third time's a charm

"how does that sound?"

chapter thirty: how does that sound?

Monday, January 8. 6:40 am.

The sound of my phone's alarm jolted me from sleep and simultaneously informed me that winter break was officially over, and it was time to face another semester of high school. My last semester of high school.

I don't think it had struck me until that very moment, right at seven-thirty on that Monday morning, that high school was actually going to end. It was a strange thing to be unsure of the future when my past had seemed to be so much of the same.

Knowing that the future hadn't quite come yet, however, I trudged my way out of bed and made my way next door to wake up Will—just like I had every day since the eighth grade. He didn't budge the first three times I said his name, so I resorted to walking up to his bed and physically shaking him awake which worked like a charm.

"I'm up, Elle, get out of here," he grumpily muttered, resulting in a smack on the bare shoulder from me. He swatted his hand at me but I dodged before skipping toward the door, all the while laughing.

"If you're not up in five minutes, Mr. Grump, I'm getting the water bucket," I told him and listened as he let out a tired laugh. He stuck a thumbs up in the air, his face now turned into his pillows. I playfully rolled my eyes before turning to walk out of his room.

"Wait, Elle," Will said, stopping me in my tracks. "Claire's car is in the shop and her parents leave really early in the morning... is it okay if we pick her up on the way?"

"Only if you get your ass up and ready. That's going to add at least fifteen minutes to our time, Will. North isn't just around the corner." I didn't want to be upset with Will for doing something nice for Claire, but it was just like him to not tell me something like this ahead of time.

"I know, I'm sorry. I meant to tell you last night but it slipped my mind. I'll be ready in two shakes, okay?" I let out a breathy laugh before walking back to my room successfully. Two shakes for Will meant close to an hour. But that's why I always woke him up so early.

I flipped my light on and walked over to my messy vanity before taking a seat. Taking a shower the night before had caused my hair to take on a life of its own; it was a mess on the top of my head. I spent at least seven minutes getting it untangled.

By the time I was finished, my phone began to ring. I rushed over to my bed and grabbed it, taking it off its charger before looking to see who was calling. A smile found its way to my face as I read Galileo. I knew I could change his name in my phone now, but I wasn't ready to give up the inside joke.

"Good morning, handsome," I answered the phone cheerily as I walked back to my vanity.

"Good morning," Jamie responded through a sleepy laugh. "You sound so awake, what's that like?"

"Pretty nice, I'll say. Did you just wake up?"

"Mhm, and I was thinking of you. So I called." A smile once again took over my face and I felt butterflies swarm at my stomach. My cheeks even reacted to his simple words, my skin beginning to burn.

"If I called you every time I thought of you, I'd always have a phone to my ear," I told him and listened as he let out a sleepy laugh. The contagious noise caused me to chuckle.

"Smooth, Bosley," he said which I took as a serious compliment. "What are you doing after school?"

"I'll probably be at school 'til about five... our school's newspaper goes out tomorrow morning so I have to finalize it," I explained as I pushed myself up from my chair. I walked over to my closet as Jamie started to respond.