Farmboy

Chapter 3

Once I couldn’t see him anymore, I slowly walked home, gently jumping branches. Eventually I reached the the pile of cement bricks. I sat on top of the highest one, like usual. I slipped my phone and of my pocket and called Saige.
“Hey.” I said casually.

“Gail! Hey! What’s up? It’s a bit early for you, on a Saturday.”
“Saige, it’s 2:00.”

“I know! Don’t you normally wake up like two hours ago?”
“I forgot it was Saturday.” I mumbled. Saige laughed on the other end.

“Well, I’ve got big news for you, Gail.” She said.
“Ooh, what?” I asked.

“Ethan finally texted me back!” She squealed.

“Oh, that’s great!” I said, faking enthusiasm. Saige was a little too obsessed with getting her crush to respond to her texts and emails.

“Guess what he said?”
“What?”
“He made a Lord of the Rings reference!”
“Cool…” I said.
“Anyway.” Saige said. “What’s up with you?”
“Oh, I saw Andrew again.” I said, as casually as possible.

“You did?” She yelled.

“OW! MY EAR!” I yelled back.

“Shut up. Just tell me what happened!”

“We talked.”
“And?”
“Well, he told me that he lives on a farm.”
“And?”
“That’s just about it.” I finished up.
“You’re sure?” Saige asked suspiciously.

“Very.”
“I’m not quite sure what to make of this.” Saige murmured.
“How about nothing?” I asked hopefully.

“I don’t think so.” Saige replied, craftily. I groaned.

“I should get going.” I said.

“Very well. I will ponder this encounter during your absence.”

“See you on Monday, Saige.” I hung up.

I looked up at the sky, through a gap in the trees. The sun had been hanging in its acme when I entered the forest. Now it was slowly heading down towards the ground. Time to go home.

⚘⚘⚘

That night, as I got ready for bed, my phone rang with a text from Saige.

“Hey there Gail,” I read under my breath. “I was just wondering if you got Andrew’s number.”

I shook my head, and texted her back, telling her that no, I did not get his number. I laughed. I barely knew this guy, and yet Saige expected to me to have his number. My friends are very weird, sometimes. Instead of texting me back, Saige called me again.

“Hey.” I said, as I picked up. Saige sighed in exasperation.

“Gail, why didn’t you get his number?”
“Hmm, let’s see. Ooh! I know. I met him…yesterday! Maybe we haven’t exactly bonded enough to exchange numbers.”
“You guys are bonding?” Saige shrieked.
“Ughhh. Bad word choice.”
“No, perfect word choice!” Saige corrected. “Oh, Gail, this is wonderful, I can’t believe you’re going to get a boyfriend, and-”
“Whoa. Slow down, Saige. I just met him, we are not dating. Nor are we going to.”  I said, startled.
“That’s just what you think.” She said, slyly.
“Saige. No. I don’t like him!”
“Right.”
“I don’t! Really!”

“Okay. Sure.”

“You don’t believe me.” I said.

"Of course not." Saige replied.

"I hate you." I groaned.

"Well, you'll be singing a different tune when I get you hooked up with Andrew."

"Saige..." I whined.

“Gail, I know you like him.” She insisted.

“Saige, I am quite positive I don’t.” I protested.

“You do.”
“I don’t.”

“You do.”
“I don’t.”

This conversation went on for quite some time, until finally my mom screamed from downstairs.

“WHO CARES?!” Then I put Saige on speakerphone so we could both lecture my mother on the importance of any conversation. Then once we finished we both laughed, and I took her off speakerphone so we could continue the private conversation. As the clock ticked towards midnight, we said our farewells and hung up. I’d finally gotten Saige to back off of the subject of Andrew by threatening to try to hook her up with Martin, the annoying boy with a pathetic crush on her. That frightened her enough and we switched the topic to Ethan. As I pulled on pajamas, I laughed joyfully at the memory of our conversation. The night was dark and peaceful, and my last memory before falling asleep was Andrew smiling warmly at me.