———Ben———
Monday, May 27th, 2019
Me: I'm home now. I really had fun tonight. We should do another movie night soon. : )
Me: Good night, sweet dreams, Anthony
Me: Good morning
Me: Are you and James coming to training today?
Me: Val and I are still going to get lunch if you want to join us...
—————
Tuesday, May, 28th, 2019
Me: Um, is everything ok?
Me: I didn't do anything to upset you, did I?
"Val, I think something is wrong," I said from my beanbag chair. "James and Anthony didn't show up to training yesterday, and Anthony hasn't replied to any of my messages since Sunday night." Val was sitting on the couch, frowning in concentration at her drawing tablet.
"It could just be that he is caught up with something. Or he could be still asleep," she mused without looking up.
"Val, it's like 3 pm," I countered with a frown.
"He's a college student in the summer. That wouldn't be the craziest thing in the world," she reasoned.
"It's not normal for him. He always texts me by like nine at the latest," I said. "And he has never just outright ignored my messages before."
"Maybe he's doing something urgent for Darius," Val said. "I'm sure he'll text you soon." Val smiled at me, but it was obvious, to me at least, that she wasn't sure of that.
Anthony didn't reply soon. Or that day at all. At first, I thought it was in my head that I was overthinking things, but neither Anthony nor James showed up for the morning training on Wednesday, and Kat said she hadn't heard from Anthony since Friday. We went back to my place since Kat had plans with Darius, and Anthony and James were both MIA.
"Have you tried texting James?" Val suggested with a sympathetic look. I started to protest, then stopped myself as I opened my messages to Anthony, which were still unread. I sighed fretfully and went to my contacts to find James.
Me: Hey
Me: Um
Me: Are you and Anthony ok?
Me: Y'all weren't at training yesterday...
Me: And he hasn't responded to any of my messages... I'm getting kind of worried.
I felt a flurry of nerves as I sent the last message. Even though it was just James, I didn't want to seem desperate or clingy or... I jumped as my phone buzzed.
James: Yeah... He's kind of sick. He's asleep right now. I'll tell him to check in with you when he's up.
Me: Oh. : (
Me: Don't worry about it, he should rest
Me: Let me know if you guys need me to bring anything over
James: How dutiful of you ; )
James: I'll let you know, though, Loverboy. Thanks
YOU ARE READING
Lost in Translation
Hombres LoboBen is a 22-year-old with anxiety issues and no idea what he wants to do with his life. Anthony is a college junior who knows exactly what he wants: to socialize with as few people as possible for the rest of *his* life. Ben wasn't looking for a ma...
