Phone Calls from a Rock Star Read online

“I don’t know. It’s just another school year,” I said, hoping he would get the hint in my voice.

  “It’s got to be a guy or something,” he said as he sat up to study me better. He cocked his head, waiting for my reply.

  “No,” I said as I ducked my head. I knew a blush was sure to follow.

  He laughed and took my hands. “Come on, Iz! Don’t tell me you’re shy?” I continued to avoid his eyes and his laughter intensified. “You’ve been rambling on and on to me all night!”

  “That’s because I was nervous because you carjacked me!” I defended. He continued to stare at me so I released my best Drama Club sigh. “He can have pretty much any girl he wants.”

  Jake cupped my chin and stared into my eyes, sending my pulse into outer space. “You’re a very pretty girl, Iz. All you need is a little self-confidence, and he’ll be eating out of your hand.”

  My cell rang, and I reluctantly pulled my chin out of his grasp as I yanked the phone out of my pocket. It was Seth. I groaned and answered. “Yes, Seth? Need me to go on a beer run?”

  Jake raised a brow at my tone but I ignored him.

  “Where are you?” Seth demanded.

  “I was hungry so I went for a burger. I’ll be back in a few.”

  “Fine,” Seth conceded. “I cleared everyone out, and it’s nearly four in the morning. You need to get back now.”

  “Yes, master,” I muttered as I ended the call. Jake chuckled next to me. “I have to go. It really is late.”

  Jake slid off the car and helped me down. I really didn’t need the help, but I loved the chivalrous gesture all the same. We climbed in the car, and I started the engine. I threw my phone on the dash. Jake snatched it.

  “Do you mind?” he asked. I shook my head and heard a string of beeps but never actually heard him speak. Once he finished fiddling with the phone, he placed it on the dash and stared thoughtfully out his window.

  When we made it back to the hotel, we caught an elevator without incident. My heart was heavy as I knew I had only minutes left in his presence. I didn’t want the magical night to end.

  “I programmed my cell number in your phone and yours in mine.”

  My eyes snapped to his as my mouth fell open. “No way!” I gasped. He grinned and nodded. I stared at the instrument in my hands, astonished it now contained such an important number.

  The doors opened for my floor, and he positioned his body to keep them from closing. He pulled me into an impromptu hug. “Thanks for a great night, Iz. I’ll call you.” Winking, he placed a chaste kiss on my lips. He stepped back in the elevator and allowed the doors to shut. I stood there stunned, touching my lips softly - totally mesmerized by my first kiss.

  Chapter Three

  “Quit organizing and get ready,” Annie Conrad ordered. I paid her no heed as I studied my bookshelf. Tapping my finger against my chin, I considered switching all the books from their current alphabetical by author arrangement to alphabetical by title. Annie twirled me around, causing me to spill the books in my arms. “Let’s go, Bella! The party started half an hour ago!”

  I stifled my irritated groan for the time being - I was sure there would be plenty of opportunity for it later. “You drag me to this stupid thing every year and then abandon me as soon as the first cute guy looks your way.”

  A smattering of guilt touched her cheeks as I bent to collect my books, but she did a remarkable job pretending it didn’t exist. She planted her fists to her hips in my favorite pose, glaring. “Come on! It’s fun and you know it! Besides, Dean and Lance will be there.”

  Okay, so she got me there. Lance Roberts is the most handsome boy on campus. I’ve had a crush on him since freshman year, but he hardly noticed me outside of the friendship thing.

  “Fine, fine, I’ll go.” I plopped to my bed and dug my tennis shoes out from under it. I shoved them on my feet while Annie threw a mild fit.

  “You can’t go like that!”

  I finished tying my shoes and stood. I looked down at my t-shirt and jeans and frowned. They were clean and wrinkle free. What was the problem? “Why not?”

  “You have to change,” she demanded.

  “No, I don’t,” I said firmly. I think Annie and our other friend, Cammy, were on some secret mission to make me more girly. I truly hoped they’d fail. “It’s dark outside, Annie. It’s a bonfire. Who’ll notice what I’m wearing?”

