This fake break-up thing sucked. It felt too real.
She missed him- even looking at his empty desk at school hurt. But he was on a mission, and she understood now why it was so important to him.
The guilt sucked too- seeing the hurt and anger and disappointment on his face. She'd apologized; he'd apologized and told her to forget about it. But it was still there, like a crack in something she'd thought nothing could damage.
He loved her- he'd put himself through hell just to be with her. And she'd managed to screw up being the perfect girl that he'd done that for.
Some Miss Mystic. Not that beauty pageants or social events were his thing, but he would have been there for her if she'd asked. Instead he would be spending all his time with Hayley, with her slutty short shorts, razor sharp cheekbones and cut-the-crap attitude that was so him that she had to wonder.
They'd had such an easy understanding until this. Maybe she'd just been too kiddie pool about it. Now all she had were questions about those werewolf camps she couldn't safely enter, about exactly what his plan to take down an unkillable Original entailed, about how often werewolves dated each other. And now she wasn't sure she could ask him without coming across- well- like an insecure neurotic control freak.
She rolled her eyes, shoved the flower chart aside and grabbed her phone. Whatever. This was Tyler.
Hey. How are you? I miss you.
She had no idea what his schedule was like now, so she tried not to expect an answer right away. But she smiled when her phone buzzed seconds later.
Tired. Sore. I miss you too.
You're going to have to help me with Math
I have no idea what all this crap means.
You're doing homework?
Well, I kinda want to graduate
Gotta try to keep up
The function stuff?
And why are you sore?
It's hard to make yourself turn at first, remember?
So I show them
!
He answered on the first ring. "Care-"
"What are you doing!? And I thought turning wasn't supposed to hurt any more!"
"Well- it would be weird not to feel your own bones breaking, don't you think? The key is not to let the pain rule you."
"Tyler…"
"It sucks, but it helps to go through it with them at first, you know? Hayley could talk me through because I had a starting point, and I needed to break the bond. But sometimes explaining isn't enough, especially for the ones who don't think they have much to lose by staying bonded."
She sighed.
"I just- I wish it wasn't always you doing the hard part."
He was silent for a bit before he answered teasingly. "C'mon. Aren't you supposed to be the one with the "make lemonade" speeches?"
"I'm serious."
"Well, me too. It's not all laughs, but we're a tighter pack because of it, you know? Some of these guys have done some amazing stuff. Like…"
She smiled and listened. She was glad he could find the silver lining in this, even if she felt a bit left out. And then he asked her about school and she told him about the bevy of standardized tests that were coming up. So she tried explaining the functions- they were like little math machines. And for a while it was just like nothing had changed- she was telling him step by step how to apply the quadratic formula, and he was sounding skeptical as he reported back each line. But after a few problems he figured out how it worked.
"Yes! See? You got it."
"Thanks- it just looks intimidating, I guess."
She shrugged and lay back on her bed, smiling. "Would be faster if I could just come over and show you. But I'd probably just jump your bones, so, you know. Maybe not."
He groaned. "God, I wish. I've even been dreaming about you."
She laughed. "Oh really? Sex dreams?"
"They're hot. I just wish I could remember them better. And that you were here."
"Well… I'm here now. And- I could tell you where I've just put my hand…"
He chuckled. "So… this going to be one of those phone calls?"
"Only $4.99 a minute," she teased. "I'm on my bed and I'm unbuttoning my shirt."
He laughed. "You gotta give me a better visual than that. What color's your bra?"
"Pink. The satin one. Hold on, let me get a toy out."
He groaned. "We should have Skyped. I want to see."
"Ugh, I know. But I'm already all wet so just- I'm putting you on speaker so I can use both hands, OK?"
"You're killing me, you know that?"
She giggled and sighed as she touched herself. "Buck up. At least we're sort of having sex. We're going to make this work even if we're fake broken up, OK?"
He went silent again, and she wished she could tell if he was smiling or not. But she smiled when he replied.
"Whatever you say, Caroline."