Disclaimers: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. I don't own Trent Tomlinson's song, Just Might Have Her Radio On. I don't own Nathan Morris or his song "Somebody Lovin'" but he is fun to watch in concert.
The screen door squeaked in protest of being forced open and slammed loudly behind her as she ran down the wooden porch steps. "Alice! I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said!"
The thunder rumbled overhead as the rain started to fall.
She ignored him as she hit a button on her key ring that unlocked the yellow car and started the engine. She slammed the door shut behind her with such force that he thought it would shatter the glass. The car roared to life as she punched the accelerator and shift gears. The tires squealed and kicked up gravel as she quickly turned the car around, leaving the tire tracks in the soft mud. As soon as the car hit the asphalt, the smell of burnt rubber filled the cool night air.
"Damn it!" he growled as he snatched his cell phone from his back pocket and punched a couple of keys. He held the phone to his ear, listening to the long rings and the mechanical voice answered, "You have reached the automated voice message box of-"
He snapped the phone close and quickly opened it again and punched different keys, ignoring the rain that was coming down harder and plastering his clothes and hair to him. He angrily shoved his drenched hair out of his eyes as his waited for the network to connect.
After one ring, a sleep-laden voice whispered angrily, "What the hell do you want, Whitlock? The baby is finally asleep and so was I."
"Sorry, man, but Alice just took off. We were arguing and I crossed a line. She stormed out of the house and now she won't answer my calls."
"And this is my problem why?"
"She's your baby sister, Emmett! Just call and check on her. I want to make sure she's okay."
Emmett sat up a little straighter in his bed as he heard the sound of defeat in his friend's voice. "Jasper, what happened?"
"It doesn't matter right now. Just call me once you've talked to her."
"Alright, I'll dial her right now."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What do you want, Emmett?" Alice growled into the phone.
"Jasper just called and is upset about what happened. Why won't you answer his calls?"
"Did he tell you what happened?"
"No."
"Then this conversation is over. Just like my relationship with that slow-talking Texan." Click.
"Aw, hell, this ain't good."
"Emmett, what's going on?" his wife yawned, pushing herself up from the bed to look at her husband.
"Alice and Jasper are into it again. Only this time she took off and won't answer his calls. I tried and once I told her that I didn't know what was going on, she hung up on me too."
"Call Jasper and let him know. I'll try to call Alice myself. Be sure he knows that if the baby wakes up because of his midnight phone calls, he owes me a month of babysitting."
"No worries, Rose. If Alice doesn't come back he'll have a lot of free time to baby-sit."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Man, she is mad. And if I know Alice, she's made it to the state line."
"No, no, no!" yelled Jasper as his paced the porch. He had hoped that staying on the porch would set him higher to see the headlights of Alice's car once she had cooled off and decided to drive back home.
"Jasper, what happened?"
"James called."
"Shit. What did that waste of space want?"
"Apparently he offered Alice a job. He had a client that wanted a free-lance photographer for six months. When she told me, I lost it. I know that the pay would be helpful and that this would open doors to new clients, but I don't like that snake. He's given her the shaft on so many other projects and stolen clients from Eternal Memories. And to top it all off, she had already decided to take the job! She was packed and ready to drive to Boston in the morning. I lost it. To put it simply, I blew up. And my stupid temper got me into more trouble when I forbade her to go."
"Jasper Whitlock!! You IDIOT! How could you do that? You know how Alice reacts to any signs of control. She is gone." Emmett stated.
"I know." The small voice on the other end of line admitted. "I just never thought the last thing I would see of her would be the tail lights. What am I going to do?"
"Well she won't answer your calls. She hung up on me, her favorite brother. And I highly doubt that Rose is making any progress."
"Great. Just f-in great!" he yelled in frustration. "Unless."
"Unless what? What are you thinking?"
"Was her radio on?"
"Do what?"
"When you called Alice, did she have her radio on? Whenever she drives, she always has her radio on, especially if she's letting her emotions control the wheel."
"Dude, what good will it do if the radio is on?"
"Because it is open mic night on WCJT and Alice never misses hearing new talent."
"Did you slip and fall down those porch steps? Now is not the time to go off and start drinking!"
"Don't you get it, Emmett; I'll talk to her on the radio. Hopefully this will work. I'll call you later." And the line went dead.
"Rose!"
"What Emmett?"
"Did you get a hold of Alice?"
"No, she won't answer my calls or Bella's. Why?"
"Turn on the radio to WCJT, things are about to get interesting."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"And that was Nathan Morris from Kentucky with his own song, "Somebody Lovin'". This is WCJT and we'll be back to open mic night after these words from our sponsors."
Alice sighed as she rolled her shoulders and pushed her head to the head rest. She was driving through the country roads to the interstate and knew she should look for a motel to pull off at soon. Her fingers were starting to ache from gripping the steering wheel so tightly for the past 70 miles. While she was thankful to have packed the car already, she was starting to wonder if her anger had gotten the best of her.
"And we have our next artist on the line now, would you like to introduce yourself?"
"Yeah, I'm an idiot that let his best friend walk out tonight after a fight. She just took off, and I know that she is going to drive straight to Boston. I'm hoping that the radio is on and she'll at least listen to this song."
Alice gasped as she recognized the slow drawl emitting from her speakers, but it was the strumming of an acoustic guitar that had sat in a corner gathering dust for two years that had her right foot tap on the left pedal.
Just in case she ain't that far from town
Play somethin' that'll turn her car around
An' send it out from a fool who's done her wrong
Hey, she just might have her radio on
Yeah, I pray she has her radio on
Well, I know you get this all the time
Broken hearts lightin' up all the lines
Beggin' you to play that special song
Hey, but she just might have her radio on
Yeah, I pray she has her radio on
I need to make a dedication
Before that late-night signal's faded
Before she drives away too far
An' parks that damned old car
Play her somethin' that'll get her thinkin' 'bout me
Let her know I'm really sorry
Somethin' that reaches out in the dark
Weighs on her mind an' tugs at her heart
Tears up her eyes, turns round the car
"I'm not sure if this is your girl, but my manager just told me that all our lines are lit up right now."
"If she heard the song, she can call me. I promise I'll listen this time, Darlin'. It's like you always said, my head is too thick to listen to reason 'til it's too late. Please don't let it be too late."
Alice grabbed the purple phone from its cradle on the dashboard and pushed the button that would connect her to the artist. "Hi. Before you say anything, I heard the song. It was great; I can't remember the last time you sang."
"Thank you. I have to ask if you are going to come back home."
"As much as I want to turn around and come back, right now I can't. Jasper, we both said a lot of hurtful things tonight. I'm going to Boston to clear my mind. Once this project is finished, I'll decide if I'll come home. I'll always love you, Jasper, but right now, I don't like you."
"I understand. I'll be here, waiting for you when you decide you want to come back. I won't call either while you are gone so you can decide if, when, you are ready. I love you; never forget that."
"Good bye, Jasper."
"Hey, what have I always told you? It's just 'Good night' not 'Good bye'. Good night, Alice."
"Good night, Jasper."