• • • • •
Tickles is curled up in a ball on his pillow bed in my room. “He can secretly stay in my room. And when I leave, I’ll put him in Geoffrey’s house.”
“Secretly, huh?” says Seth on the other end of the line.
I lie on my bed with the world’s largest smile on my face. Seth called a few minutes ago. It’s the first real, uninterrupted talk we’ve had since he left. “But enough about my problems. How’s Seattle?”
“Seattle is great. I am forgetting that I have to live in a town of three thousand people for a while.”
“Are you getting good pictures?”
“Not really. Nothing amazing yet. And my dad is being a pain. But he’s back at work now, so I have some more time to do my own thing.”
I want to tell him I can’t wait to have him back in Whitehall, but I don’t know if that’s cool to say. It might come off as pathetic. So I don’t say anything.
“Are you there?” he asks.
He chuckles. “Anyway, I better go clean up the kitchen before my dad gets home. It pisses him off when I leave plates and glasses out.”
My stomach drops at the thought of going another two weeks without Seth.
“But feel free to text or call me anytime, Charlie. If you want.”
“Okay,” I say. “I will.”
After I hang up, I notice Tickles still asleep, and I wonder if I can just sleep the next two weeks away.