He's Just a Skater Boy (boyxboyxboy)

Chapter 17: Are You a Girl?

I didn't know what to do so I answered. I put the phone to my ear slowly, looking around to make sure no one was near me. I don't know why but I felt weird about Atlas, like I shouldn't be sharing too much about him. Definitely, if Amir knew all there was to know he'd be rolling on the floor laughing at me.

Maybe I could talk to the others about it because at least they didn't go to the same school as me but I wasn't sure if the news would make it back to him. The boys here weren't especially gossipy or anything but a grand story like someone losing their boxers to the school bully wasn't the kind of thing you told one guy and never heard repeated back to you in a letter from your pen-pal in Australia.

There was nothing to be heard on the other line so I spoke first. "Hello?" I asked, too confused to be witty.

I heard a rustling on the other side, apparently not a man of words at the moment... So he puts his contact in my phone before blackmailing me with it and then calls me up and says nothing.

Well I've definitely met my match in the crazy department.

I summoned the spirits of annoyance, thought about all the ways I could verbally abuse him in that moment and then buried them down into the well, only to see them rise up and haunt the world in good time, possibly through a cursed VHS tape. I took a deep breath.

"Why is your contact in my phone?"

"Oh, sorry." Came the soft spoken girls voice through the phone.

A girl? I sat startled for a moment, my phone a couple of inches away, before pressing it back up against my ear.

"What? Who is this?"

"Are you a girl?" Came the blunt reply.

My head ducked backwards a moment in confusion. "No." I replied quickly.

"Okay."

"Who is-"

"Um, never mind, I um, I thought you were a girl..." She said quietly.

I sat stunned for a moment.

No, not never mind, I was going to need a whole lot more information than just 'I thought you were a girl'. We could start off with, why did you think I was a girl? Why did you call me even if I were a girl? Did you call me because you thought I was a girl and a quick follow-up to that question would be why? And lastly, who are you?

So, through much deliberation and consideration, "Huh?" Came my intelligent reply.

"Sorry, is your name Akara? Or.."

I frowned. "Yeah."

"Okay, okay, sorry, I thought it was- never mind, thank you."

She thought my name was a girls name and so she rang it up, that hardly answered any of my questions. Was this number even Atlas's number or was he messing with me. Did he do it as some sort of half arsed prank or something? Like he hoped I would just ring his number up and it would turn out to be some girl or... no, that would be the stupidest fucking prank. 

"Okay, well-" I said, about to hang up.

Then I heard someone in the background who sounded like Atlas talking, low at first but quickly loud enough for me to hear as he approached whoever was on the phone.

"Why do you do that, it's fucking annoying, get off my phone Lily." He said.

I held my tongue, some innate part of me for some reason trying to make sure he wouldn't notice me even though I wasn't even there.