w 1 t n e s s

nine

halle

My skin longed for his touch every waking minute. Somehow a whole week of school had passed already. It felt like we were texting or talking on the phone every minute. At least, when I wasn't in class and he wasn't in practice. It felt like our schedules were always conflicting.

I'd been away from the people I loved and knew the best, my family, for whole summers and sometimes longer. I'd known them my entire life, yet somehow I'd never understood being homesick and missing people. Now I did.

My short stay in Chicago had completely changed my life. I'd felt more at home in the big city than I did in Toronto. It even rivaled the beach. But the thing that made me homesick wasn't the city itself, nor the nice apartment I'd stayed at. My heart ached to return home to Tyler.

It felt like he was never off my mind. I was excited to watch him play tonight against Arizona. It felt like weeks since I'd seen him, even though it'd been only six days. How could I handle a future that was more time away than with him?

My laptop was switched on in front of me. My knee jiggled nervously as I watched the darkened arena behind the announcers. Emily was pacing by her bed. I knew how much she wanted to go to the party just off campus. If the game wasn't on tonight, I knew she'd be dragging me out to the oversized frat house. Not that I wanted to party. I'd indulge my frivolous roommate, but we didn't have the same meaning of fun. Last time was a rare occurrence that I didn't plan to repeat. I had too much riding on my academics, getting kicked out for underage drinking would ruin me.

Emily wouldn't go without me. We didn't have many other friends on campus, and even if we did, Emily and I only trusted each other. Friends since childhood, now roommates. My eyes travelled up to her pacing form.

Right as the face off was starting, my phone began to buzz wildly. The sudden noise made me jump. I frowned. Who could be calling me, especially at eight at night? I relaxed when I saw that the caller i.d. read 'Mom'. Grudgingly, I answered the phone.

"Are you still in Chicago?" Uh oh, this was her angry tone. I gulped. I'd hoped they wouldn't find out about my trip. Neither of my brothers had Instagram to see the post with Tyler, and my sister was too young to have a phone yet. How did they find out?

"What? No, Mom. I'm sitting in my dorm room."

"Your brother told me you were in that horrible city." Snapchat. Of course. I'd forgotten that I had added my brothers to my personal story. Damn. I was busted.

"I was...but not anymore."

"Why? How? What was so important that you went to Chicago? Do you know how dangerous that city is?" I gritted my teeth, annoyed at her over protective tone.

"It was...uh..." I looked at Emily with wild eyes. I needed some excuse. She mouthed 'conference' and I deflated in relief. "It was for a science conference. Studying marine life in Lake Michigan. I went to the aquarium and everything, it was super cool." The lie rolled way too easily off my tongue. I cringed at my fib. There were a lot of flaws with my excuse, but I hope she believed me enough to accept it.

"Oh, that's nice. I wish you would have told me. It'd be nice to know when my oldest daughter goes flying thousands of miles by herself from her college. It's already hard enough knowing how far from home you are." I relaxed, feeling guilty. I'd never lied like this before. My mom had no reason to think I wasn't telling the truth.

"I'll tell you next time, Mom. I promise. It was a super last minute thing and I didn't even think of it."

"I'd appreciate it. How are you, otherwise? How are your classes going? How's Emily?"