question she'd been staring at for the past ten minutes.

"This thing doesn't make sense," she complained.

"What thing?"

"This assignment."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Everything."

He laughed. "That's not very specific."

"I don't understand what they want from me."

"Did you read the question?"

She gave him a look even though he couldn't see it. "Obviously."

"And?"

"I still don't understand it."

"Send it to me let me see."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I'm taking a break."

"From what?"

"From suffering."

He laughed. "You're actually not serious."

"I am. I've been looking at this thing for too long."

"So you're giving up?"

"I'm resting."

"Same thing."

"It's not."

There was a short pause. "Switch to video."

Zuri frowned. "Why?"

"Let me see your so-called break."

"No."

"Exactly."

She laughed. "You're annoying."

"Switch."

"I don't want to."

"Then at least stop pretending you're studying."

She looked down at the assignment again. "I'm actually not pretending."

"You've been complaining about that question for fifteen minutes."

"Because it's annoying."

"Then take your break."

"I am."

"Good."

"Good."

Neither of them hung up. A few minutes passed.

"Are you still looking at it?" he asked.

"No."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"So you're just sitting there?"

"Yes."

"Productive."

"Very."

The conversation eventually drifted somewhere else, as it usually did. Classes. His manager. Something ridiculous had happened in the office. Something Daisy had said earlier that day.

At some point, Zuri stopped noticing the time.

There were things she'd started noticing about calls with him lately — the way silence didn't feel like something she had to rush to fix anymore, the way she didn't have to rehearse her answers before speaking, the way he'd say something completely ordinary, and she'd find herself remembering it hours later for no clear reason. She wasn't sure when exactly that had started. Maybe it had been happening for longer than she'd noticed.