may shatter on impact (tronnor)

60. Stolen Phones & Calls Left Unanswered

"Mellet!" Adam yells as I walk across the cafeteria. "You seen that newspaper article yet?"

"Ignore him," Zoe mutters as the two of us sit down at the empty lunch table, everyone else being busy finishing their math tests.

"You really speak your mind in that article, don't you? It's not hard to just get over something, huh? Aren't you still not over it? Bit hypocritical, don't you think?" He drops a copy of the Boston Globe - how he got it, I have no idea - next to me and sits down. I can feel his breath on my face as he speaks. "What do all your friends think, Troye? I bet they aren't as over it as they seem - "

"Shut it, Adam," Zoe says, taking my arm and dragging me to another table, where we sit next to Pj, Clara, and Mitchell Davis. "Mind if we sit here? 'Course you don't. Okay, Troye, sit, don't think about him." I nod, copying her elegant movements.

"Mellet," Adam sings, standing behind me. I don't turn around. "You know, you left your phone in Spanish, and so I, uh, well, I took the liberty of taking it."

I swallow, spinning around. "G-give it back."

"Before, I do, I have a few...questions. Consider it a way out of incorrect rumours - just so I know my facts are correct before I spread them around the school."

"Give it."

He holds up a finger and raises and eyebrow. "Ah, ah, ah, I don't think I will. First of all, you called 'Ty' fourteen times within the last twenty-four hours. Who could that be, Troye?"

"Give me the phone."

"Just a moment, Troye!" He pulls the phone just out of my reach as I stand up. "And who's Leah Hopkins?"

"Give him the phone, Adam," Zoe hisses, standing up next to me, strong next to my frail frame and shaking hands.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, as soon as he explains why he's called both Leah and someone named Blessing a combined twenty times within the last week."

"GIVE ME THE PHONE."

"Who's Jackie?" he asks, dancing away from my hands. "And why is Mia mad at you? Oooh it's because of the article - "

"ADAM."

"No, no, Troye, this is important! I know who these people are, and dude, it's time to get over yourself and stop calling dead people."

Zoe turns to me, frowning. "What's he talking about?"

I can feel my face heating up, my heart stopping, and the noise of the cafeteria becoming too loud. "I - please - " My voice is broken, the words coming out disjointed and confused, pleading, begging. "Just - just give me the phone."

He watches me, the phone just out of my reach, but I'm not even trying anymore. My hands hang lowly by my side, my eyes cast downward. As the air is frozen alongside my heart, I can feel the cool plastic case of my phone pressed into my hand, Zoe staring at me softly, Adam's footsteps like rocks bouncing across concrete as he walked away from me, the rest of the cafeteria in silence that has to be only in my mind as the door swings closed behind him.