The message blinked at her like an open wound.
"That's funny."
Nayla read it back, frowned, and deleted it. It didn't feel like her. Too polite. Too... expected.
She typed again:
"Lol."
Deleted it. Again.
She sighed and tossed the phone aside, then rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling fan spinning slowly above. She had laughed at Raka's meme an actual chuckle, which was rare. But putting that into words? It felt unnatural. Like mimicking a language she hadn't mastered.
Why was it so hard to respond?
He just wanted her to engage. To react. To show she cared. And she did. But every response she typed felt fake the moment it left her fingers.
So she said nothing.
And knew he would notice.
Miles away, Raka stared at the same chat. Read. No reply. He closed his messaging app, opened it again. Still nothing. He shouldn't care. It was just a meme. But it wasn't just that. It was the silence. It always came after something sweet. And it left him questioning everything.
Did she think it wasn't funny? Did she just not want to talk to him today? Did she forget? Or worse, did she not even feel bad about ignoring him?
Raka lay on the couch, arms behind his head. It had been like this for weeks. Hot when they were together, cold when they were apart.
He didn't want her to change. He just wished she knew how to meet him halfway.
Back in her room, Nayla picked up the phone again. No new messages.
She wanted to say something.
Instead, she added his meme to a folder titled "things that made me smile."
And went to sleep.