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Malika didn’t sleep well the night before. From the time she put her head down near 10:00 until she got up at 6:45, she had been checking her phone every half hour. 11:20, 11:50, 12:20. Impressed with her precision, this led to testing herself to see if she could continue the pattern. Only then did she catch some sleep, albeit intermittent and interrupted. Garbage trucks, a howling dog from the neighbor’s backyard, Elena having night terrors. Channing never texted back. No matter how many times she stared at the glaring screen or turned the volume up, there was nothing. She clicked on their exchange to see if anything had gone through without notice. The I don't know; I’ll let you know message from 8:11 was still the last text and it probably would be for a while.
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