3(AN) Hey, this is my first story! Read and enjoy, and please note that all these characters and the storyline are mine, so please don't take them without permission. All that aside, I hope you like it/ This is pretty much just an information chapter :P
Chapter One – The Phone
I used to think that luck was on my side, but now, I've seriously begun to wonder. My phone was ringing, and I was desperately trying to ignore it. I already knew who it was, and I knew the moment I lifted that god forsaken receiver, I'd have to throw the importance of getting my homework done to the wind, and listen to whatever crisis Odessa happened to land herself with today. Odessa is my best friend and all, but still, sometimes I wish she'd understand that if I didn't pass the exam coming up for me, then she could kiss that trip to Toronto that we'd planned goodbye. Yup, every teenage girl dreams of spending her final free summer vacation in a hot, sweaty room full of kids who also failed to pass their stupid exam.
'Yeah, not bloody likely', I thought to myself as I re-read the same sentence over for the 5th time since the phone started ringing. I was getting nowhere fast, and that vexatious ringing just didn't know when to shut-up. I sat up against the pillows on my bed, and rested my head against my headboard. I silently started to count down the seconds 'til my sister buzzed down on the intercom on my bedroom desk and told me to pick up that phone, before she shoved it somewhere unpleasant.
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, - beep – "SYDNEY!" – 1? Hey, look. She jumped the gun. Well, this is interesting. I flopped forward, half-heartedly slithering over top of my notebook to flop off the end of my bed. I was doomed, so doomed. The big, evil, homework monster was probably sitting somewhere, sipping a Shirley Temple, laughing at me. Hysterically. I sat there, at the foot of my bed, in a very unflattering clump, until my sister started Mental Torture Skill #2. The Call button. The insipid bee-eee-eee-p-ing noise that despite whatever law of physics that works against it; did not stop. Was it even legal that a phone be able to ring that long?
I groaned outwardly as I pulled myself up off the tiled floor and made an effort to open my bedroom door really loudly to emphasize to my sister, that yes, I was, in fact, moving to get the phone. She obviously heard it upstairs, because the beeping came to a halt, God bless its soul. I zipped my sweater half-up as a trudged the 5 meters to the computer room, where the portable phone lay there, all innocently; unaware of the torment it was causing me. My room was in the basement, beside my brother's, so it could not be held against me that I was feeling a little chilled. My room, however, had this awesome contraption called a floor heater, and I was inspired to reach the phone faster just so I could go back to my perfectly warm room. By all means, it made no sense that in the winter, the basement was oh-so-toasty, but in the summer, it was like I was re-living a scene from 'Vertical Limit', or whatever that movie was called.
I'm not a naturally cranky person, not to mention easily aggravated or temperamental, but today, I felt I deserved a little reprieve. It was Saturday for gosh sakes, and where was I? Oh, yeah, that's right, I was stuck in my room, doing review homework for a damned exam that everyone I knew wasn't taking. I snatched the phone off the cradle and walked back to my wood paneled room, all the while glaring at the screen as it blinked:
613-821-1349, Peterson, O. She was calling me from her cell phone. I dropped my head in forfeit as a pushed my door open, knowing that if it was from her own phone, then she meant for the conversation to last a while.
As I snapped out of my thoughts, I realized that the phone was still ringing, and came to the conclusion that she'd hung up, and called again. She knows I'm home. She always knows when I'm home. It's not my fault that I don't lead one of those eventful here-and-then-there lives. Nope, Sydney Coswell was a here-and-still-here kind of person. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I still do stuff, I just don't see the point in going to the mall Friday, a movie Saturday, and then a date Sunday.
…Well, maybe the later didn't really apply to me, for the unfortunate reason that I didn't actually have anybody to go on a date with. Joy to my pitiful single life. It's not so bad, I actually – hey, wait. The phone.
I pressed my thumb down on the caller accept button, and dropped down into my comfy "rolly" chair at my desk. I pushed aside the majority of textbooks, before resting my cheek in the palm of my left hand as I leaned on the table.
"Hello?"
"Hey, is Sydney there?"
"Yeah, speaking 'Des" I wondered why she even bothered to ask, Loraine and Winnie -my elder sisters, Lor's 18, one year older than me, and Win's 20 – stopped picking the phone up for Odessa a long time ago. It's funny, really, when I think about it.
"SYYYYDDDNEEEYYYYY!" Odessa yelled my name so loud that I had to hold the receiver away from my face. I stared at it horrified before bring it back to my ear.
"Whoa there, where's the fire?"
"Oh my god Syd, where've you been? I - " Mhmm. " - went to my locker after Geography yesterday -" yup. "-and you weren't there so - " I know I wasn't there. "- I asked Mike to check to see if you were smiling on the bus -" My steady nodding spree came to a halt. Odessa spazzes like this just about everyday when I'm not bouncing off the walls – did I mention I was crazily hyperactive? - so I've become accustomed to it. However, now it was getting just a little bit stalker-ish.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Yeah, what. He said you totally were on a different planet! Not a smile at all!" I cringed. Really, how could I not? She was totally going to blow her head off if she kept this up. So, naturally, with only her head's well being in mind as I cracked open a notebook and lifted a highlighter, I tried to intervene.
