WAITING FOR HIM

Chapter 1

Four Years Later

I stumbled out of the car in a hurry as I glanced down at my watch.

"Crap! Phil I'm going to be late again!", I yelled back to my friend as I started running towards the school entrance.

"Well its not my fault you take forever to get ready in the morning!", Phil yelled back as he also started to run.

"It's my stupid alarm I swear. And I don't take that much time!", I huffed as we finally reached the double doors leading to the main campus foyer that was bustling with students making their way to first period classes.

"Right. It only takes me 5 minutes to get ready, compared to your hour. Phil rolled his eyes as we started a fast paced walk down the right hallway.

"Pft. That's because you're a guy P", I grinned up at him and reached my hand to lightly smack his head.

"Yeah ok. Whatever you say kid", he caught my hand and started swinging it back and forth as we speedily walked down the hallway. We passed by a couple students I recognized from my statistics class, and noticing our linked hands they laughed as they waved at me. I grinned, shaking my head. Phil was only two years older than me, but insisted on calling me kid, partly out of affection and partly because he knew how much it annoyed me. We had met in economics class two years ago, when I had started my first year of university. I had accidentally tripped over a desk stool straight into his lap, and that had been the beginning of our close yet weird friendship.

As we finally reached the door leading into my economics class, I glanced down at my watch and was surprised that I still had ten minutes to spare. Grinning, I reached my hand up to high five Phil's.

"We made it!", I adjusted my school bag on my shoulders. "Thanks for walking me Phil."

"No problem Ells!", he smiled down at me.

I froze at the familiar nick name. Phil rarely called me by it, however in those rare times that he did, I couldn't help but think of the only other boy who ever used it.

I miss him.

Phil noticed my change of expression and immediately his grin dropped, being replaced by a sympathetic one.

"Sorry kid. I forget how much that reminds you of him. But say, speaking of which, isn't he coming back to Toronto this year?" Phil looked down at me from his 6-foot height inquisitively.

Sighing, I glanced down at my sneakers, suddenly not wanting to bring up the subject. "I'm actually not sure P. The last time we spoke was two years ago, when I called to wish him a happy birthday. And even then, it was as if I was speaking to a stranger." My heart hurt at the memory.

He picked up on the fourth ring. "Hello?", his voice sounded just as I remembered it. I had missed it.

"Jay, its me."

"Elena?"