Wendy had come to the limits of her patience. She had simply had enough. With each new hour came a flurry of texts,the same tiresome mind numbing incomprehensible texts. The calls in the middle of the night that She of course never answered. She was over Robbie and as far as she was concerned He simply didn't exist anymore. He was like some stubborn specter who refused to be exorcised from her life.
Just when She was ready to send Her brothers after Him the texts finally ceased for the day,the calls followed suit as well and for a few hours She was able to push Robbie far into the back of Her mind yet despite it all He remained there tucked among the memories like dried flowers between book pages.
The silent void He had left would have remained so had it not been for a chance encounter with Lee and Nate on main street one chilly early autumn afternoon.
She was happy to the pair,spotting them from across the street but when their gaze met hers their faces where void of their usual carefree joy. They appeared sullen and deeply troubled.
Puzzled by this change in demeanor she approached to two and asked,"Hey guys whats up? You two look like Tambry posted pics of you two making out online or something..c'mon guys spill it whats up?"
Lee looked to Nate with a sad sigh,Nate gave him a pat on the shoulder and looked into his eyes giving a sort of silent reply to his pleading gaze.
Lee turned to Wendy and muttered sadly,"...Wendy It's about Robbie..Look me and Nate..were your friends..we've known you a long time..Were not taking Robbie's side. Yeah He wasn't the best boyfriend in the world.."
Nate cut in sharply,"To be honest yeah He could be a total dick and yeah He lied more then the NSA but Wendy the guys really hurting over this...I think You mean a lot more to him then you think."
Lee elbowed Nate in his stomach swiftly and hissed,"Dude don't interrupt me! I hate it when you do that shit! Let me finish!"
Nate elbowed back and before the pair could argue further Wendy broke it up demanding answers.
"Look you two can fight and makeup later I wanna know what the Hell you two are talking about!"
Lee sighed and stopped to gather his thoughts before replying,"Wendy Robbie really did care about you,your like the only girl who's ever even kissed the dude. You gotta understand how bad he feels..Wendy we saw him two days ago and He looks like Hell. He hasn't bathes,Hes losing weight,dude didn't have any to begin with! When we went over to talk to him he was like,so numb He didn't even notice us at first!"
Nate was leaning against the wall nodding along with Lee's sad testimony.
Wendy felt her guilt rise as Her heart sank,Her anger and Her sympathy death locked within Her heart as she listened.
Nate rested his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.
"Look were not saying take him back were just saying give him some actual closure,say goodbye,whatever but don't be such a stone cold bitch and ignore him..Wendy He looked like a f***ing ghost..You know your the only person who can fix this."
Lee wrapped his arms around Nate from behind and rested his chin on his shoulder.
"Wendy please if not for Him do it for Me and Nate so we can stop worrying please?"
Wendy rubbed her temples with a defeated sigh and groaned out,"Fine I'll call the dick wad but if He gets all weird or goes stalker on me I'm kicking all three of your asses you got it?
The two nodded happily and pulled her into a group hug before running off together as the two where completely inseparable.
Wendy was left alone to her thoughts and the notion of having to actually talk to that snide arrogant creep was enough to make her sick then and there.
Later that evening as she lay upon her bed memorizing each crack in her ceiling stalling the inevitable Her thoughts went back to the better memories of him and it softened her heart. Enough so she flipped her phone open,scrolled down to that dreaded number and hit call.
The phone rang several times before a dry hoarse voice cracked through and at a haunting whisper asked,"...W-Wendy...is it really you?...H-hel-hello? "
The voice concerned her a moment but He was a liar after all,He could fake a sad voice easily to git pity after all. She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes answering sharply.
"Yes its me you ass who else would be calling you from my number? Are you stoned or something?"
There was a brief silence and only faint breathing before Her ghostly ex replied.
"...n-no...its not that..I..I had given up..I thought I would never hear your voice again...I...Miss you Wendy...I'm so happy you called me..."
Wendy was finding it increasingly difficult to fight the feelings that where smoldering like smothered little embers that yet still burned. Her heart wasn't made of stone,this sounded real to her and if it was a lie she could sort him out easily.
"Robbie..I want you to meet me somewhere public,I'm not going to come see you anywhere we will be alone got it? I have NO trust in you ok? Meet me at the Diner tonight in a hour ok? You pull anything stupid again and I swear to God They'll never find so much as a f***ing tooth of yours! You feel me dude?"
The silence fell yet a again for a brief spell followed by that tired sad little voice.
"..You really wanna see me?...W-Wendy...I'll be there..I promise.."
