Phone Calls From a Rock Star (5 page)

Luckily for me, my phone rang. I checked the
number and frowned when “The Man” came up on the screen. What the
heck? I opened the phone hesitantly. “Hello?”

“
Hey, Iz, I forgot to tell
you something.”

“
Jake?” His voice sounded
strange. I hoped he wasn’t drinking, too. There were enough idiots
in my vicinity engaging in inappropriate, not to mention underage,
drinking. “Are you okay?”

“
Sure, angel,” he said, but
I didn’t believe him at all. “I told you I’m just tired. Why are
you so concerned anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be at a
party?”

“
I am,” I muttered weakly.
“I just worry about you.”

The line was silent for a few minutes.
Finally, he spoke again. “I’m fine. I’m going to try to sleep once
I finish telling you the reason I called.”

“
Okay, I’m listening.” I
noticed the others paying close attention to me so I turned my
back. “What’s up?”

“
I just wanted to let you
know that after this week, we’ll have a two week break before we
start our West Coast tour. I was thinking that maybe I could come
see you for your birthday—it’s coming up, right? Maybe I’ll get you
that Big ’Un I owe you.”

The smile on my face actually hurt it was so
big. “Definitely! That would be great. I can’t wait!”

“
I’ll call you toward the
end of next week to finalize the plans. But I really need to go
now. I’m dead tired.”

“
Okay. Take care of
yourself, Jake. I’ll talk to you later.” I hung up, excitement
bouncing off every internal organ of my body. I couldn’t wait to
see Jake again.

“
Your friend, Jake, I
presume,” Alicia asked, her tone droll.

“
Hmm? Oh, yeah.” Standing,
I shoved my phone in my pocket. Annie was nowhere to be found, and
I really wasn’t in the mood to hang around anymore. I hitched a
thumb over my shoulder. “I think I’m going to head back to my room.
I’ll talk to you guys later.”

“
I’m not in a party mood
either,” Lance said. He jumped up and grinned. “I’ll walk you back
to your dorm.”

“
Okay,” I managed to eek
out without sounding too stupid. I waved in the general direction
of the others and walked next to Lance toward the dorm buildings,
wishing I was as confident as Alicia. But I didn’t dare try to bat
my eyelashes at him—he’d probably think I was some sort of freak.
So, instead, I fought a desperate smile and managed to keep it off
my face—I really didn’t want to look like a total idiot.

“
So, Bella,” Lance began. I
stumbled slightly and bumped into his arm. I was thankful for the
dark to cover the blush that was ravishing my cheeks. When he held
out a hand to steady me, my pulse went wild. “Annie told me you
went to the Controlled Environment concert last
Saturday.”

So much for that, I thought as the party
inside my body died. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like where
this conversation was headed. “Yeah. I didn’t see Krysti, though.”
I had to cut him off at the pass. I was afraid he’d want an
eyewitness account.

“
I’m sorry,” he gushed,
stopping to wave his arms dramatically. “I’m just so mad at her
right now. I mean, all summer she was so in love with me then she
goes to this concert and makes out with some roadie just because he
promised to introduce her to the band. Can you imagine
that?”

I laughed. I knew it would probably anger
him or hurt his feelings, but I couldn’t help it at all. I mean,
how stupid could she be? She had the most amazing boyfriend and she
ruins that by throwing herself at a roadie just for the chance to
meet a rock star? Maybe I should give her a few tips, I thought
wryly.

“
Sorry, Lance,” I said,
bringing my body back under control. “I wasn’t laughing at you, I
swear. I just can’t understand how stupid she can be. If you were
my boyfriend, I wouldn’t risk losing you to meet the Queen of
England, let alone a rock star. I wish I could understand what she
was thinking.”

There went my mouth, and I was helpless to
stop it. I bit my lip and peered up at him. He was looking at me as
though I was a newly discovered species of bacteria. Then suddenly,
his face lit up, and he laughed along with me, the sound beautiful
music to my ears. He threw an arm over my shoulders, and we started
walking again, my heart beating twice for each step.

When we reached the girls’ dorm, he paused
to smile. “Thanks so much, Bella.”

