Fox was reading Steinbeck intently on a bed when the phone rang on the night stand beside him. He put the book down and looked at the phone, wondering whether or not to answer. It rang three times, and he picked up.
"H-Hello?" he asked the receiver, unsure of what to say.
"Eddie? Is that you?" said the voice on the other end of the phone. Female.
"No, this is his friend..." Fox thought a moment. Did he want another person making fun of his name? He decided to give his middle name instead. "...William. Can I, uh, help you?" Fox said. He was sitting up on the bed now, his feet on the floor.
"Can you find him for me, please?" she said.
"Okay, sure." Fox got up and placed the phone on the pillow. He walked out of the room and yelled into the noisy party, "Eddie! Eddie! Phone's for you! Uh, Eddie?"
He finally found Eddie in a rather embarrassing position around another newly-graduated senior girl, Rebecca Lowry. Fox meekly tapped him on the shoulder, and Eddie spun around with a huge red welt forming on his cheek.
"Phone for you, and is that a hickey?" Fox asked him, laughing. Eddie smiled blearily, and told Rebecca to hold up.
Fox followed him back to the room, realizing how drunk Eddie must have gotten in the past hour. Eddie sat down on the bed, picked up the phone, and nearly yelled "Hello".
"Oh, hi, Dana, what's the word on the grapevine? Listen, I gots a party goin' on right now and I gotsta go. Just call me back later. Jesus." He put his hand over the receiver and whispered "total nutcase" to Fox, who was standing. Eddie got up and handed the phone to Fox.
"You talk to her for a li'l bit. You ain't got nothin' better to do, right, man?" Fox was just about to explain to him that yes, he had something better to do, he had Steinbeck to read, he had a party to avoid, he had a million plans. But he took the phone.
"Uhh, hi?" said the voice on the phone. "Who is this?"
"This is William again, uh, Dana."
"Hi, William. So Eddie's not coming back on the line, right?"
"Guess not." Fox pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "Who are you?"
"I'm his friend from out of town. Out of state, actually. We met at a coffee place two years ago down where I live, and we're, like, phone-pen-pals, if that makes sense? Sometimes he visits me; his grandparents live down here. Well, who are you, then?"
"I'm his friend from school. We graduated today, actually." Fox played with his maroon tassel, eventually sticking the end of it into his mouth and chewing on it. He was bored enough to talk to this girl.
"Damn you, I still have another year left of hell school. And I still have four more days of school left this year. You're lucky. What do you look like?" she asked with interest, talking at an incredible rate.
Fox didn't know how to field this one. Tall, gangly guy with glasses and a longish-shortish shock of dark brown hair? Sounded like a geek. Hell, he was a geek, so what the hell? He told her.
"Cute," she remarked. There was a pause as she waited for the obligatory response.
"What about you?" Fox asked as he leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He could hear the party outside of the door.
"I'm really rather short, kinda petite, long red hair." He could almost hear her grinning. "You know, Eddie says I look like a TV star."
"Really? I've never met anybody with red hair, really. Just that kid Donny Fletcher from seventh grade, but you wouldn't know him..."
"No, not really. What do you do for fun?" Fox could hear her cracking a new piece of gum. Sounded like a normal, inexperienced adolescent.
"I read."
"What do you read?"
"Stuff. I dunno."
"Fascinating. I'm really into the whole punk scene, I like listening to the New York Dolls, even though they disbanded last year, and I like the Sex Pistols, even though they broke up earlier this year..."
"Uh. Cool." Fox was looking through Eddie's record collection. Eddie was a big punk fanatic; Fox came across a interesting album. It was by a band called the Dictators called The Dictators Go Girl Crazy. Fox put it on Eddie's player and noticed something as he slid it out. There was writing on the back.
To Eddie the finest in Beddie -
From your girl with the flaming red hair and lips.
XOXO Dana
Fox laughed to himself as he listened to Dana list off more bands that she liked. When the music got started, she paused.
"What is that?" Her gum cracked again.
"Haven't you ever heard of the Dictators?"
"Oh my god! You like them too? They used to be my total favorite when I was in ninth grade..." she went on to start another ramble.
"And since when is Eddie the finest in Beddie?" asked Fox. The line went silent for a moment, but he could hear her breathing evenly. "How can you say that without ever having met me?"
Silence. Suddenly, "You asshole! What's the big idea? How dare you read another person's stuff and stuff..." Fox was laughing his ass off. The chick was all right.
Eventually, she was laughing, too. When the two finished, they sighed and were quiet for a moment. Fox stared up at the ceiling while the music played rather softly, but violently, on the player. The party still sounded outside, but he muted it out.
"So...you're Eddie's girlfriend?" asked Fox.
"Only when he's around. He's a cutie, but I know he has other girls..." Fox thought of Rebecca Lowry. "...but I don't really care. I don't have a boyfriend."
"So you really slept with him?"