She huffed and replied,"Yeah sure we all know what your promises are worth dude."
with that before He could say a word She hung up and laid back into Her pillows with annoyed groan.
"God damn I must be losing it...I can't believe I'm actually doing this..."
When Wendy arrived at the Diner she was prepared to be there waiting for Robbie to show up a couple hours late only to discover to Her surprise a familiar figure hunched over in a corner booth in that worn out old hoodie with the stitched heart.
She had to admit to herself that alone was a puzzling sign but a welcome one.
When Wendy sat approached the table to sit with him she stopped dead in her tracks the moment he looked up and their eyes met.
Where was that boy she knew? The callous and arrogant jerk with more pride then common sense? The showoff with a thousand lies and fabrications to keep people wondering who He really was?
That boy was gone,what sat there was a sad little ghostly thing. His eyes where devoid of their"eye paint for men" sunken,bloodshot and tired looking. His skin was a sickly pale hue almost. Like wax paper. His hair was a tangled greasy mess,his body reeked of sweat and cigarettes. Wendy was not sure how but the little twig had managed to actually lose more weight just as Lee and Nate had said. He looked like Hell,there was no other words for it.
Wendy stared at him a moment and felt her heart plummet right into her stomach.
"Dude...what happened to you..You look like a frigging zombie or something...Dude you want me to order you something? You look half dead man..."
Despite his condition Robbie smiled the widest she had ever seen and he was nearly shaking when he stammered out,"I'm okay really,I'm not hungry I swear,I'm just so happy your really here!..I'm so happy right now Wendy!..."
Wendy found herself frozen in place again,the sight of him like this was overwhelming to say the very least. However She was no pushover,she calmly took a seat across from him and brushed some stray strawberry blonde locks out of her eyes.
"So your happy huh? Why? Did you think that this like your lucky day or something and all was forgiven and we'll be making out in your van before the nights over?"
Robbie's face looked flushed and his eyes darted nervously as his lower lip trembled. He was searching for the right response but could barely speak.
Wendy could not take her gaze off of him. Was this really that jerk she told to drop dead and never speak to her again?
She couldn't help but be overwhelmed by Robbie's smell. Even from across the table it was a arid sickly smell rather like a damp attic that had not been aired out in many years. She groaned in disgust and said quite sharply ,"Dude there's this amazing new thing called a shower,what the hell man? You reek!"
Robbie didn't really respond,only gave off nervously avoiding eye contact as his face flushed.
She huffed in annoyance and felt her patience fading fast,"Robbie seriously We need to talk about something serious and I don't want you thinking your getting anything from me tonight. OK?"
Was this really the guy who broke off dates,lied like a cheap rug and let her down time and again?
Her silent thoughts where broken by his icy fingers resting atop Her hand and she jumped a little at the surprisingly cool touch.
His voice but a weak mutter,"I'm just happy to see you again..to have you near me..I didn't think anything like that I swear..I missed you so much babe..."
Wendy pulled her hand away and cleared her throat.
"Look dude its time we have a serious talk. Your getting on my nerves ok? The texts,the calls,Dude I am not going to answer ok? You need to get it through your head,its over! Okay? Now just move the Hell on with your life Robbie! That's why I came here tonight. To basically tell you to knock it off. I'm tired of you stalking me all the time!"
With that all the joy drained with the color on his face and his posture faded into a sullen slump. Robbie sat empty eyed and motionless. His eyes looked like they where misting. Robbie shifted uncomfortably in his seat and broke eye contact with Her.
Robbie tried to clear his throat but could barely get the words out. He stood on his trembling legs,shaking with each uneasy step.
"...I-I get it...I'm sorry Wendy..I'm sorry ok?...You won't see me again I promise..I gotta get out of here..."
Despite his best efforts to hold them back the tears broke through and ran down his cheeks right in front of her. He ran out of the Diner choking back sobs as he pushed past others and headed for the door.
Before Wendy could say anything Robbie had fled the diner as fast as He was able.
Wendy followed after him out into the parking lot and looked around for him,catching sight of Robbie vanishing up main street . The girl followed after him and called out his name over and over.
He was nowhere to be seen. Wendy had no idea what to do other then try calling him but this time came no answer. The guilt and pity in her was rising. Maybe She had taken it all too far and now it was too late. She couldn't just go home,not after this. She decided She had to find him. Robbie shouldn't be alone anymore. It was clear He needed Her. Wendy called Lee and Nate to come pick her up and help her search for Robbie and thus the night had only just begun.