  Crossing her arms, she huffed, typical Annie response, and then grabbed a jacket. She, of course, looked amazing in her white denim skirt, pink tank and matching flip flops. If Lance noticed anyone it would be her. “Let’s just go.”

  With a triumphant grin, I grabbed Jake’s hoodie. I’d forgotten to return it that night and even though I did feel a little guilty, I was glad to have some kind of souvenir. I’d only told Seth about my adventure, and after he’d lectured me for twenty minutes about how stupid I was to take a strange man to a secluded area, he quizzed me on everything Jake. I’m still not totally sure he believed me.

  “Is Camryn here yet?” I asked as we crossed the campus, the chilly breeze toying with our hair. Cammy promised to get to school in time for the bonfire, but I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her yet.

  “She wasn’t due to return from Ireland until last night I think,” Annie mused as she looped her arm through mine, hurrying me toward the football field. “She was supposed to call this morning but she didn’t. She probably forgot.”

  I snorted. Annie was more than likely right. Cammy could be a little bit of a space case from time to time. “I hope she gets in tomorrow.”

  “She will,” Annie assured me. “So, Krysti and Lance broke up.”

  I stopped in my tracks, jolting Annie in the process. “What? When did this happen?”

  Annie’s glossy lips curved into a knowing grin. “Apparently Krysti attended a Controlled Environment concert last Saturday, and rumor has it that she might have cheated on Lance with a roadie.”

  It took all of five seconds for me to drop to my knees and clutch my stomach as the laughter tickled my throat and spewed from my mouth. I don’t mean chuckle or giggle but deep belly laughs. All I could think about were the front row bimbos. I imagined Krysti as one of them, hopping up and down, begging for attention. Tears leaked from my eyes as I struggled to control myself. Annie leaned against a tree and studied her nails. That set me off in another fit of laughter which, thankfully, didn’t last as long. Finally, I got to my feet and wiped my eyes. “Okay, better.”

  Annie raised a doubtful brow. “You sure?”

  I chortled a bit and coughed to hide it. “Yeah. It’s just that I went to the Controlled Environment concert, and I was imagining Krysti in the front row with the rest of the bimbos.” I felt another bout of laughter and choked it back.

  Her jaw nearly hit the ground. “You went to the Controlled Environment concert? How? The tickets sold out within minutes!”

  “Seth,” I simply answered. Growling, she performed a perfect pirouette so she could stalk off, fuming.

  “It sucks that all I have are younger brothers and you get the cool, older one.”

  “Yeah,” I grinned, smug as could be. “He comes in handy sometimes.”

  ***

  The bonfire was blazing, the flames reaching for the sky, by the time we made it to the football field. We located a couple of girls from our class near the coolers, and I grabbed a soda as Annie, in perfect form, caught up on all the gossip from the summer. It didn’t take long for Zach Washington to steal her attention, though, so I rolled my eyes and wandered away to the bleachers. I spotted Lance and Dean in the distance, talking to a couple of cheerleaders. My heart leapt to my throat. Lance seemed to have grown taller over the summer, if that was possible. His curly brown hair was cut shorter than usual, but it emphasized his chiseled features. His gray t-shirt stretched across his broad chest, and I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful male.

  He’d never be interested in someone like me, I sighed. I was just too ordinary. Krysti was ver
y curvy and pretty and full of pep. Me, not so much.

  I pulled the hoodie over my head as the wind picked up – I was far enough from the bonfire to not benefit from the warmth. Just as I was yanking my ponytail from beneath the sweatshirt, my phone rang. I answered, frustrated, as my eyes strayed back to Lance.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Iz, how are you?” a deep voice rumbled in my ear.

  My heart leapt and my stomach quivered. “Jake!” I squealed. “How are you? Carjack anyone lately? I didn’t think you’d ever call!”

  He chuckled. “Take a breath, angel.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled as my cheeks flushed. “How are you?”

  “Tired. I’m trying to sleep in the back of a tour bus. It’s not easy - especially when your band mates are goofing off a couple feet from you.” He yawned as if proving his point. “What are you doing?”

