I was outside working in the horse barn, doing the unavoidable... Chores! Yech! To be more precise, I was earning my allowance. The things a thirteen year old girl will do for money. It may not have been so bad, I had actually gotten used to work. However, it was December, and very cold outside. You have to understand... I have a very low tolerance for cold.
Well, anyway, at the moment I was bored out of my mind, freezing, and thinking how much I’d rather be enjoying a nice chat on the internet. In a nice warm house. Oh well, can’t have everything, I suppose, I thought to myself. I finally finished my chores and made a dash for the warmth of the house. I got inside and asked mom if anyone had called while I’d been outside.
She started to say no, then stopped and said, “A girl called. I think it may have been Kelly.”
Hmm, I thought to myself. Last time I talked to Kelly, she told me the next day that she might not be calling for awhile, seeing as she had run up the phone bill pretty big as it was, and she had better not push her luck. Ok, it must have been pretty important if she called anyways. I stopped halfway to my room and asked mom if I could call her back.
At first, she said, “No! If it’s really important, she’ll call back. If not, she can tell you on the internet.”
You see, Kelly and I had met on the internet in a Christian chat room one time. At first, we hadn’t exactly gotten along, but somehow, we became close friends.
I argued back with my mom (people said I should have been on the debate team, I could think up such good excuses and points) saying, “But mom! If it wasn’t really important, she wouldn’t have called in the first place!” I explained the situation to her, trying my best to make her feel sorry for me. “Besides,” I added. “If it’s so important, and I KNOW it is, it’s going to drive me crazy until I find out, which will in turn drive you crazy! I mean, I haven’t called anyone long distance in over a week! Please?!”
Mom looked critically at me, then shrugged her shoulders and muttered, “I guess... I mean, if you want to drive me to the poor house, calling all these...”
“Oh thank you so much!” I interrupted with a squeal and ran over to hug her. I grabbed the cordless phone and headed for my room. I began to dial Kelly’s number, then totally blanked on it. I froze, sat on my bed, and lightly rapped on my head a couple of times, trying my best to remember. Suddenly, it sprang into my head, and I leaped up happily and dialed the number. The phone rang once, then twice. I began to tap my foot on the floor and muttered, “Come on Kelly... answer the phone...”
Suddenly, a deep male voice answered it with a happy sounding hello. I heard laughter in the background. “Umm, hello, is Kelly there?” In my head I was beginning to wonder if I had called the wrong number.
The guy replied, “Yeah, gimme a second, I’ll get her for you.”
Hmm, I thought to myself. That sounded nothing like Kelly’s dad. Oh well, maybe it’s a friend. I shrugged the thought aside.
“Hello?” Kelly was suddenly on the line, and her voice sounded a little different than it normally did. Maybe a little happier.
“Kelly? You called? I figured it was pretty important, I mean, with your phone bill and all.”
There was silence for a second, then Kelly began to talk rapidly. “Oh Alex! Yeah, I have some... really amazing news. You’re never going to believe this.”
I paused for a moment and then said, “Okay, just make me sick Kelly. You got tickets to another ‘N Sync concert...”
“No, that’s not it,” she interrupted. “But it does have to do with ‘N Sync.”
“Ooooh,” I said slowly, wondering what on earth she was talking about.
“Well,” Kelly said, dragging out the word.
“Come on Kelly! Your gonna drive me crazy letting me wonder like this!”
“Okay, okay, well, the thing is... I’m sorta... um...”
“Come on Kelly! You can tell me stuff.”
“I’m going out with Lance Bass!” She blurted out.
“Ohh, I understa- your what!?”
“You heard me,” Kelly mumbled into the phone.
“Did I hear right?” I exclaimed excitedly.
“Yeah, you did.” She then proceeded to explain the whole story, and all the past events they’d done together.
“Whoa.” I froze for a moment and let the idea sink in. “Your just kidding with me, huh? Dang girl... try to scare a person like that...”
“No, I’m serious. It surprised me at first too.”
“Wow. Wow. Whoa. Geesh.” I became silent.
“Alex, are you mad at me or something?”
“No! No!” I squeaked. “Just... amazed... wow.” Suddenly, a grin broke across my face, and I shouted, “GO KELLY!” and threw my fist in the air. I heard laughter in the background and began to laugh myself.
“I hope you happy,” Kelly said sarcastically. “They’re all here, and I put you on speaker phone right before you said that. Now, my face must be beet red.” Then, I heard her begin to laugh, and everyone else and I just laughed harder.
“Hold on a second,” I managed to gasp out. I then reached over and turned on my speaker phone and collapsed on the floor so I wouldn’t fall on the dresser and hurt myself. I laughed, then moaned out in pain.
I heard the laughter on the phone soften, and Kelly cautiously asked, “Alex?”
“Yes?” I moaned/laughed.
“Are you okay?”
“No...” I groaned. “I landed on a shoe! Ow ow owww!” Once again, everyone burst out laughing, then, I heard another moan of pain. “Okay, what happened over there?” I called from my spot on the floor.
“Chris hit his head on the couch!” A guy with a slightly nasal voice yelled back.
“Justin? That you?” I asked.
“Yes, you are correct. You now have the honor of speaking with the one, the only Justin!”
I frowned and crawled onto my bed. “Justin, can I tell you something really important?” I asked.
“At your service,” he replied, his voice softer, and I could tell he was leaning closer to the phone.
“First of all, your not the only Justin I know,” I whispered. Then, I raised my voice. “Second of all, get over yourself!” I could hear the room convulsing into laughter again. “Okay,” I continued. “I admit, yeah, you are pretty cute. And I suppose you can sing. However, the world existed before you were born, and it won’t cry when your gone.” Everyone was gasping for air now. “Through?” I asked.
“Yeah,” I heard a chorus of voices say.
“Okay Justin, I apologize, but hey, it is true isn’t it? Yeah, it is, huh? See, I notice things,” I said with a smile. “Wow,” I mumbled. “This is something I never thought would happen.”
The other end did not reply for a second, and then, I heard someone say, “Wow, I never thought I’d get to talk to you either Alex!” The room was roaring with laughter again. This time, at me.
“Okay, who was that?!” I cried out.
“Me!” The voice rang out again at the exact same time as five other voices shouted, “JC!”
“Okay JC. You just wait until I meet you face to face!” I laughed. Suddenly, I heard my mom holler at me. “Hold on a sec,” I muttered at the phone. I raced to the living room and asked what she wanted. My mom answered with tapping her watch and mouthed, ‘It’s time to say goodbye.’ I pouted and begged for five more minutes.
“No,” She said and shook her head. “Maybe tomorrow you can call back.” I shrugged, said okay, and walked back to my room.
I heard a slight murmuring from the phone, and sadly said, “You guys? I have to get off now.”
“Aww...” I heard a couple of voices moan.
“I know, I know,” I said softly. “Maybe I can call you tomorrow, okay Kelly?” I asked.
“Sure, they’ll probably still be here.”
“Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye Alex!” Everyone called.
“Bye everyone. Bye Justin!” I shouted too, for the fun of it. Then, I reached over, clicked the phone off, and stuck my ‘N Sync cd into the cd player. I sat there for awhile, listening to the cd and thinking in the otherwise, peace and quiet. Suddenly, the phone rang, and I reached over and grabbed the cordless.
“Hello?” I said softly.
“Hey Alex,” Justin’s voice said into the phone.
