how to catch feelings

39

As you may have gathered by now, I wasn't a fan of initiating conversations.

So when Jared still hadn't texted by Saturday, I bit my lip and continued to try to push my worries from my mind.

I was not going to be the one to text first.

Besides, he was the one who had wanted to talk. He started it.

If Kat had still been EIC, he would've talked to her.

I was just the unfortunate face of the paper for the time being. That's the only reason he chose me.

No other reason.

God, I hated waiting.

I checked my phone again and found a notification from Tik Tok.

I was hoping it was Meg, for the sake of my sanity, but a part of me was hoping it was Cole.

I wasn't sure why. I was still mad at him, right?

Yes, very mad. That jerk face.

A quick check of my IMs showed the message to be from Cole, again.

I closed the app and tossed my phone aside.

Our news editor had done her edits already, bless her soul, so I was eager to get on those. Less to do later.

***

"Anything from Cole?" Damaris asked.

I looked up from my ramen. "Just a few Tik Toks. Haven't looked at them."

"Ah, the good ol' silent treatment."

"I just don't want to talk to him right now."

"Fair enough. He was kind of being a dick."

"More than kind of, but yeah. Basically."

"Sorry, pal."

"Meh. It's not a big deal."

"At least you've got Jared interested in you now," she said with a smirk.

I glared at her. "One, we haven't spoken since the gym, and two, he isn't interested in me. At all. And I don't care. I don't need anyone to be interested in me. I don't need a man. I'm perfectly fine on my own."

"Amen, sister," Meg said from the couch.

"Okay, maybe you don't need one, but they're still nice to have. And you can't get much better than Jared."

"Shut up. I really don't want to hear it."

"Alright, alright. But you'll be changing your mind eventually."

"I doubt it." I tried to go back to eating my ramen, but my appetite had disappeared at the mention of Cole.

After picking at my food for another five minutes, I gave up and took my bowl to the sink to empty it in the garbage disposal.

My phone screen was lit up when I returned to the table.

A notification from Tik Tok.

"Either of you send me a Tik Tok just now?" I asked.

They both shook their heads.

So it was Cole.

I flipped my phone over.

"Cole?" Meg asked.

"Yeah."

"You aren't even going to look?"

"No."

"Can we?" Damaris asked.

"Whatever."

She reached over and took my phone. She deftly typed in my passcode and swiped to the second screen to find Tik Tok.

Meg got up from the couch and went to stand behind Damaris so she could watch over her shoulder.

"You've got half a dozen messages from him."

"Alright."

"Five videos, one text."

Meg glanced over at me, probably seeking some kind of reaction.

I gave them nothing.

"Just an LOL about one of the videos."

"If you say so."

Damaris tapped the home button but then tapped the screen.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Checking Messenger to see if he's said anything."

I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

After a full minute of waiting, I asked, "Well?"

"Do you want to know?"

"No. I don't know. Maybe. No."

"So indecisive."

"Do you want to know or not?"

"No."

"Alright."

"You want us to leave him muted?"

"Yes."

"Gotcha." She swiped out of the app and handed my phone back to me.

*** ***