Page 22 of I Want Crazy (Loco, Texas 3)

Red couldn’t stop the shit-eating grin. She had gone home, settled in, and texted him at…he checked the time stamp…five after nine.

She was probably already asleep.

Doesn’t mean you can’t message her back.

As he made coffee, he tried to come up with something clever to say, but all he managed to type was: Me neither.

Not exactly conversation gold, so he added,

Have you tried counting sheep?

Before he could stop himself, he hit Send.

He grabbed his coffee and called himself every kind of idiot, but as he sat down, his phone beeped again.

Yeah, even turned on the TV but nothing’s on. You said you were here if I needed anything, soooo entertain me.

He laughed out loud. And instead of typing on his computer, he sent her another text.

I was short and fat as a kid, so your assumption that I was picked on was right…just not for my name.

He set the phone down, turned up Spotify, and started typing.

He’d managed to write one paragraph before he saw his phone screen light up with a message. Without taking his earbuds out, he read her message.

Okay, we’ll go tit for tat. You say something about yourself, and I’ll share something. For instance, I was Messy Jessie for most of sixth and seventh grade because I hardly ever combed my hair and I always got dirty.

He couldn’t stop from teasing her.

Okay, you just said tit and dirty in the same text, and yet I’m not going to make any perverted comments. I call that growth. So what changed? How did you outgrow, Messy Jessie?

Almost as an afterthought, he texted, Oh, and my name was Al the Sow.

The conversation continued a few minutes later.

First of all, the fact that you mentioned it screams immaturity.

I went to visit my aunt and her daughters the summer after seventh grade, and I guess you can say they gave me a makeover.

And that nickname doesn’t even rhyme! Your bullies were stupid.

The conversation continued for hours. He told her how after his growth spurt and lifting weights, people started leaving him alone, but there had been one kid who didn’t get the message. It had taken Red tossing him into a set of lockers sophomore year for him to finally leave Red alone. He’d gotten suspended, but it had been worth it.

She told him when she came back to school after getting her braces off and started dressing differently, suddenly people were talking to her instead of laughing at her, and boys finally asked her to dance at school dances. She had ridden out her eighth-grade year and gone to a different high school than the rest of her peers. She had just wanted to start over.

Red fell asleep with his head on his desk and the phone clutched in his hand. When he woke up at a little after six, he’d hardly written a thing, but when he looked at the last text she sent, he didn’t care.

Thanks for being there. I’ll text you in the morning.

Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he picked up his phone and connected it to his charger before typing: Morning. Wakey Wakey eggs and bakey.

He got up to take a shower, and when he came out, the light on his phone was flashing.

Why are you awake? I love Kill Bill as much as the next girl, but it’s fucking early.

Laughing he tapped away. Want some breakfast?

Chirp.

---