Loose Ends - Book One

Ana ~ She's Busy

"Hey."

"Hey?!" I stare at the screen in disbelief. He's alive, and another message comes through.

"We need to talk."

Oh, now you want to talk. I won't pretend I haven't been waiting for this moment, but now I don't want to give him the instant satisfaction of replying right away. I could ignore him.

Or I could be messy.

"And whose this?" I text him back.

"C'mon, Ana."

I'm just getting started, sport. I calmly type out my next response:

"She's busy."

I've never seen a response come back through so fast:

"The hell she is. Who the fuck is this?"

"I asked you first, sport. Don't worry about her." Now I'm having fun. Playing with fire? Maybe. But so is he.

Levi's responses start coming through in short, agitated, demanding texts:

"Is this a fucking joke?"

"Ana, I swear if you're fucking with me."

"Ana, do not make me come over there. Who is with you?"

"Answer me."

"Answer me, damn it, Ana."

I'm only able to ghost him for a few minutes before I give in:

"What?"

"What the fuck just happened? Who are you with?"

"Don't worry about it. What do you want?" I continue to tease him, satisfied from the torture I'm putting him through.

"Are you with James?"

My eyes widen. Does he know we ran into each other?

"Why?"

"For fuck's sake, are you with him or not, Ana?!"

"No! Why?!" Our argument almost feels like we're in person.

"You better not be lying to me. You need to stay away from him, Ana."

"What?!" I yell to myself and slam my fist on my pillow. Am I reading him right? Is he trying to control who I talk to, now? After going ghost for no reason?

"Are you kidding??"

"No, I'm not. I'm serious and you need to listen to me."

And now, there's no more typing for me. That's it. He's gonna see my face whether he wants to or not.

I shove my bedroom door open, keys in my hand, and storm through the house. My mother, still on the phone, shoots me a concerned look when she sees me stomping off. She knew better than to try and stop me, though. Nothing stops me when I'm upset.

                                                            ***

I bang relentlessly on Levi's front door, and I don't stop until I see the doorknob turning.

As soon as his stupid, perfect face is revealed, I throw my hands against his chest and shove him back. He stumbles and damn near falls, which surprises me, but not enough to deviate from the elephant in the room.

"Fuck you!" I scream, storming inside, forgetting about the door.

He rubs his eyes and regains his balance. He appears tipsy. "Ana—"