The Boy Who Broke My Leg

Chapter 14

"Text every hour on Wednesday. Every hour."

"You're being obsessive", I tell Kayla.

Wednesday is my mom's two year death anniversary. Since Thanksgiving Break officially starts today, Kayla and her family are heading South to visit some family for the week and aren't going to be here, and clearly she doesn't think I can take care of myself. But after what happened last year, I can't exactly blame her.

"Maybe I just shouldn't go", Kayla repeats and I roll my eyes.

"Stop being so dramatic and get in that car. Let's see, it's Saturday today. By the end of the week I'll use my whole 1000 text plan on you. Does that make you happy?"

"Very", Kayla nods approvingly. "And I'll call too." She pauses and looks at me apprehensively. "But you're sure you can be alone? You can still come with us."

"It'll be weird if I'm there with your family. I'll be fine. I'll chill at home, cuddle Mufasa, maybe hang with Alistair one day." The last part slips out of my lips involuntarily.

Kayla catches it too. "Oh yes and I require daily updates about that too, along with your mental status."

I roll my eyes. "There will be no updates because there will be no changes."

It had been two weeks since the day I got my cast off and he hadn't dropped any other hint about if the time we spent together was platonic or otherwise. And not like I had thought about what I could've said that day and how it would've changed everything for an unhealthy amount of time. Definitely not. Not at all.

 Kayla shakes are head at me and pulls me into a hug. She pats my head after.  "Ah you naive baby bean."

She hops into the car. "If you don't text and call me, I'll drive the 6 hours back here myself and kick your ass."

"Love you too."

Kayla waves as she drives away, and I'm left alone for a week with my thoughts and my overweight cat.

..//..//..//..//

I'm going crazy. It's Tuesday and I'm already starting to feel sick about the prospect of the next day. I'm terrified that tomorrow is going to be like the month or so after her death, when all I could do was think about her but my mind would almost blank out to everything else. My sleep cycle has been off the past few days, sprinkled with nightmares, some involving my mother and some not. I feel so off from my normal self.

 I've texted Kayla with purposely boring updates about the thickness of the layer of the dust on the windowpanes that I dusted, my favorite brand of laundry detergent and time lapses of Mufasa, which is just 5 minute videos of a still ball of white floof cuz he does absolutely nothing. 

Alistair texted me on Saturday evening saying he was spending a few days at his cousin's house but he'd be back before Thanksgiving day and maybe we could hang out after. I replied with a neutral yes and although he did text me a few times over the last few days, I assumed he's been busy and haven't gone out of my way to start new conversations.

I force myself to get off the couch from my God knows what episode of How I Met Your Mother which I'm not even paying attention to,and change into a workout set. I've almost got my full strength in my leg back and I need to stop thinking about how much I'm dreading the next day. 

Fortunately, my apartment has a gym right in the basement, unused by everyone. I know I should probably do some other work outs first and leave running for last, but my legs head immediately for the treadmill. I started running at the beginning of this year to clear my mind and it's been great for me ever since. I could barely run a mile at the start, but I kept at it everyday, and now I can handle a couple without stopping to rest. I try to toss in some other workouts too, abs and arms and stuff, but they never hold my interest for long before I switch to running.