You & I

i. One Text

LAS VEGAS, NV
JAN, 2017

*alarm blaring*

The world opening up from the darkness, as the morning sunrise comes blaring in through a bedroom window. A body covered completely head to toe in a twin-size bed with thick , scrounged blankets. The alarm is still blaring, the stereotypical 'get up for work' alarm. The sheets start to shuffle as he reaches out from the blankets and smacks his phone against his nightstand. The phone thuds onto the wooden top and collides with beer bottle caps and lighters. The person then uncovers his body, only wearing boxers that went down to his mid-thigh. He sits up and the desert sun hits his light-brown hair, curled from his sleep. He opens his eyes to only show a golden-brown tint in his eyes.

Preceding with the procedure of waking up, he sits up and walks over to his closet, picking up the outfit he laid out the day before, but looking down he sees his Xbox One controller laying against the floor and he could only think ...

"If only."

as he throws on ripped blue jeans, faded but still had a light tint to it. A long Calvin Klein shirt that was tan colored that extended to the bottom of his pocket. He threw on white-black adidas and finished his outfit on with selected gold jewelry and a dad hat symbolizing the Jack Daniel logo. As he finished getting dressed he swooped down to grab his somewhat empty back pack and continued out the door, not informing anyone he was leaving or saying goodbye. On his way out the door, he lit a cigarette and walked up to his car. His car was a black Audi, old, but efficient. If you peered inside the tinted glass, you'd notice the customization and remodeling he did to the interior: speakers, new seats and touch ups on the gloss of his dashboard. Despite his habit of smoking, his car spelled relatively nice.

As he entered his car, he plugged his phone in the auxiliary cord and played some random playlist with all the latest hits. He drove to school, and not one care of anything stuck to his face. Passing by car accidents without battering an eye, hearing the road rage and focusing on his music.

Nothing can phase this kid.

He gets to school and parks his car in the usual spot. Another morning at the same place. That only calls for the same routine. After he settles down and walks into the school and relaxes in his chair in class, he peers down at the phone and sees a text message -

it was the girl

- without hesitating he unlocked his phone to see a good morning text with a few heart-eyed emojis and two pink hearts side-to-side of each other. Grinning - he texted back with the same enthusiasm and even added his own affectionate noun.

*good morning beautiful*

, drowning it with emojis just like hers. He waits there inside the message box as it read back as delivered - and then suddenly - three grey dots appear in the bottom right. Even in those little moments of him waiting, it felt like years have passed trying to think of the response that she may give. What will she talk about? Is she going to say something back? As a friend?
Maybe more.

Throughout the day they texted back instantaneously to each other. Never letting a second between them go by unnoticed. Affection was in the air, the attention was given and nothing in the world was cared for
but for that
one
text.