As AJ and Celeste walked away from the table, Celeste laughed slightly.
"Oh man, that was a riot!"
AJ nodded in agreement, adding, "I thought my mom was gonna smack me
or something. She didn't look too thrilled, but it might have been
that cheese fry that almost hit her in the face." He looked at her
accusingly.
Celeste shook her, an innocent look playing on her face. "Why
are you looking at me like I threw it? You threw it!"
AJ shook his head, "I did not! I threw one at your dad!"
Celeste gasped in mock shock. "How dare you! You...you evil person!"
Both of them succumbed to their laughter, holding their stomachs.
They continued to relive the whole fiasco of the food fight, until AJ's
beeper went off again.
AJ sat up, grumbling, "I swear, he's enjoying this a little too-" AJ
went silent as he read the readout on his beeper.
Celeste quickly hushed, looking at him oddly. "Is something wrong?"
AJ nodded, "Yeah, we're gonna have to make a detour..." He showed her
the beeper, which read "9-1-1."
Celeste asked, "Is it something bad? Like an emergency?"
AJ laughed slightly, "Calm down...it's an emergency, but not like you're
thinking..."
Celeste looked slightly confused, "Um......"
AJ smiled and motioned for them to keep walking towards his car.
"Lemme see if I can explain this. Me and my friends, if we have a
problem that's causing us to be late, or if we need a favor or something,
we page each other with 9-1-1, that way we know we need to call back as
soon as possible, but it's not life threatening."
Celeste nodded, "Oh okay...so it's just a message saying 'Get your butt
over here now, I need something'? "
AJ nodded, "Exactly. And since it's followed by a 4, I know it's Brian
who needs something. You don't mind if we swing by the phone?"
Celeste shrugged, "I don't care...there's nothing for me to do at home
anyway."
AJ smiled, "Okay, cool..."
AJ walked over to there nearest phone booth and picked up the receiver.
"You know, it's times like these when I'd appreciate having my cell phone
with me." He reached into his pocket and came up empty-handed.
He looked up at Celeste sheepishly, "Um...do you have thirty-five cents
I can borrow?"
Celeste laughed and nodded, "Yeah, but it'll be kinda embarrassing for
me to get it."
AJ gave her an odd look, to which she replied, "It's my dad...he's paranoid.
He had our next-door neighbor sew three quarters into all of my bras."
AJ's face tinged a slight red as he nodded, "That's okay...if you don't
mind."
Celeste shrugged and casually reached into the edge of her dress.
Seconds later, she produced 2 quarters and handed them to AJ.
He smiled and thanked her, then dropped them into the pay phone, quickly
dialing a number Celeste didn't quite catch.
She edged closer. She wasn't necessarily trying to eavesdrop,
but she WAS curious...besides, she could only hear one side of the conversation
anyway...AJ's side.
AJ: Hey bro...what's with the message?
AJ turned to Celeste, "Um...do you mind if we go to his house?"
Celeste shrugged, "Like I said...anything's better than going home."
AJ smiled, "Good...cuz his wife is about to kill him. They're
already late for a play with her parents."
Celeste laughed, then asked, "Why exactly are we going over there anyway?"
AJ replied, "To baby-sit..."
REMEMBER to send feedback to the author, Ginger
*pause*
AJ: Oh, I see...so he just got there about two hours ago?
*pause*
AJ: Mmm hmm...so he's still asleep, right? We won't have to really
do anything?
*pause*
AJ: Huh? Oh, my mom's boyfriend's daughter.
*pause*
AJ: I dunno...well...we'll be over in a few minutes, I think.
If not, I'll drop her off first, and I'll be over in about 30.
*pause*
AJ: Just tell Leigh that I'm coming as fast as I can.
*pause*
AJ: Yeah okay...later bro.
*Click*
...Index...