↠Sunday, November 10, Afternoon

To make a long story short, waiting for Beckett to text me made me VERY anxious. He hadn't texted me yet, he said he was going to text me after he got off work but it was Sunday and there was still no new messages on my phone?

Um, speaking of, there was barely anything on my phone in the first place. Because I am pretty sure this is among the first smartphones ever invented. It was the cheapest thing my mother could find after I'd successfully convinced her that I needed a phone.

Not for superficial reasons, I swear! Not because "everyone else had one". I'd managed to survive without a phone for 16 years before I got mine, and I made it out just fine.

I think.

But because about a year ago, it suddenly became very common for kids my age to go missing with no explanation. I convinced my mother to get me a phone because "I just wanted to be safe", but little did she know my anxiety had been acting up around the same time and I was absolutely paranoid that anywhere I went I was going to get kidnapped and murdered.

So it was really for me.

And, because of that, I didn't like complaining about it. Maybe it was small and had almost zero features aside from calling and texting, but at least I didn't have to share my phone with someone else. That made me feel bad for my sisters. They already have to share everything else...

My phone suddenly went off, the ringtone vaguely reminding me of a fax machine. 

I dove across my bed to reach for my phone, hoping it was Beckett. I'd done the same thing every time my phone went off--which, granted, wasn't very often--for the past two days.

It was a text, which was definitely a step in the right direction. I opened the text, and mission success.

The number was not saved, but the text read:

"hey, is this spencer?"

A second later, another text popped up.

"this is beckett, by the way"

I immediately saved the number, then replied:

you: "Yes!!"
3:47 PM

New Friend: "good"
New Friend: "i was kind of worried that this was the wrong number"
3:58 PM

you: "Well, is definitely isn't. But why didn't you text me on Friday? You said you would after your shift. I was really worried."
4:00 PM

New Friend: "i just got really busy is all"
New Friend: "don't worry about it"
New Friend: "you don't have to worry about me so much."
4:16 PM

you: "Oh, okay. That's definitely more logical than what I was thinking."
4:18 PM

New Friend: "what were you thinjing?"
New Friend: "thinking** sorry"
4:39 PM

you: "Why does it always take you so long to respond? If you don't mind me asking."
4:41 PM

Beckett never responded after that. 

Was it my fault? Was it the question I asked? Did I offend him or something? Was he ignoring me?

I couldn't be sure, but I could already tell that I wasn't going to be able to relax until I could ask him in person the next day.

↠Monday, November 11, Before School

I made my walk to school just like I did every day, but today I had a new determination coursing through my veins. I had to find Beckett and ask him why he never replied to me. I wanted to believe that he just had to do something and forgot to text me back, but something about the way he was acting just wasn't right. There was also a lingering doubt in my mind that he wasn't responding because he was upset with me.

So I figured the only way to know for sure was to ask.

I found Beckett standing outside. Or, not really standing. He was crouched over, pulling up one of his socks.

"Beckett!" I cried out, hurrying over to him.

Beckett suddenly whipped around and hurried to his feet, like I had just caught him doing something he should've been.

But he was only fixing a sock so I didn't understand. I debated for a second on whether to ask about it, then brushed it off as just me scaring him.

Beckett crossed his arms, saying in a flat voice, "Oh. Hey."

"Why did you never text me back?"

Beckett looked away for a moment, and a sudden wave of "Oh no I'm being a clingy friend" crashed over me.

"I-I mean. It's-- It's just that... you... uh... stopped responding really suddenly and... I was worried about you."

Beckett was acting very strange. He was VERY uncomfortable. He was constantly running his fingers through his hair, and he couldn't look me in the eye. The latter was a very easy task to manage because of our height differences.

"Well... I just-- You don't have to, um, worry about me so much. I guess."

He was trying to hard to make this "not a big deal". Which, to me, only made it an even bigger deal.

"B-Beckett? What's going on with you? Is something wrong?"

"N-No. I'm fine."

Beckett went quiet for only a second before taking a sudden step back. "I... I think I need to go to class now. I'll... talk to you later. Probably."

Then, he left, leaving me in the late fall chill all by myself.