Things We Know

A Man With Few Words

My head hurts
it's three in the morning
I could barely open my eyes
Monica was still on the other side of the line

"Just say it"

Monica's voice was still fine
She's a night owl
and a very annoying one

"I'm hanging up"

I was serious
This was going nowhere
we have classes tomor-
I mean, later

"Look, we've been talking on the phone for six hours now. I probably deprived you of your sleep. And I know we have classes later. Just say it, and I'll be the first one to hang up. Promise" Monica said pleadingly

"Then I'll say it to you later" I told her, hoping she would just meet me after Spanish class

"No" Her tone changed. "I want to hear it now"

Persistence
What did I do to deserve this?

"Fine"

I felt uncomfortable
I took a few deep breaths
This is quite hard
After a moment or two, I finally got the strength to say it

"I love you"

There
Gosh
I felt embarrassed
My chest is tightening
Not that I'm overthinking, but..
Did I say it properly?
I tend to curl my tongue whenever I get nervous
Did she even heard it?
I know my voice sounds scruffy at night
I AM tired, after all
I mean
Who stays up this late to talk to a girl?Why am I even doing this?
Why is my hand shaking
Gosh I can't feel my lips
Am I overthinking?
I hope not
No response yet
What the heck -
Did she fell asleep?
I know I would
considering how LONG IT IS FOR HER TO REPLY
C'mon
where's your phone etiquette? 
yeah, be like that
I don't care
See you tomorrow -
Ugh!
I mean later
You know what
I'm not even going to talk to you
Yeah
Right after class, you'll be like 'Hey, Jeff, what's up'
And I'll be like 'Oh, not much. Did you know that the second -'
Wait -
No!
Stop it, Jeff!
Don't talk to her
Ignore her
She'll probably get all teary-eyed and'll start crying
The next  thing you know, she'll be lying on the ground
begging for you to talk to her and wondering why you're not 
Yeah, that's good
And you, Jeff, will just lift your chin up and walk away
Walk-a-way
You're just gonna walk the walk and no talk
Not minding everything around you
Just letting you legs go Stayin' Alive on the hallway
And, after that, you're gonna -

*Giggles*

You're gonna -

"I love you too. Goodnight. I mean, good morning. See you later, Jeff" She said. It sounded like her mouth was very near the phone. She hangs up

You're gonna -

"Monica? Oh -" I said nervously. I hung up after

You're gonna -

Eyes wide open. The pillow, my head's been resting on, felt more comfortable than before. It was warmer than usual, just at the right temperature. And I still have, more or less, 3 hours left before my alarm goes off. Jeff, you can now sleep. And, tomor - I mean later, You're gonna -

"I'm gonna be okay" I whispered to myself, as I slowly...close...my...eyes

My head still hurts