I walked inside the house and for a chance didn’t even ask if I had any messages. I went straight to my room, collapsed on the bed, kicked off my shoes, and cuddled up under the big fluffy blankets. I slipped my Brandy cd into the cd player and flipped it ahead to song number ten, “Have You Ever?”. It was a song I liked to listen to when I wanted to think, and that was what I wanted to do just then. As Brandy wailed about her sadness, I thought about all that had happened to me recently. My thoughts got fuzzier and fuzzier.... Finally, I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
It was the ringing of the phone that finally woke me up. I lay dumbfounded in my bed for a moment, then made a blind grab for the cordless. Luckily, I got it on the first try, and clicked it on, holding it numbly to my ear.
“Hello?” was my groggy response.
“Hello, is Alex there?” This time, it was Kelly. Coming to my senses, I directed my gaze to the clock. 5:48.
“Oh, Kelly! I’m so sorry! I fell asleep! Is everyone still there?”
“Yeah, they are. Why? Anyone you especially wanted to talk to?” she asked, in such a tone that she and I both knew exactly what she meant. She might as well have asked if I wanted to talk to Justin.
“Umm, I, umm,” I fumbled for an excuse. “Hey, do I need to call you back so you won’t run up the phone bill?”
“oh, yeah, that’d be really helpful. If, of course, you don’t mind.”
“Okay, well, call you back in a second.”
“Bye.”
With that I clicked the phone off and sat for a moment. Then, I clicked it back to life and slowly dialed her number.
“Hello!” It was Justin who answered the phone.
“Hi Justin,” I said softly.
“Hey Alex, how’s it going?” He responded brightly.
“Umm, okay, I guess. Hey, can I talk to Kelly for a minute?” I questioned hopefully.
“Ahh, sure, umm, lemme go find her,” he said, a little less happier. I heard him yell, “Kelly! Phone!!!” Then, I heard the click as she picked it up.
“Hi!” She said. I remained silent while I waited for Justin to hang up the other phone. I guess Kelly got the idea, because she then shouted, “Okay, I got it! You can hang up the other phone!” Finally, I heard the relieving click as Justin put the other phone back on the hook. I then began to talk.
“Hey girl! I’m not on speaker phone, am I?”
“No, not at the moment. Why?”
“Well, I don’t exactly want everyone to hear the things I need to tell you.”
“Ooh,” she replied and fell silent. She was probably waiting for me to begin, so I did.
“Kelly! What am I going to do? It’s like, now that I know all this stuff about what he’s been doing, I’m scared to talk to him for fear that I might make an idiot out of myself!”
“Oh, Alex. Don’t worry about it. You’ll do that anyway! Just kidding... now, just be yourself.”
“Okay, whatever you say.”
“Okay, I’m going down the hall and I’m going to put you on speakerphone. Do you mind?”
“It’s all right, I guess. Who’s down there?”
“Ohh, just about everyone.”
“Hmm,” I said, under my breath. Then, I heard the clicks as she switched me over to speaker phone. I could hear the guys talking amongst themselves.
“Hey everyone!” I cried out joyfully.
“Hey Alex!” They shouted together. It struck me as funny how they always said hi and stuff like that at the same time. I laughed to myself and decided to forget about it. We all talked for a little bit about what had been going on lately.
“Hey Alex, I gotta go get something from my room. Good luck with these ‘wild’ guys,” Kelly said with a laugh.
“Okay,” I muttered, and heard her leave the room. I also heard Lance call after her to wait, and smiled. How sweet, he’s going with her, I thought.
“So, anyone been taken prisoner recently?” I asked the rest of the group with a smile.
“Naw, they’re too scared to mess with me!” I heard Chris shout.
“Uh-huh, yeah Chris. The four of us are so scared of you. I mean, there’s just no way we could ever take you. I mean, it’s you against us little four,” Justin grumbled sarcastically.
“Hmmph, I bet I could get you Chris,” I laughed.
“Uh-oh... better not mess with her, huh Justin?” Chris said, and then, began to crack up.
I raised an eyebrow and wondered what on earth he was talking about. “Hey, shut up, okay?” Justin replied, a little irritation in his voice.
“Okay guys, settle down,” I frowned as I tried to figure out what was going on.
“So, what’s happening at your house? Kinda quiet, isn’t it?” JC asked.
“Hmm, good point, the tv’s not on.” I got up and walked down the hall to the living room. My mom wasn’t home. I did, however, see a yellow post it note on the computer screen I quickly stepped over to read it.
Had choir practice. You were sound asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you, so I’ll tell Craig your not coming tonight.
Love, Mom
“Wait a minute, what’s today?” I questioned. I have a bad habit of losing track of time when on vacation.
“Wednesday, why?” Joey asked.
Ohh, I thought to myself. Craig was the youth director at my church, and on Wednesday nights the youth group got together for an hour or two to study about Christ and the bible, and to sing, worship, and have a good time.
“Nothing,” I mumbled, then explained that my mom had gone to choir practice.
“Uh-oh, you’re alone... at night...” JC said, in a ‘creepy’ voice.
“Ha ha, very funny.”
“I’m scared of the dark. I’m worried the big bad monster’s gonna come out from under my bed and get me,” Chris said in a little kiddy tone. I laughed to myself.
“What, you scared he’s gonna eat your hair?” Justin teased Chris.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer, I had to laugh. And as soon as I did, the rest of the group exploded into laughter. Suddenly, Chris wailed, “Yeah, I am! And I’ve worked so hard on it to make it look so good!”
This sent the room into hysterics. I found myself rolling on the floor. When I finally picked myself up, I headed for the kitchen to inspect the food and drink supplies. I found myself a two liter bottle of Cherry 7*Up and then, got a glass and some ice. I poured myself a glass of the pink liquid and watched the fizz rise to the top of the cup.
“Oooh,” I whispered. "Cherry 7*Up is pretty.”
The group had become quiet until I said this. I could hear the sound of laughing once again. Kelly and Lance must have come back sometime before, because Kelly then asked me if I was okay. I just laughed and said, “But of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” Then, I looked at the clock. “Uh-oh, it’s time for me to go...” I groaned.
“Already?” Asked Justin.
“Well, I’ve been on the phone for 26 minutes and if I talk any longer, you can be sure I won’t get to call again.” I paused. “Well, bye Justin!! I’ll miss you,” I said with a grin.
“Ooooooh,” Kelly, Lance, JC, Chris, and Joey laughed.
“Bye Alex,” Justin said with a chuckle.
“Bye everyone else!”
“Later!”
And with that, I clicked off the phone and changed my cd to ‘N Sync, putting it on song number five, “(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You.” I sang along for a second, then smiled and curled up back under the covers. All in all, it had been a good day. And why not end it here? In moments, I was in a deep slumber, with thoughts of my new friends, and maybe more than a friend in one, whirling around my head.
