Chapter Three:
Lara's eyes tried to force themselves to stay shut as the high pitched ring of the telephone woke her from her morning slumber. God, this is the first day of Winter break and I'm supposed to be sleeping IN. She shook her head and reached over onto her nightstand, picking up the telephone and taking a deep breath.
`` Hello? `` she said exhaustedly.
`` Lara. It's Jake. Did I wake you up or something? `` he spoke with mild concern.
`` As a matter of fact, yes. `` she shut her eyes and prayed that the conversation wouldn't last much longer. If it did, she'd have quite a hard time falling asleep again.
`` It's 12:00pm. `` he said matter-of-factly.
`` It is? `` she asked, looking at her clock. Sure eneough he'd been right. `` Oh, I guess you're right. `` she said, sitting up in her bed. `` ...and you're calling me, why? `` Lara was always cranky when she didn't get her beauty sleep. In fact, she'd done the calculations and figured that she needed at least twelve hours of sleep every night in order to remain awake for the entire school day. Needless to say, this wasn't working out very well. She'd been looking forward to having these days off. She figured she'd be able to catch up on the extra hours she'd missed.
`` God, you don't have to be so defensive. `` said Jake, a hint of annoyance in his voice. `` I just wanted to see if we were still on for the movies tonight. ``
`` Oh, sure. I guess so. Is Marie coming too? ``
`` No. When you ran off on us yesterday, you didn't give her a chance to tell you. She's made some plans with that David kid. Going to some restaraunt and... `` he hesitated. `` ...I don't know where else. `` he sighed in a nervous manner.
`` Oh. I guess that's fine. So it's just us. I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll see you later, then. `` Apparantly, the tone of his voice didn't seem to phase her much.
`` Alright, bye. `` he said.
`` Bye. `` and she hung up the phone, setting herself back down in her bed.
In Lara's mind, she'd known Jake longer than she could remember. She had always thought of him as just a friend. Nothing more. But now things were starting to change. He acted differently around her now, as if he was cautious not to say anything to offend her. It was something... a feeling, that she wasn't used to. She figured that it was because of her parents' deaths, and that his behavior would ware off sooner or later.
But it wasn't just him. It was her, too. She was feeling things she'd never felt before. The way she hid this was acting clueless to any sort of emotion he gave off toward her. His tone of voice on the phone, for instance. She'd remained calm and ignored everything. She wasn't so sure if she'd be able to do that anymore.
The phone rang once more. She reached over and grasped it in her hand, bringing it to her ear.
`` Hello? `` she said with a yawn.
There was no answer. Not even a sign of breathing could be heard on the other line.
She hesitated and spoke again. `` Is anyone there? Hello? ``
Still nothing.
`` Jake, is this your idea of a funny joke? I could be sleeping right now. ``
Nothing, and then a soft click on the other end. The caller had hung up.
She tried looking it up on caller ID, but it had turned out to be an unknown number. It was just a misunderstanding, she thought. Nothing big. You're overreacting, Lara, honestly. As she put the phone back on the nightstand, she shivered from a chill running down her spine. Shutting her eyes softly, she pulled the covers up to her chin and set her head down on the pillow.
Lara's eyes tried to force themselves to stay shut as the high pitched ring of the telephone woke her from her morning slumber. God, this is the first day of Winter break and I'm supposed to be sleeping IN. She shook her head and reached over onto her nightstand, picking up the telephone and taking a deep breath.
`` Hello? `` she said exhaustedly.
`` Lara. It's Jake. Did I wake you up or something? `` he spoke with mild concern.
`` As a matter of fact, yes. `` she shut her eyes and prayed that the conversation wouldn't last much longer. If it did, she'd have quite a hard time falling asleep again.
`` It's 12:00pm. `` he said matter-of-factly.
`` It is? `` she asked, looking at her clock. Sure eneough he'd been right. `` Oh, I guess you're right. `` she said, sitting up in her bed. `` ...and you're calling me, why? `` Lara was always cranky when she didn't get her beauty sleep. In fact, she'd done the calculations and figured that she needed at least twelve hours of sleep every night in order to remain awake for the entire school day. Needless to say, this wasn't working out very well. She'd been looking forward to having these days off. She figured she'd be able to catch up on the extra hours she'd missed.
`` God, you don't have to be so defensive. `` said Jake, a hint of annoyance in his voice. `` I just wanted to see if we were still on for the movies tonight. ``
`` Oh, sure. I guess so. Is Marie coming too? ``
`` No. When you ran off on us yesterday, you didn't give her a chance to tell you. She's made some plans with that David kid. Going to some restaraunt and... `` he hesitated. `` ...I don't know where else. `` he sighed in a nervous manner.
`` Oh. I guess that's fine. So it's just us. I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll see you later, then. `` Apparantly, the tone of his voice didn't seem to phase her much.
`` Alright, bye. `` he said.
`` Bye. `` and she hung up the phone, setting herself back down in her bed.
In Lara's mind, she'd known Jake longer than she could remember. She had always thought of him as just a friend. Nothing more. But now things were starting to change. He acted differently around her now, as if he was cautious not to say anything to offend her. It was something... a feeling, that she wasn't used to. She figured that it was because of her parents' deaths, and that his behavior would ware off sooner or later.
But it wasn't just him. It was her, too. She was feeling things she'd never felt before. The way she hid this was acting clueless to any sort of emotion he gave off toward her. His tone of voice on the phone, for instance. She'd remained calm and ignored everything. She wasn't so sure if she'd be able to do that anymore.
The phone rang once more. She reached over and grasped it in her hand, bringing it to her ear.
`` Hello? `` she said with a yawn.
There was no answer. Not even a sign of breathing could be heard on the other line.
She hesitated and spoke again. `` Is anyone there? Hello? ``
Still nothing.
`` Jake, is this your idea of a funny joke? I could be sleeping right now. ``
Nothing, and then a soft click on the other end. The caller had hung up.
She tried looking it up on caller ID, but it had turned out to be an unknown number. It was just a misunderstanding, she thought. Nothing big. You're overreacting, Lara, honestly. As she put the phone back on the nightstand, she shivered from a chill running down her spine. Shutting her eyes softly, she pulled the covers up to her chin and set her head down on the pillow.