Phone Calls From a Rock Star (4 page)

Jake slid off the car and helped me down. I
really didn’t need the help, but I loved the chivalrous gesture all
the same. We climbed in the car, and I started the engine. I threw
my phone on the dash. Jake snatched it.

“
Do you mind?” he asked. I
shook my head and heard a string of beeps but never actually heard
him speak. Once he finished fiddling with the phone, he placed it
on the dash and stared thoughtfully out his window.

When we made it back to the hotel, we caught
an elevator without incident. My heart was heavy as I knew I had
only minutes left in his presence. I didn’t want the magical night
to end.

“
I programmed my cell
number in your phone and yours in mine.”

My eyes snapped to his as my mouth fell
open. “No way!” I gasped. He grinned and nodded. I stared at the
instrument in my hands, astonished it now contained such an
important number.

The doors opened for my floor, and he
positioned his body to keep them from closing. He pulled me into an
impromptu hug. “Thanks for a great night, Iz. I’ll call you.”
Winking, he placed a chaste kiss on my lips. He stepped back in the
elevator and allowed the doors to shut. I stood there stunned,
touching my lips softly - totally mesmerized by my first kiss.

Chapter Three

“
Quit organizing and get
ready,” Annie Conrad ordered. I paid her no heed as I studied my
bookshelf. Tapping my finger against my chin, I considered
switching all the books from their current alphabetical by author
arrangement to alphabetical by title. Annie twirled me around,
causing me to spill the books in my arms. “Let’s go, Bella! The
party started half an hour ago!”

I stifled my irritated groan for the time
being - I was sure there would be plenty of opportunity for it
later. “You drag me to this stupid thing every year and then
abandon me as soon as the first cute guy looks your way.”

A smattering of guilt touched her cheeks as
I bent to collect my books, but she did a remarkable job pretending
it didn’t exist. She planted her fists to her hips in my favorite
pose, glaring. “Come on! It’s fun and you know it! Besides, Dean
and Lance will be there.”

Okay, so she got me there. Lance Roberts is
the most handsome boy on campus. I’ve had a crush on him since
freshman year, but he hardly noticed me outside of the friendship
thing.

“
Fine, fine, I’ll go.” I
plopped to my bed and dug my tennis shoes out from under it. I
shoved them on my feet while Annie threw a mild fit.

“
You can’t go like
that!”

I finished tying my shoes and stood. I
looked down at my t-shirt and jeans and frowned. They were clean
and wrinkle free. What was the problem? “Why not?”

“
You have to change,” she
demanded.

“
No, I don’t,” I said
firmly. I think Annie and our other friend, Cammy, were on some
secret mission to make me more girly. I truly hoped they’d fail.
“It’s dark outside, Annie. It’s a bonfire. Who’ll notice what I’m
wearing?”

Crossing her arms, she huffed, typical Annie
response, and then grabbed a jacket. She, of course, looked amazing
in her white denim skirt, pink tank and matching flip flops. If
Lance noticed anyone it would be her. “Let’s just go.”

With a triumphant grin, I grabbed Jake’s
hoodie. I’d forgotten to return it that night and even though I did
feel a little guilty, I was glad to have some kind of souvenir. I’d
only told Seth about my adventure, and after he’d lectured me for
twenty minutes about how stupid I was to take a strange man to a
secluded area, he quizzed me on everything Jake. I’m still not
totally sure he believed me.

“
Is Camryn here yet?” I
asked as we crossed the campus, the chilly breeze toying with our
hair. Cammy promised to get to school in time for the bonfire, but
I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her yet.

“
She wasn’t due to return
from Ireland until last night I think,” Annie mused as she looped
her arm through mine, hurrying me toward the football field. “She
was supposed to call this morning but she didn’t. She probably
forgot.”

I snorted. Annie was more than likely right.
Cammy could be a little bit of a space case from time to time. “I
hope she gets in tomorrow.”

“
She will,” Annie assured
me. “So, Krysti and Lance broke up.”

I stopped in my tracks, jolting Annie in the
process. “What? When did this happen?”

Annie’s glossy lips curved into a knowing
grin. “Apparently Krysti attended a Controlled Environment concert
last Saturday, and rumor has it that she might have cheated on
Lance with a roadie.”

