Good Enough

Mia - Just Friends. Right?

"Okay... hey then." I say, a smile spreading across my face.

"Hey." Julian says back. Something sounds off, but I can't tell what. I don't know if I'm imagining things, or overthinking, or if something is actually wrong.

"Did you make it home alright?" I settle on asking.

Silence. Then he clears his throat. "Yeah... I made it home alright."

"Are you sure about that?" 

I hear the sound of something shifting before he laughs. It's wholehearted and it fills the phone with something different. Something happy. 

"What are you laughing for?" I ask, but I can't keep the smile from spreading across my face. I wonder if he knows that I'm smiling. Does he know how contagious his laughter and smiles are?

"Nothing. I just... I like this."

"You like this?"

"Yeah. These phone calls."

I feel my smile grow a little wider. I haven't had something like this in a while. After all, what boys would be interested in talking to me? Julian makes me feel happy in a way I haven't since the divorce. "I like them too."

Just like I like you. My own eyes widen at the thought. Julian and I are just friends. Right? 

We are friends. But I can't deny the way I feel when I see him. Or how his name popping up on my phone makes my heart race. Or the way his smile makes me smile just as wide.

"So what are you doing?" Julian asks. His voice has always sounded deeper over the phone, but I still love it.

"Right now I'm attempting to conjugate something."

"Math?"

"Uh, I thought I was doing French, but we'll go with that."

Julian laughs again, and the smile tugs on my lips again. Man, I do like Julian. But the problem is   I don't think he'd ever see me the same way. Julian seems like someone who has friends, but that's it. I feel like the whole idea of him is always at arms length. He's the golden boy, the everything you could ever want kind of guy. 

"Sounds fun. Unfortunately I'm just bored out of my mind at home."

"I should go keep you company," I find myself saying before fully comprehending what i said. Desperate, much?

"You should. I miss you."

I don't have to look in the mirror to know my cheeks are tinted bright pink. "O-oh. Then I guess we'll have to do that again sometime," 

"I guess we will."

We talk for what feels like a few more minutes, but when we finally do hang up, I realize that the call had lasted for almost three hours. 

I never ended up bringing up my worries about him being okay. The longer the conversation went on, the more normal and normal his voice sounded, where now I'm honestly convinced I imagined hearing his semi-flustered tone at all. 

But if something were truly wrong, I bet he'll talk to someone. Maybe his brother. 

Yeah. No need to worry about Julian.

Dinner is being put in the oven downstairs, a voice in the back of my head reminds me.

Yeah, there are bigger problems at hand.

~~~

whoah, me gone for a while and coming back with a filler chapter? yikes.