The Fray Theory: Resonance Read Online Free Page A

hauntingly beautiful eyes are even greener
than she remembers.
    What is he
doing here ? What are
the odds ?
    Dylan sinks into
the chair across from her, the fabric of his dark and stylish clothes tugging at
his muscles. He’s really come into his own these past few years.
     “It’s—” Neve goes
to speak, but her voice is much smaller than she expected it to be.
    “I know,” he
exhales a shaky breath. “ Long time.”
    Act normal.
Act normal . “How’ve you
been?”
    “Good,” Dylan
nods. “Good, you?”
    “Good, yeah.”
    “Me too,” he says
in a way that reminds Neve of the night he confessed his love to her. And she
knew it was true, because his smile lingered in his eyes.
    Like now.
    When Dylan sneaks
a glance towards the front of the café, their broken eye-contact alerts Neve of
the silence between them. It is barely filled with the hiss of the espresso
machine breathing warmth into milk.
    “So, how have—” Neve
clears her throat, realizing she has already asked this question. “What have
you been up to?”
    “Just got back into
town,” Dylan says.
    Silence.
    Off Neve’s blank
stare, “military school,” he adds.
    “Oh…” she
stammers. “ Here ?”
    “West Point. It’s
in New York.”
    New York !? You just upped and took off to New
York !? “Wow, that’s—” really unlike you . “Guess your dad finally
talked you into it, huh,” she squeezes out a chuckle.
    Dylan presses his
lips together and forces a smile. “Yeah, well—” he drops his head and starts playing
with his jacket’s zipper, “leave it to him to show love with discipline.”
    Discipline , Neve wonders? What could Dylan have
possibly done that would warrant being shipped off to military school? “Don’t
they make you shave your head?” Neve asks, her eyes narrowing.
    “Not if it’s long
enough to tie back.”
    She nods, unsure
of how else to react.
    “So, how about
you?” Dylan asks.
    And it hits Neve
like a late-night hunger pang: the compulsion to embellish the non-happenings
of her mundane life. But it’s Dylan … It’s them .
    “Same soup,
reheated,” Neve indicates Vancouver in its entirety. “But at least I’m
graduating this term.”
    “That’s great,” Dylan
nods with raised brows.
    “Yeah. I mean—I
would’ve graduated already, but I ended up switching my major twice, so…”
    “What are you
planning on doing now?” he asks.
    And suddenly, it
feels cloudy outside.
    “Med school, I
guess.”
    “You guess?”
Dylan arches a brow.
    “Yeah. I mean— yeah .
That’s the plan.”
    “That’s awesome,”
he says, but it’s rather obvious he doesn’t really mean it.
     “Thanks…” Neve
looks down, feeling as though all topics of discussion have already been exhausted.
    All but the one they’re
both tiptoeing around.
    “So what exactly—”
Neve looks up to find Dylan’s attention misplaced.
    “Hmm?” he quickly
flings his gaze back onto her.
    “Everything okay?”
    “Mmm hmm. Be right
back,” he rises and makes his way over to the front counter.
    And without
warning, a tormented frown weighs down on Neve’s brows. A murky concoction of hurt
and disappointment is welling up inside. Did he just waltz back into her life
like it’s nothing?
    Like she meant nothing ?
    And she suddenly
realizes that this is it: the long-awaited run-in that she, for three years,
thought was just around the corner!
    Feeling
completely out of her element, Neve pulls out her phone and starts to text
Elliot:
    She sends the
text and looks up just as Dylan rests two large mugs on the table.
    “Here you go,” he
gently slides the latte with the prettier leaf art towards Neve, and then
retakes his seat across from her.
    Though this
gesture is probably meant to remind her of what the two of them once shared, Neve
can’t help but think of it as an apology. An inconsequential apology for the nightmare he put her through.
    Dylan licks