Chapter 10- Square One

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mike? It's Tyler."

"Oh hey Tyler, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just sitting around. You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're good. Sammy and I went back to school today."

"That's good to hear," Tyler said, nervously running a hand through his hair, "Hey listen, is your sister there?"

"Annie? Umm … lemme check."

Tyler heard a little shuffling on the other end, some mumbling and murmuring. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and waited.

"Hello?"

For a second Tyler couldn't answer. He hadn't heard from her since that disaster of a date and he just got dazed for a while. "Hey Annie, it's Tyler."

A slight pause. "Oh hi Tyler."

Awkward, Tyler thought. "Hi. Um, I just wanted to hear how you were. We, uh, didn't get much time to talk after… well, you know."

"Right. Um, I was, um, getting pretty tired, you know? It was a long day and I had to, uh, check in on Sammy, so…"

"Hey, don't apologize. I shouldn't have kept you out so late." Tyler couldn't help but feel a bit sad that they were back to this kind of conversation. Awkward and unsure.

"Oh no, it was okay. I guess I underestimated how tired I was. But I really enjoyed it, though. Thank you."

A smile appeared on Tyler's lips as he sighed in relief. At least she didn't hate him yet.

"I enjoyed it, too. Um, listen, do you think we can do it again? I know the night ended in a weird note, and I want to make up for it." He mentally crossed his fingers.

A heartbeat passed before Annie answered. "Um, I don't know, Tyler. I, uh, got a full load of shifts at the café, and the restaurant wants me to do some extra shifts for them since I missed a couple this past week I'm not really sure when I can get free."

"Oh," he said dejectedly, "How about I'll see you at the café and we'll hang out afterwards, get something to eat?"

"I don't know Tyler. The manager might get mad at me, you know, spending time off my feet while I'm working."

Tyler frowned. Why did he get the feeling that she was trying her best not to see him?

"Yeah, he might get mad," he conceded, "But hey, if you get some free time, give me a call okay?"

There was a slight pause at the end of the line again.

"Okay, I'll do that." It sounded reluctant to Tyler's ears.

"Um, okay. So, what are you-"

"Um, I have to go now Tyler, I have a shift at Blue's and I can't be late," she cut in.

"Oh. Well, we don't want that. I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yeah, later. Bye."

And that was it. Tyler looked at the phone in his hand for a second before tossing it down on his bed.

Okay, so first Annie can't set up a date with him. Second, she won't let him hang out with her at the café. Third, she doesn't have the time to talk to him anymore. And fourth, it seemed like she was really avoiding him.

He sat down, confused and a little frustrated. Things were turning out so great for them, until Reid … no, he didn't do it on purpose. He said he would never do it again. He promised.

But promises are meant to be broken, especially when Reid is involved, right? said a voice in Tyler's head that sounded awfully like his own.

No. He trusted Reid. Reid was his best friend. He wouldn't do that to him again. He only went that far with Kristal.

Kristal … Tyler could still remember how it was with them. Before Reid had to get in the picture …

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A/N: Late and short post, forgive me. Just got settled in. Others will follow soon.