Gradis questioned picking up the phone. She was in a trash mood, her phone was in an even trashier state and her mind was nowhere capable of acting like she loved someone. But…

"Hi," she texted back.

She wasn't sure why she replied but maybe a bit of manipulation was all she needed.

She waited for a few seconds without a reply from him and stared at the name of the one who had reached out to her.

"Julian…" She muttered, running her finger over his name and cutting her finger on the broken screen in the process.

A minute pa.s.sed after she sent the text and Gradis was still staring at her screen waiting for a reply.

'What am I doing?' Gradis asked herself scratching her head and dropping her phone on the carpeted floor. 'Why did I fool myself?' she chuckled, 'I've fallen so far that now I set myself up to be ignored?'

She looked up at the grey ceiling, wondering if it could fall and suffocate her like her life was starting to. She had spent the last few days running around and preparing for something she had been looking forward to for the last few years but why was it so...unfulfilling? Her days and nights were separated by the morning calls of her best friend, Mia and her work was the only reason why she even bothered to move.

This cycle was something she hated but wasn't something she could push away. 'It was just the beginning of a bigger plan' she coaxed herself, 'this repet.i.tion will end soon. You'll get what you want and then sit on top of your throne. But then… what comes next?' At the top of the ladder, what will she do then? Was there anything to do? The irony of it all was that these questions were useless as Gradis already knew the answer. At the top of the ladder, there will be another ladder, and another and another, she will keep climbing to a goal she will grow to forget the higher she got.

Should she just fall off no-

DING!

Gradis turned her head and looked at her screen.

"Sorry, I had work to do (T-T) so I was finishing it up so I could talk to you with no distractions," Julian replied.

"No worries," Gradis typed blankly, her fingers throbbing as they pressed against the keyboard.

"XD ok!"

"Hmm."

"So...how are things going for you?"

Gradis looked around her, her bloodied fingers, the pieces of her phone on the carpet and the blood on her carpet.

"Everything's good! I was just working on some papers too before you texted."

"Sigh…"

"Huh?"

"It feels like everything in our lives is just… work, work, work, and work."

"I know right?

"When's our break?"

"Haha.. apparently never."

"...

"Why did you text me?"

"Oh right…"

"Hmm?"

"I missed you…"

Gradis looked at the words on the screen in disbelief. 'Missed me?' she thought to herself, 'what a lie.'

"Really?"

"Hmm! Yup XD

"It's hard to focus cuz' I kept thinking about the date we had earlier."

"Hahaha… why?"

"Was I too abrasive?"

"What?"

"I feel like I rushed things a bit… I mean it's only our third date and there I was talking about marriage."

"Oof… maybe…"

"SIGHHH I knew it!"

"XD don't beat yourself up about it… I didn't hate it."

"Oh…

"Wow."

"Hmm? Wow?"

"Sorry...I just.. Haha that got me off-guard."

"Lol why?"

"It was just..so direct."

"..."

Julian scrolled up and reread the text. He wasn't supposed to react like this… why was he like this? There was something about that text that… BATHUMP.