Daniel called around ten, just as Chrys was crawling into her freshly-made, just-pushed-up-against-the-wall bed. She spun the ring around on her left ring finger, imagining his face a couple hundred miles away. “Oh,” she mumbled, “I haven’t heard back from my mom yet. I hope she’s not sick or something.”

“Chrys, she probably forgot to check the messages. Stop worrying.” he whispered. After ten minutes of sleepy murmurs, and way too many “No, I love you more”s, Chrys drifted to sleep.

She woke up bright and early Sunday morning, ready to organize her stuff for school. Her books were bought, her pens and pencils neatly stuffed into a pair of adorable teddy bear-sized cowboy boots, and by noon she was set for school. She settled onto the couch, then realized she now had absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the day.

Oops.

She decided to get a head start on her 8 AM class, since she had nothing else to do. Libr 200, Information and Society. Oh how exciting. She flipped open the text, bored already.