Half an hour later, I sat on my bed holding the phone in my hand. I had the piece of paper Mason had written his phone number on in my other hand. Truth be told, I had been sitting there holding the thing for almost ten minutes. I knew I had to make the call, I just didn’t know what I would say. Like, how would this conversation sound? Oh, hi. Remember me? I wondered if my ghost boyfriend could borrow your body, you know, forever?
Frustrated, I threw the phone across the bed. Maybe, it would be better if I wrote a script first. I grabbed my backpack from the floor and fished out my notebook. I flipped through it until I got to a blank page. Now, I needed a pen. I got up and retrieved one from my desk drawer. Armed with the pen, I returned to my bed and the notebook. And that’s when I saw it.
You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Juice had been scrawled across one of the pages. I twisted around to see if somehow Shane had learned a new trick called Walking Through Solid Walls, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I wrote underneath: What makes you think I don’t want to do this? Then I moved the notebook around.
I tried not to stare but a few seconds later I watched these words form letter by letter: I just don’t want to force you into anything.
I sighed.
“Shane? I don’t know if you can hear me, but I am NOT having a conversation with you in this notebook. It’s weird and even though I know it’s you, it is totally creeping me out.” I waited a couple of minutes for an answer and started to close my notebook when the scrawl began to appear again.
Okay. I guess it is kind of creepy. Meet me outside your house. I’ll be by the street light.
That seemed a little bit more like it. Finally, he’d show himself again. I closed the notebook and stuffed it back in my backpack. I took a quick peek at my hair and deemed it passable. I couldn’t do much with two inch long ponytails anyway. I started to walk out of my bedroom when the phone rang and I jumped. Who could be calling me now? I checked the Caller ID and didn’t recognize the number. I considered not answering, and looked longingly out the window where Shane might already be waiting for me out there, somewhere. Finally, though, my curiosity got the better of me.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Is this Juice? I mean, Lucy?
“Yes. This is she. Who’s calling, please?”
“Oh, hi Juice. It’s Mason. From the concert?”
No way! He actually called! For a second my heart soared and my stomach leapt somewhere into my throat.
“Juice? Are you there?”
“Yes! I’m here. Hi!” I tried hard not to sound like a chipmunk. Totally failed, I’m sure.
“How are you?”
“I’m good. How about you?”
“I’m great. Did I catch you at a bad time? You sound kind of rushed.”
Wow. He was good. I needed to calm my voice. “Well, I just was about to leave actually.”
“Oh, okay. So, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to say I had a good time the other night. I wish I could have stayed longer.”
“Me too.” I wish you didn’t meet me after I fell on my butt. SO not my best side.
“Great. So, I called to see if you wanted to maybe do something with me.”
“Oh, yeah?” You still want to after you’ve seen me flopping around in urine?
“Yeah. A friend of mine is having a party this weekend and I wanted to invite you. You know, you and your friends.”
“Wow, Mason. You sure you want to invite all my crazy friends? You’ve actually met them, right?” I laid back on my bed and brought my knees up to my chest. A party could be fun with my friends around me.
Mason laughed. “Yes, I remember them all and I still want them to come, too. I think they’ll have a great time.”
I laughed with him. “Oh, trust me. Sixx and Creepshow and Jett have no problem having a great time wherever they go. No problem there.”
I began to look forward to the idea of this party. And I had forgotten how much I liked Mason until I heard him again. His voice over the phone was so warm and genuine. It reminded me of how sweet and cute and sexy he had been at the concert. And how he had become my Prince Charming when he rescued me. Where had Shane been when I needed him then? Why wasn’t he there?
“Then it’s settled. Can I pick you up or do you want to meet me there?”
I thought of The Gator and decided I felt more comfortable arriving with my posse. I figured if everything went well, Mason could always drive me home.
“Why don’t I meet you there?”
Mason had no problem with that arrangement and he gave me the address and time and directions for the party.
“Hey, Juice?” Mason’s voice had turned husky.
“Yeah?”
“I can’t wait to see you.”
My stomach did another series of flip-flops. “Okay, then. See you Saturday, Mason.”
“See you, Juice.”
