Kiss Me Goodnight

Chapter 8

Friday, December 15th (Continued)

"We should go to the library." Alex pokes Tobin's cheek. Tobin's been sitting next to her zoned out for a couple of minutes.

"Oh?" Tobin shifts her gaze to Alex.

"I think some of your books are overdue." Tobin looks at some of the books sitting on the coffee table. Alex is probably right.

"So, we should walk to the library." Alex smiles at the way Tobin's barely following such a simple conversation. She's so out of it. "You're a lit major, overdue books should be a penalty against you or something."

Tobin smiles at the joke.

Then her phone starts ringing. She doesn't even know where her phone is. She hasn't touched it in awhile. Alex looks around the room for it too, but the sound is muffled and they're both up and flipping things over.

"Got it!" Alex found the phone stuffed between the couch cushions. She tosses it to Tobin and plops herself back down on the couch. Tobin missed the call, but when she sees that it was from Ali, she contemplates whether or not to call back right now. A few moments later and Alex is just laying on the couch doing nothing Tobin decides she probably should. She knew Ali would be calling today and she doesn't want to worry the other girl anymore.

Tobin waits for the call to go through and she hears that soft mumbling voice after the second ring. "Hi." Tobin says it back.

"How are you?"

"Mmm." Tobin just hums into the phone in response. Ali knows today is not the best day.

"I'm back home now." And Tobin knows that that's still Ali's home. New Jersey is still that place for her, but it's not Tobins. Tobin doesn't really have a home right now.

Ali takes Tobin's lack of a response as a cue to keep talking. "I stopped by to see your mom. The first time in awhile because I left for Stanford and all." And Tobin just sort of forgets to breathe for a second because Ali went to go see her freaking mother and Tobin desperately wants to ask how it went.

Alex motions for Tobin's attention. When she gets it she just points towards a different direction. Alex doesn't think she's supposed to be a bystander of whatever conversation is going on between Tobin and whoever's on the phone. So she leaves to give Tobin a bit of privacy.

"I asked her why she's been calling. And she couldn't give me a straight answer, but Tobin, she's been going back to church." Ali's voice is surprised. Even Tobin can tell that much.

"Oh."

"I asked her to stop calling you. Or at least to wait till you call her because I don't like what she did to you Tobin. You deserved better than that." Ali's being her protective self. The same one that sheltered her through that last year she was home, or tried to anyways. Tobin appreciates it, though she doesn't like being taken care of.

"Thank you." Tobin means it.

"How are you doing today?"

Tobin contemplates answering that. Ali's this person. This person that she doesn't really need to explain things to. Ali was there. And maybe that's a lot easier to do. She can't help but think about the way she left. It was unfair to Ali, the way she walked out just like he did. Without a single clue though, at least her father left her a letter. But yeah, Ali was there, and Ali never really lost her trust, more like Tobin feels like she owes it to Ali.

But three years alone makes it so hard.

And why is it that lately she things have been happening like this? She's literally being pulled out of her solitude.