This Cat Has Claws

21: Funeral

Winter term started last week. I somehow haven't seen Landon at all. I've been pretty busy with my new work schedule and class schedule, so I haven't had much time to try and find a time for the two of us to meet up, and I'm pretty sure it's the same for Landon. But I still miss hanging out with him, especially now that I know I'm falling in love with him. This past week and a half that I haven't seen him has been dragging by slowly.

Now that it's Sunday and I don't have any homework to do or work to go to, it seems like the perfect time to see what Landon is up to. I pull my phone out of my left back-pocket and open the screen. Landon's contact doesn't have a picture, and I'm pretty sure his is the only one without one. I guess I never found a good time to take a picture of him or even with him that I could use. For my family members, I have the most ridiculous and funny pictures I could find as their contact pictures. I text Landon asking him what he's doing right now. All I'm doing is lazing about at home with nothing to do, so even if he can't meet up with me it'd be nice if we could at least have a conversation over text. Though, neither of us are that great at keeping a conversation going, so I don't know how well that last option will work out.

I toss my phone beside me on my bed and go back to watching Netflix on my computer. A full hour goes by before Landon finally texts me back. It's not good news for either of us. Apparently he's flying across the country to go to a funeral for some family member, though how they were related was not mentioned. So we couldn't hang out, and more importantly someone in his family had died. I just hoped it was some distant relative so Landon wouldn't feel too sad.

"I guess I'll just go home and see what JayJay's doing," I said aloud to myself. I walked out of my room and made my way towards the front door when I was stopped by a voice.

"Hey, Marley. Wanna go with us to a party tonight?" Taylor asked.

"Sure, when? And whose bright idea was it to host a party on a Sunday night?"

"I think we'll leave around eight. I'm not sure who started it, but a lot of people are going to be there."

"I just can't help thinking about the people who'll have to clean tomorrow before their classes. Yikes. I'll be back by then."

I waved bye to Taylor and headed out the door. I wasn't much of a party person, but they were fun to go to every once in a while. Plus, Landon wasn't here and I didn't know how long he'd be gone, so I might as well make myself do something other than wallow in boredom and miss him. JayJay would be super helpful in distracting me from my thoughts of Landon. I think a Ghost Adventures marathon is in order.

"Hey, Boo. You home?" I asked JayJay over the phone as I made my way to my parents' house.

"Yup. Mom and Dad are out working. I heard Emrys is going to be visiting sometime soon," JayJay answered.

"Really? She was just here for Christmas, albeit only three days."

"I'm not sure when she'll be here, but I'm pretty sure it's to introduce us to a special someone," he said in a sing songy voice.

"Has she finally settled on one person?"

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

We both hung up and I walked the last five or six minutes in silence. Emrys was still pretty young, so I was surprised that she maybe, possibly found someone she's interested enough in to introduce to us. She's always had short flings, especially now that she just spends all her time traveling abroad. It's a wonder that she met someone and spent enough time with them while traveling that she feels the need to bring them home with her.