After we hung up, I sat there holding the phone. What kind of alternate universe was I living in where not one, but two guys were not only talking to me, but were actually interested in me? Okay, maybe one of them technically qualified as dead, but he still dug me nonetheless. All of a sudden, I remembered one of them happened to actually be outside waiting for me right that minute. I scrambled to my feet and dashed outside my front door.
I ran out to the curb and over to the street lamp. Shane was nowhere in sight. Stupid! I felt like I kept letting him down. I tried to remember how long I had been on the phone with Mason. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, could it? Had it been more like fifteen? Twenty? Jeez, I was becoming as self-centered as one of those anorexic cheerios Sixx and I loathed from school.
Dejected, I sat on the curb next to the lamp and tried to get my head together. If I went to this party, I needed to keep my eye on the prize. And the prize would be a host body for Shane, right? I brightened up at the thought that a party full of Mason’s friends would be a great place to find one. I sat on the curb for another few minutes just to see if Shane would show up, but he didn’t. I was getting up when I first heard, then saw The Gator come rattling around the corner of my street.
I stood and waved and watched while Creepshow maneuvered the van into my driveway. The side door swung open almost before he had finished parking and Sixx jumped out.
“Hey, Juice. What’s shaking, bacon?” Sixx was dressed in one of her wild outfits as usual. Today she had her dark hair piled on top of her head ala Bride of Frankenstein and she wore a skintight pink silk dress and black tights. I thought she looked fabulous.
“Hey, yourself. I love your dress. Why are you so glammed up?”
“Got tired of wearing sneakers.”
“Well, you look great.”
“Thanks. Why are you sitting out here on your curb? You look like someone shot your dog.”
“Yeah, Juice. I hate seeing you look so sad.” Creepshow came and sat down on the other side of me and I felt Jett come up behind me, playfully tugging on my ponytails.
“I’m not sad. I was just supposed to meet Shane out here and I got a phone call that delayed me coming outside. By the time I got out here, he had already left. I just feel like I keep letting him down.”
“I thought you were coming back to meet us, but Shane said he would meet you here. Said he wanted to talk to you alone. Didn’t he?” Jett walked around to the street and stood in front of me.
“In a way, I guess.”
Jett looked confused, so I explained to them all about the back-and-forth in my notebook and how we agreed to meet outside. I told them how Mason called while I held the phone about to call him and about how we were invited to his friend’s party on Saturday.
“A party. All right!” Sure sounded like Creepshow would be down with the party. “Been a while since we’ve gone to a good party.”
“Not sure we’re going to this one yet, Creep.” Jett glanced at me. “Juice? We going to this one?”
“Well, it would be a great place to canvass for a body for Shane.” I answered, chewing on my nails. “Wouldn’t it?”
“Oh yeah, that’s why we’d be going. For Shane. Tell me another one, Juice. You know it’s all about this new guy, Mason.” Sixx never did let me off the hook.
“So, what if it is? You know the last time a guy showed any interest in me at all? It was, oh, let me think. That’s right, it was never, Sixx. NEVER. And Mason said he likes me. So, what if going to this party is about seeing him? Is that a bad thing? Is it?”
Surprisingly, it was Creepshow who came to my defense. “No way, Juice. It’s not a bad thing. Any guy is lucky you even talk to him. If you want to go to this party, then we’re going. I’m just happy you want us to go with you.”
I looked over at Creep and he immediately glanced down, a blush staining his face. The color made his brown eyes sparkle. Funny, I never noticed how velvety brown his eyes were before. And how dark his skin got from being in the sun. It made his arms look so muscular and cut. Why hadn’t I ever noticed that before?
“Wow, Creep. Thanks.”
“You got it. Anything. You got it.” I looked up at Jett to see if he could shed light on this new attitude, but he just smirked knowingly. I tried Sixx next, but she only nodded sagely. Did I miss something here? Suddenly, Creep jumped up and announced he had to get going.
“Yeah, me too.” Jett ambled over to the passenger side of The Gator and climbed in.
“Okay. See you guys at school tomorrow. You going too, Sixx?”
“Yeah. Might as well. Got some things I want to do. I’ll call you later. I need to talk to you anyway.” She climbed into the side of The Gator and shut the door.
“’Kay. Bye guys.” I waved as they drove away. As I walked back inside my house, I wondered about Creep’s words. They were pretty out of character for him. He’d never been so outspoken before. And was he getting taller?