The light flickered along the walls in the dim room. Her lean, muscular body was delicately laid out on the oversized bed of fluff and pillows, papers messily strewn around her in a circle. The papers were everywhere--along the floor, the satin sheets, anywhere that was close enough for her to reach them. Occasionally, she would tear her eyes and hands from the tiny black laptop to swiftly shove the bridge of her silver glasses back up to the top of her nose before digging around the mess of papers again for some hidden, minute detail. Such was the life of a college student--procrastination was definitely her forte.
She slowly slid her glasses off of her face to rub her strained eyes as she heard the familiar ding of the infamous AOL Instant Messenger. A silent groan tried to pass her lips, but relented into a soft burst of air, almost a sigh. Her finger moved to the touch pad of the laptop to click on the incessantly blinking orange icon so that she could read the screen name. It was one thing to get interrupted, but she would only comply with the break if the person IMing her was worth it. As soon as her eyes scanned the name, her face brightened, and all thoughts about completing her upcoming paper were a thing of the past.
superfly11: hey kaleigh
‘Wow,’ she thought. She couldn’t believe that it was Trace. She hadn’t heard from him in so long, at least a few years, she was sure. She wondered what he was doing, and most of all, why he was IMing her out of the blue.
Kaybean1221: Hey Trace. Long time, no talk. How are you?
She sat and waited with baited breath, her mind reeling with what was going on as she started to think about the last time that she saw him and the drama that had surrounded their parting. She missed him. Why the hell did he have to go and IM her? She had finally started to get over the void that he had left in her heart, to live a normal life without all of the difficulties he wrought onto her world.
superfly11: not so good. i need to talk to you. can i call you?
Her heart dropped when she read the words. She audibly groaned as she shook her head. Why was he doing this? Her heart got the best of her, though, as slowly put her fingers to the keys.
Kaybean1221: umm...yeah, you can call me. 555-2392.
She bit her bottom lip as she hit the enter key and sighed, waiting slowly for his response. She had no idea what was going on right now, why she was doing this, or what was wrong with him. Seeing that she wasn’t going to get a response over the computer, she slowly got up so that she could grab her cell phone. Her heart thrashed prominently in her chest as she stared down at the small, colored device, waiting impatiently for it to ring. When it actually did, she jumped slightly, almost shocked that he had actually called her when she saw the familiar area code. She took in a shaky breath as she slowly flipped the smooth metal object open and put it to her ear.
“Hey,” she said softly, almost a whisper. She wasn’t sure what else to say, but she hoped that the pent up hurt from the past few years wasn’t evident in her shaky voice.
“Hey,” he replied, his voice equally quaking. “I...um, I...”
“Shhh, it’s okay,” she interrupted. Even though there was a surfeit of history between the two, she still missed him and cared about him, and she was probably the one person who knew him better than anyone. “Just tell me what’s wrong.”
She could hear him sigh on the other end. “Kay, it’s my mom,” he paused, the sniffles evident through the line. His mom was always really important to him, and she knew that.
The thumping in her heart quickened when his words started to sink in. “I...Trace?” she sighed. “What’s wrong with her? Talk to me...tell me what’s going on...” Her voice was full of concern. No matter what had happened between them, she never wanted to see him in pain.
“She’s dying,” he said simply, his voice distant and full of emotion. “I...I don’t know what to do, Kayleigh. She’s my everything,” he whimpered.
What was she supposed to say to that? Sure, she understood how it felt to lose someone that meant everything to you. She had lost him, right? But this was different; this was his mother, the only woman that had really been there for him his whole life. The one who raised him, who changed his diaper, who was there for him when his father would raise his voice or his hand. How was she supposed to help him deal with this, especially after two years of not even conversing?
“I...I’m sorry, Trace,” she uttered. “What can I do for you?” she continued softly.
“Come out here,” he said. “I...I know that we didn’t really leave on good terms, but I miss my best friend, and I need you. I can’t go through this without you. Please? For me?” he begged, but only heard silence on the other end. “Listen, I know that it’s been a long time, and there’s...a lot of circumstance in why we haven’t talked, but you’re the only person that understands. If you don’t come out here, I don’t know what I’m liable to do.”
She finally tried to compose an answer. “Trace...come out where? I don’t know where the hell you are,” she started, her voice raising a few decibels. She then remembered the news that he had just dropped onto her and took a calming breath to stifle her pent up anger.
“Trace, I have school. I just...I can’t just pick up and leave, especially for my supposed best friend that failed to contact me for the past few years. How convenient our re-acquaintance is,” she mumbled bitterly.
There was nothing but silence. It was a silence so thick that you could cut it with a paring knife, and for the first time, she didn’t know how to fix it. He hadn’t made an effort to contact her for years, and now he calls her and begs her to give up her life to come out and see him for an indefinite time period? Was he on drugs?
She knew the thought that she was unwilling to drop everything for him was painful, but she had a life now. She couldn’t submit to his every request or command like she used to, but the silence was starting to get the best of her. She hated uncomfortable silence.
“For how long?” she asked, her voice full of submission. He always had this crazy magnetic effect on her that she was unable to control, creating the inane ability for him to convince her to do things that she really didn’t want to do.
“Really?” his voice seemed to audibly brighten, like she could magically take away all of his pain. Even though it wasn’t a definite confirmation, it was a sign that he was getting to her. “Out here, in Los Angeles. I don’t know for how long, maybe a few days, and perhaps a trip to Memphis for a few weeks, you know, for funeral preparations, to visit and all. I mean, it’s all indefinite. I really don’t know how long it will take, but I can’t go through this if you don’t come. I need my best friend...I need you,” his voice trailed off. You could hear the desperation clinging through the phone line.
She sighed--audibly.
“Trace, this is crazy. I have the rest of the semester to finish out, I can’t just leave,” she sighed. Who was she kidding? Finals were almost over, and she just had two more papers to write and a test to take the next afternoon. This was her friend, and he needed her. It was time for her to swallow her pride and the voice inside her head that was telling her that this was wrong.
“Okay...I’ll try and get a flight out tomorrow evening. I have to finish some finals, but as soon as I’m done, I’m out there, okay?” she mumbled in defeat.
She could hear his smile, even though she could tell he was crying. “Thank you, Kayleigh. I’ll never forget this. Call me when you’re done with your finals,” he finished. She could tell that he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. He just ended the phone call with a few sentimental words.
She groaned out loud before screaming, her arms slapping the sides of her thighs as her head fell back against her shoulders. Her mind started its mental battle over her obliging to his daunting request. She felt weak, stupid, and used. But she was always the person that had people abandon her when she needed them the most, and she always vowed that she would never be that person to anyone she cared for. That was a promise--one she was not going to break today.
Story Notes:
I found this old story of mine on the old archive--I completely forgot I wrote it. Anyway...I was kind of surprised that the writing was halfway decent, considering it's six years old now. I always loved this idea, and never got around to finishing it, so I'm going to resurrect it now. ;)
Note--I've changed the title and the characters, 'cause I wanted to. ;) (also 'cause my penname was lame back in the day, haha).
Story Tags: celebrityj justinandtrace college
