Natalie Farewell

The Phone Call

Chapter 2 ~~ The Phone Call

As Nat reached down to grab the spare key from underneath the doormat, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She unlocked the door and answered her phone.
"Hey it's me!" She heard Tariah say. Nat wiped the salty tears off her face and replied.
"Hey Tariah, what's up?"
"I am super bored. I need somebody to talk to." Nat really didn't feel like talking. She just needed to eat, sleep and eat some more.
"Ok. Give me a second; I have just arrived home." She dumped her handbag by the door, dumped the picnic basket in the kitchen and slumped onto her bed. She really needed to clean her room. clothes were strewn across the floor and chip packets were everywhere.
'I'll do it tomorrow,' Nat thought to herself, although she was the queen of procrastination.
"I'm back," she said to Tariah on the phone.
"Awesome. You know the other day how Jacob stood up in the middle of assembly and left?"
"Yep."
"Well I found out why..." Nat's phone suddenly started to buzz again.
'Another phone call?' She sighed miserably.
"Can this hold for a little while; somebody else is ringing me. I will come back to you. I promise." Nat told Tariah and then put her on hold to answer the mystery caller.
"Hi. It's Natalie speaking," she said, trying to sound like she wasn't annoyed at Henry and in a bad mood.
"Hi Natalie. We haven't met, but my name is Jennifer. Jennifer Hazel."
'Henry Hazel,' Nat thought to herself. Her mind forced her back through what had happened earlier that day.
"You must be Henry's mum," she replied, still trying to be positive.
"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you in person, but this is kind of urgent."
Urgent. The word echoed in Nat's head. It took a while for her to answer.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Is Henry with you?"
'No. He actually ditched me earlier today. What a jerk,' Natalie wanted to say back.
"No. He isn't here, but I was with him earlier today. Why? What's wrong?" is what she said in reality.
"He isn't here either. He isn't picking up his phone like he usually would. He isn't answering texts. I have phoned Jacob and he says he has no clue. Henry is absolutely no where. Unless you know where he has gone,"
"I am really sorry but I don't know. He might just need some space or some peace and quiet for a while. Hopefully he will be home soon." Nat said. She didn't want to say that he actually left her at a weird moment without his car. That's not the sort of thing you would say to your boyfriend's mum.
"Ok. Thanks Natalie. It was lovely talking to you. Please let me know if you hear from Henry." Jennifer said with a slight edginess in her voice.
"I sure will," Nat replied.
"Bye,"
She hung up on Jennifer and went back to the call with Tariah.
"Hey. Sorry I took a little while. Henry's mum, Jennifer, just called me asking if I knew where Henry was. I have no idea. Have you seen him anywhere?" Nat asked.
"No I haven't seen him. I'm sure he hasn't gone too far. Anyways, it is hilarious what I found out about Jacob..." Natalie sat on her bed, continuously listening to her best friend and eating yet another packet of chips.
'Henry is such a jerk,' she thought to herself. She looked back to their picnic in her mind. Things were picture-perfect back then. When she was abandoned, things changed. She thought Henry was perfect and was now considering him a jerk. Small actions can seriously change one's opinion.