"No, that was just a joke." She laughed after a pause. "Seriously, you've got to believe me, I'm not some whore or anything. I'm actually still a virgin. How about you?"
Fox thought about this. "Uhh..." Dare he tell the truth to such a girl, a girl he was never going to meet? Of course not. "I've scored a...few times...I guess..."
"Really? So you have a girlfriend?"
"Well, not right now, no. In between." Fox had never had a girlfriend. Not once in his life, unless you could May Dickson, the blonde beauty from second grade, who had held his hand for two weeks, and had pecked him on the ear.
"How old were you?"
"I turn 19 in October."
"No, how old were you?"
"How old was I when?"
"When you lost it, silly."
"Uhhhhhhhh..." Fox pondered for a moment. He tried to think when Eddie said he'd lost it. "I was fourteen, I think."
"Jesus. I'm not doing it until I meet Mister Right. Or until Eddie comes over when my parents are gone for the weekend, haha. But, no, I still don't think I'd do it. Is it scary?"
"It wasn't, not in my, um, experience." Fox looked at Eddie's posters in his room, as well as the various magazine cutouts of Farah Fawcett. The room smelled like a teenage guy's, definitely.
"Oh my god. How long have we been talking?" she asked.
"I dunno. Twenty minutes?"
"Could we hang up, and then could you call me? This is eating up the phone bill, and my parents hate paying long-distance."
"Uhh, sure. What's your number?" Fox asked. She gave it to him, and they both hung up.
For a minute after hanging up, Fox stared at the telephone as though it was a cobra getting ready to spring. He picked up the phone again, running his hands over the warm, moist mouthpiece, damp from all the talking. He began to dial, and he simultaneously began to panic. He had quite suddenly suffered from a severe case of amnesia and couldn't remember her name. He finished dialing and panicked briefly. What if her parents answered and asked who he was looking for? What if she had given him the wrong number? What if he misdialed?
No reason to worry, she picked up after the first ring. "Hello? William?"
"Oh, hi. I, uh, what's your name again?" Fox fiddled with the phone cord.
"It's Dana."
"Sorry...I'm just tired."
"Why are you at Eddie's house?"
"Graduation party."
"Oh yeah," she said, "I called him to congratulate him. You goin' to college?"
Fox smiled, "Yeah, actually. I just got accepted into a fair university...plan to get my undergraduate and then move on to a bigger campus..." He stopped. This was too boring.
"Well. Um. What are your plans for after school?" he asked as he tugged on his lower lip with his fingers.
"I don't know." Pause. "I don't really want to talk about that. Let's talk about something else."
"H-Hello?" he asked the receiver, unsure of what to say.
"Eddie? Is that you?" said the voice on the other end of the phone. Female.
"No, this is his friend..." Fox thought a moment. Did he want another person making fun of his name? He decided to give his middle name instead. "...William. Can I, uh, help you?" Fox said. He was sitting up on the bed now, his feet on the floor.
"Can you find him for me, please?" she said.
"Okay, sure." Fox got up and placed the phone on the pillow. He walked out of the room and yelled into the noisy party, "Eddie! Eddie! Phone's for you! Uh, Eddie?"
He finally found Eddie in a rather embarrassing position around another newly-graduated senior girl, Rebecca Lowry. Fox meekly tapped him on the shoulder, and Eddie spun around with a huge red welt forming on his cheek.
"Phone for you, and is that a hickey?" Fox asked him, laughing. Eddie smiled blearily, and told Rebecca to hold up.
Fox followed him back to the room, realizing how drunk Eddie must have gotten in the past hour. Eddie sat down on the bed, picked up the phone, and nearly yelled "Hello".
"Oh, hi, Dana, what's the word on the grapevine? Listen, I gots a party goin' on right now and I gotsta go. Just call me back later. Jesus." He put his hand over the receiver and whispered "total nutcase" to Fox, who was standing. Eddie got up and handed the phone to Fox.
"You talk to her for a li'l bit. You ain't got nothin' better to do, right, man?" Fox was just about to explain to him that yes, he had something better to do, he had Steinbeck to read, he had a party to avoid, he had a million plans. But he took the phone.
"Uhh, hi?" said the voice on the phone. "Who is this?"
"This is William again, uh, Dana."
"Hi, William. So Eddie's not coming back on the line, right?"
"Guess not." Fox pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "Who are you?"
"I'm his friend from out of town. Out of state, actually. We met at a coffee place two years ago down where I live, and we're, like, phone-pen-pals, if that makes sense? Sometimes he visits me; his grandparents live down here. Well, who are you, then?"
"I'm his friend from school. We graduated today, actually." Fox played with his maroon tassel, eventually sticking the end of it into his mouth and chewing on it. He was bored enough to talk to this girl.
"Damn you, I still have another year left of hell school. And I still have four more days of school left this year. You're lucky. What do you look like?" she asked with interest, talking at an incredible rate.
