Chapter 50: The Art of Waiting

By the time I finished studying, it was 11:31 PM, which was a perfectly reasonable time to stop for the night. I had covered everything I needed to cover, reviewed my notes, and managed to get through the evening without being distracted by a certain video call that someone had specifically promised to make.

At least, that was the version I was going with.

I gathered my books and papers, put them away, and moved to my bed with my phone in hand. Nicole was still offline. I stared at her contact for a moment before opening our chat, scrolling through the messages we'd already exchanged as though something new might have appeared while I wasn't looking.

I finally exhaled and typed: Hey. You said you'd call.

I read it, frowned, and deleted the whole thing. It sounded like I was keeping track of her promises, which I obviously wasn't.

I tried again: You asleep?

My thumb hovered over the send button before I deleted that one too.