If We Ever Get an Hour Together (A Van McCann fanfiction)

Beg For

Lucia:

I opened the box as soon as Isabel dropped me off, in the dim light of my room. Across from me, I could hear soft music playing in Gabi's bedroom. Maybe she was thinking about Van. I wondered what he'd told her. Even though I shouldn't have cared. 

Inside the box, over a small velvet square, was a small necklace with a little charm I guessed to be a pen. It was sweet and nice and showed how much Van paid attention to me. This only made me sadder. I unlocked my phone and leaned against the my bed's headboard. So much I could write, so many sentences weighing my wrists. 

Thanks for the necklace. 

I poised my finger over the send option, then deleted the whole message and got ready to sleep. 

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Van:

I sat up on the bed. This last night it was my turn to sleep in one of the beds. I couldn't even shut my eyes. 

I opened my phone, and went to the messages I'd exchanged with Lucia. 

Listen I wish I'd never hurt your feelings like that, but

I deleted it.

Lucia I think you're amazing and

Deleted.

I never meant to 

I stopped typing and deleted the message, flopping down on the bed. The mattress creaked harshly. I took a deep breath. 

Lucia was pissed off at me. Gabi hadn't noticed a thing. In fact, she was the one who had messaged me after leaving with her friend. Have a safe flight. Don't forget me :)

Meanwhile, Lucia had just about told me she wanted nothing to do with me. And I really shouldn't have been so bothered by that. We were leaving tomorrow, going to play two more shows, and then go back home. 

Yet I couldn't stop thinking about the way she'd looked at me, expressionless. Or the way her voice had trembled when she'd yelled at me back at the restaurant. 

Maybe she didn't even like my gift. Maybe she was throwing it in the trash now, cursing me.

But I really wished she wasn't doing any of those things. I really wished she'd put on the necklace first thing after she saw it. But wishing was hopeless. Lucia was Lucia, and I was me, and tomorrow we'd be miles apart.  

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Lucia:

I woke up clinging to my pillow. My neck hurt. Actually, every part of my body hurt. I felt tense, strung together like I'd just run for miles. 

Gabi was perched against the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee in her hands. 

"You slept for days." She chastised me. 

"No I didn't." I grabbed some coffee and walked back to my room. 

When I changed, I debated on the little black square box still poised on my bedstand. I felt around it, and finally held it. 

The necklace was cool against my skin. I brought the clasp together, and looked in the mirror, holding the charm delicately. I swallowed. 

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Two months later:

Hi Lucia!

Thank you very much for your submission to Pizzpo Magazine. We are pleased to inform you that we would like to publish your short story in our next issue! As promised, we will be paying you ten cents per word. Your check shall be sent out to you in the next 2-4 weeks.