The phone rested in Kyle's hand, the messaging app open on the screen.
The aquarium trip was only two days away. Megan had confirmed the plans that morning and forwarded him the tickets. Darren, however, still hadn't texted anything.
Not that he was obligated to — right?
Kyle closed his eyes and held his breath. Counted to ten. Then exhaled, counting to five. He was just about to lock the phone and return to his code—
The phone vibrated.
Darren's name jumped to the top of the chat list.
Kyle stared at the screen in disbelief. He blinked rapidly. Then once more — slowly.
A second message arrived almost immediately.
He brought the phone closer to his face, nearly dropping it onto the desk, and opened the chat far too quickly.
Darren:
Hi
Darren:
You going on Thursday?
Kyle's hands trembled again. The phone slipped lower against his sweaty palm. He swallowed and typed a reply, barely hitting the right letters.
Kyle:
Hi. Yeah, I'm going
The message was marked as read almost instantly.
Kyle spent another minute staring impatiently at the read receipt before sending a second message.
Kyle:
What about you?
That one was read immediately too. But no reply came. Not after a minute. Not after five.
The corners of Kyle's brows dipped. A faint crease appeared on his forehead.
He locked the phone, placed it face down on the desk, and returned to his computer — to the code he'd barely touched for almost a month because of midterms.
A vibration. The phone shifted a millimeter across the desk.
Kyle's gaze darted to the black rectangle, then immediately returned to the screen. He kept typing, nervously bouncing his leg.
Five minutes later, he gave in and opened the chat.
Darren:
Planning to
Kyle frowned.
Planning to? He thought, staring at the message.
And what exactly is that supposed to mean? Is he going or not?
He let out a noisy breath and rubbed his eyelids. He typed:
Ok
…then deleted it and exited the chat.
Let him do whatever he wanted. Whether he went or not — why should Kyle care?
Kyle resolutely returned to his task.
Darren, apparently, returned to his.
Silence settled on both sides.
----------------------------------------
Kyle ran down the stairs, skipping the last few steps. He only stopped in front of the mirror in the hallway.
Studying his reflection, he smoothed down a few stray fluffy strands of hair, straightened his favorite blue hoodie, and took a deep breath. The only thing left was to walk out the door.
At that moment, his phone buzzed with an incoming call. Kyle quickly pulled it from his pocket. Megan's name glowed on the screen.
"Hello?"
"Ky-y-yle!!" she whined into the phone.
Kyle frowned, concern flickering across his face.
"What happened?"
"I've been completely, irreversibly, inevitably—"
He exhaled impatiently.
"Can you get to the point?"
"—caught! Seized! Being held against my will!"
"What do you mean?"
"An audit. Completely out of nowhere," she finally explained. "Dad wants me to stay and make sure everything's alright."
"Oh..."
"I'm shocked too."
"Think it'll take long?"
"I don't know. Hopefully not."
Kyle rubbed the tip of his nose.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Well..."
Megan fell quiet for a moment.
"Just sit tight. I'll see how things go and let you know. Worst case, we'll just be a little late."
"Oka-a-ay."
"Sorry."
"Hope everything goes smoothly over there."
"Mm-hm."
Silence hung on the line for a few seconds. Muffled voices and the rustle of fabric drifted through from Megan's end.
"Alright, gotta run!"
She hung up immediately.
Kyle slipped the phone back into his pocket, glanced at his reflection one more time, and shrugged.
A few minutes later he was back in his room, lying on the bed with TikTok open.
Half an hour slipped by almost unnoticed. A vibration pulled him away from mindless scrolling — and made him freeze.
Incoming call:
Darren
Kyle stared at the screen. Then blinked. His hand moved before his head caught up — it still took him two tries to swipe and answer.
"Hey..."
The greeting came out more like a question.
"Hey," Darren replied calmly.
They both went quiet. Kyle heard a barely audible sigh.
"I'm on my way. Come outside."
Kyle's eyebrows shot up.
"Huh?"
"Are you ready?"
"Well..." Kyle hesitated. "I think so."
"Great. I'll be there in a couple of minutes. You can head out now."
"Wait." Kyle sat up abruptly. "What do you mean, a couple of minutes? What about Megan?"
"She's running really late," Darren said evenly. "So I'll pick you up. We'll go together, and she'll meet us there later."
Kyle cast a brief glance toward the door.
There wasn't really anything to argue with. He knew that. Just like he knew he had no reason to refuse.
"I see..." he said quietly.
"See you soon."
Kyle only mumbled something like "uh-huh" and hung up. Setting the phone aside, he covered his suddenly flushed face with both hands.
"Megan, seriously..."
A few minutes later, he was standing in front of the house, watching a black BMW pull through the gates.
The car slowly approached.
Kyle clutched the phone in his pocket and swallowed.