There was a knocking on the door. His fingers froze mid-stroke atop the keys as he looked expectantly at the doorway. 

“The door’s unlocked. Come in.” 

With a click, the golden knob turned and the door swung inward. He had just a moment to turn his chair when the dark brown jacket landed atop him; his swivel chair tilted back from the impact. Gripping the thick fabric and tossing it aside, the man raised an eyebrow at the girl standing before him. He harrumphed. 

“So,” he folded his arms, “what do you want?”

The girl standing at the door turned away and shrugged. She stood with her hands shoved deeply in the pockets of her jeans, her black sweater hiding a familiar black shirt with a depiction of a phoenix embedded upon her left breast. It was a shirt he had gotten her a long while ago, but even now it looked nice. 

The intruder took a step forward. ”You know, most friends say something along the lines of ‘Hi’, ‘Hey’, or even ‘Sup’.

“But oh no, not you,” her dark brown hair swayed behind her, gracefully lifting from her shoulders with every step, “What’s this? Passive aggressive angst? Real classy. What are we, sixteen?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes, turning his chair to face her. “Keyword here is ‘friends’, dear.” The last word came as a hiss. 

She made her way across the room to his bed. Running her fingertips along the top of the man’s mahogany bedside stand, the girl heaved herself onto the Victorian cover. The black comforter sunk beneath her weight, pulling her into the warmth of the covers. She leaned back and let the velvety fabric envelop her. 

“Get off my bed,” the man bit his lip, “we’re over…that…already.”

 ”What?” The girl sat up. “You’re saying you don’t want to fuck me?” 

His eyes narrowed. “Yes. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. Why are you even here?”

The girl laughed. “What’s wrong with wanting to see an old friend?”

“We’re over that too.” 

“A sore spot, eh?” She laughed, her chest heaving with every sound. “You need to lighten up.”

The man opened his mouth, then paused. “What?”

“You need to lighten up!” The girl sat up. “You know, live a little? Have a bit of fun?”

He took in a deep breath and sighed. “You took a good year out of my life. Then you were gone, replacing yourself with another half year of empty shot glasses and -”

The man paused. “Never mind.”

His fingers came down on the keys, his eyes now focused solely on the computer screen. 

The girl laid for a moment in silence, her hair splayed upon the comforter. Finally, she turned her head towards the man. “What happened to us?” 

He observed the twinkle in her eyes. Mischief? No, she was too old for that. Tears? Nostalgia? It didn’t matter. He was tired of it. 

“Nice transition of mood. Now it’s my turn,” he turned his body back to his laptop but his eyes remained fixed upon the intruder, ”I heard you found yourself a new man.” 

“News travels fast,” the girl sighed and rolled over onto her side, turning her back to him, “what does it mean to you?”

His fingers touched down lightly upon the keys but refused to move. He couldn’t see her eyes, rendering her unreadable. But what did it mean to him? 

“Freedom.”