[ C h a p t e r - N i n e ]

Chapter 9

My mother is not cliché; she is not the type of mom that will fold all of your clothes and place them in your dresser after she washed and dried them, and then clean your room. She is the type of mom that will cook dinner and watch movies with us, and even though she may be a bit moody, I love our talks and I love her as a whole. That is why I’m seated on my bed, waiting for her to come in my room.

“Want some hot cocoa?” she asked as she pushed open my door. She had two mugs of hot cocoa in her hands.

I got up and took one out of her hand, bringing it to my lips and sipping it. “Saltines!” I shouted as I retracted the sweltering mug from my lips. “Why didn’t you tell me it was hot?”

“I didn’t think I’d have to; it is called hot chocolate," she snorted as she closed the door. She placed her mug down on my nightstand and smiled at me. “So…tell me about your day.”

So I did. I told her about Jonah and Waverly, and then spent a good twenty minute talking about just Waverly and how evil I think she is. I also found myself talking about Francis and how the two would make a perfect pair, and then I brought up Shaw. I spoke about the twins and how different the girls are.

I tried not to talk about Jonah all that much because I didn’t want to make it seem like I like him, because I don’t. And since my brother decided to feed my mother lies this morning, I have to watch what I say or else I’ll come home from school to see her talking to a wedding planner.

“How’s Jonah?” my mother brought the mug to her lips and sipped the drink, encouraging me to speak.

“He’s cool, I guess. We’re cool; we’re on good terms again,” I shrugged, picking up my mug.

“Holding back, eh?” she laughed. I rolled my eyes at her but shrugged.

“You already think I’m in love with this boy, thanks to Jeremiah,” I glared at my rug. The door swung open, revealing Jeremiah himself. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

“What about me?” he asked, leaning into the door slightly. He gripped the door frame and the doorknob, swaying back and forth slightly.

“We were guessing how many STD’s you have,” I snorted. My mother smacked my arm but laughed. “I guessed three.”

“You’re so wrong; it’s actually nine,” he laughed and my mom gasped.

“Jeremiah!” she exclaimed, her mouth agape but a smile threatened to expose itself.

“Gotta run,” he laughed as he exited my room, leaving the door ajar. I groaned as I stood up to close it.

The familiar ringtone that I haven’t heard in a week sounded throughout my bedroom. My mom’s eyes darted towards my phone. Before I could make any move to grab it, she was already holding it in her hands.

“Mom, give me the phone,” I requested, advancing towards her with an open hand.

My mom handed me back my phone with a smirk. I quickly answered it before it stopped ringing. “Hello?” Jonah replied with a similar but more cheery reply.

“You may be my daughter but you obviously didn’t inherit my ninja like reflexes…or my coolness. You got my looks though," my mom told me.

“Unfortunately,” I smirked. My mom punched my arm lightly while she walked out of the room. “Love you!”

“Love you, too,” I furrowed my eyebrows. I forgot I was on the phone with Jonah. Wait; did he just say what I think he said?

“What?” I asked, closing my door and slumping on my bed.

“You said ‘Love you,’ so I replied with ‘Love you, too,’” Jonah responded. I bit my lip as my face warmed up.

“Makes sense, anyway, why are you calling?” I asked, attempting to not sound rude.

“I just wanted to make sure you got home safely but I didn’t know what time you usually got home. I didn’t want to call you ten minutes after school ended because I didn’t know if you were in the car or not. And if you would have read the text and swerved off the road, I would have felt bad,” Jonah blabbed.

“You would have felt ‘bad’? Not guilty? Not, maybe, I don’t know- like a murderer?” I laughed.

“No, just bad; but did you get home safely?” Jonah asked. I felt myself smile as I rolled my eyes.

“If I didn’t, do you think I’d be on the phone right now?” I asked with a flat look on my face.

“I thought you were going to be a nicer person," Jonah chided.

“Sorry, I just assumed you had common sense, won’t happen again,” I snorted.

“I see you’re back to your old ways,” Jonah laughed. “But its okay, it’s weird when you say things like ‘hello and thank you.’”

“Are you saying that I have bad manners?” I asked as I lay back on my bed.

“I’m not saying you have good manners," he corrected.

“You’re weird, you know that?” I asked him.

“Yeah, I know," he answered.

***

I hung up the phone because I had to go eat dinner. After dinner, I decided to play video games, because thanks to work, school, and being worried about becoming friends with Jonah again, I’ve been slacking.

My phone rang and I automatically picked it up and shoved it against my shoulder, expecting it to be Jonah. He was the only one who called me. “Hello?”

“Hey, Savannah, it’s me, Waverly," I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment. How did she get my number? I glanced at the television screen and noticed that I’d been killed. “Savannah? You there?”

“Yeah, Waverly…how did you get my number?” I asked, sitting up.

“Don’t worry about it. I was wondering if you had plans on Wednesday, after school," she asked me again. Didn’t I tell her that I did? Even though it was a lie, I remember it. Did she expect me not to?

“Yeah,” I answered, pausing my game. I heard her sigh.

“Can you please cancel? You don’t understand how much I want to go to this dance with Jonah. He's, like, the only cute and nice junior guy in our school,” she begged. You don’t understand how much I don’t want you to go to this dance with Jonah.

“I can’t,” I stated, picking at a loose string on my blanket.

“Why not?” she whined. I grit my teeth.

“I can’t,” I stated, my voice more firm.

“Why not?” she asked again.

“Listen, Waverly, do you really believe that Jonah needs to babysit his younger sisters? Maybe he doesn’t want to go with you to the dance,” I snapped, ending the call. I stared at my phone in horror for a few moments. What have I done?

After about five minutes, my phone started to ring. This time, it was Jonah. I decided to answer the phone stating my problem, hopefully side tracking him. “Did you give out my number?”

“What?” he asked. “Did you tell her I didn’t want to go to the dance with her?”

“Answer my question first!” I exclaimed.

“No, I didn’t give out your number. Now answer my question,” he stated.

“Yes, I did," I quickly replied. “But I only said that because she called me begging that I cancel my nonexistent plans to babysit Sierra and Sabrina. I don’t even know how she got my number!” I stated.

“Well, now, I have to go to the dance with her,” he announced. I felt something inside of me sink and I frowned. What did I do?