Chapter 28 - The Almost Forgotten Person
The question arrived on a Thursday.
Which was unfortunate.
Thursday was already one of June's least favorite days.
Too far from the previous weekend.
Too far from the next one.
A day designed entirely around waiting.
She was halfway through lunch when one of her friends dropped into the empty chair across from her.
The conversation began normally.
Projects.
Professors.
Complaints.
The usual things.
Then, as conversations often did, it wandered somewhere unexpected.
Her friend was talking about long-distance relationships.
Someone else joined in.
Then another.
Soon the entire table had become invested in a debate nobody had intended to start.
June listened with half her attention while answering emails.
At some point, somebody mentioned online friendships.
Then someone else asked a question.
A simple question.
Casual.
Harmless.
"So whatever happened to Elliot?"
June looked up.
For a moment, she didn't answer.
Not because she was avoiding the question.
Because her brain had unexpectedly gone blank.
Elliot.
The name felt familiar.
Obviously familiar.
Yet it took her several seconds to reconnect it to an actual person.
The delay couldn't have been longer than three or four seconds.
No one else noticed.
June did.
"Oh."
The answer escaped automatically.
Just:
Oh.
Elliot.
Right.
The realization arrived immediately afterward.
Like remembering where you left your keys.
Or the title of a song you hadn't heard in years.
The sensation unsettled her more than she expected.
Not because she had forgotten him.
She hadn't.
Not really.
But because she had needed a moment.
A moment that wouldn't have existed two years ago.
Her friend waited.
"Well?"
June blinked.
"What?"
"Elliot."
"Oh."
Again.
That ridiculous response.
A few people laughed.
June laughed too.
Then shrugged.
"I don't know."
The table fell silent.
Someone nearly dropped their fork.
"You don't know?"
June frowned.
"What?"
"You've known him forever."
"I know."
"And you don't know?"
The question felt strangely difficult to answer.
Because technically she did know.
She knew he was fine.
Probably.
She knew he was working.
Studying.
Living somewhere.
Doing whatever it was Elliot did when he wasn't appearing unexpectedly inside her notifications.
Yet she also realized she hadn't spoken to him properly in months.
Not really.
There had been messages.
Reactions.
Comments.
The occasional conversation.
But those felt different.
Smaller somehow.
Like postcards exchanged between people living separate lives.
The realization lingered.
Uncomfortable.
"You guys stop talking?"
June considered the question.
Then shook her head.
"No."
"Then what happened?"
The answer seemed obvious.
Life.
Nothing happened.
That was the problem.
No argument.
No betrayal.
No dramatic ending.
Just years slowly accumulating around two people until they found themselves standing further apart than before.
The conversation moved on shortly afterward.
Someone changed the subject.
Someone complained about an assignment.
Within minutes everyone seemed to forget the discussion entirely.
Everyone except June.
The strange feeling followed her through the rest of the day.
Not because she missed Elliot.
Because she couldn't stop thinking about the pause.
Three seconds.
Maybe four.
Such a tiny thing.
Yet somehow it bothered her.
That evening, while waiting for a train, she found herself scrolling through old messages.
Not intentionally.
The conversation simply appeared beneath her thumb.
Years of messages.
Years of jokes.
Years of strange conversations about absolutely everything and absolutely nothing.
June stared at the screen.
Then laughed softly.
A random memory surfaced.
Elliot teaching her something over a call.
Another.
A terrible joke.
Another.
A project.
Another.
The memories appeared one after another.
Not dramatic.
Not important.
Just there.
The sort of moments that never seemed significant while they were happening.
Her train arrived.
June stepped aboard.
The memory disappeared.
As most things did.
The city moved past outside the window.
Buildings.
Lights.
People rushing toward lives she would never know.
Her phone vibrated.
A notification appeared.
One message.
One familiar name.
Elliot.
June stared at the screen.
Then laughed.
The timing felt absurd.
The message itself was simple.
A reaction to a story she had posted earlier.
Nothing more.
No conversation.
No question.
Just a reaction.
The sort of interaction that lasted less than ten seconds.
June looked at it.
Then smiled.
Then locked her phone.
Outside, the train continued moving through the city.
Inside, a strange thought crossed her mind.
For someone she almost never thought about anymore...
Elliot still had remarkably good timing.
The realization stayed with her for exactly one station.
Then life reclaimed her attention once again.
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