  He did sound tired. The exhaustion in his voice caused my heart to ache. “Sitting on the bleachers at a stupid bonfire at school. It’s really boring.”

  “What are you doing on the bleachers? You should be mingling with your friends.”

  He obviously didn’t know me well. I was not much for socializing even with people who attended boarding school with me. “I will in a few minutes,” I promised weakly.

  “You should. It’s your last year of high school–you should enjoy it.” His voice was gruff and made me wonder how long he’d been touring and if it was affecting his throat.

  “Are you okay, Jake? You sound a little ragged.”

  “Nah, I’m fine. Had to go to an after party last night. That kind of thing gets tiring after a while.”

  I giggled, remembering the last time he was supposed to attend an after party. “Why didn’t you sneak off and carjack someone?”

  “Because I had a feeling it wouldn’t have turned out as well as the last time,” he said. My heart flipped as I closed my eyes to get a better view of the images of him and me on the hood of Seth’s car. “So tell me why you’re sitting on the bleachers and not out having fun like everyone else?”

  “Not everyone is having fun,” I pointed out. “Maggie Morgan is crying – but she always cries. She’s president of the Drama Club. And Joey and Sarah are arguing by the drink table—probably because he’s been drinking something stronger than soda. That’s a shame, too.”

  “Iz,” he interrupted. “Listen to you ramble on and on to me. Why don’t you get up and go converse with the other people?”

  “I don’t know what to say,” I admitted morosely.

  “You don’t have that problem with me.”

  “You’re different. You’re easy to talk to,” I explained.

  “Not everyone can be me, angel,” he answered, smug.

  “I wonder how your swollen head fits on that bus,” I grumbled. He laughed, and it boosted my spirits. I couldn’t help but giggle, attracting the attention of Karen Lange and Alicia Phelps. They meandered my way and sat next to me. Karen gave me a friendly smile in which I returned. “I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “Sure, Iz. Have fun.” He ended the call and I shoved my phone into the front pocket of my hoodie.

  “How was your summer, Bella?” Karen asked.

  “Not too eventful,” I said. “Never usually is.”

  “I know what you mean,” she commiserated. “My parents were gone most of the time.”

  “How about you, Alicia?” I asked, hoping Jake would be proud. I was trying.

  Alicia flipped her chestnut hair over her shoulder, fixing me with a haughty gaze. “We have a summer home on the lake so we spent a lot of time there.”

  “Sounds lovely,” I said, refraining from uttering the scathing words on the tip of my tongue. I scanned the crowd for signs of Annie when I spotted Lance and Dean making their way toward us. My heartbeat tripled and I shoved my trembling hands in the front pocket of Jake’s hoodie.

  “Good evening, ladies,” Dean said as he plopped down next to Alicia. She smiled her million watt smile and batted her eyelashes. I turned my head, hoping to stop the nausea rolling in my stomach. Lance took that moment to squeeze in between me and Karen. That didn’t settle my stomach at all. I prayed I wouldn’t say anything stupid.

  “Hey, Karen. Bella,” he said, leaning back on the bleacher behind him. He stretched his arms out, and it took every ounce of strength I had not to snuggle into him. Well, only for a moment. I wasn’t that brave. “Did you girls have a nice summer?”

  Before I could utter a word, his face fell. I followed his line of sight and saw Krysti standing in a group of girls engaging in a very animated conversation. Karen patted his leg. “Don’t worry about her. She’s not worth it.”

  His face relaxed into a huge smile. My heart dipped. He dropped an arm around both my shoulders and Karen’s. “I’m not. I have two beautiful ladies with me; why would I need her?”

  He had to be able to feel the tremble rumbling throughout my body. I just hoped he didn’t realize it was because of his proximity. He plucked at the material of my sweatshirt—I mean Jake’s sweatshirt—and grinned.

  “I like the hoodie, Bella. Where’d you get it?”

  I glanced down at the hoodie, wondering what the big fuss was about. I mean, it was just a black, hooded sweatshirt with some sort of silver logo on the top left corner where a pocket might be had it been a collared shirt. No matter the reason for Lance’s admiration, I made a mental note to thank Jake, then immediately scratched out that mental note. He might remember I have the hoodie and ask for it back. I’d grown rather attached to it and didn’t want to return it. “It actually belongs to a friend of mine. I forgot to give it back.”

