I don't breathe properly until I hear the elevator doors shut behind him.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Finals fly by in a sticky mess of anxiety. After our last test, Kara and I crash on her couch and take turns picking movies to marathon. Some time around midnight, I turn my phone on.
It's been a week since I've seen anything but my school email.
The screen flashes on. Those little bars appear next to the connection icon. Notifications pop up—a dozen new text messages and one voicemail.
I check the texts. Mostly little things—one from my mom about vacation, one from Kara, a bunch from the people in my study group.
The voicemail is from Miles.
Kara can read the look on my face. "Put it on speaker?"
"Okay." I'm going to need someone to talk me down.
I tap the play button. There's a burst of static, then it's Miles.
"Hey, Meg. I know you asked me, well screamed at me as you were rushing out of the house, not to write any more songs about you. But I couldn't abide by those terms. This might not make it on the album, but the single is going live Tuesday. It will be everywhere. This is the acoustic version. Drew would cringe if he heard my attempt at his guitar solo, but you'll get the idea."
My heart collects in my throat. A song. He wrote another song about me.
It's what he does when he doesn't want to run away from his feelings.
There's the strum of a guitar. It's a pleasant melody, but it stirs up something inside of me. Something uncomfortable. I go to delete the message, but Kara grabs the phone.
"No chance." She climbs on top of the couch to hold the phone over my head.
It's all over.
I'm ga-ga out of my head,
one of those idiots
I always made fun of.
Everyone said, "boy can't you see
that girl is crazy about you."
Just shook my head.
"No way, not her, she's even
as the number two."
His voice is heavy, but there's something sweet about it, too.
It's all over.
That flutter in my chest.
Love, funny word,
what the hell does it mean?
Everyone said, "boy can't you see