It took all of five seconds for me to drop
to my knees and clutch my stomach as the laughter tickled my throat
and spewed from my mouth. I don’t mean chuckle or giggle but deep
belly laughs. All I could think about were the front row bimbos. I
imagined Krysti as one of them, hopping up and down, begging for
attention. Tears leaked from my eyes as I struggled to control
myself. Annie leaned against a tree and studied her nails. That set
me off in another fit of laughter which, thankfully, didn’t last as
long. Finally, I got to my feet and wiped my eyes. “Okay,
better.”

Annie raised a doubtful brow. “You
sure?”

I chortled a bit and coughed to hide it.
“Yeah. It’s just that I went to the Controlled Environment concert,
and I was imagining Krysti in the front row with the rest of the
bimbos.” I felt another bout of laughter and choked it back.

Her jaw nearly hit the ground. “You went to
the Controlled Environment concert? How? The tickets sold out
within minutes!”

“
Seth,” I simply answered.
Growling, she performed a perfect pirouette so she could stalk off,
fuming.

“
It sucks that all I have
are younger brothers and you get the cool, older one.”

“
Yeah,” I grinned, smug as
could be. “He comes in handy sometimes.”

***

The bonfire was blazing, the flames reaching
for the sky, by the time we made it to the football field. We
located a couple of girls from our class near the coolers, and I
grabbed a soda as Annie, in perfect form, caught up on all the
gossip from the summer. It didn’t take long for Zach Washington to
steal her attention, though, so I rolled my eyes and wandered away
to the bleachers. I spotted Lance and Dean in the distance, talking
to a couple of cheerleaders. My heart leapt to my throat. Lance
seemed to have grown taller over the summer, if that was possible.
His curly brown hair was cut shorter than usual, but it emphasized
his chiseled features. His gray t-shirt stretched across his broad
chest, and I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful male.

He’d never be interested in someone like me,
I sighed. I was just too ordinary. Krysti was very curvy and pretty
and full of pep. Me, not so much.

I pulled the hoodie over my head as the wind
picked up – I was far enough from the bonfire to not benefit from
the warmth. Just as I was yanking my ponytail from beneath the
sweatshirt, my phone rang. I answered, frustrated, as my eyes
strayed back to Lance.

“
Hello?”

“
Hey, Iz, how are you?” a
deep voice rumbled in my ear.

My heart leapt and my stomach quivered.
“Jake!” I squealed. “How are you? Carjack anyone lately? I didn’t
think you’d ever call!”

He chuckled. “Take a breath, angel.”

“
Sorry,” I mumbled as my
cheeks flushed. “How are you?”

“
Tired. I’m trying to sleep
in the back of a tour bus. It’s not easy - especially when your
band mates are goofing off a couple feet from you.” He yawned as if
proving his point. “What are you doing?”

He did sound tired. The exhaustion in his
voice caused my heart to ache. “Sitting on the bleachers at a
stupid bonfire at school. It’s really boring.”

“
What are you doing on the
bleachers? You should be mingling with your friends.”

He obviously didn’t know me well. I was not
much for socializing even with people who attended boarding school
with me. “I will in a few minutes,” I promised weakly.

“
You should. It’s your last
year of high school–you should enjoy it.” His voice was gruff and
made me wonder how long he’d been touring and if it was affecting
his throat.

“
Are you okay, Jake? You
sound a little ragged.”

“
Nah, I’m fine. Had to go
to an after party last night. That kind of thing gets tiring after
a while.”

I giggled, remembering the last time he was
supposed to attend an after party. “Why didn’t you sneak off and
carjack someone?”

“
Because I had a feeling it
wouldn’t have turned out as well as the last time,” he said. My
heart flipped as I closed my eyes to get a better view of the
images of him and me on the hood of Seth’s car. “So tell me why
you’re sitting on the bleachers and not out having fun like
everyone else?”

“
Not everyone is having
fun,” I pointed out. “Maggie Morgan is crying – but she always
cries. She’s president of the Drama Club. And Joey and Sarah are
arguing by the drink table—probably because he’s been drinking
something stronger than soda. That’s a shame, too.”

