When the Leaves Fall [bxp] ✔

3

Hesitant Texts

Felix messed with his song book, moving it from hand to hand. He hadn't felt like writing anything in a few days, his fingers only mindlessly playing some of the songs he'd written before, the lyrics playing through the back of his mind. It'd been a long time since he last learned a song to play on the piano that wasn't one of his own, but he still couldn't bring himself to tell his friends about the lyrics that filled the empty corners of his head. He was really happy with the newest musical creation he'd made, but none of the lyrics he'd written down seemed to fit the melody. So he'd left the notes scribbled on the white pages of his book the empty lines  waiting for the words that would fill them. He slid the lid onto the piano, setting his book down on top of it. This was the third time he'd sat here not even managing to write a bar of music or a line of lyrics. It felt like the store of creative energy that had been left next to his heart was empty, and there was no way that he could think to fill it again. He took a deep breath, the piano would still be here waiting for him the next day, no words would magically fill the empty lines of the song book either. Felix stood up slowly, tucking the stool in, and moving towards his desk, a tower of textbooks piled neatly into the corner, and an (appears one way but isn't like that) short list of assignments. Each line on his checklist was an assignment, and there were so many that he almost gave up right there and then. He forced himself to take another deep breath and sat down on the chair.

"Okay," he said aloud, picking up a pencil that was laying next to the checklist. He glanced through the list, some of those were easy. He'd already finished his essay for English, he just had to run it through grammarly and turn it in. Then his eyes loomed onto the assignment that he'd been dreading but also ecstatic to start. Finish his physics lab report. He still hadn't gotten up the courage to text Jupiter after they'd exchanged numbers a few days ago in the cafeteria. They'd even started sitting at the table the two days since, so things were going well. Yet Felix still hadn't had a full conversation outside of their Physics class. But to finish this lab report Felix needed to figure out a way to text Jupiter and meet up with them so that the lab report could happen. Felix glanced at Jupiter's contact. He'd put the planet as the picture, and every time he looked at it, he smiled. Felix couldn't remember the last time that he'd struggled to find a way to talk to someone.

It'd always been easy, saying hello and holding a conversation with whichever stranger he'd ended up sitting next to in class. Yet whenever he saw Jupiter, every topic of conversation that entered Felix's mind sounded odd, or he didn't know how to bring it up casually. So he'd settled for talking about bulk-scale properties and laws of thermodynamics.

Felix drummed his nails against the phone screen, and squeezed his eyes shut before clicking the message icon. He opened it and found himself faced with an intimidating empty screen, the keyboard seeming like it was written in a language he didn't understand. He started typing, wincing at every word that he wrote.

Felix

Hey, are you busy this weekend? Do you think we could work on the lab l

He stopped typing, deleting every word he'd written. How would he phrase it, he no longer knew how to text.

Felix

Hey, do you think we could work on the lab report this weekend? l

That didn't sound right either.

Felix

Hey, if you're not busy, would you maybe want to work on that lab report we have for physics tomorrow?

He still wasn't happy with it, but he supposed that that was good enough. His finger hovered over the send button, and the sound of a knock on his door startled him, making him accidentally press it. What was done was done. He walked over to the door, opening it to find his mom. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, a large t-shirt covering the strings of her sweatpants.

"Felix, it's your grandparents," she said, gesturing towards her phone. He heard the quiet hum of Guajarati coming from the phone.

"Hi!" Felix said, taking the phone from his mom and smiling at his grandparents.

"Hi Felix," they said together, their English having a strong British accent. "How are you," his grandpa said, giving him a smile.

"I'm good, busy with school, but still good." His mom followed him into his room, sitting on the bed next to him. Whenever he talked to her parents, he liked having his mom there, because it made him feel warmer. His mom's family had been very accepting of her being into women. Maybe it was growing up in London, away from the family's strong opinions, or maybe it was just how they were, but his mom still called her parents at least once a week.

"I'm glad," his grandma responded, giving him a soft smile. "How are your friends," she asked, taking the phone that was in his grandpa's hands to talk to Felix.

"They're good, they've been busy lately, but they seem fine." Felix smiled, pushing his hair out of his eyes. His phone dinged loudly from the table, making him start, and quickly turn towards it. The name Jupiter flashed across the screen, and he felt his heart rate race. He gave his mom a pleading look, and she smiled giving him a nod, taking the phone from his hand.

"Ma, what did you and dad say when Lela Aunty called you for that party?" She asked, moving towards the door, closing it gently on her way out.

Felix bit his lip, as he clicked on the notification connected to Jupiter's name. What did they say?

Jupiter

Hey, yeah sure. Where do you wanna go?

Felix

There's this coffee shop, next to the arcade downtown, it's got the best coffee. I can send you a location ping. How about there?

Jupiter

Sure, I'll see you at 3?

Felix

I'll see you then!!

    Felix put a hand to his neck to feel his heart rate racing. He smiled, a flush heating his cheeks. Maybe physics wasn't such a bad class after all.

"Fee!" Felix turned towards his door, from where he heard the sound of his little sister knocking and yelling for him

"Dani!" He yelled back, opening the door, to have her stumble forward. "What's up?"

"You'll never guess what happened!"

"What?" He asked, tilting his head to look at her.

"You know my friend Carter?" She had a huge grin spread across her face. He nodded, humming.

"He's coming over tomorrow, with Lila and Zoe. Oh also Ryan! Mom said I could invite them over!" She was beaming, her eyes lighting up brighter and brighter as she continued to talk.

"Are you going to plan things to do like last time?" Felix asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed, Dani taking the spot next to him.

"Maybe, but I'm not sure what we could do." Her eyes focused on a random spot in the room as she thought.

"What about karaoke like you did at your birthday party last year?"  A smile lit up her face again as she hugged him from the side.

"That's a really really really good idea." Felix laughed, hugging her back. "Mama!" she yelled moving towards his door, shutting it quickly on her way out. Felix smiled to himself. Dani always seemed to light up whatever room she walked to, and even if Felix was already happy, Dani always seemed to make him slightly happier.

He knew his friends agreed, because whenever they came over, they always had to spend at least a little time with Dani or they would complain about it in school the next day. Dani and Aeron had always gotten along the best. Every time Dani saw Aeron, her eyes would light up and she'd go and hug them tightly. Dani always said that he gave the best hugs, better even than mom. And his mom's hugs were god tier.

He was glad that his friends loved his family, and his family loved his friends, because they were the two groups of people that were most important to him in the world. And he knew that no matter what happened, he could count on them to be there when he needed them.