Mine

Five.

Two Weeks Later

"There are five types of conflict in fiction,"

I only halfway listened to the professor of my fiction-writing class, Dr. Payne, who squealed joyously as she paced from one end of the room to the other.

"There is man versus man. Man versus himself. Man versus society. Man versus nature. And man versus the supernatural."

My focus was split between typing notes on my laptop and the million and one reasons why Devonte and I haven't said so much as two words to each other in two weeks.

Well, really only one reason.

Ever since we kissed, nothing. No hanging out after class, no staying up all night on FaceTime (on the rare occasion that I DIDN'T stay at his house), no checking in on each other, our streak on Snapchat is gone, and when I saw his silhouette walking towards the entrance of Jay's Pizzeria last week, I damn near broke my ankle sliding out of the booth I shared with Nikki so that we wouldn't have to cross paths.

I miss him so much. Not even in a romantic way because he made it clear that we're not and will never be romantic with each other but...I miss my friend. I miss the person who could finish my sentence for me because he already knew what I was gonna say before I even said it. I miss the person that opened my mind and put me on to so many new things. I miss the person that made me feel so safe and secure in life, and in myself. And to top it all off, I miss Killa like crazy.

Reaching in to my purse, I grabbed my iPhone tapped the screen for the hundredth time today, only to be disappointed for the hundredth time when the only notification I had was from Apple saying that I'm almost out of storage.

Maybe I should reach out to him?

No, that'll just make me look even thirstier than I already look. I made my move, and the energy wasn't reciprocated. I just gotta charge it to the game and take my L.

Without even thinking, I checked my phone again.

"This class is sooooo easy," Nikki leaned over and whispered in amazement, temporarily making me forget why I was looking at my lock screen.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, girl." Nikki blew a small bubble with her gum and softly popped it. "Dr. Payne is dope. I might need to change my major to Communications so I can start taking classes like this, 'cause all that math for Accounting is whopping my ass."

"This is just an elective. And you need math for Communications too, Nik." I chuckled softly.

"Well shit," she huffed.

I checked my phone again. No missed calls, no texts, no Snapchat notification.

Damn!

"Thank you class," Dr. Payne said. "That's all for today."

Nikki and I gathered our belongings, then filed out of the room and made our way to the quad. She wanted to see and be seen, but I was too in my feelings about Devonte to even bother engaging with anyone else.

"You have anymore classes?" She asked, and I shook my head no.

"Neither do I," she shrugged. "Let's get something to eat then get out of here."