Wrong Phone - G.D.

fifteen

'I knew she was gonna ask that', I began in myself. 'What?'. 'That she was going to ask about this!'. I scratched the back of my head and put the phone on my bed. I fell to the floor against my half-packed suitcase and stared to nothing. 'How should I explain that I'm in LA in the next few weeks?'. I let a sigh escape. "Just tell her, you'll be gone sooner", I suddenly heard Ethan say. "How long have you been there?", I looked at him and saw a big grin appear on his mouth. "Long enough to see that with every message you'd received, the biggest smile on your face appears", he winked at me and left my room again. I rolled my eyes and thought about it. 'Maybe he was right', I stood up and picked up the phone again. I looked at the background. I felt a smile appear on my mouth. I shook my head. 'No, you don't like her, you don't even know her!'. I clicked on Message, but before I started a message, I changed her name from Unknown to

-
I've sat their for a while with the  phone still in my hands, not letting it go and not knowing how to explain to Taylor that we can't get those phones back for the time being. I rolled my eyes and started typing.
To Taylor: Yes, uh, talking about that, I have a little problem..
I sighed and waited for my answer. I looked up when I heard a pling of noise from the device.
From Taylor: What do you mean by 'a little problem'?
I shook my head and gathered all my courage together.
To Taylor: Well, just as I say, there is a problem
From Taylor: Okaaaayy? May I also know what the 'problem' is?
I didn't answer and stared at the luminous display and watched as the words 'Is typing..' appeared at the top left corner next to my old profile picture.
From Taylor: Uh .. Grayson?? Everything okay there?
To Taylor: I won't be in Jersey, Taylor, in the next few weeks
From Taylor: Uhh, for how long and where are you going to?
To Taylor: Just go from 3 to 4 weeks, LA, to meetings that I can't miss or cancel.
From Taylor: When are you leaving?
To Taylor: Tomorrow morning..

* Taylor:
I felt my cheerful mood sink away. 'He's gone tomorrow for 3 to 4 weeks. How do I solve this?'. I looked at my desk where a large cork bulletin board was standing with a calendar hung on a pair of green and blue thumbtacks. A large, red circle made with a highlighter indicated a special date. It was September, in a few days it would be October. Halloween is coming. The indicated day was October 31. On the same day I would take a trip to LA with Harper for 3 weeks. Everything was already arranged, we even got exemption from school! 'About how many weeks are Harper and I in Los Angeles?', I asked myself. I got up from my double bed whose blankets spread out messy. It didn't make any sense to make my bed, because the next morning they were probably spread out through my room. I took the calendar off the bulletin board and kept track of how many weeks I still had to go. 6 days. Less than a week. I felt a nervous feeling crawling up into my stomach. It seemed like butterflies. Sure, Harper and I were nervous and excited about this trip, not only because it was 'Los Angeles', but also because I was going to see my dad again. He has owns an office and administration there, he's his 'own boss', that's what we liked to call him, but it's also one of the reasons why my parents divorced, my mother thought that he spent too much time in his company and didn't paid us enough attention. She even called him a 'selfish pig'! The contact between my parents has never really worked out well. There's always a tension in the atmosphere as soon as those 2 are in one room. 'If I leave in 6 days, it means that that Grayson guy must already be in LA if it's true that he has his flight tomorrow morning', I shrugged my shoulders and climbed back on my comfortable bed. I closed my eyes. 'Maybe I can meet with him separately? I mean, he doesn't have to stay there far away from where I stay in LA, does he?', I shook my head and felt the same tickled feeling in my stomach again.

-
"Taylor, Mom is home, she wants to talk to you if you don't mind", Harper shouted from below. I rolled my eyes and stood up from my black office-desk-chair that my father had given me as a surprise, because he was moving into another office building. I threw some remnants of my eraser in my little green garbage can which I've always had next to my desk. I clicked out the light and made my way downstairs. I was still angry at the fact that no-one had woken me up last night, because now I was really hungry. As if it was on command, I heard my stomach growl. I sighed and put on my favorite slippers before I went downstairs. I was full of questions, such as: 'Where was mom yesterday all day? How late did she get home? What does she want to talk about? And is it good or bad?'. I opened the living room door and saw Harper, Chris and my mother sitting in their own place on the couch and armchair. The fireplace was on, which was strange, because it's on, only in the winter and it was now late summer/early autumn. "What's going on?", was the first thing I could say as soon as I plopped down on my favorite armchair. I looked at my mother, she looked tired and had dark bags under her eyes. I noticed a scratch and some dry blood on the side of her cheek at her jaw line. There were a few bruises spread over her arms that she tried to hide with a sweater. I changed my gaze to Harper, who was staring at the kneeling fire and trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible. Chris got up and left the living room and walked on to the kitchen. I heard the faucet open and water that ended up in a glass. Not much later Christian came back with the glass of water and gave it to my mother who took the glass with a sad look and didn't look up to Chris. He sighed and then plopped down again on the couch next to my mother. I still waited patiently for an answer or reaction. Even though I felt the impatience inside me growing bigger and bigger. I went back to my mother and it looked as if she hadn't even heard my question. 'What is this all at once?', Was a thought that sounded like an echo in my head.