Operation Beautiful

Chapter 48: there's a sudden crack

Chapter 48: there's a sudden crack

“Are you busy?”

It’s one in the morning and Trevor is calling my cell.

“Dude, it’s kind of late.”

“I know,” Trevor says with a sigh. “I just...I need to talk to you.”

I sneak out the front door, only to find Spike waiting for me in his car. We drive over to Trevor’s house where he’s pacing up and down in front of the door.

“What’s up?” Spike asks, sitting down in the driveway.

“Nothing,” Trevor says, pacing some more.

“Nothing?” I repeat, sitting down next to Spike.

“I got a call from Mrs. Waters a few minutes ago,” he says. But that’s all he says for a long moment.

“Should we talk about this in the morning?” Spike asks.

“Yes!” Trevor yells. “No! Well...maybe?” Then he pulls his cellphone out of his pocket. “It’s late. Sorry for calling you guys out like this.”

“Whenever you want to talk,” I say. We are silent for a long time before Trevor speaks.

“Sorry. It’s not that big of a deal, I’m just kinda freaking out.”

“Did Haley have a...thing?” I ask.

“Yeah. I was hoping she wouldn’t until after I met her dad. She hasn’t really explained anything to him yet so...” he stops and looks down at us. “It did not go well.”

“What happened?” Spike asks, concerned.

“He took them to see some cultural show thing and there were a lot of little Chinese girls in it. So...Mrs. Waters thinks that since Japanese people and Chinese people look kinda sorta similar, it might have freaked her out.”

“Oh boy.” I look up at Trevor. “Was it like...that day at the mall?”

“No, not that serious, thankfully,” Trevor says. “I talked to Haley about it. Apparently she was having trouble but her dad was right there so when she tried to take her iPod out he got mad at her and made her put it away and focus on the show.”

“Ah,” I say, thinking. “So it got worse from there?”

“Well, her mom says she started acting out and her dad started asking questions. Thankfully she was lucid enough to run to the bathroom before it got any worse. Her mom thinks the whole trip has been pretty stressful for Haley. I don’t know, I think it might have just been a one time thing.She’s not the kind of person to be affected by new surroundings or anything.”

“That’s true. Haley’s pretty strong. So what does Mr. Waters know?” Spike asks.

“Um...he knows that she gets nightmares and the rare flashback,” Trevor says, finally ceasing to pace and sitting down between us. “And he did not take it well. Same argument her mom made before. The whole ‘she wasn’t like this before we left so obviously Trevor and his family are to blame’ thing.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Spike says, putting a hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “We’re here for you no matter what. Corey and I will be at that dinner whether or not Mr. Waters wants us there.”

“Definitely,” I agree. “Now why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

“Okay.” Trevor gets up and walks us to the car. “Thanks, guys.”

“No problem,” Spike says. “Just remember one thing: when it comes time for the dinner, my name is Eugene.”

***