The next day Jamie calls Alexandria over.
It doesn’t take her long and she tackles him when he answers the door. Her hug squeezes his ribs too tight, but he holds on and tries not to cry. Her face is buried in his hair and her voice shakes like she’s crying. “I’ve missed you so much,” she says. “So, so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” Jamie says, closing his eyes so the tears don’t spill over.
They don’t do much except lounge around and talk. Mostly he tells her things about Solstice, and after awhile they decide to walk around the neighborhood. It’s when Alexandria brings up school that a particular person pops into Jamie’s mind.
“Has Jean asked about me?” He hates the question. It makes him sound like one of those lovesick couples. But at the same time, it’s exactly how he feels, and there’s a desperation in him to know if Jean even cares about him anymore.
Alexandria kicks at a pebble, taking her time to answer., “You know what would be a great idea? If you go see him. Talk to him. I can’t force you to, but you should.”
She sighs when Jamie scowls at her, and slings her arm around his shoulders. “Or if he knew you were home, he’d come see you. I could tell him if you want,” she offers.
It only takes a second for him to make up his mind.
“No, I can do it.”
******
It’s midnight when he finally decides to call, because he was scared at the other times and kept pushing it back. But what if Jean’s sleeping already? Jamie should just wait till tomorrow, or next month might be good. If he’s lucky, the phone will keep ringing and then go to voice mail and---
“Jamie?” Jean doesn’t sound tired at all. His voice is alert, like he was waiting for the call. Jamie has a suspicion Alexandria alerted him. “Are you home?”
“Yeah. Hey, um . . . how are you?” Jamie slowly paces his room, meddling with random things, and making odd gestures with his free hand. It shouldn’t feel this awkward. He doesn’t know what to say.
“I’m fine.” The silence on Jean’s end drags on. Jamie bites his lip and tugs at his shirt uncomfortably.
“I need to talk to you. Are you busy tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s good. I get off work at 4,” Jean answers. He sounds so calm compared to Jamie, and Jamie wonders if maybe if it’s because Jean forcing himself to be. “We can go to my house. I’ll come get you, if you want.”
“Sure.” There are many other things Jamie wants to say, but can’t force out. “I’m sorry. Good night.” He doesn’t hear what else Jean has to say, because Jamie hangs up immediately. He falls backwards onto his bed and groans at how light-headed he feels. He realizes it’s because he barely breathed throughout the entire conversation.
YOU ARE READING
Psyche
Fiksi RemajaJamie's other name might as well have been Silent. He went to school, visited his therapist, daydreamed about Jean Paul, and tried to never be alone when his aunt's boyfriend was in the house. He kept to himself. He was fine with that pattern till A...
