𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄 ↠ 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

chapter 6: i promise

"Our sorrows and wounds are only healed when we touch them with compassion" - Buddha

☆☆☆☆
Song for chapter:

Coldplay - Midnight

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THAT night, I laid awake in bed and couldn't sleep. And this time, it wasn't from a bad reason. Austin's reassurance helped me the most. I can't help but wonder why he stuck with me. I know I'm not the nicest person, but that didn't stop him.

He's annoying, irritating, persistent, caring, and just overwhelmingly sarcastic. Why the hell does he want to help me anyway? I wonder if I didn't stop him that one day on the railing, if that would have changed everything. He wasn't gonna jump, but he still would have to sit in front of me in English class. Would he have still spoken to me? If he did, I would have said the same thing I said to Emily. The basic notion of I don't need friends.

I rub my temple, squeezing my eyes shut. I need some kind of sleep. It's Sunday and I'm thankful that I don't have to wake up early for school. I turn over in my bed and review all the thoughts in my head like a crime scene investigator with the evidence. I've come to a conclusion about Austin.

I don't exactly hate him.

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Sunday night, I do something out of the ordinary. I text Austin. I bite down on my fingernail, wondering why I'm even reaching out to him. My phone lights up quickly, a text message from him appearing on the screen.

Austin: About time Skylar. I was starting to think you deleted my number when you got in the car with your mom.

Me: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm already rolling my eyes at his comments.

Austin: How are you doing?

Me: Fine, I guess.

He didn't respond back. When exactly a minute passes, my phone rang. It was him. I slide over the green icon on my phone.

"Texting me wasn't enough?" I joke.

"It didn't satisfy my needs," he says simply. "And you said you were fine."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I repeated. "What else do you want to hear?"

"That's not satisfying my needs. I want to hear the words great, awesome, spectacular, amazing. Not fine. And on top of that, you texted "I guess"."

"Those were not my exact words."

"Close enough."

"If you're going to judge the way I answer questions, I can hang up the phone."

"Nnnnnno, no, no, no, no. Don't do that." I hear him flop down on something. I imagine his bed. "Tell me something poetic. Keep talkin' to me."

"Really?" I ask incredulously.

"Satisfy my needs, Skylar," he says, sensing the smirk he has on his face over the phone.

"Umm, okay." I lay down on my side on my bed. "Okay, I have a quote for you. This one is by Mark Twain. "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out why.""