WHAT WAS SERENA WALSH TRYING TO TELL ME?

For the next three days, Serena Walsh became the most confusing person to exist in my life.

It’s not because she disappeared. Serena texted me constantly.

Serena: Good morning, my love.

Me: Have you eaten?

Serena: Your coffee addiction is becoming concerning.

Serena: I saw a dog today that reminds me of you.

It started a playful argument between us that lasted forty-five minutes.

Me: How does a dog remind you of me?

Serena: It looked stubborn.

Me: That’s rude.

Serena: So accurate.

The worst part was how easily Serena slipped back into my life. Four years away should have changed something. Instead, it felt like Serena had simply pressed pause and then hit play the moment I came home.

Every conversation with Serena left me smiling like an idiot.

The embarrassing part was that nothing about it felt forced. Back in school, Serena was one of the first people I wanted to call whenever something went wrong.

Every notification from her made me excited and also made my heart beat.

Every time I told myself to stop reading too much into her messages, Serena would send something that made it impossible.

Like tonight.

Serena: You awake?

I stared at the message as it was almost midnight.

Me: Unfortunately

Three dots appeared immediately.

Serena: Come outside.

I sat upright in my bed.

Me: Excuse me?

Serena: Outside.

Me: Serena, it is midnight.

Serena: And?

Me: Normal people sleep.

Serena: You must have forgotten Velvet makes me a night person.

Serena: You replied in three seconds.

I hated how quickly Serena always caught me.

Me: That’s not the point.

Serena: Come outside, Maya.

Before I could argue with Serena about it being night, another message appeared.

Serena: Please.

I groaned.

Five minutes later, I was sneaking downstairs like a criminal, as the house was silent.

My parents were asleep. Ethan was asleep. Hopefully, he was asleep.

If my brother caught me sneaking out to meet his best friend in the middle of the night, I’d never hear the end of it.

I stepped outside, and immediately I sighted her.

Serena was standing on the hood of her SUV holding two coffee cups.

“You’re insane,” I said.

Serena’s face brightened the second she saw me.

“Hi, my love.”

And there it was again. My love.

She said it so casually, like it meant nothing. But to me, it meant a lot and was capable of ruining my entire night.

“You drove here at midnight?”

“I was bored, and I don’t have something much to do at the club.”

“That’s weird.”

She handed me one of the coffee cups, as a tiny part of our fingers brushed.

“Relax.”

“I am relaxed.”

“You look like you’re about to fight the coffee.”

I looked away, and that made her laugh.

“Besides, I used to do this all the time,” Serena added.

I frowned. “Do what?”

“Drive at midnight.”

“At three in the morning? Why?”

Serena didn’t answer me immediately; then she smiled slowly. “Sometimes, I hardly speak to people in a single day. I try avoiding proximity with people at my club to maintain my standards.”

She added, “In fact, sometimes, I don’t go there, and I am all on my own.”

For a second, I imagined she meant it the way I wanted her to mean it.

We sat in comfortable silence, and the town was quiet. The streetlights glowed softly.

There had been a time when silence with Serena made me nervous. I always felt the need to fill every quiet moment with questions just to keep her attention on me. That changed along the line. The silence this time felt easy.

“Can I ask you something?” I spoke.

“Always.”

I hesitated, then decided I was tired of wondering.

“What were you going to say the other day?”

Serena’s expression changed immediately, and there it was, the same unreadable look. “I knew you’d bring that up.”

“And that’s because you never answered.”

Serena stared at the coffee. “I don’t know if I should.”

My heart immediately sped up. “But why?”

Serena laughed softly, but there was no humor to her laughter. “Because things are different now.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

Her eyes found mine; neither of us spoke for a moment.

Serena then looked away. “I honestly just wanted to know if you were really avoiding me in school,” Serena said. She added, “It’s really not that deep, I promise.”

Her words landed honestly and simply. My chest soon tightened.

“Serena…”

“No.” She shook her head. “Let me finish.”

I stayed quiet. “When you left, I thought I’d get used to it,” Serena added.

My grip tightened around the coffee cup.

“You called me from school a lot of times,” Serena continued.

“Oh yeah, I know.”

“But it wasn’t the same.”

My heartbeat was becoming a problem at that point.

That smile appeared on her face, and it nearly destroyed me.

Neither of us looked away. It was just her and me.

Serena took a step closer to me like she wanted to kiss me.

I made myself believe she wanted to kiss me.

My breath caught. “Serena…”

She laughed nervously. I had never seen Serena Walsh this nervous.

Serena’s phone soon buzzed, which shattered that moment.

She glanced at the screen, and something flashed across her face.

It seemed like annoyance, frustration, or maybe disappointment.

A second later, a call came through.

I caught a glimpse of the name before she turned away.

Claire.

Something unpleasant twisted in my stomach.

Serena stared at the screen for a moment longer and then silenced the call, but didn’t decline it.

The silence that came after was strange and heavy.

A few minutes later, Serena stood and said, “I should go.”

I hated how disappointed I felt knowing we couldn’t spend more time together tonight.

Deep inside me, I thought she was going to spend the night at our place, and maybe sleep on my bed.

In all, I knew I was getting a step closer to sleeping with Serena.

“Right.”

Serena smiled softly. “Get some sleep. I need to be at the club again.”

“You drove here just to tell me to get some sleep?”

“Partly, my love.”

I narrowed down my eyes. “Partly?”

She laughed, slowly reached towards me, tapped my forehead, and gave me a tight hug.

She kissed my neck, and I felt a shock in me.

My heart forgot how to function.

“Goodnight, Maya.”

She walked towards her SUV as I watched her go.

Serena opened the driver’s door and then stopped. She looked back at me.

The expression on her face made my pulse stumble.

“Serena?”

She opened her mouth like she was about to say something she’d been trying to say for days.

My breath caught. I thought she was finally going to tell me.

Instead, her phone rang again.

Claire.

The name popped up on her screen.

Serena stared at it, looked at me, then looked back at the phone.

And suddenly, I wondered which decision she was going to make.

Answer it.

Or decline it.