As the front door was slammed shut, Angela heard the noise from her room. Ever since Andrew had left that morning, she wondered what would happen to him. She worried about her brother getting expelled and being sent off to a farther away public school. He had been gone for over an hour now, and she could not stand being in the dark about something so severe.
Angela rushed downstairs and found her brother just standing there. The look of sadness on his face was alarming, and he appeared to be nervous.
“Where’s Billy?” Angela asked timidly.
“He’s going off to see his girlfriend.”
Angela crinkled her brow in confusion. “Girlfriend? I didn’t know he was dating someone.”
“Yeah,” Andrew said scratching his head wearily, “I just found out recently too.”
Both siblings stood across from each other, but stared away as if searching for what to say next. The awkward silence lasted for too long and finally Angela could not take it anymore. “So, what happened? Do you want to tell me, or what?”
Her attitude caught Andrew a little off guard, but he seemed too weak to fight off the question. “I talked with the principal, and I told him the truth. But, I won’t know the outcome until Monday morning.”
“So, you admitted to it?” she said not bothering to hide her disbelief and disgust. “I mean, you really did vandalize their school?”
“You really think I’m guilty?” Andrew fired back. “You hear that your brother did something bad, but instead of immediately coming to my defense, you believe that I’m guilty?”
“Andrew,” she replied with her hands on her hips, “You have been acting really odd lately you know.”
He appeared frustrated and said, “The guys were flipping out last night because I refused to blackmail Uncle Billy to get them free stuff. Then, they brought me along to the school, and they started tagging it. Darren really pressured me to join in, and I was afraid that if I didn’t go along with it, then it would be the last straw. I didn’t want to lose my only friends.”
“Well, that’s a big mess you got yourself into. And, what do you mean blackmail?” Angela asked as she tried to sort everything out. “What are you talking about?”
Andrew had admitted it out of anger, and although part of him wanted to keep the whole thing a secret, his pain inside was too much.
“Aren’t you curious where Uncle Billy got the money for the new television, sound bar, and the sofa?” Andrew said. “When I told my friends about it, they agreed with me that it doesn’t make any sense. So, they wanted me to… take advantage of the situation… to ask for a new TV for myself. Well, I confronted our uncle, and he gave in. I got the TV. But, my friends wanted things too. They wanted me to blackmail him.”
“I don’t get it,” Angela said, shaking her head.
“Uncle Billy doesn’t even seem to work anymore,” Andrew said, “but somehow he can buy all these new things and even take out his girlfriend too. I think she’s the reason he’s always out at fancy restaurants.”
“I’m not sure about what our uncle has been up to,” Angela said slowly, “but that’s no excuse to vandalize a school.”
Andrew raised his hands and shouted, “I didn’t do it, okay. And I’m done talking about it too.”
As Andrew stormed off to his room, Angela was left standing there.
I can’t believe how much you’ve changed, she thought. She felt saddened at how large the gulf between them had grown.
After giving her brother a generous head start, she then went upstairs to go to her room. Her brother’s door was shut, as she hoped it would be which made it easy to sneak into her room and close the door.
Angela spent most of the day doing her homework and avoiding Andrew. Still, she reflected on how sad Andrew looked, and the pain she had seen in his eyes. As hours passed, she finished all her school work and just relaxed in her room.
In the evening, the phone downstairs began to ring.
Angela wondered if anyone would answer it. She was then curious if the phone would ring more than three times.
I don’t think it’s ever rung more than twice, she thought.
And the third ring never came. She then heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hallway towards her.
Knock, knock. She jumped as she heard the rapping at her door.
“Um,” Angela said, “yes?”
“Hey,” Uncle Billy muttered, “it’s for you.”
Angela crossed the room, opened the door and saw her uncle holding out the cordless phone. As she took the phone, she raised a brow.
I didn’t know you ever came home, she thought. Huh. Well, I wonder who is calling.
“Don’t tie-up the line,” her uncle said. “Be quick.”
He disappeared down the hallway and she closed the door behind her. As she lifted the receiver to her ear, she said, “Hello?”
“Hey, Angela,” a guy replied, “it’s me, Carson.”
Angela immediately blushed and smiled. “Well, hi. I… didn’t know you had my number.”
His gentle laughter calmed her nerves, though her heart was still racing. “Your friend Jessica gave it to me.”
Angela rolled her eyes. I can’t believe it. She could have warned me that he would call.
“So,” he continued, “how are you?”
“I’m doing well,” she answered, “How are you?”
“Even better now that I’m talking with you.”
Corny or sweet? Angela debated. How should I respond to that?
“You’re sweet,” she decided. “So, what have you been up to?”
“Well,” Carson said, “A few relatives came over last night. Some aunts and uncles from my mom’s side of the family. We played games and talked all night.”
“I bet that was fun,” she said with a hint of remorse in her voice. Angela used to have so much fun playing games and talking with Andrew. So much had changed since her parents’ death.
“We had a great time,” he replied suavely. “One of them said they had two tickets to a concert tonight.”
“Oh, yeah?” Angela said, fearing yet hoping where the conversation was headed.
“Yes and actually, they’re not going to stay for it. They’re going to be taking off early tonight to head back home, so they’ll miss the concert anyways. They offered me both tickets.”
“And you took them?” Angela asked as her heart began to beat faster.
“Of course,” Carson said. “They’re practically front row seats. I mean, it’s just a local band playing, but it should be fun.”
“I’m sure it would be,” she said hopefully.
After a few moments had passed, Carson chuckled. “Angela, would you like to go to the concert with me?”
Angela felt a mixture of happiness and nervousness, and hesitated to answer. She then said, “Carson, I… yes, I would.”
“Alright,” he said sounding pleased, “I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock.”
Angela couldn’t stop smiling. “See you then.”
In unison, they both said, “Bye.”
As she lowered the phone, she thought, Is this a date? Maybe I should have asked him. Maybe—
She screamed inside as she tried to get the excitement and fear out of her system. As Angela headed down to the living room, she found her uncle in the kitchen.
“That sure took a while,” Uncle Billy said dryly. He sat at the table staring at some bills. “So, who was he?”
Angela thought for a moment, and then replied, “Just a guy from school. We’re going to… hang out tonight.”
“Okay,” he said dismissively, “but that doesn’t mean you can talk on my phone all day.”
“What?” she said. You don’t care that I’m going out somewhere with a boy, but you care that I’m on the phone?
“I pay for that,” he continued. “Besides, I’m your guardian. I should be concerned about what you’re doing.”
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Yeah, she thought, some guardian. You really don’t care that I’m going out with a boy? Why are you so protective of the phone, but not of me?
Angela handed him the phone and dropped the subject. She quickly headed upstairs to her room to get ready for the concert. She browsed through her closet and tried to decide what to wear.
I can’t believe it, she thought, my first date.
21