No One Came Chapter 05
She sent another.
“Adriana, don’t push me.”
Still not read.
She set her phone down on the table.
“She drives me crazy.”
Then she gathered her things and left for work.
The house fell silent.
Only I was left, along with the body in my room that was already cold.
My phone was still on the carpet, a spiderweb crack in one corner.
Notifications kept lighting up the lock screen.
From Mom.
From the school.
From classmates asking about homework.
No one knew the owner of this phone would never reply again.
At ten in the morning, the school office called Mom.
“Mrs. Ferraro, Adriana is absent today. Is she ill?”
“What? She didn’t go to school?”
“No. We have her marked as an unexcused absence.”
“That child…”
Mom’s voice was tight with anger.
“She had a fight with me last night and locked herself in her room. I assumed she caught the bus this morning.”
“You should probably go home and check on her.”
“Alright. I will.”
The call ended.
She didn’t come back right away.
First, she spent a few minutes complaining to a coworker, then went back to her work.
She didn’t drive home until her lunch break.
The moment she walked in the door, she was already calling out, “Adriana, get out here. This isn’t over.”
She walked to my bedroom door and shoved it open.
The light was off.
The curtains were still drawn.
She reached out and flipped the switch.
The light came on.
I was still lying on the bed.
In the exact same position as yesterday.