His phone buzzes against the table. Not a text this time-a push notification, red and angry.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK URGENT: Account Past Due
Your credit card ending in 4827 has a balance of $10,247.83 that is now 90 days overdue. Your account has been flagged for collections. Immediate payment required to avoid credit reporting and legal action.
Pay now | Contact us | View account
Alex stares at it for three seconds. Then he flips the phone face-down on the table and pulls up the thermodynamics problem set like nothing happened.
"Everything okay?" Maddy asks, catching the edge of his expression.
"Yeah," he says, clicking his pen too hard. "Just my mom's hospital bill from last year. They can wait."
He doesn't look at either of them. He doesn't explain that there is no hospital bill, that his mom never went to the hospital, that the $10k is from three semesters of textbooks and Uber Eats and the vape pods that keep him functional and the subscription services he forgot to cancel and the cash advances he took when the rent was due and his checking account was a joke.
He just starts reading Problem 4, and the numbers blur together, and he pretends that his heart isn't hammering against his ribs like it's trying to escape.