Savior [Completed]

Savior: [Fifteen] [I/II]

Fifteen – Max

You can do this, Max.

The time had come.

It’s not a big deal, just call him up and talk to him.

I didn’t move though. I was seated on my bed with my phone just an arm’s reach away from me, and despite having mentally ordered myself to make the call, I found myself unable to do anything other than stare at the device while my thoughts raced.  I was pretty convinced that I really was onto something, and he had seemed kind of lost after my biology lesson snack, but a small shred of doubt still niggled at me.

What if I’d been completely wrong? What if I ended up saying something so utterly stupid that it would create problems where there hadn’t been any? Or make a small crack turn into a fissure?

This is like a bandaid, Max. Just rip it off and then figure out what to say to him afterwards.

It would be okay though…it should be okay. Nick was, well, Nick, and…

He picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Nick, um, hi,” I swallowed,  urging the voice inside my head that said he sounded a little off because I had no reason to be calling him to shut up. “It’s Max.”

“Yeah, I know,” he answered after a moment, and I mentally smacked myself – of course he did! Why was I being so stupid? “And, please don’ take this the wrong way, but…what is it?”

I felt my spirits sink. What is it? Had I really messed up that bad that he didn’t even want to talk to me right now? The voice in my head got louder with its ‘I told you so’, and my mind started to race back to all the things that could possibly be it. I’d had his dessert meant for lunch time that morning. The day before, I’d messed around with his phone while he was trying to text Lani…of course.

I felt hollow inside.

That had to be it! I’d intruded on him and Lani one too many times and now he wanted me to back off. All I’d ever done is flood him with my problems and issues and now he was sick of it and just wanted to be normal with his normal girlfriend and normal friends who weren’t total whiners.

“Um-” I started in a small voice, my throat closing up.

See? This is exactly why he’s sick of you!

“It’s just, listen, something’s up, okay?”

I took a few seconds to react. “What happened?” I asked hesitantly, afraid. Was he telling me straight up what I’d done wrong? But…then why couldn’t he talk to me now?

You’re not even worth fixing this with.

 “I…listen, if it wasn’t that major an issue, can we talk later?”

Now I was starting to panic. Why wouldn’t he answer me directly? I thought it was that default negative self talk mode that was on (Dr. Arrington’s translation for words I didn’t understand) but…was that for real? Were we completely beyond repair? “Nick! Would you please tell me what’s happened?”

“Right, sorry, yeah, you asked. Um, well, see, the thing is, Ryan and I were, I mean…okay, listen, it’s complicated, but…”

“But?” I prompted, my hammering heart starting to still a little. He’d mentioned Ryan. That meant it had nothing to do with me, so something else was going on.

What, though?

“Basically, I think Rodney and Ryan just broke up.”

I was stunned. What?