Staying Grounded [Warning: Carrot Story]

Chapter Three

▪ Chapter Three ▪

*Jo’s POV*

“Joanne! The phone’s for you. It’s the one with the loud mouth who’s obsessed with that boy-band.”

My mum is standing in my doorway, clutching the device. I look at my watch on the table. It’s 7 in the morning. What is she thinking, phoning up at this time? She knows me. She knows I wouldn’t be up at this time. I give my mum a look and winks at me, knowing fully well what Sarah’s name was, but liked to describe her to me, as it entertained her with me guessing. She handed me thephone, I could hear music even from where I was, so I gingerly took it, hovering it by my ear.

“Hello?” I ask warily.

“JO! What are you doing right now?” Sarah shouts at me, raising her volume to be heard over the music, most definitely One Direction.

“I’m just sitting at home in my pyjamas worrying about coursework. What are you doing phoning me up at such an early hour? You are so lucky I’m still managing to talk to you right now.”

“What do you mean?” She shrieks, going hysterical. I’m almost tempted to drop the phone or give it back to my mum. I can’t handle this much noise in the morning.

“Why aren’t you getting ready?!”

“For what?”

I hear her sigh. “For the meet and greet! It’s at ten!”

I stare at my watch again. Yep, it’s definitely still 7. “Do you not own a clock? It’s seven in the morning. That leaves three hours.”

She takes a sharp intake of breath. “Joanne Waters.” (Already, I knew she was being serious as she almost never says my full name unless I’ve either done something unspoken of, or she’s trying to get my attention.) “Do you not realise that we will be meeting celebrities in less than 180 minutes. Speaking to you on the phone has now only left me 178 minutes. See how much time I give you to inform you in advance? Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes. WE ARE SEEING CELEBRITIES. FACE TO FACE. That means we need to be ready early so they can see us all nice looking.”

My eyes had glazed over slightly as I could hear the faint murmur of the noise in the background. When she started shouting words at me, I snapped to my attention.

“Sorry, yeah okay. That’s alright. I’ll meet you at the corner at half nine?”

“Okay, deal.”

I had no chance to reply, as she had already left, the dial tone filling the silence, but still sounding so quiet compared to the noise that was on the phone just a moment ago.  It was probably because she didn’t want me wasting anymore of her precious minutes.

I look at myself in the mirror and grimace. I was now grateful that Sarah had woken me up so early, as I have time to have a shower and spend ages on my hair, as per usual. Heaving my heavy bones out of the bed was harder than anticipated, but I managed it. I stepped into the shower, having deep thoughts as the hot soapy water washed down the sink. Well, I say deep thoughts, I was actually thinking about my art coursework and what cereal to have today. It’s deep to me, okay?

I realised I’d been in too long when the water started to turn colder, meaning that I’ve probably used up all the hot water in the house. Mum is going to kill me. I hop out, grabbing for a towel. Just my luck, I’d forgotten to take one in with me, so I have to do the risky naked run across the hallway to my room, hoping mother wasn’t lurking in her room and awkwardly walk in on me. Luckily she was downstairs doing something or other so I was safe this time.

I throw on my white short shorts, white vest and green sweater on top. It’s my favourite because it’s pretty plain and reminds me of the summer. I wear my red converses, just so I don’t look too colour co-ordinating. After the usual ritual of blow-drying and brushing my hair, the mirror is showing a much nicer image now. I have fairly long chestnut hair that fails to go straight, so I try to curl it instead for a change. Long ringlets drop down past my shoulders in a flowing fashion, making me feel a little more confident.