Time And I

Twenty

I kept my promise of texting Devon. In fact, I texted him twenty minutes later, but it was more than just to check and make sure he made it home safely. When he confirmed he did, we just said goodnight again, and in the morning, I was the first one to text him.

All week long it was the same thing. Sometimes he'd text first, sometimes I'd text first, but we were constantly texting throughout the day. Last week it was all little things, just the occasional "good luck" and whatnot, but it developed into deeper conversations. We would text about school and the assignments we were working on, and it would turn into TV shows and movies, music, and the new short stories and poems he was working on. Those were my favorite to hear about.

"Are you sure there's no one you like?" Buddy questioned as we walked to our math class. "No one at all."

"Band first."

"That doesn't mean you can't like someone." Buddy grabbed my hand, holding me back before I could enter the classroom. "I know you're trying to be discreet because of me, but I am still your best friend. You can still tell me these things."

I knew I could tell him, but it didn't feel right. I wanted to tell him about what I was feeling for Devon. I needed to talk through my feelings with someone, and he was always my go-to person. But since it hadn't been that long since I rejected him, it would have been rude to talk about it with him. I needed to give him some time and space from that part of my life until we could get to a point where it wouldn't hurt him to talk about those things. I knew he would be happy for me to be with someone else, but not completely. There would still be some resentment, and until that went away, I couldn't talk to him about any of it.

I looked him in the eye. "Let go of me."

Sighing, he let go of my hand and followed me into the classroom. He didn't look back at me once throughout class. And once class let out, he exited without saying a word. I understood he was pissed, but I didn't want to deal with it. He could be upset all he wanted, but I didn't want to talk to him about my current love life. I didn't even want to think about it. At the end of the day, I needed to focus on my music career before I could think about dating anyone. Long nights would soon be ahead of me, and I had to focus on those so I could balance my time accordingly. I didn't have time to think about dating Devon.

Then again, I didn't even have the ability to date him, either.

^^^

"He feels terrible," I told Devon over the phone as I went through my closet. "You spent all that time studying with him, and it didn't boost his grade enough." It was why Buddy left class so quickly. He had to call his mom and see if he could still somehow go to Petula's boyfriend's concert, using the excuse of making sure I was safe. She didn't agree.

"I can tutor him for the next one," Devon said. "It should be easy to get his grade up at this point. It was the second test of the semester. We can work with him to improve his grade, and by the time the finals roll around, he'll be prepared and pass."

I chuckled. "Thank you. I'll be sure to pass the message along."

"So who are you going to concert with now?"

"Darcy. She's really curious about Petula's boyfriend as well. There's a reason why she thinks Brody and I are going to end up together, and I want to know why."

I heard him scoff. "Like you'd ever actually date him. It'd be like dating your dad."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed. "He actually wanted to come with, but Petula said that since he was over eighteen, he could go any time he wanted and I should invite someone who couldn't. I feel like she's trying to hide him from her boyfriend."