Corner Store Girl: Janoskians: Luke and Jai Brooks Fanfiction

Chapter 34: Lucky Charms

I've been awake for hours, though I'm not sure if I ever really did fall asleep. I'd crawled into bed once Jai had shooed everyone else from the hallway last night. He'd said he wanted to talk as soon as we got into the room, but I told him I'd done enough for the night and wanted rest. It wasn't a lie though, I really did want to sleep, but every time I'd close my eyes clips of Luke's rage and condescending remarks would wake me and make me even more restless yet unable to drift off into a comforting dose. Everything he said, everyone in this house knows. Calling me a liar, secretive, and a slut; most of all, they know what I said. They've all witnessed my confession on how I felt about Luke kissing Kat in front of me, how I thought he loved me, and how he should never break her heart like he did mine. God, I feel so pathetic.

Since I decided I wasn't going to get any sleep, I put on a bathing suite that I may or may not have stolen from Anne, with a note telling her of course, and found my way to the jacuzzi. Thoughts swarm through my head just as the water does around my body. I've been thinking incessantly, staring up towards the sky, a late-July morning forecast temporarily distracts me from myself as gorgeous orange-pink swirls hug the rising sun, welcoming it to a new day.

A deep breath is slowly released from me, momentarily relieving my body from the tension that had returned once I'd seen everyone outside the bathroom door.

I had almost disconnected myself completely from the rest of the world, until I hear my phone ring. I thought there would be no point in bringing it down with me, with it being way too early for anyone to be awake, but chose to just in case my parents called. I do not need to give them any more of a reason to lock me in the house like a prisoner for the rest of the summer.

I'd expected my mom or dad's contact to appear on my screen, but an unknown number takes its place. I simply reject the call and ease my shoulders under the water, only leaving my head above and even begin to close my eyes, but another call comes in. As the piano riff notifies me a third time, pleading for my attention, I finally pick up, ready to tell someone they have the wrong number.

"Hello?"

"Hi!" A bubbly voice responds from the other end of the phone line. The girl sounds overly excited and young, perhaps my age.

"I'm sorry to sound rude, but I think you have the wrong num-"

"This is Alex, right? Alex Scold?" The voice's tone hasn't changed and I've pretty much confirmed this girl is around 17 or 18 like me, though the energy in her voice matches that of a toddler's. I can't help but feel a bit shocked by the fact that this person knew exactly who I was, but it wasn't mutual.

"Yes. Who's this?" My voice comes out an octave higher than I'd intended and I realize my position's shifted from practically laying in the water to now hunched over with my elbows on my knees.

The bubbles in the voice seems to have increased exponentially and I even hear a screech through the receiver. "Oh my gosh! It's really you! It's so nice to meet the Alex Scold! I mean I feel like I've met you because of everything I've heard him say about you, but still it's so weird to actually meet you. I mean, it's not really meeting through a phone, but-"

"Who are you?" At this point, I'm beyond freaked out by this girl. She sounds nice and all, but she's making me think I have a long lost sister and my whole world's about to flip as I discover a twin I never knew of.

"Oh, so sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Shantell, Shantell Irving. I'm a friend of-" Just then, I hear commotion in the background from the receiver and a door close. "Sorry, my boyfriend just got home. I have to go."

Wait, how do you know who I am? Whose friend are you? What does it matter if your boyfriend's there? Those were all the questions I wanted to ask the girl, but she hung up before I could get the first word out.