Read Online o 922034c59b7eef49 by Allison Wettlaufer - Free Book Online

thoughts are swirling through my head as Isabel and I pull up to the front of the house.
    James's car is parked in front.
    And he's inside it.
    “Uh-oh,” Isabel mutters.
    “Ignore him,” I say.
    We park in the garage. As we get out of the car, James is walking toward us. He's holding a bouquet of flowers.
    He says hi. I say hi.
    “Can I talk to you a minute?” he asks.
    “Get lost,” Isabel says.
    She pulls me into the house before I can take the flowers. James stands there, watching.
    A few minutes later I'm up in my bedroom. I peek out the window and he's still there.
    I duck under the windowsill. I want to tell Isabel, but I feel frozen. Maybe he's seen me.
    If I stand up, he'll know for sure.
    I must be down there, huddled on my bed, for ten minutes. When I finally have the
    courage to look back out the window, he's gone.
    I've been up here ever since
    The phone just rang.
    I know it's him. He won't stop.
    What is happening to me?
    Sun 1/11
    7:10 A.M.
    Well, looks like you survived the night just fine, Nbook. Wish I could say the same about myself.
    The phone call last night? I'll give you 3 guesses who it was from, and the first 2 don't count.
    “Amaliaaaaaa!” Mami calls upstairs. “It's James.”
    I debate hanging up on him. Now I wish I had.
    But I pick up the receiver in Mami and Papi's room and say hello.
    You will never believe what he says.
    “Hey, Amalia. Want to go out tonight?”
    Like we've been fling into a time warp and the Firehouse Cafe never happened.
    “James, you--” are a total ignorant jerk, is what I should say. But all that comes out of my mouth is, “No. I can't.”
    “Tomorrow, then?”
    Now Isabel is peeking into the room. She holds out a clenched fist, as if to say, Stand firm. I frown and wave her away.
    “No, James,” I say. “I can't then either.”
    “Tuesday?”
    “I—look, we—no.” I close my eyes and count to five slowly. “Not Tuesday, not
    Wednesday, not any day.”
    “Just to talk. As a friend, that's all. I have to show you something.”
    “No, James--”
    “Look. If Maggie asked you to go out, you would, right?”
    “That's different.”
    “Right. She's a girl. Okay, Justin, say.”
    “James, I am hanging up now--”
    “Look, I have to see you. I'll drive over. It'll take a few minutes--”
    “No. Stay home. Good-bye.”
    James starts saying something, but I'm already hanging up.
    As soon as the receiver clacks into the cradle, I hear Isabel whooping from outside the bedroom door.
    “Eavesdropper,” I say.
    Isabel stands in the doorway and smiles. “I'm proud of you.”
    Bleeeeeeeeeep, goes the phone.
    “DON'T ANSWER!” I shout to Mami and Papi downstairs.
    It keeps bleeping. Isabel and I run downstairs to the answering machine.
    It clicks on.
    “Hello?” says James's voice. Then, “I know you're listening.”
    Isabel and I look at each other. We're both gulping. I reach for the receiver, but she grabs my wrist.
    “No one treats me like this, Amalia,” the voice says. “I am bending over backward to give you a chance. Pick up now or you will regret it.”
    I feel like I am going to throw up.
    Isabel is holding onto my arm. I shake loose, but I don't reach for the phone.
    We hear a click. The answering machine cuts off.
    Now Mami is standing behind us. “What are you girls doing?” she asks.
    Isabel shrugs. “It was a crank call.”
    Well, Nbook, that is all I heard from James. No more calls the rest of the day.
    I try not to think about what he said at the Firehouse. About dying. But it's not like him to avoid calling me, and I'm worried that he might try to
    Well, I don't even want to mention it.
    But this morning, around 1:00, the phone wakes me up. I hear Papi's groggy voice saying,
    “Hello...? Hello...?” Then I hear the receiver crashing back into the cradle, while Papi mutters something not too nice about a hang-up.
    No one answers the call at 3:20. Everyone's fast asleep and can't hear it. Except me.
    I have big trouble going