“
Shouldn’t I be thanking
you? You walked me to my dorm, remember?” I thought he might be a
little confused.

“
I mean for cheering me up.
It felt good to laugh.”

The heat returned to my cheeks. “Oh, that.
Sure. No problem.”

Then he leaned over
and
kissed
me!
Okay so it was just a little peck on the cheek but
still!

“
Night, Bella,” he
whispered as he turned and headed for the boys’ dorm. My hand
drifted to my cheek as I watched him walk away, still in a slight
state of shock. Finally, I fished out my key card and shoved it in
the slot with trembling hands. I ran to my room and whipped my cell
phone out of my pocket. I searched for Jake’s number and pressed
send. He didn’t answer but that didn’t deter me in the least. I can
ramble better than most on voice mail.

“
Jake! Oh my goodness!
Guess what…”

Chapter Four

“
Get up, woman!”

Cracking open an eye, I glanced at my alarm
clock. Ugh. 8:43 AM. Who wakes up at 8:43 AM on a Saturday?

“
Come on, Bella,” Camryn
Sullivan wheedled, tugging the pillow from beneath my head. “I just
got here and I need you to help me get organized.”

“
I feel so used,” I
muttered as I attempted to pull my blankets over my head. But
Cammy, having known me for years, yanked them off my body. She was
far too sneaky for her own good. “I’m up, okay? How much coffee
have you had, anyway?”

She shrugged sheepishly, a guilty smile
playing on her lips. I groaned. A hyper Cammy was a force to be
reckoned with, for sure. “Get dressed.”

I stretched, yawning widely, and grabbed
some clothes. As I headed to the bathroom, I snatched Annie’s
pillow and smacked her in the head. “If I have to get up and help
Miss Happy Hyperness, so do you.”

Annie merely flipped over and buried her
head under her blankets. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I sighed and
raised a brow at Cammy. She giggled and pushed me to the shower so
she could work on Annie.

***

“
No, Annie. Alphabetize
them by title, not author,” I insisted. “She doesn’t know who wrote
half of these books and when she looks for one, she’ll look for it
by title.”

Annie snorted very unladylike and dropped an
armful of books on Cammy’s bed. “Why do we even bother? She’ll have
them in a mess before the semester is over.”

“
Hey!” Cammy protested,
flipping her deep brown hair over her shoulder before folding her
arms over her chest. Her brown eyes narrowed at us and I had to
hold in my laughter. Cammy couldn’t look menacing if she tried. “I
will not!”

“
Sure you will,” I said
absently as I picked up the books Annie dropped. I studied the
titles and placed them carefully on the shelf in alphabetical order
– by title, of course. “Where’s your roommate, anyway?”

“
Oh! I didn’t tell you,”
Annie declared. She grinned evilly, the books temporarily
forgotten, and I sensed a long bout of gossip coming. “Danielle’s
not coming back.”

“
That’s what they told me
in the office this morning,” Cammy said. Her neat brow furrowed in
confusion. “I don’t know why, though.”

“
I do,” Annie said in a
singsong voice as she dropped on Danielle’s bed. “I found out last
night.”

She didn’t elaborate so I turned to her, my
hands full of books. “Well, Miss Gossip Queen?”

Her grin widened as she scooted up the bed,
obviously enjoying her moment. Cammy stomped her foot in
impatience. “Tell us!”

“
Okay,” Annie laughed. “I
found out last night that she miraculously recovered from her
serious case of shyness over the summer. She met a few guys, fooled
around and presto! Danielle is headed straight to
motherhood.”

Cammy gasped, her hands covering her mouth.
“No!”

“
Yep,” Annie said as she
tucked her arms under her head. She trained her eyes on me. “I
would have told you last night, Bella, but you left the party
early. Again.”

Shrugging, I turned back to the bookshelf,
hiding my own evil grin. “Yeah, well, I got bored. But I did have
an escort back to the dorm.”

“
Who?” Cammy asked in a
suspicious tone.

“
Just Lance,” I said as
nonchalantly as possible. I was immediately accosted by both of
them, and I spilled the books to the floor. They pounded on my
back, making me stumble, while their excited voices rose and fell
in shrieks.

