Big Girl Boots

Nineteen

The next morning I woke up feeling just as bad, if not worse, than I had before falling into a fitful sleep. To say I was suddenly stressed out about Wyatt and Coda's relationship, or whatever she wanted to call it, was a serious understatement. I had always despised being the person caught in the middle of problems. In my mind, growing a pair and talking out a problem, no matter how much venom you spit, was the ultimate solution. Coda just didn't work like that and it was driving me crazy to think about the torture Wyatt didn't even know he was being put through.

Every memory from the night before had hit me full force the second I opened my eyes. They felt gritty from lack of sleep and I was almost certain they'd be as bloodshot as a hippie's after a night in the clouds.

Out of the corner of one red eye I could see the green LED notification light blinking on my phone. It taunted me, flashing on and back off with the reminder that I should have just told Wyatt myself since the likelihood of Coda doing it was extremely low.

I let my sandpaper eyelids drop shut and tried to relax back into the escape of sleep, but with no such luck. In the dim early-morning light of my bedroom, that green light continued to flash, seeping through my thin lids and keeping me awake. Finally, I groaned and rolled over to grab the phone from the nightstand on my right. The device was cold and heavy in my hands and I was almost blinded when I pressed the slim power button on the side. The numbers 6:02 glared back at me in a harsh reminder that it was too goddamn early to be awake during Christmas break. Hell, I didn't even get up this early on school days!

I glared back as the two flipped over to a three at waited for it to shut itself back off so I could go back to sleep. When it finally did, I was grateful, only to be irritated again by the flashing green light that refused to go away until I unlocked the device and at least opened whatever pending message there was. I stared at the tiny light which blinked back in its unchanging monotonous way.

Finally, I resigned myself to the idea that I probably wouldn't be able to get any more sleep. The little green light had definitely won this round. With a sigh, I jabbed the power button again and tapped out my passcode. It only took three tries to unlock using my bleary eyes that were begging to stay closed for another several hours, at least.

I had to blink a few times before they would clear up enough to read the message preview that had been plaguing me since the moment they opened. Much to my surprise, the text had Dustie slapped on top.

The phone flew to our conversation once I tapped her name and I struggled to read the print.

Hey. How's life in old Idaho?

For a moment, I debated if I even wanted to talk to anyone, let alone Dustie, especially at six in the morning. Then it hit me that I'd told her to text me if she needed anything. Judging from her message, I figured she just needed a friend in that moment. The time next to the text read 5:36, which confused me until I realized Oklahoma was in a totally different time zone. If I remembered right, they were running two whole hours ahead of us.

Hey. It's shitty. How's OK?

Her reply was quicker than I expected and I jumped when the phone buzzed in my palm. It's OK, haha. Pun intended. Why shitty?

It only took a second for me to decide that telling her wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Dustie of all people would know how I felt. The two of us had a whole lot in common when it came to personality traits. Found out Coda's playing my best friend.

Aw, hell... What're you gonna do?

I bit my lip and stared at the thin curtain that was letting hazy morning light into my bedroom. I didn't know. Man, idk. Help?