“
Iz,” he interrupted.
“Listen to you ramble on and on to me. Why don’t you get up and go
converse with the other people?”

“
I don’t know what to say,”
I admitted morosely.

“
You don’t have that
problem with me.”

“
You’re different. You’re
easy to talk to,” I explained.

“
Not everyone can be me,
angel,” he answered, smug.

“
I wonder how your swollen
head fits on that bus,” I grumbled. He laughed, and it boosted my
spirits. I couldn’t help but giggle, attracting the attention of
Karen Lange and Alicia Phelps. They meandered my way and sat next
to me. Karen gave me a friendly smile in which I returned. “I have
to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“
Sure, Iz. Have fun.” He
ended the call and I shoved my phone into the front pocket of my
hoodie.

“
How was your summer,
Bella?” Karen asked.

“
Not too eventful,” I said.
“Never usually is.”

“
I know what you mean,” she
commiserated. “My parents were gone most of the time.”

“
How about you, Alicia?” I
asked, hoping Jake would be proud. I was trying.

Alicia flipped her chestnut hair over her
shoulder, fixing me with a haughty gaze. “We have a summer home on
the lake so we spent a lot of time there.”

“
Sounds lovely,” I said,
refraining from uttering the scathing words on the tip of my
tongue. I scanned the crowd for signs of Annie when I spotted Lance
and Dean making their way toward us. My heartbeat tripled and I
shoved my trembling hands in the front pocket of Jake’s
hoodie.

“
Good evening, ladies,”
Dean said as he plopped down next to Alicia. She smiled her million
watt smile and batted her eyelashes. I turned my head, hoping to
stop the nausea rolling in my stomach. Lance took that moment to
squeeze in between me and Karen. That didn’t settle my stomach at
all. I prayed I wouldn’t say anything stupid.

“
Hey, Karen. Bella,” he
said, leaning back on the bleacher behind him. He stretched his
arms out, and it took every ounce of strength I had not to snuggle
into him. Well, only for a moment. I wasn’t that brave. “Did you
girls have a nice summer?”

Before I could utter a word, his face fell.
I followed his line of sight and saw Krysti standing in a group of
girls engaging in a very animated conversation. Karen patted his
leg. “Don’t worry about her. She’s not worth it.”

His face relaxed into a huge smile. My heart
dipped. He dropped an arm around both my shoulders and Karen’s.
“I’m not. I have two beautiful ladies with me; why would I need
her?”

He had to be able to feel the tremble
rumbling throughout my body. I just hoped he didn’t realize it was
because of his proximity. He plucked at the material of my
sweatshirt—I mean Jake’s sweatshirt—and grinned.

“
I like the hoodie, Bella.
Where’d you get it?”

I glanced down at the hoodie, wondering what
the big fuss was about. I mean, it was just a black, hooded
sweatshirt with some sort of silver logo on the top left corner
where a pocket might be had it been a collared shirt. No matter the
reason for Lance’s admiration, I made a mental note to thank Jake,
then immediately scratched out that mental note. He might remember
I have the hoodie and ask for it back. I’d grown rather attached to
it and didn’t want to return it. “It actually belongs to a friend
of mine. I forgot to give it back.”

“
You mean your brother,
Seth,” Alicia said with an exaggerated eye roll. Dean snorted
beside her and earned a flirtatious smile.

“
No,” I said slowly,
reining in my anger. “It belongs to my friend, Jake.”

“
Does Jake go to school
here?” Karen asked, trying to diffuse a situation.

“
No. He…um…graduated. And
not from here, either.” My explanation sounded weak to my ears, and
I just knew they all thought I was making Jake up. What did I care,
anyway?

“
Whatever you say, Bella,”
Alicia scoffed.

“
Why would she lie?” Lance
asked.

My heart thundered in my chest. I couldn’t
believe Lance was actually sticking up for me. Me! I had a strange
urge to jump off the bleachers and dance a victory dance, but I
didn’t. Not only would that be totally embarrassing, but I was
quite comfortable sitting this close to Lance. Besides, one of the
jealous girls who kept throwing nasty looks at me might swoop in
and steal my spot.