I turned off my truck and grabbed my purse out of the center seat, digging through it to find my phone. "What are you doing Ames?" Hayley asked. "I'm going to try to call Alex and ask him to call Steph to see if he can get her to answer." I replied. "Ok, sounds like a plan." Hayley said as my hand found my phone and I pulled it out. I unlocked the keypad and then went into my contacts, glad for having gotten Alex's number last night. As I was about to press send I checked my signal and saw that, well, there was none. "I'm gonna try to get a signal." I said, opening the door.
After stepping out of the truck, I went around the front to try to get a bit away from the cars on the highway. Just as I was passing the headlights and getting ready to turn, a 4-door truck with a lift to compensate for its massive tires roared past and the driver scooted the truck to the right enough to hit the giant puddle resting on the border between the road and the shoulder, spraying me, which sent up a cheer of celebration from his buddies, some of whom were hanging out the windows, whistling as I stared angrily at the truck as it continued on its way down the road. The wind blew and I shivered in my now-wet clothes. I shook my head and continued to the other side of the truck, looking down at my phone. "Yes! Signal!" I yelled, seeing a bar pop up on the screen. I quickly hit send before I lost it and put the phone to my ear. "Hello Ms. Lorelei, how may I assist you?" came Alex's voice at the end of the line. "Um, we kinda lost Stephanie and she didn't answer when Hayley called, so we were wondering if you could call her?" I said. "I thought I heard a weird sound coming from the fridge earlier!" Alex said after a minute. "Uh, what?" I asked, confused. "Steph left her phone." he explained. "In the fridge?" I asked, still not understanding. "It happens." he replied nonchalantly.
"So we're stuck?" I asked. "I'm sure she'll realize what happened when she gets to the store." he answered, "Plus Hayley probably knows how to get there." "Yeah, true, she is kinda looking at me like, 'why are you even doing this?' so I'm guessing she does. Well, if Steph happens to call us or anything I'll call back to tell you she's safe. Hopefully, she's at the store."
"Well, alrighty, don't get lost besides she can't call, since I still have her phone." He said and then we said our goodbyes. Just as I was about walk back to the driver's seat, Hayley opened the door to get out and hit me, causing my phone to fly out of my hand. After I got hit by the door and dropped my phone, I went to pick it up and accidentally knocked into the sewer. I was ready to cry and Hayley was waiting for me, impatiently. I trudged back to the car and sat in the passenger seat. Hayley quickly went around and jumped into the driver's seat. I looked back toward the sewer and Hayley started up the car. It started with ease and she began driving toward the place where I was supposed to be to pick up my furniture. Throughout the whole ride there, Hayley glanced a few times while I stayed silent, staring out the window and watching the blur of buildings as we drove past. Hayley came to a stop at the next intersection and asked, "Lorelei, what's up? You've been moping this whole ride. What's going on in that head of yours?" "I don't know it's just...everything. Like this whole day, getting lost, losing my phone and what happened with Travis. Even with what's going on with Beck. I can't take it all. I-I just don't know what to feel anymore." Hayley kept her eyes on the road and casually glanced over a few times. She quickly took twists and turns that ended up taking her through the Lincoln tunnel toward New Jersey. She began to accelerate more and I keep looking out the window. There was a long silence and Hayley kept on driving, and I turned the volume up on the radio, ending up being hit with a mass of static that caused me to just turn the radio off, not wanting to search.
"Listen Lorelei, I'm sorry about the phone, I'll get you a new one. And the day can only get better, come on look on the bright side. Also Beck isn't going to find you. I'll make sure of it, you don't have to worry. You have people who care about you. Beck is not going to find you at all, you're going to be okay. Just cheer up. Hey look we're in North Bergen already. Secaucus is just 2 stoplights away and then boom!! Ashley Furniture is right there." "Woo." "Don't be such a sourpuss. We can stop at Best Buy and I'll buy you a new phone, it's right next to Ashley."
