Cobalt Blue Summer

Chapter 7

Disgusted with myself, I slammed the TV remote onto the sofa and stood to pace the minute floor space in the RV. “I’m officially that girl,” I yelled to the empty room doing my best to ignore the pain from my ankle. I had spent the entire day waiting by the phone for a guy to call, not just any guy, granted, quite possibly the sexiest guy on the planet. But still, I refused to be that girl. Pathetic. It was obvious by now that he was not going to call. How many times had I chastised my friends back in Fort Collins for pulling similar stunts? Of course, they, at least, had cell phones, so their obsessions were portable. I had to be in Podunkville with no regular cell service and tied to the one satellite phone that Gran kept in the camper.

Today, Gran had offered to give me a ride to wherever I wanted, but I’d insisted my ankle needed another day of rest and elevation. After she left, I had taken a shower and dressed, so I would be ready in case Caleb called and asked me to go out at the last minute. Based on our conversation on the way back last night, I had the impression that he was pretty interested. I really thought I would hear from him today. “Well, I certainly won’t waste another day like this,” I said aloud to myself. The new crazy voice in my head insisted that he still might call tonight. Ughh! How had this happened?

The following day, I stayed busy at the snack bar in the morning and the staff rec room in the afternoon. On warm sunny days like this one, the rec room was barely used, but Brittany strolled in, computer in hand. “Hey, Jessie. I didn’t expect to see you. I was afraid I’d be the only one here,” she said as she sat down next to me. “So, what’s up? Are you ok? I hear you had a little accident.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just twisted my ankle. No big deal. What’s up with you?”

“Nothin’ much. Workin’ most of the time. They like to keep you busy here. So, have you heard from Austin?”

“No. You?”

“He called the office yesterday to let me know he’d be back on Thursday evening so, you know, before the dance this weekend.”

“Good. I didn’t know.”

“Uhm, I’ve wanted to ask you about the dance and me going with Austin. You’re ok with that, right?”

“Yeah, totally, absolutely. We’re completely just friends.”

“That’s what he said, too, but I wanted to make sure. Guys can be kinda’ dumb about stuff like that.”

“Yes, they can,” I agreed laughing, “but, no, we’re good.”

“Good,” she smiled. “Are you going?”

Oh, crap. I had completely forgotten about Justin. Maybe he forgot, too, if I was lucky. “I’m not sure,” I answered.

“You should go. There’s gonna be a live band. Everyone says it should be a lot of fun, and it’s really laid back. A bunch of people are going without dates.”

“Maybe,” I said vaguely. We chatted off and on as we tapped away on our computers. I liked Brittany, actually, more than I had expected to. She wasn’t at all the shallow, blonde Barbie doll that I had first judged her to be. She had kind of a wicked, off-center sense of humor that I thought would be a good match for Austin.

#

I was sound asleep Tuesday morning after Gran left to work the early shift when the phone rang. I fumbled around bleary eyed knocking over an empty cup and a pen holder trying to find the phone on the sofa side table.

I mumbled a groggy, “Hello,” and plopped my head back onto my pillow.

“Jessie?” asked the deep, masculine voice.