Same Time Next Year

Chapter 19 - Year 4

Noah

I shake some of the water out of my hair and dry off the rest of my body while listening to Elle in the shower.  I can't quite make out the song she is singing.  I can't believe Elle and I just skinny dipped in the pool.  I almost feel like a need to pinch myself to make sure this is all really happening. Other than her Dad's wedding, we hadn't seen each other in almost a year. Then, one dinner together and here we are. It's like we're made for each other, drawn together and neither one of us can stay away.

After all Elle and I have been through these last few years, this is starting out to be a dream weekend. And it's still so early in the weekend, we have plenty of time to get our shit worked out before the weekend is over.  Although I don't want to get my hopes up, as hard as it is for me and Elle to keep our hands off each other, we seem to have just as hard of a time keeping things together.

I heard a phone buzz on the dresser next to me and glanced down to look at the screen, before realizing it was Elle's phone buzzing, not mine. When I saw the text was from Lee, I wrapped the towel around my waist, and I picked up the phone to read Lee's text. I wasn't trying to be nosy, I was only thinking I might mess with him a bit.

Lee 2.0 - Are you being good this weekend?

Hmm, does he know what Elle is up to this weekend? Did she finally tell him about us?  I thought about sending a snarky comment back to Lee but I wasn't 100% sure if he knew Elle and I were here together. He seemed to know enough at the wedding that I thought Elle may have finally filled him in on our weekends at the beach house but I couldn't be sure.  Not wanting to be stalkerish, I started to set her phone back down where I found it but once the question started floating through my head, I couldn't stop myself.  Afterall, that had been our downfall with our last break-up, at least on my end.  The thought that Elle couldn't even tell Lee what she was doing with me made me realize that her feelings for me must not have been on the same level as mine for her.  I wanted to tell anyone who would listen how I felt about her and she didn't even want to tell her best friend.  So, instead of doing the smart thing and putting Elle's phone back on the table, I went ahead and unlocked her phone. I was only planning to look back at their last few texts to see if I could tell what Elle had told Lee about this weekend, after all.  I knew I shouldn't invade Elle's privacy but my thoughts were spiraling now, and I couldn't stop myself.

Lee and Elle had been using the same passcode since they first got phones – 35533 for the combination of their names "Ellee". I guess they thought it was funny when they were twelve but I have no idea why neither of them have realized that they should change it by now.

I forgot all about the younger versions of Lee and Elle though, as I started scrolling back through these texts. These were definitely not with my brother.  The texts I've read so far have been flirtatious, not like Lee and Elle at all.  That's when I noticed the contact name was actually Lee 2.0.  I hadn't noticed that when I originally saw the text come through. I scroll way back in the texts, knowing these could go back forever, Elle never deletes anything on her phone.

I'm not even sure how far back I've gone when I finally see Elle addressing him by name in a text she sent.  Chase.  The fucking barista? Why does this guy keep popping up? And why is he flirting with Elle? That's when I read something that completely took me off guard.  I pause and read it again. That one doesn't sound like something you would send to a friend. It was something you would send to someone you knew intimately. Reading more, there's a strange familiarity between them in these texts. As if he knows her like I know her. I'm almost positive that they're having sex or at least have had sex. I can feel my body tense up, my hand making a fist. That familiar feeling of my body bracing for a fight even though I haven't been in one in years. I can't remember the last time I felt this amount of jealousy and I'm surprised by it.