Page 38 of The Chance

Sixteen hours ago.

Another missed chance. A crossed timeline that never seems to settle. Thousands of miles and a single lifetime away.

If I type a hundredI miss you’sinto the little text box, will he say it back?

My thumbs hover over the screen but I can’t see the letters through the water that steals my vision.

He could have been right here beside me.

He chose not to.

Locking the phone, I throw it across my empty room and turn into the pillow beneath my head and scream.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jordan

This was a terribleidea.

Sweat pours down my back.

Mac’s gonna freak about this.

Fatigue threats to settle into my bones, but I push on.

I know he will.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jordan

Peach:Did you read the article?

I stare at thetext on my screen, unease warping my gut.

Me:Doesn’t matter now.

The response is almost instant, and it makes me wonder where the hell they are.

Peach:Does matter. Like, a whole lot.

Sighing, I lock my phone and swipe away the dampness from my face with my shirt—Mac’s shirt.

“Jorrrrdan,” Makkin chirps, his voice echoing. “Do you miss Unckie?”

I glance at the scratched marks across his paper as he scribbles giant lines over what I think was supposed to be a sun.

I sigh.

He’s my best friend.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

Of course I do.

“Me, too.”

Chapter Twenty-Five