I'd Never Expected

Chapter 23

"Serenity?" The familiar voice hit my ears but I acted ignorant.

"Yeah, who is this?"

"It's Charla! Hi! How are you?!" she shouted into the phone.

She's acting like if I haven't seen her in months. "I'm good, thanks, but uh… Charla, you kinda got me in a bad time, so--"

"Oh, my god! I'm sorry! I should have known that you would be busy, it's just that I wanted to make sure I had your correct phone number 'cause I've been given a lot of wrong phone numbers over the years --and it's a little annoying -- so, you know, I just want to make sure--"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." I stopped her before she kept repeating herself.

She laughed. "Sorry, but you know…"

Yes, I know that people purposely give you their wrong phone numbers because of this reason!

"So, how's Ronnie doing?" she asked.

Has she just forgotten that I'm busy?! "Uh… he's doing okay…" I answered effortlessly, trying to hint that I didn't want to continue on with this conversation.

"Good, good. So…" Charla began to ask something else about Ronnie but the sudden loud voice of the boy himself caught my attention. It sounded like an argument was taking place in his room.

I opened my door a bit for a clearer sound.

"--anything to that guy!" Ronnie angrily yelled.

I leaned down my door further.

I heard my mom speak next, "But Ronnie, if he comes maybe he can help you--"

"No! He's going to end up telling my dad everything instead of helping me!" Ronnie shouted.

I'm assuming he's not taking the news well about Mr. Eister lightly.

"Serenity?" I heard Charla's distinct voice call from my right ear.

Oh, I seriously forgot I was talking to her. "Listen Charla, something came up. Can we talk some other time?"

She didn't ask any further questions like I expected. "Yeah, can I call you tomorrow?"

Ugh, great. "… yeah, sure," I answered hesitantly.

She sounded pleased. "Great! Talk to you then! Bye!"

I didn't respond. I just hung up and rushed to the hallway outside Ronnie's room.

I found my mom walking out of his room mumbling to herself and rubbing her temples as she made her way to the kitchen.

I peeked into Ronnie's room and saw him leaning back against his bed while releasing a stressful sigh. I noticed a large notebook resting on his lap with many words written across and all over it. It caught my attention.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

I jumped.

Ronnie was looking back from his bed to my standing spot next to his doorway.

"N-nothing. I-I was just… looking over at… the view… because, you know, your window shows… everything.. better--"

Ronnie's confused face showed that I wasn't making any sense.

I gave in and sighed. I stepped into his room and kneeled down beside his bed. "Actually," I began to explain, "I came 'cause I want to know what really happened to you." And I did. He needed to explain now because all of this was beginning to cause a big mess.

His reaction was nothing more than a sigh and a turn from his head away from my gaze. "Why did I know you were going to ask me this?" He turned back to me.