"Look, Odessa. It wasn't -" Like that.
"So he said he tried to talk to you!"
"Really, I'm -" Perfectly fine.
"But you didn't say anything to him at all!"
"Well Odessa, I -" Must've not seen him.
"So now I've come to a conclusion!"
Intervention be damned.
"And what conclusion is that?" I had to go along. When she gets like this, I suppose it's better just to roll with it.
"That he must've done something stupid again!" I visibly blanched. I mean, come on. That's it? You know that emoticon with the colon and the S? Yeah, that's what I looked like. Mike Summers and I get into verbal fights all the time, on account of him being such a jerk, but I think I really ought to make something clear, right here, right now. Mike happens to be Odessa's object of affections. Well, really, it would take a gun to her head to make her admit it, but it's the same thing. He's been crushing on her since grade nine, but he hasn't hounded up the guts to ask her out. If you ask me, he's a wimp.
A really hot, tall, blond, football player of a wimp.
She's liked him for almost as long, and I liked him for a bit in the 9th grade; needless to say, that didn't end well. I suppressed the laugh that was building up in my throat as I went over the events in the winter of grade nine that led me to finally realize that I didn't really like him at all. It was a crazily long story, so here's the jot note version of it that passed through my head:
Mike flirts with Sydney
Sydney flirts with Mike
Mike asks Odessa to dance
Sydney takes it with a smile
Mike has the gall to talk to Sydney after
Sydney freezes him out
Mike tells Odessa he loves her
Sydney says she's happy (which she is)
Mike admits that flirting with Sydney was practice for the real thing
Sydney swears...repetitively
Odessa calls Sydney
Odessa says Mike likes them both and is confused
Odessa and Sydney swear...repetitively
Sydney says she doesn't want him (which is true)
Odessa says she doesn't want him (which is so not true)
Odessa forces Mike to apologize to Sydney
Sydney and Mike totally hate each other (well...kind of)
Sydney wants Mike to ask Odessa out
Mike can't ask Odessa out because his mother has issues
Mike, Odessa, and Sydney swear...repetitively
When you look at it that way, you see why I laugh, right? Personally, I think it all would've ended better than it did if he hadn't spent two weeks before the dance breaking his back flirting with me. The jerk. Odessa and Mike are still in the whole "I like you, but I'm confused" limbo. Over the years, I seem to have become the "unofficial referee" in that when either of them have a problem, they're all, "Lets talk to Sydney! She'll tell me what to do!" and I'm all, "Leave me alone!" yet, I still end up giving advice. I wonder why they even come to me in the first place. I mean, it's not like I have a love life, or anything. I came to the conclusion that the only reason I still talk to Mike is because he's smart. He insults me in words over 3 syllables! Now that's talent.
I was brought back to the present conversation at hand by Odessa demanding to know just what Mike happened to do, and when she found out, which she was fairly confident she would, she would totally beat him to a pulp. This only made me laugh harder. I tried to picture a 5"4', sandy blonde, grayish-brown eyed girl attempting to tackle a 6", blonde, green-eyed guy. It was an amusing sight, and I was proud of myself for such a vivid imagination. I wondered if she would actually believe me if I told her Mike didn't do anything. I mean I wasn't sad, let alone mad. She really had a knack for jumping to conclusions. I was just tired, and stressed.
The word stress suddenly brought me back to my present state, and I stopped laughing. I switched the phone to my left hand, and finished highlighting the Math equations I knew I'd have to know for the in-class test on Monday, and resumed my previous position on my bed. I groaned, as I looked at all the work I still had to do. Did I mention that "Stress-Monkey" is a nickname of mine?
"Look Odessa, Mike didn't do anything. Or say anything, 'cause I know what you're thinking. I've just got a lot of work to do…and, may I point out, that this call is totally throwing off my steady working groove?"
Odessa was silent for a moment, a blessed moment, as if she were contemplating whether or not to believe me. The moment was suddenly interrupted by her letting out a squeal, and believe me, it was not a squeal of delight. What now?
"…'Des?" I couldn't stand the silence that followed her yelp. It was what I'd been silently pleading for, but in this manner? I don't think so.
"Sydney…" She finally breathed a few more moments after the panicked silence, "I need your help, and I need it now."
This was exactly what I didn't need. I flipped another page in my book and stretched, pulling my tank top back down over my stomach. It was technically summer, and I had every right to be wearing shorts, but still, why'd it have to be so damn cold?
"What is it Odessa? I swear, you totally were this close to giving me a heart-attack!"
"Be serious Syd! This is a major crisis!"
Couldn't she tell I wasn't joking?
"He's…asking! What do I do? What do I do!?" She sounded like she had a gopher where it did not belong. This all made no sense to me.
