a watched phone never rings.

and so when you finally stop watching your phone, at 9:45 in the evening, while curled up with an old book hoping to god it rains like crazy to make the night a bit cooler, your phone does ring.

at first your not sure if it's ringing. is it the neighbor's phone that's ringing? you pick up, just in case it's an emergency or something. and, instead of the dial tone, you hear a faint "hey".

you don't pin your hopes on the fact that it's him. after all, it could be gary, since he also begins phone conversations with "hey", as if no one else answers the phone except you. you also try to be nonchalant about it. he could be asking for something back, much like the way you were when you were mad and bitter over the fact that he wanted you to be an ex instead of a gf.

but no, he just wanted to talk. he was truly interested in how things are going for you, and how you were. somehow, he was able to work in the conversation, "so are you seeing someone new" and somehow you felt a bit giddy over the fact that he asked that.

you don't know when you're going to get the next phone conversation and you don't know if that phone call meant anything. you know that it may have just been a fluke, like he was feeling lonely and that he needed someone to talk to.

it doesn't matter. you know that last night you must've sent at least a couple of text messages sharing the good news to friends and that you did call one good friend to share the news. you know that this morning you woke up feeling as if you own the world, never mind that it was 5 a.m. and you still had to pack your clothes and that you know you're still behind a lot of things in your schedule.

he called. and somehow, almost twelve hours after the fact, that's still all that matters.