Page 28 of Things I Wish I Said
I have no idea what the parameters of her wish are and how to behave.
It’s just a couple months, I tell myself. I can do this without completely fucking it up. I can honor my father and get Mom off my back, while helping a girl who’s been severely fucked over.
“Just give me a minute first,” I say, and when she nods, I rise to my feet and head in the direction of the parking lot so I can read thetext she sent.
RYLEIGH:
How many chemo treatments did the cancer patient need?
What the fuck?
I head for my i8 as I hit her name, then the call button, and wait for it to ring.
She picks up almost immediately. “Did you get it?”
“The text, yeah?”
“No. I mean, yes, the text,” she says, sounding impatient, “but it’s a joke.”
“Oh.” One syllable because I’m stumped.
I pull the phone away from my ear again and glance at the text once more:
How many chemo treatments did the cancer patient need?
“Um,” I say, my mind blank.
“Tumor.”
“I don’t get it.”
“How many chemo treatments did the cancer patient need? Tu-mor. Like two more?”
“Cancer jokes, really Ryleigh?”
She sighs. “I have a lot of time on my hands these days.”
I can imagine, and it would fucking suck. Time is nothing but the space to think about all the shit that plagues me.
“So why are you calling?” she asks. “Aren’t all the cool guys supposed to wait days to reply when a new chick texts them, or didn’t you get the memo?”
My mouth twitches. “Technically, I’m calling you, not texting you back.”
“All I’m saying is, you could at least play hard to get.”
I snort.
“Besides, the only appropriate response to a text is a text back, not a phone call.”
I smirk. “I only text if someone doesn’t answer.” Or if I’m messaging Dustin, but I don’t say that. “I’m not a texter. Never have been.”
She groans. “So you’re one of those.”
“What’s wrong with not wanting to waste my time typing out a text that would take me two seconds to convey by phone?”
“Because no one calls anymore. Everyone texts, Grayson. You should know this. It’s abhorrent to call. It’s basic human decency to send a text. Do you want to be that guy?”
“Honestly? I wouldn’t mind if people got annoyed with me and stopped trying. It might make life easier.”