Fox didn't know how to field this one. Tall, gangly guy with glasses and a longish-shortish shock of dark brown hair? Sounded like a geek. Hell, he was a geek, so what the hell? He told her.
"Cute," she remarked. There was a pause as she waited for the obligatory response.
"What about you?" Fox asked as he leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He could hear the party outside of the door.
"I'm really rather short, kinda petite, long red hair." He could almost hear her grinning. "You know, Eddie says I look like a TV star."
"Really? I've never met anybody with red hair, really. Just that kid Donny Fletcher from seventh grade, but you wouldn't know him..."
"No, not really. What do you do for fun?" Fox could hear her cracking a new piece of gum. Sounded like a normal, inexperienced adolescent.
"I read."
"What do you read?"
"Stuff. I dunno."
"Fascinating. I'm really into the whole punk scene, I like listening to the New York Dolls, even though they disbanded last year, and I like the Sex Pistols, even though they broke up earlier this year..."
"Uh. Cool." Fox was looking through Eddie's record collection. Eddie was a big punk fanatic; Fox came across a interesting album. It was by a band called the Dictators called The Dictators Go Girl Crazy. Fox put it on Eddie's player and noticed something as he slid it out. There was writing on the back.
To Eddie the finest in Beddie -
From your girl with the flaming red hair and lips.
XOXO Dana
Fox laughed to himself as he listened to Dana list off more bands that she liked. When the music got started, she paused.
"What is that?" Her gum cracked again.
"Haven't you ever heard of the Dictators?"
"Oh my god! You like them too? They used to be my total favorite when I was in ninth grade..." she went on to start another ramble.
"And since when is Eddie the finest in Beddie?" asked Fox. The line went silent for a moment, but he could hear her breathing evenly. "How can you say that without ever having met me?"
Silence. Suddenly, "You asshole! What's the big idea? How dare you read another person's stuff and stuff..." Fox was laughing his ass off. The chick was all right.
Eventually, she was laughing, too. When the two finished, they sighed and were quiet for a moment. Fox stared up at the ceiling while the music played rather softly, but violently, on the player. The party still sounded outside, but he muted it out.
"So...you're Eddie's girlfriend?" asked Fox.
"Only when he's around. He's a cutie, but I know he has other girls..." Fox thought of Rebecca Lowry. "...but I don't really care. I don't have a boyfriend."
"So you really slept with him?"
"No, that was just a joke." She laughed after a pause. "Seriously, you've got to believe me, I'm not some whore or anything. I'm actually still a virgin. How about you?"
Fox thought about this. "Uhh..." Dare he tell the truth to such a girl, a girl he was never going to meet? Of course not. "I've scored a...few times...I guess..."
"Really? So you have a girlfriend?"
"Well, not right now, no. In between." Fox had never had a girlfriend. Not once in his life, unless you could May Dickson, the blonde beauty from second grade, who had held his hand for two weeks, and had pecked him on the ear.
"How old were you?"
"I turn 19 in October."
"No, how old were you?"
"How old was I when?"
"When you lost it, silly."
"Uhhhhhhhh..." Fox pondered for a moment. He tried to think when Eddie said he'd lost it. "I was fourteen, I think."
"Jesus. I'm not doing it until I meet Mister Right. Or until Eddie comes over when my parents are gone for the weekend, haha. But, no, I still don't think I'd do it. Is it scary?"
"It wasn't, not in my, um, experience." Fox looked at Eddie's posters in his room, as well as the various magazine cutouts of Farah Fawcett. The room smelled like a teenage guy's, definitely.
"Oh my god. How long have we been talking?" she asked.
"I dunno. Twenty minutes?"
"Could we hang up, and then could you call me? This is eating up the phone bill, and my parents hate paying long-distance."
"Uhh, sure. What's your number?" Fox asked. She gave it to him, and they both hung up.
For a minute after hanging up, Fox stared at the telephone as though it was a cobra getting ready to spring. He picked up the phone again, running his hands over the warm, moist mouthpiece, damp from all the talking. He began to dial, and he simultaneously began to panic. He had quite suddenly suffered from a severe case of amnesia and couldn't remember her name. He finished dialing and panicked briefly. What if her parents answered and asked who he was looking for? What if she had given him the wrong number? What if he misdialed?
No reason to worry, she picked up after the first ring. "Hello? William?"
"Oh, hi. I, uh, what's your name again?" Fox fiddled with the phone cord.
"It's Dana."
"Sorry...I'm just tired."
"Why are you at Eddie's house?"
"Graduation party."
"Oh yeah," she said, "I called him to congratulate him. You goin' to college?"
Fox smiled, "Yeah, actually. I just got accepted into a fair university...plan to get my undergraduate and then move on to a bigger campus..." He stopped. This was too boring.
"Well. Um. What are your plans for after school?" he asked as he tugged on his lower lip with his fingers.
"I don't know." Pause. "I don't really want to talk about that. Let's talk about something else."