Fragmented by Eliza Lentzski Page A

frowned. Too bad.
    I know. What are you wearing?
    I jerked my head up and scanned the train to see if anyone had seen the message, but the car was still mostly empty and no one was paying any attention to me.
    I’m on the train , I typed back.
    So? she challenged.
    I shoved my phone back into my coat pocket and ignored its vibrating alerts for the rest of the train ride. My stop was next anyway.
    I walked home at a quick pace. I’d warmed up a little on the train, but I was still numb and in need of a hot shower. I wished I had a bathtub so I could soak the ache out of my bones. My pocket continued to vibrate all the way home. I ignored the incoming messages until I reached my apartment. Only when I was finally in my pajamas and in my own bed did I consult the missed messages. I didn’t only have texts from Jenn; there was a message from Kelley letting me know she’d gotten home safely and an unexpected text from Raleigh.
    Sorry to bug you so late, her text said, but what chapters are due on Monday in psychology? I can’t find my syllabus.
    I had been a little disappointed that she hadn’t contacted me earlier about coming to the Great Fire Festival, but I wouldn’t let myself dwell on that emotion. I had a girlfriend. I didn’t need to become emotionally invested in this new person whose sexuality was a mystery to me.
    We need to have Chapters 3 and 4 read for Monday, I typed.
    Thanks, she replied. Hopefully I won't keep missing classes because of physical therapy.
    My phone continued to rattle with one message after another from Jenn.
    Babe?
    Are you there?
    Harper?
    Don't ignore me.
    Why don’t you call me? I wrote her back, annoyed by the onslaught of messages. It’s easier.
    Can’t. Thin walls. My family would hear.
    Why do you care if your family hears you talking to me? For someone annoyed by my own reticence to be more public with our relationship, I didn’t understand where this was coming from.
    Because I was hoping our conversation would be more of us grunting and panting tonight.
    Oh.
    Are you really trying to have phone sex with me over text message?
    Sure. Why not?
    How are you going to type when your fingers are otherwise preoccupied?
    You could always send me a picture.
    I snorted, reading the request. Hell, no. Don't you know how dumb that is?
    It would just be for me, her words promised.
    And all of the world when the Cloud gets hacked, I responded.
    You're not any fun.
    You're just realizing this now?
    A new message from Raleigh jumped onto my screen. How's your weekend?
    I momentarily ignored my persistent girlfriend for a less annoying text conversation. Her libido combined with the insistence that I wasn’t any fun was a blow to my ego.
    Wet and cold, I wrote Raleigh back. We were at the Fire Festival tonight, but the fire wouldn't start.
    That’s too bad. But now I don't feel so bad about being cooped up at my aunt's.
    You were missed , my fingers typed out. I stared at the words on the screen and erased them. At least you won't get pneumonia like the rest of us , I sent instead.
    Another message from Jenn jumped on my cell’s screen. But instead of more words, she’d taken a photograph of herself in nothing but bra and panties. I didn’t think myself a prude, but I was more embarrassed than turned on. I deleted the image rather than letting it reside in my phone’s data plan as if its presence would get me in trouble.
    But Jenn was stepping up her game, and I felt the challenge to do the same. I might not have been as brazen as my girlfriend, but if nothing I was competitive.
    Why don't you show me what's hiding underneath that underwear? I typed out.
    As soon I hit send, I realized my mistake. My chest tightened, and I couldn’t breath. I’d texted the wrong person.
    My hands shook as I fumbled to send Raleigh a new message: OMG. That wasn’t for you.
    I held tight to my phone, willing it to talk back.
    I didn’t think so , came the eventual reply .
    I’m so sorry , I apologized