Caroline Spacer

Chapter Two

CALL IMMEDIATELY the paper screamed at me.  Right below it was a phone number.  Without even thinking I toke my phone out of my back pocket and dialed the phone number and with that I was calling a random number, not even sure what I was going to say.  The person answered.

“Hello?  Who is this?” a boy answered.  So the person was a guy, but why was his number on the floor of a mental hospital floor, in North Dakota?

“I am Caroline…who are you?  I found your number here at my mom’s work place with words below saying in all caps call immediately.”  I explained to the guy.  That was pretty blunt, I usually don’t use this phone, not having anyone to call except my parents. 

“I’m Leo and are you serious?  Where does your mom work?  Anywhere in North Carolina?”  He shot the questions at me and I tried to answer my best.  I was surprised, he sounded unconcerned.  If some random girl called me and said she found my number on the ground of a mental hospital, I’d be more intrigued.  Then again I hadn’t told him that yet…right.

“I am very serious and no we do not live in North Carolina...We live in North Dakota.”  I was surprised he even asked, it was kind of weird he said North Carolina; I mean he HAD to live in Fargo, North Dakota.  Maybe his crazy relative lived at the mental hospital.

“What?  Well, I live in North Carolina.  Where does your mom work?” he said with some confusion.  Now it was getting a really weird, he lived in North Carolina!  That’s pretty far away.

“Well my mom works at the North Dakota institution of mental health.  I found the note on the floor here.  Quite creepy so I thought you ought to know,” I said with some thought.  This must be very strange to him, even more than it is to me.  I was the one telling the story, not hearing it. 

“You found MY number on the floor of a mental hospital in North Dakota saying call immediately?  That’s impossible!”  Leo yelled into the phone.  He had me there; it did seem very impossible now that he said it aloud in one sentence.    

       “I am not kidding, this is real and I really did find it on the floor of a mental hospital.”  I said with some force.  If he didn’t listen to me I didn’t know what I was going to do next.

       “Okay…that’s freaky.  Well, wanna help me figure out who wrote it?”  Now I was really interested in this situation.  I was glad I found that crumpled paper on the ground.  Teaming up with a stranger to find out who wrote a creepy note sounded really random…and super fun.

       “Yeah!  That sounds cool.  When do we start?”  I ask with enthusiasm.  I always wanted to figure out a real life mystery.  I wasn’t only a romantic, remember.

       “Okay then.  I’ll call you sometime tomorrow…we have different time zones.  Seeya Caroline.”  He said. 

               “Okay…Bye!”  And with that the phone line went dead from hanging up.  Two seconds later my mom comes barreling toward me.  Again. 

       “Caroline!  Where were you?  I was looking for you this entire time,” she howled.  My mother for some reason believes that screaming all the time will help; I have no idea why.  It doesn’t ever work anyways.  I picked up the crumpled piece of paper and stuffed it into my pocket.  “You know I leave my phone in the mail room during the day!  Stay closer to the lobby next time please.  Its time to go now, come on Caroline.”  With that I was whisked away to go home for the day. 

       We walked home like we always did.  Living near the mental hospital was convenient.  We only lived about 3 blocks away.  Walking home this time felt different, like a piece of me was missing and a new piece fit back right where the old one was.  It was weird.  My mom fished out the keys from her purse and unlocked the front door.  I was suddenly tackled to the ground without notice by a big hairy thing. 

       “Baxter!”  I yell cheerfully.  “Who’s a good boy?  You are!” 

       “Must he always attack you when you walk in.  One of these days it’s going to be someone other than you.”  My mother says in that monotone, disapproving voice she uses.  I ignore her by running up the stairs to my room with Baxter. 

       Our house isn’t huge but it’s nice for a townhome.  There are two bedrooms and three bathrooms.  We have a spacious kitchen/dining room that opens up to the living room so we can watch TV at dinner.  It’s usually playing whatever romantic movie I love at the moment.  My parents don’t usually watch TV, which is why I have a TV in my room too, and they don’t. 

              “Caroline!  Dinner!”  My mom screamed from downstairs.  Her and her screeching.  I walked down the stairs to the kitchen.  On the screen was my favorite movie.

              “I’m not rich.  My parents are rich.”  Ryan Reynolds says.

              “Which is the kind of thing that only a rich person would say.”  I copied Sandra Bullock at the same time she said it sarcastically.  My mom gave me the “seriously?” look.  My dad, however, was sitting at dinner for a change. 

He looked up at me with his old sparkling eyes and asked “Caroline, what did you do today?”

It was like he somehow knew I had a different day out of my thousands.  Maybe he could tell, just from my face.  Anyway, I answered him.

       “Nothing, dad.”  I know, it’s not exactly the truth but for some reason I didn’t want to tell them about Leo.  My dad believed me though and I went on watching my movie and eating my moms cooking.

Later in my room I thought about Leo while trying to fall asleep.  I wondered if maybe the strange feeling all day was about him.  I ended thinking I was going to make one of my first friends in a long time, maybe ever.  Maybe Leo and me would be best friends and with that I fell asleep.