14 Years Under

Prank Call

By the time Roslyn and i were home, my boots were completely soaked through and my hot pink socks were no longer happy and bright. 

"  good afternoon miss" i said as nicely as i could to Roslyn's mom. 

she smiled back at me 

"good afternoon Lennon hows your mom?" 

"fine thanks" this ended the sufficiently awkward conversation i had with Roslyn's mother. things never changed i guess. i mean, think about it. you could be having the worst day of your life, but if someone asks you how you're doing, all you ever say is good. this is one of the many things i will never understand about life. 

i followed Roslyn down the tiny hallway of her apartment to her bedroom. it was bigger then mine, and her apartment policies let her paint her room. it was electric blue with a pink roof. my mom would never let me paint my room like that, even if we were allowed too. her bed was a mattress layout on the ground with a Mexican quilt spread across the majority of the bed. she had one pillow. 

"so what should we today?" she asked me, raising a thick eyebrow. i shrugged. our afternoons often  consisted of listening to "the top 100 of the 1960's" or math homework. today i didn't feel like doing either of those. maybe it was because of my impromptu bullying scene today before lunch, or my embarrassing incident with Mr Delafont, but i just didn't want to do anything. 

Roslyn pulled out a tray of Oreo cookies and offered me one. i took two. 

"hey do you think your mom will go to parent teacher night?" 

i shrugged 

" probably not, i mean, she doesn't need too, its not like a talk or socialize or anything, let alone get in trouble" 

Roslyn giggled. 

"good point!" 

we took a minute to eat our cookies in silence, then it hit me. a terrible, stupid, terrible and most importantly stupid idea hit me. one that i later regretted. 

"hey, i know what we should do" 

i couldn't help but plaster a hopelessly rebellious look on my face, Roslyn must of noticed because she leaned in 

"what?" 

then the two words escaped my mouth 

"prank calls"

her eyes widened 

"really? are you sure that's legal?" 

i shrugged and picked up her phone 

" i dunno, but my brothers done it and he's not in jail yet, so it must be safe" 

i looked around her bedroom for a phone book 

" who are we going to call?'' 

Roslyn asked. again, i shrugged. 

and then i saw it. 

"Roslyn pass me your bag" 

she did so and with a swift movement i took out her binder 

"what are you doing?" 

"those notices teachers pass out at the beginning of the year, they usually have contact information right?" 

she nodded, but i already new i was right

"bingo" 

there in my hands i held Mr Delafonts phone number

"Lennon we cant! i cant ruin my reputation" 

i rolled my eyes "what reputation Roslyn? nobody even knows who we are! he wont know its us, Mr Delafont teaches like 400 students!" 

she sat there for a second, as if trying to understand my concept

"well OK, but you do the talking" 

i nodded and punched in the number. 

i could feel my insides churning, 

maybe this wasn't such a good idea, ah this is stupid! how could i be so....

"hello?" 

i gulped. oh no. 

what am i going to do? 

"uh... hello... this is uh... this is steve..." 

i gripped the phone, no turning back now. 

"and what do you want?" 

think, think think! 

"uh... i  just wanted to ask you if your refridgerator running..." 

i heard a sigh on the other line 

"no, i better go catch it..." 

and with that he hung up. 

"thats it?" 

roslyn said out loud

i shrugged, it could of been worse i guess

she began to laugh

"that was good lennon! we should do that again! this time lets call the principle!"

i held the phone tightly in my hand 

"i think thats enough prank calling for one day. maybe tomorrow" 

she gave me a puzzled look and then nudged it off 

"well ok, lets just start our math homework" 

just then, Roslyns mother walked in 

"Lennon, that was your mother calling, she wants you home" 

i sighed and began to pack up my books, i hated it when my mom called me home. it meant i had to leave Roslyns peaceful house and go home to hear mom and dylan fight. 

"thank you" i said before leaving, remembering my manners again. and with that, i made the 5 second walk home.