Blooming

It was 2:05 when my phone rang. It was a familiar ringtone, though I hadn’t heard it in a while.
“Hello?” I asked in a sleepy tone, sure I was dreaming. Why would anyone call me in the middle of the night?
“Savannah?” the voice said. “It’s Lucy.”
My heart stopped for a short moment and I quickly got up and rubbed my eyes.
“Oh, uh, hi,”
“Look, I know that you hate me and I know that I was wrong but,” I could hear her starting to cry. “Craig cheated on me.”
“Oh no,” I said, pretending to be surprised. Maybe I should have told her about Carla.... “I’m sorry, Luc.”
“Don’t pretend like you didn’t know,” she said. “I guess I deserved it, huh? For being such a jerk to my best friend....”
“You weren’t a jerk.” I lied.
“Sav,” she protested.
“Okay, you were....” I laughed noticing how well her own giggle flowed with mine.
“Yeah,” she agreed, still chuckling. “Sorry about that,”
“It’s okay,”
“It’s not okay, Sav.” she sniffed, serious now. “My best friend is pregnant and I ditched her for some loser.”
“You didn’t know he was going to be a loser.” I pointed out.
“The point is, I’m sorry,” she said sincerely.
“Me too.”
“Friends?” she asked.
“Did we ever really stop?”
This made her laugh.
“I guess not.”
There was a long pause before I went on.
“So, uh, Riley, Darren, and I are all going out to eat tomorrow. Want to come?”
She took no time before responding.
“Wait, I thought Darren and Riley, like, wanted to rip the flesh off each other,”
I laughed.
“They did. Believe me, they did. But there’s been a lot you’ve missed.” I said.
“Then I guess you’ll just have to tell me all about it tomorrow.” Lucy insisted. I could hear the hint of a smile in her voice.
“I guess so,” I agreed.
“Good night, Sav.”
“Good night, Luc.”
“Wait!” she shouted and I pulled the phone back to my ear.
“Where are we going to eat tomorrow because you know you can’t eat fast food and—”
I laughed, finally feeling the pit in my stomach start to fade, the one that had been there since our fallout.
“I missed you, Luc,”
“Same here,” she said.
And with that, we both drifted back off to sleep, as if nothing had ever even happened.
The next day, we all met at a local sandwich shop in Riverson. Together, Darren, Lucy, and I all went to look for a booth while Riley went to get our sandwiches.
“So I just told him to forget about it. He’s not even worth it.” Lucy said. She’d been telling me everything about what had happened with Craig the previous night. In fact, we’d been talking about everything the other had missed since our fight, discussing every detail.
“Good,” I encouraged. “He was a jerk anyway. He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Uuuuuuuuh,” Darren moaned, tossing his head back.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “It’s just that you guys have been talking all day.”
“Aw,” I said, pinching one of Darren’s cheeks. “Is somebody bored?”
He smiled playfully while trying to pull my hand away from his cheek.
“You don’t want to mess with me,” he said jokingly.
“Oh, really?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. “Even though I just punched the hell out of your pretty little girlfriend?”
“Ex girlfriend.” he corrected. “And she didn’t have my mad ninja skills.”
“Ninja skills?” I scoffed.
He nodded and put his hands up.
“Don’t judge my skills,” he said, pretending to be serious.
I laughed.
“I’d like to see your skills.”
Just then, he picked me up and ran with me all the way over to a table outside. I could see Lucy following behind as I screamed and laughed hysterically. She smiled, eyebrow cocked.
Once at the table, Darren set me down.
“Those,” he said. “Were my ninja skills.”
I laughed, still wondering what the look Lucy had given me was about. But I knew better than to ask in front of Darren.
Soon, Riley appeared with the sandwiches.
“Miss me?” he joked, sitting down. I laughed and kissed him lightly, noticing yet anther glance from Lucy. Again, she had her eyebrow raised. I squinted my eyes at her, not knowing what she was up to.
“So,” she said, trying to make conversation. And soon, one had erupted. Together, the four of us talked and gossiped about everything that popped into our minds.
Suddenly, the table vibrated and the four of us turned our attention to Riley’s phone.
“Hello? Uh, huh. But— Fine.” He looked at me with pleading eyes. “Sorry, everybody, but my Dad needs me at the store.”
He got up, kissed me atop my head, and said his goodbyes.
“You want to take off too?” Darren asked us, dangling the keys in his hand.
Lucy and I nodded in unison.
Just as I was getting starting to get up from my seat, I found Darren at my side taking my hand in his.
I looked up at him with wide eyes.
He shrugged innocently.
“Just thought you might need some help getting up.” he said slowly, nervous.
“Uh, thanks,” I replied, taking his hand and trying not to marvel in how large his were compared to my own. Lucy gave me anther quick look, just long enough that Darren couldn’t see it. I was beginning to become suspicious.
Once home, Lucy raced inside before Darren and I were even out of the car, yelling something about having to go to the bathroom.
“She’s been acting weird all day,” I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.
“Didn’t notice,” Darren said. I suddenly became aware of how truly out of it he was. Even for someone like him, this wasn’t common.
I decided to let it go, knowing that if he had something to say, he would. Just as I reached for the car door handle, I felt his hand fall gently on mine.
I looked at him, confused.
In an instant, his eyes went from mine, to the floor, and back again. My raced faster than ever and I felt oddly uncomfortable. The only sound in the enormous car was the hush of our breathing.
He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out.
“What is it?” I whispered for the atmosphere called for it.
He swallowed hard before answering.
“Just thought you might need some help getting out.” he said in a raspy voice and opened the passenger door with my hand under his own. Once the door was open, he pulled it away and turned his attention to the steering wheel. He seemed to be upset.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Fine,” he said quickly, still staring at the wheel before him.
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” This time, he looked up at me, if only for a second. “Go. Lucy’s probably wondering what’s going on.”
I nodded slowly and got out of the Jeep. Then, I made my way up to the house but couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something I couldn’t see; something that Lucy knew; something that Darren knew.
Something that I didn’t.
“Darren,” I shouted, turning around. But it was too late, his Jeep was already out of sight.