Phone Calls

 Connie ran up to her back door, almost slamming right into the glass. Without thinking, she threw the door open and tossed her stuff to the floor. Connie bounced up the stairs to her room. In a sing-songy voice, she called, “Oh, Mother. I’m home.” Laughing to herself she checked the time. Only 20 minutes? Crap. She slipped her phone from her pocket and dialed her best friend. 

“Oh my god, Connie. Where are you? You’re gonna miss it.”

“Relax. I’m on my way. Just having outfit issues.”

“You’re wearing your uniform, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s because I don’t have time to change.”

“Okay, dude. At least put a hoodie or something on. Don’t you want to look cute for our double date?”

Connie laughed. “Something like that.” She shook her head in the mirror and told Margaret that she would call her later. She pulled a sweatshirt out of her closet and raced down the stairs. She slipped her shoes on, grabbed a 20 from her purse. She began walking out her back door when she heard her ringtone from upstairs. Rolling her eyes, she darted back up. 

“What do you need, Jason?” There was silence on the other line. “Jase?” A quiet conversation was barely audible. Connie put her phone on speaker and turned her volume all the way up. 

“I don’t think we should-”

“You have to tell her at some point.”

“Yeah, but can’t it wait? I don’t want to mess things up…”

“You don’t want to mess things up? Jason, you’ve already royally screwed things up. The least she deserves is the truth.”

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts. You tell her when she gets here, or I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Fine. But if you do anything to her…” Jason trailed off. 

“You know for a fact that I’m not the one you should be worried about. We both know what you plan to do to her. With Shelia’s-”

Another voice in the background cut her off. Jason replied with a shout that practically blew Connie’s eardrums out. She heard scuffling through the speaker and realized Jason was pulling out his phone. She quickly slammed the end button and pressed her phone to her chest. 

“What are you doing, Jase?” she muttered.