“
You’re kidding?” Cammy
asked. “What did he say? Did he ask you out?”

“
You should have heard him
talking about her last night,” Annie said. “He was asking me all
kinds of questions when I told him she went to the Controlled
Environment concert.”

“
He was only interested
because Krysti was there,” I said, plummeting from Heaven straight
back to Earth. Disappointment dripped from my voice. “He asked me
about that.”

“
No, I think he likes you,”
Annie said as she began picking up the books in a frenzy. “Let’s
hurry up and finish so we can go to the Student Center. He’s
probably hanging out there.”

She jammed books haphazardly on the shelves
despite my protests until I yanked them out of her hands and began
placing them in proper order. I’m a neat freak, yes, I know. But I
truly believe that everything belongs in a certain place. It makes
life that much easier. “They don’t go there, Annie.”

“
Oh, what does it matter?”
Annie argued. “The quicker we get this done the quicker we can get
out of here.”

My phone, which was sitting on what used to
be Danielle’s desk, rang. I was too busy arguing with Annie to
notice. Cammy wasn’t.

“
Hello?” she whispered
warily.

“
You are such a control
freak, Bella!” Annie declared.

“
Iz? I don’t know an Iz.
Are you sure you have the right number?” Cammy asked.

I dived at Cammy, jerking my phone from her
hand, and gasped. “Jake! Hey! How are you?”

He laughed loudly. “You’re a control freak,
Iz? I never would have guessed.”

“
Shut up,” I mumbled. “What
are you doing up so early?”

“
We just settled into our
hotel and I got your messages. All four of them.”

I jutted my lower lip out in a pout. “Can I
help it if your voice mail cuts off so quickly?”

“
Four messages, Iz?” he
asked, a little dumbfounded. Obviously he wasn’t used to my
rambling yet.

“
I had a lot to tell you,”
I defended.

“
You could have just
said
you had a lot to
tell me. I would have called you back.”

“
Yeah, well, where’s the
fun in that?” I muttered in a petulant tone.

His chuckles made goose bumps break out on
my flesh. “You’re something else, Iz.”

My cheeks heated and I was grateful he
couldn’t see it. “Sure. Don’t forget it, either.” I smiled, happy
to hear his voice. “Where are you, anyway?”

Annie and Cammy sat on the vacant bed and
watched me with curious eyes. Annie still held a couple books in
her hand but I wasn’t quite sure she’d realized it. Cammy’s brows
were crinkled as she concentrated on every word I uttered. I
flashed a weak smile and walked to the window, turning my back on
the both of them.

“
Canada,” Jake
said.

“
Canada?
Seriously?”

“
Yes, Iz,
seriously.”

“
Wow,” I said, awed. “Did
you see any mooses, meeses, whatever?”

He laughed again, and I got entirely too
much joy out of the sound. It was something in which I could
certainly become addicted. “Moose and no, haven’t seen any yet. Of
course I don’t think they’re big fans of ours anyway.” He took a
second to take a deep breath. “So, this guy walked you back to your
dorm, huh?”

I chattered happily, telling him every
little detail as my friends listened intently. Their eyes were
wide, and I knew as soon as I hung up the phone, they’d accost me
again. But I’d worry about that later. When I finished with my
tale, I heard him crack open a beverage can. I didn’t know much
about Jake and I hoped he wasn’t a stereotypical rock star who did
drugs and drank excessively.

“
What are you doing?” I
asked lightly.

“
Just lying on the bed,
drinking a soda. What did you think I was doing?”

I didn’t want to say. “Um, I really don’t
know. What does one do when one is on the road?”

A thump behind my back reminded me I wasn’t
alone. Oops. I smiled weakly over my shoulder, hoping they wouldn’t
understand what my last question meant, and focused on Jake’s
answer.

He chuckled. “Not a whole lot, really. Maybe
I’ll take you with me some day.”

“
I wouldn’t fit in,” I
sighed.

“
Sure you would, angel,” he
said. “Listen to me real quick. I’m going to go take a nap in a
second but I want you to hear me out. Don’t let this guy use you to
make the other chick jealous. You deserve better than that. Do you
got me, Iz?”