Phone Calls > jariana (COMPLETED)

five

April 7, 6:42 a.m.

Ariana: What are you doing?

Justin: Getting ready for school.

Ariana: Me too.

Justin: Are you calling because you want to know what I'm wearing?

Ariana: No, Justin. I'm calling because I woke up thinking about Nan and Jairo and it made me feel bad. And it also made me want to call you.

Justin: Thanks. I hadn't started thinking about those two yet.

Ariana: Now I feel terrible for calling.

Justin: As well you should.

Ariana: But I was calling to tell you that it's going to be okay. High school is like a battleground, and this kind of drama crap happens, you know. And we move through it and go off and have great lives anyway. Become presidents. Actors. Train conductors. Professors.

Justin: I guess. But train conductors?

Ariana: Due to our crumbling highway system, I foresee a lot more trains in our country's future.

Justin: I never thought of my teen years as a battleground period.

Ariana: That's exactly what it is. Pure combat. During our teen years, things happen and we're basically put through emotional torture. Really, childhood in general is part of this too. These years test our mettle. They shape us, and then we go off toughened by our experiences. We go into the world better people. We're deepened by our traumas.

Justin: I didn't really think of Nan and Jairo as a trauma. I think of a brain aneurysm or falling off a tall building as a trauma.

Ariana: Trust me. Your best friend dating your ex-girlfriend is a trauma.

Justin: Well, thanks for calling to cheer me up. I'm going to go shoot myself in the head now.

Ariana: Don't even joke about that.

Justin: I know, I know. That wasn't funny. I don't have a good feel for humor at the crack of dawn.

Ariana: Justin, I want you to have a good day, despite those weasels.

Justin: I'll do my best, Ariana. Hey, I don't know your last name.

Ariana: Why do you want to know my last name all of a sudden?

Justin: What do you mean, "all of a sudden"?

Ariana: There's no hidden meaning in that statement.

Justin: Well, we're friends. I'm only asking for your last name. Why do you sound weird and defensive?

Ariana: Do you call all of your friends weird and defensive?

Justin: What? Are you on the lam, Ariana? Should I go to my post office and check out the FBI most-wanted list?

Ariana: It's Butera.

Justin: That's nice. Now I see why you made fun of the surname Howie.

Ariana: I shouldn't have done that.

Justin: We're in high school. I can't think of a more appropriate time to ridicule our peers' names.

Ariana: You were wrong. You are funny at the crack of dawn.