Hot Line | ✓

call #29

"hello?" he answers, his voice groggy and tired from just waking up.

"evan!" she shouts, her voice an octave higher than usual. "hey! you answered!"

"teagan?"

"no. it's the milk man. duh, it's teagan!"

"it's two in the morning. why are you calling me?"

"guess what today is. well, i guess technically it was yesterday."

"i don't know. what?"

"my birthday, silly."

he pauses briefly, his eyes squinting in confusion. "what?"

she laughs. "i tried to tell you on the phone. you know, when you asked me why i was going to dinner. but you hung up on me. on my birthday."

"tee, i'm sorry. i didn't know it was your birthday." he pauses. "happy birthday?"

"thanks i guess."

a loud shatter sounds through her end of the phone followed by a round of cheers.

"where are you?" he asks.

"some club. it is my twenty first birthday after all."

"what club?"

"i don't know. who cares? there's a guy named peter here and he's buying me drinks so i'm not too worried about it. i had no idea how expensive drinks are! why do people even buy drinks at bars? make them at home!"

he chooses to ignore her rant about the prices of alcoholic beverages. "who's peter?"

"goes to uw. i don't know."

"you don't know anything about him?"

"no, dad. i just met him in a club tonight. i'm sorry i don't know his social security number yet. chill out."

"how many drinks have you had?"

"a few. what is this, twenty questions? if you're wondering if i'm a virgin, the answer is no. is it my turn now?"

"you should be careful. guys at clubs are creeps."

"guys everywhere are creeps."

he sighs. "do you need a ride home or something?"

"i've never even met you."

her words hit him harder than expected. he swallows the lump in his throat before saying, "i'll still pick you up if you need a ride."

"i'm fine. you can go back to fucking val."

"she went home a few hours ago. are you mad about something?"

"you hung up on me on my birthday."

he groans. "i didn't know it was your birthday. i'm sorry. are you going to hold this against me forever?"

"maybe."

"okay. maybe i deserve that." he pauses. "are you okay? really? are you going to be safe tonight?"

she sighs. "yes. i'm fine."

"okay."

"sorry for waking you up," she says sheepishly.

"it's fine. text me when you get home safe, okay?"

"sure, dad."

"stop calling me that."

"do you prefer daddy?"

he gulps. "no. don't call me that either. i'm not a client on your sex hotline anymore. besides, you're drunk."

"i'm not that drunk. but good. i don't like the whole 'daddy' thing anyway. night, evan."

"goodnight, tee. don't forget to text me when you're home safe."

"roger that, mom."