I wake up curled on my side with a stiff shoulder and a dry mouth. I take a long drink from the lukewarm Dasani bottle on my bedside and look out the window like one of those foreign film characters.
Twenty.
Ellis texts me happy birthday, and to remind me of breakfast. Gabriel leaves about twenty messages, each with only one letter: H A P P Y / B I R T H D A Y / K A T / Y O U R E / G R E A T / I / L O V E / Y O U / M O R E / T H A N / I / L O V E / C A M ;) O K A Y / M A Y B E / T H E / S A ME / S E E / Y A
I dress, leggings and my favourite oversized sweater, and call Cam on my way out the door.
He answers on the third ring, "Happy birthday, baby."
"Hi," I step into the empty elevator and lean against the wall. I already feel drained of the day. I already miss him.
"Gabriel has your present. He's waiting outside of Howe."
"You gave your brother my birthday present."
"Uh-huh. Where are you?"
"I'm in the elevator. Ellis and I are meeting for breakfast."
Ellis is waiting outside the building with a blue cupcake that has my name on it.
"Ellis gave me a cupcake," I tell him.
"Oops, I have to go. Have a great day, Katherine."
Then he's gone. Gone again.
We walk across the campus in the sunshine. It feels mocking; the sun blazing down upon us without the wisp of a cloud, the perfect autumn leaves rustling in the trees, not quite ready to fall.
"So, we're meeting your friend Gabriel? Cam's brother?"
"Uh-huh."
"Cambriel and Gabriel. What are their parents like?"
"Amazing." I reply, distractedly. Gabriel stands outside of Howe Hall, talking to...talking to...
A tall lanky guy with a duffle bag over his shoulder and my favorite smile.
YOU ARE READING
Conversations From Afar
Short StorySEQUEL TO BALCONIAL CONVERSATIONS | In which Katherine and Cambriel suffer the ups and downs of a long distance relationship | Wattys 2016 | cover by the fabulous @kdkellow
