Text Messages

1.3

• J U L I E  A B E L •

"Matthew."

"Matthew."

"What?" Matthew asked, snapping back from his day dream, his eyes landing on Julie who was sat in the passenger seat of his car, dressed in her normal crop top and high waisted jeans.

"I was asking if you're ready." Julie laughed. It was finally the big day. The day in which Matthew would finally meet the boy Julie has been talking about for the past two months. It was finally the time for Matthew to meet him face to face, despite the numerous photos Julie had shown him.

Matthew paused for a while, staring at the neon lights illuminating the words Lola's Diner which was evident from where they sat in the dark, almost empty parking lot.

Julie groaned at the sight. "You're doing it again, Matthew."

He turned his head towards her, glancing at her with curiosity. "Doing what again?"

"You're daydreaming again." Julie stated, ruffling his already messy hair. "Can you please just tell me if you're ready or not so we can get out of this car? Its getting hot here."

Matthew sat still for awhile. Julie didn't know why, but tonight Matthew was more...distant. Almost as though he was second thinking something. "Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Matthew said to Julie as he exited his car, pocketing his car keys as well as his phone.

Julie rolled her eyes at Matthew, leaving his car and shutting the door behind her. "You're definitely a strange being, Matthew."

Matthew only chuckled, maintaing the silence they had as they walked towards the diner, crisp blows of evening wind constantly hitting softly against their skin.

"Okay I think he'll be here in a minute."  Julie said as they entered the diner, immediately taking a seat in a near by table.

"If I can't trust him to be punctual in our first meeting how can I trust him with my best friend?" Matthew said jokingly as he grabbed a hold of the menu.

"You talk like you've never been late in your life." Julie scoffed plucking out the menu from Matthew's hands since the lady only placed one menu in their table.

"A burger and strawberry milkshake sounds so good right now." Julie said staring at the item on the menu.

"Thats all you eat." Matthew laughed, but his laughter died down. It was strange.

Julie noticed Matthew's behavior. "Matthew whats wrong?" She asked, laying the menu she was holding flat on the table. "You've been acting strange since we got here."

Matthew sighed. "No its just-" He paused for a second, the dozenth time he's done this. "I-" Matthew looked confused, parting his lips slightly, but no words came out.

"Look Ive just been getting this weird feeling lately." Matthew stated after his short pause. "Its been driving me crazy for months now and I have no idea why  I even have this feeling."

Julie blinked at Matthew. "What kind of feeling is it?" She asked him. She knew it was probably because of the girl he's been talking to. His feelings constantly revolved around her ever since he met her. And in some ways, hers did to. But not in a good way. "Why is it bothering you?" She asked once again.

"I really cant describe it." Matthew sighed once more. "Anyway, it's nothing for you to be worried about. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually" The sad gleam in his eye was replaced by the small wrinkle underneath it, as the dimple on his cheek became evident, and a friendly smile appeared on his lips.

Julie knew better than to believe Matthew. She has always known that somehow, Matthew was breaking. She just never knew how to approach Matthew about it.

She parted her lips, the same way Matthew did, ready to let go of a few words she's been needing to ask him, but just as the words were about to fall off her tongue, the sound of the bell above the entrance rung, causing both Matthew and Julie to turn their head to the direction it was from to see none other than Noah, more glorious than ever, as his eyes already locked with Julie's.

"Hey" Noah smiled to both Julie and Matthew, as he kissed the top of Julie's head and sat next to her.

Julie's eyes glanced at Matthew, who returned Noah's smile, despite looking tired, and somewhat duller than before.

"I'm guessing you're Noah." Matthew said, sitting up from his slouched position.

"and I'm guessing you're Matthew." Noah gleamed, his toothy grin very much evident as he wrapped an arm around Julie, bringing her closer to him before adding "My girl talks nonstop about you, you know. It's not surprising though since I know you guys have been friends for quite a while now." He laughed.

my girl. Julie repeated it in her head.

Noah has never called her that. Usually his pet names would include normal things such as babe or baby but something about my girl was different. It was possessive. It added some form of ownership, like somehow they were official. which they weren't, since they never actually talked about it.

my girl. She repeated it once more in her head.

Noah continued to speak more, keeping the conversation going, as Julie's eyes were on Noah the whole time, drowning out the words he was saying, before she noticed Matthew, who was seated directly in front of her, talking and smiling back at Noah. It almost looked perfect. But Julie knew it wasn't, yet, she just didn't know what it was.