“Sorry!” I tell my parents, who have this rule where we have to turn off the volume on our phones during family meal times. But I hadn’t even thought to do that to my phone because Abigail only Snaps me and that sound is so quiet no one would hear it anyway.
“It’s probably a wrong number,” I say, reaching into my purse.
At first, I think that’s what it is—some random telemarketer or something. But then I recognize the numbers on the screen.
They’re the same numbers scrawled on that piece of paper from the dog park.
Max.
“You okay?” Mom says, her brows pulling together in concern. “You look sick.”
“Yeah,” I say, shoving my phone back in my purse. “I think maybe I ate too much.”
“That’s too bad,” Dad says.
“Can I have your ice cream?” Jensen asks. I laugh, but it doesn’t take away the pounding of my heart.
“Sure,” I say, sliding it over to him.
A few seconds later, my phone vibrates, and I sneak a glance at the screen while my parents aren’t looking. I have a new voice mail message from Max.
Or maybe it’s from his girlfriend.
All I know is that I’m terrified to check it.
Chapter 7
I tell myself to be strong. I tell myself to delete the stupid voice message just like I deleted our texts, and to move on with my life. But, after an hour of thinking it over in my bedroom, I decide to listen to it.
I bite my lip and press play.
“Hey Jess, It’s Max. I just felt bad that we haven’t talked all day, so I thought I’d call because calls are more personal, you know? Anyhow, I hope you had a great Sunday. Text me tomorrow! Goodnight.”
Chills prickle over my arms. I press replay and listen to it again. Here he is, in voice form. He sounds so cute, it’s ridiculous. He also sounds…I don’t know.like he’s actually upset that we didn’t talk today.
Then I realize what’s going on. He didn’t know his girlfriend messaged me. He probably has no idea. This realization eases my pain a little. I mean, he’s still an ass, but at least he wasn’t sitting there laughing over my stupidity while she texted me. I have been imagining that all day long and it’s the worst sort of embarrassment.
No, instead, she probably sneakily did it, and he has on idea and he still plans on talking to me. What a pig. Maybe he also cheats on his girlfriend in real life, too. Ugh.
I delete the voice message and I go to sleep, promising myself that by the morning, I would have forgotten what his voice sounds like.
#
On Monday morning, I wake up to the sound of my brother whining that he doesn’t want to get dressed for school. Mom sounds exasperated as she tells him he can’t wear superhero pajamas to kindergarten. I snort to myself as I get dressed and brush my hair in front of my vanity mirror. Looks like things are back to normal at the Parker house.
Abigail picks me up in the shiny used-but-new-to-her SUV her parents bought her for her sixteenth birthday three months ago. We used to ride the bus together but now that she has wheels, we’re officially students who arrive in the student parking lot. One of these days, I hope to get my own car, but I’ll need to get a job to pay for the gas an insurance first.
“So,” she says, batting her eyelashes at me in this sarcastic way. “Anything new with your anonymous text boy?”
I roll my eyes. “Let’s not talk about that.”
“Okay, now wehaveto talk about it,” she says, studying my face for clues. “Oh my God. Did he send a picture? Is he ugly?”
“No,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“So he’s hot?” she squeals.
“Nope.”
