Ryan dialed Carl's number one last time. Maybe it was hope. Or an unwillingness to give up. But he still wanted to try again. The same mechanical voice rang out, quieter this time. He had lowered the volume because he didn't want Alex and Peter to overhear.
Even though they hadn't said much, he knew they were both against him trying to contact Carl again. To them, the relationship was more than over. And Alex had suggested more than once that he keep his eyes 'wide open' in his new school, in case the right person walked by.
But Ryan wasn't interested.
Before Carl, he had just gone through the motions. He had gotten into a relationship because he hadn't known how else to deal with Cole's relentless pursuit, and convinced himself that the spark everyone talked about would come with time.
