The Risk Of Falling (Edited)

TWENTY SIX

The phone rang in my hand, and I almost dropped it. I didn't know why I was so afraid; it was just DP. On the fourth ring, I answered the call and put it next to my ear. Neither of us spoke, neither of us made a noise. I heard him take a deep breath. "Hello, LP."

His voice was low and deep, warming me up on the inside. There was a part of me that felt like I knew his voice, but I couldn't place it. "Hi, DP."

"That is so not how I picture your voice," DP said, chuckling slightly. His laughter made me smile. "Yet, it's exactly you."

"My God, you're just as weird as you are over text," I said, snorting. "I had hoped it was just a facade you put on over text, but I guess not."

"Hey! That's rude," DP said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "You're just as mean as you are over text."

"Nah, I'm not mean." I grinned and said, "I'm just blunt."

"Sometimes blunt is mean." I rolled my eyes. "I kind of like talking to you this way. Maybe we could do it more often."

"Maybe," I said, nodding. I leaned back on my bed and settled in. I pulled my favorite blue blanket over me and said, "What if I said I wanted to meet you?" There was a gasp on the other end of the line and then silence. "DP? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," he replied quickly. "Did I hear you correctly? Did you say you wanted to meet me?"

"Well, yeah," I said before I could convince myself otherwise. "We've been talking for a couple months over text. I think I'm ready to meet you."

"I never thought this day would come!" In the background, I could hear creaking and thudding noises. His breath became labored.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm dancing, LP." The noises continued for a couple more minutes until there was silence. "When do you want to meet up, then?"

"I'm not sure," I said, furrowing my brow. "It should be sometime soon, but not in December, since I'm going back home for Christmas."

"You're going home for Christmas?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure if my siblings will be there. It may just be my parents and me."

"Okay," DP said. "You text me the details, okay?"

"Okay." I smiled and closed my eyes. "Goodbye, DP."

"Goodbye LP. Talk to ya later."

---

Charlotte grumbled in my ear. "Why are we up this early?"

A grin graced my face as I said, "It's finally our time to do the Senior Snowball Fight."

Charlotte frowned, pulling her covers closer to her face. "Why did it have to snow in November? Why couldn't it have been unconventionally warm?"

"Come on," I whined, sitting down next to her. I shoved her shoulder. "It's going to be fun!"

"You say that now. Watch us get jinxed."

"I'll make sure we're on the same team."

Charlotte groaned and threw her covers over her head. "Why can't we live in Florida?"

"Stop with the questions, start getting ready." I pulled back her covers and shoved her out of bed. She fell onto the floor with a thud, and I said, "There's more where that came from."

"I don't like you, Luna," Charlotte said, glaring up at me. Slowly, she stood up, and I pointed to her snow pants hanging from a chair. "I can see, you know."