"I can't read your mind, who's asking what?" I found myself with a craving for ice cream. Don't ask me why. Maybe it was my sudden brain freeze?
"Pete's asking me out!"
"Ew." Ew was all I could say. Honestly, Pete? He was the epitome of gross. Don't know exactly what that is? Picture this: Tall, pudgy – not even that awesome kind of pudgy that I love about people, he was just a gross, sweaty ball of pudgy – long, dirty hair, a strange obsession with Led Zeppelin – Who's that? – And the most awful language known to mankind. I mean, he uses "Fck" as a modifier. Once again. Ew.
"Help me Sydney! He's totally watching to see when I start talking! I need an out!" It took me a minute to process that she didn't mean that he was standing in front of her, staring at her like the creepy freak that he is. Oh yeah. MSN. That's understandable. I sighed and shifted my butt a little bit to the side, before tapping my forefinger against the back of the phone in a steady rhythm.
"You're all out of excuses, yeah?" An aggravated huff let me know that I was right. "So here's what you do. You tell him you're sorry you didn't tell him earlier, but the reason you won't go out with him is because you already have a girlfriend".
"WHAT!?"
I would've plugged my ears in preparation for the outburst, but as it were both my hands were occupied. My left was holding the phone up to my ear – I would've balanced it between my shoulder and head, but I had a tendency to hang up on people because the cursed 'call end' button was precariously placed right where my shoulder pressed - and my right was busy scrawling down notes from the open textbooks that were strewn around me haphazardly. It was hell trying to focus on my work and save 'Dessa at the same time, so I reluctantly pitched my pen to the other side of my room, far enough away to stop myself from grabbing it and continuing my hopeless pursuit. I flopped backwards onto my bed, giving my full attention to my best friend. So very, very doomed.
"I don't see what the problem is, Odessa. We've used that one before, remember? It worked like a charm." I could just see her eyes rolling skyward at my statement as the words just poured out of my mouth.
"Cha, but we didn't know that person all that well. This guy is friends with Mike." I couldn't help quirking a brow at that statement. I didn't see how her turning down Pete had anything to do with her close-but-not-yet relationship with Mike.
"Your point being?"
"I don't want him to think I'm a lesbian!" There was total silence for a minute, with only the sound of our breathing to be heard. That is, until I couldn't hold it in anymore, and burst out laughing. I bit my lip to try and stifle the sound, knowing that Odessa was probably having a bird, but it just wouldn't stop. I guess it was contagious though, because it didn't take long before she joined me in the laugh-fest.
After our laughter fizzled down to a giggle, we got back to business.
"Sydney, I promise, if you help me, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the weekend!"
What's this? Such a promising utterance… I eyed my pen, laying all alone in the corner of my room, under my dresser, and I knew what I had to do.
"Listen to me carefully, okay? Tell him that you're flattered that he asked you out, but you're not interested in a relationship with him. I know, it sounds harsh, but he's bypassed all your excuses! That's just frightening." Which, in all honesty, it was. Odessa was the master at dislodging unwanted attention. I guess it helped that she had so much practice, but that was totally her fault for being so pretty. She had this amazing ability to make near every guy fall in love with her – For example, Mr. hot-body Josh, and Mr. sweet-heart Will. Only problem is, Mike seems totally immune to her powers. There's something there though, there has to be.
I came out of my reverie long enough to hear Odessa's resigned sigh, as she finally decided that the honest – but brutal – truth was what was needed in this situation, and hung up with a quick bye.
I flopped backwards on my bed, cushioning my head on my pillows, letting the phone drop from my hand onto the circular blue fuzzy carpet beside my nightstand. I closed my eyes for a moment, reveling in how good it felt to do so.
My eyes roamed my room; past the dresser hosting mount. Stuffed Animal, my dresser riddled with random hair clips and nail polish, skipping over my television, my pen, over to my Scooby-Doo coloured dresser and –
Pen. Pen?
"Oh crap!" I yelled it so loud I cringed, waiting for my brother to pound the wall in front of me, in the christened, "shut-up, I'm trying to think" warning. Bam! Bam!
Where was I, Brat Camp? What was he doing here anyway? He's 23…
I cradled my face in my hands, trying to ease the stress out of my shoulders, as I sluggishly acquired another pen, and set back to work.
I had an exam…on a Sunday.
I was really beginning to lose all the fondness I once had for my school.
When I lay back on my bed at 11:30pm Saturday night and closed my eyes, I really should've known that things were going to be different. As soon as Loraine jumped the gun with the buzzer, where I thought I was headed, and where I was actually going to end up, were quickly becoming two entirely different things.
(AN) So that's it for my first chapter! Did you like it? Please let me know! I'd love to get some reviews and know what you all think, if there's anywhere I can improve, if there's anything you like, anything is awesome. I've got at least half of this story already planned out, but I wanna know if I should continue it! Please and thank you!
dancer-me