  “You mean your brother, Seth,” Alicia said with an exaggerated eye roll. Dean snorted beside her and earned a flirtatious smile.

  “No,” I said slowly, reining in my anger. “It belongs to my friend, Jake.”

  “Does Jake go to school here?” Karen asked, trying to diffuse a situation.

  “No. He…um…graduated. And not from here, either.” My explanation sounded weak to my ears, and I just knew they all thought I was making Jake up. What did I care, anyway?

  “Whatever you say, Bella,” Alicia scoffed.

  “Why would she lie?” Lance asked.

  My heart thundered in my chest. I couldn’t believe Lance was actually sticking up for me. Me! I had a strange urge to jump off the bleachers and dance a victory dance, but I didn’t. Not only would that be totally embarrassing, but I was quite comfortable sitting this close to Lance. Besides, one of the jealous girls who kept throwing nasty looks at me might swoop in and steal my spot.

  Luckily for me, my phone rang. I checked the number and frowned when “The Man” came up on the screen. What the heck? I opened the phone hesitantly. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Iz, I forgot to tell you something.”

  “Jake?” His voice sounded strange. I hoped he wasn’t drinking, too. There were enough idiots in my vicinity engaging in inappropriate, not to mention underage, drinking. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure, angel,” he said, but I didn’t believe him at all. “I told you I’m just tired. Why are you so concerned anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be at a party?”

  “I am,” I muttered weakly. “I just worry about you.”

  The line was silent for a few minutes. Finally, he spoke again. “I’m fine. I’m going to try to sleep once I finish telling you the reason I called.”

  “Okay, I’m listening.” I noticed the others paying close attention to me so I turned my back. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to let you know that after this week, we’ll have a two week break before we start our West Coast tour. I was thinking that maybe I could come see you for your birthday—it’s coming up, right? Maybe I’ll get you that Big ’Un I owe you.”

  The smile on my face actually hurt it was so big. “Definitely! That would be great. I can’t wait!”

  “I’ll call you toward the end of next week to finalize the plans.
But I really need to go now. I’m dead tired.”

  “Okay. Take care of yourself, Jake. I’ll talk to you later.” I hung up, excitement bouncing off every internal organ of my body. I couldn’t wait to see Jake again.

  “Your friend, Jake, I presume,” Alicia asked, her tone droll.

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah.” Standing, I shoved my phone in my pocket. Annie was nowhere to be found, and I really wasn’t in the mood to hang around anymore. I hitched a thumb over my shoulder. “I think I’m going to head back to my room. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

  “I’m not in a party mood either,” Lance said. He jumped up and grinned. “I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

  “Okay,” I managed to eek out without sounding too stupid. I waved in the general direction of the others and walked next to Lance toward the dorm buildings, wishing I was as confident as Alicia. But I didn’t dare try to bat my eyelashes at him—he’d probably think I was some sort of freak. So, instead, I fought a desperate smile and managed to keep it off my face—I really didn’t want to look like a total idiot.

  “So, Bella,” Lance began. I stumbled slightly and bumped into his arm. I was thankful for the dark to cover the blush that was ravishing my cheeks. When he held out a hand to steady me, my pulse went wild. “Annie told me you went to the Controlled Environment concert last Saturday.”

  So much for that, I thought as the party inside my body died. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like where this conversation was headed. “Yeah. I didn’t see Krysti, though.” I had to cut him off at the pass. I was afraid he’d want an eyewitness account.

  “I’m sorry,” he gushed, stopping to wave his arms dramatically. “I’m just so mad at her right now. I mean, all summer she was so in love with me then she goes to this concert and makes out with some roadie just because he promised to introduce her to the band. Can you imagine that?”

  I laughed. I knew it would probably anger him or hurt his feelings, but I couldn’t help it at all. I mean, how stupid could she be? She had the most amazing boyfriend and she ruins that by throwing herself at a roadie just for the chance to meet a rock star? Maybe I should give her a few tips, I thought wryly.