The Safe Place (Bridge To Terabithia) || ✓

Ch. 14 - The concert

Leslie flopped on her bed as soon as she finished taking a shower, exhausted from all the scrubbing she had done to clean the toilet stalls. Kneeling and bending down wasn't exactly a comfortable position to be in for two hours. She buried her face in her soft pillow and then hugged another pillow to herself. At times like this,  she was grateful that her bed was so comfortable and fluffy.

She sighed and lifted her head, looking over to her side. She gazed out to the window where her best friend's house was and wondered if he was in bed as well before getting out of her bed and walking over to her bookshelf, taking a book and sitting down on the floor, reading to where she last left off.

"Hey, Leslie," she could hear dad calling from the stairs. After a few seconds, Bill appeared at her door, with PT yapping at him.

"Hi, dad." She said happily and put her book down. "What's up?"

"Your mom and I will be out until tomorrow morning," Leslie noticed that there was a bag behind him and he already had the keys to the car.

     "Where are you going?" She asked curiously.

     "Rick invited us to watch a concert at New York tonight." Bill replied.

     "Rick?" She asked as she sat at the edge of her bed.

     "Yeah, the author of Percy Jackson, remember?"

     "Oh!" She said and then laughed at herself for not realizing that Bill was referring to the man whom she had spent time with on set for more than a month, and also a personal close friend of her dad.

     "I was wondering if you'd like to come–" Leslie was about to decline as she was too tired, "–you and Jess, since Rick's going to discuss about the movie over dinner tonight. You two might as just hear about it."

Jess had been watching Tom & Jerry with the little girls when the phone rang and Brenda picked it up. Over the past couple of months, Brenda had gotten herself a boyfriend and was hoping that it was him who was calling. Of course, when she realized that it was her brother's friend instead, she grunted and frowned, tossing it over to Jess without a care before returning back to her room.

"Leslie? Hey, what're you calling for?"

"Dad told me to invite you over for dinner. They're meeting Rick Riordan in New York and they want us both to come along. Can you ask your mom and dad if you can come with?" His best friend asked happily.

Jess glanced at Joyce Ann who was drooling while watching and then to Joyce Ann who was playing with her one-armed Barbie doll. "I don't know..." he sounded reluctant and had a tone that Leslie knew meant 'please save me'.

"Oh come on! I don't wanna be all alone. We'll be watching a concert. You know how long and sort of boring those things are." She whined.

     Well, at least that's better than watching over the girls.

     He stayed quiet and thought about it for a while, debating as to whether to accept or decline her invitation.

     "Aren't you suppose to wear some fancy clothes when you go to those kind of concerts!" Jess asked, embarrassed to now come as he remembered that he didn't own any.