Thousand Year Switch

Chapter 10

It was hard to sleep. My alarm clock's annoying neon glare shouted into the darkness. It was one o'clock. I'd be tired for the zoo tomorrow. Whatever, it's not like the Giraffes would care. They didn't judge. 

Speaking of judging...

I thought of my mother's reaction to Morgan. She'd played nice at first, asking her how she was and how her summer was going, but eventually the cheery false conversation had stuttered to a halt, and Mom shot her critical, tight lipped glances in the rear view mirror. It wasn't surprising, since my mother now disapproves of everyone below the age of twenty. She probably imagined Morgan tempting me with drugs, alcohol and sex the moment her back was turned. It had been a relief when we dropped Morgan off at the end of a long winding driveway. She'd walked up backwards, her blonde hair lit like a halo in the headlights, waving till we were out of sight.

I sighed and punched my pillow, lay back and told myself to sleep. The nightstand vibrated and I nearly jumped out of my superman boxers. Geeze louize...

My cell phone was buzzing, the screen lit up, and I grabbed it, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the brilliant glare. It was Carly,

Camping is awesome! We went swimming today, and had a sand castle contest. Plus I met this awesome guy who comes over here to work during the summers.

My stomach dropped a little when I read that, and I frowned at the screen. Did that mean she was going out with him? My fingers hovered over the keys. What should I say to that? I didn't want to come off jealous, but let's face it, I was, a little. I settled for typing,

Cool! Summer school blows! Have fun for me!

That sounded flippant enough. I set the phone back on the side table and flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling and definitely feeling sorry for myself. I jumped when my phone vibrated again. Groaning, I groped for it in the dark, certain I was going to see another message from Carly, maybe telling me how amazing her new crush was.

I didn't recognize the number, the text on my screen didn't make sense. I read it over again,

God is trying to kill you.

"What the hell?"

Was this a joke? I snorted, it was pretty lame if it was. I looked at the number again-

277-657-7171

Two seventy-seven? What kind of area code was that? Was some nut job in China text messaging me? I hit reply and typed,

Who is this?

Several minutes passed. Nothing. I stared at the message again, suddenly feeling a bit creeped out. Who says stuff like that? Someone who knew about the close calls I've had lately? It was a pretty sick joke then. Angrily I punched the delete button, slapped the phone down on the night stand and rolled over. No one else knew about everything, no one but Morgan. Had she found my cell number somehow? No, why would she write that? Morgan was sweet and innocent, she wouldn't send something like that.

We were a weird lot. The rest of the zoo's visitors were families and couples, little kids looking around with wide eyes and guys taking pictures with their girl friends in front of the cages. Us, we just stood around awkwardly, a jumble of bored and sullen teenagers led by their equally bored and sullen teacher.