Page 65 of Clichés & Curses

The conversation finally came to an end after an exchange of goodnight texts before I went to sleep.

But as of that day, he hadn’t texted me yet.

And my heart couldn’t help but feel a little sad about it.

I mean, there wasn’t any harm in me texting him first. But since the first time we texted, Colton had always been the one to initiate the conversation, so I couldn’t help but find it a bit nerve-wracking to be the one to send the first text.

Plus, friends text each other, right?

It wasn’t as if I was doing anything that was out of the ordinary for a friend to do.

And I really wanted to send him that good luck text.

Even though Colton’s game was starting at 2 p.m., they would most likely be on the field before to get ready. Sending it an hour earlier seemed like the most optimum time.

‘It’s just a text,’ I muttered to myself.

I started typing out the message, and immediately sent it before I had a chance to back out.

Clara:

Good luck with the game today!

There’s my text, now you owe me a home run.

A few minutes passed and he hadn’t replied.

Was I too late? Are they already on the field?

The lecture hall started to fill up with more students, and before I knew it, the lecturer had already entered, preparing his slides on the computer.

I was about to turn my phone on airplane mode, when his reply came just in time.

Colton:

Hit a home run for you?

You got it, partner.

The lecture ended exactly at 3 p.m., and I had a free hour before my last class of the day. Usually, I would head to the coffee shop to get some reading, but as I stepped out of the lecture hall toits open outdoor space, I was greeted with a soft breeze and the afternoon glow of the sun.

Fortunately, my next class was close to a shaded sitting area under a tree, and it seemed the universe was on my side when there was an unoccupied table. Settling into one of the seats, I took out my planner to go through all the assignments that had a next-week deadline.

I had managed to stay on top of my work that semester—at least by then, I had. Moreover, I had already started both the assignments that were to be submitted soon, one of them was even halfway done. My initial plan was to finish both the day after, since I didn’t have any classes, but I could try to get ahead with this free time.

Thinking I could get some work done while waiting for my next class, I took out my laptop and opened the Word document.

One minute.

Then, two.

And now, five minutes had passed, and I was still staring at the same document.

Adding nothing, cutting nothing, the only movement was the cursor blinking, as it waited for me to pour out my words. But it seemed my brain was already locked in on me facing this assignment the next day and nothing came to mind.

I let out a sigh. Might as well have continued my binge ofSchitt’s Creek,and just enjoy the leisure since I already had my laptop out.

But just as I was about to click on Netflix, a better idea came along.

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