Wake me

11: Phonecalls

The soft sound of the Beastie Boys playing through my phone seemed very distant as I stared down at the math homework in front of me. The numbers and equations seemed way to complicated, even for a math lit student. I checked the formulae and numbers, but still, nothing made any sense to me. Anna had gone out with a friend to MacDonald's for dinner, so I was stuck inside the room alone. I guess I wanted the quiet time to myself, I hadn't even been able to process much of what had happened in the past week or so. Just then, the beastie boys music came to a sudden halt and my phone began to vibrate wildly. A call? I picked it up and checked the bold name on the screen; Momma. I hit answer and swung the phone to my ear.
"Hello, Momma," I greeted, "How are you?"
"Hello, Grace! I am okay thanks, it's so nice to hear your voice." Came the crackled voice from the other side.
"Mom, I've only been gone for three or four days!" I said, slightly annoyed by how attached my mother was.
"Yes, yes! How was class today?" She asked.
"Alright, I guess." I shrugged sadly, folding the corner of my math book over and closing it.
"Sweetie, I'm glad you're trying to get back into the swing of things! Don't worry, you'll do just fine." Mother said enthusiastically. "I know, Momma." I said, although I wasn't quite sure if I did. As she chatted about work and positive things, I dazed off into infinity and stared at the sky out the window. The color of the sky reminded me of Luke's deep, heavenly eyes and I interrupted my mother rudely.
"How is Luke, mom? Have you, er, heard anything?" I asked quickly.
"Luke? Well, uh," she mumbled, "No, dear, I haven't actually. I should call, shouldn't I?"
"Don't worry about it, I have Wanda's number, I'll send her an SMS." I sighed.
"Sorry, dear," she said, "But I'm sure he's fine, right? Well, I better go! Your father is saying he's hungry- Ay, come here and- no? Alright, your father is on the cellphone to a client. He'll SMS later! Love you, sweetie."
"I love you-" I was saying, but the call cut off. I didn't take it to heart; Momma wasn't good with technological stuff, anyways. I went to my contact list and typed a message to Wanda.
Wanda,
How's things? I got to college, had first day of class today.
Hope you're all good? Wanted to ask- how is Luke
doing? I just wanted to check up on him.
Thanks, Wanda!
Grace x

I clicked send and continued the Beastie Boys song and decided total kale the homework once more, but as I opened the book and set my eyes to the page, my mind travelled elsewhere. Was Luke dreaming of me? Would he ever wake up? I'm sure I wasn't the only one asking that question? I shrugged and turned off the music, shutting my book- I was just going to have to tell Miss that I forgot about the homework task completely. And with that, I went to go eat at the grubby cafeteria, it's tables as empty as the thoughts inside of me.

The dinner lady wasn't there that night, and I dished up some sloppy looking mash potatoes onto my plate along with some vegetables and strange looking green salad. The feta seemed a little tinged, and I pushed it to the side of my plate with a cheap metal fork. I sat alone at the corner cafeteria table, my feet swinging off the floor. I ate quietly, there were a few other students in the cafeteria, and they were chatting low. If they were not talking, they had books in their hands or a phone or paper. After shoveling the mash down my throat, I handed my plate in to the dinner lady who grunted a thanks, as most kids just left their dirty plates on the table, which meant poor Jane had to waddle along painfully on her obese legs to collect them. Me, a kind and caring student, thought about her poor fat legs and handed it to her to save her the precious time. Gosh, I was horrid. I had already showered, and felt sort of sick as I walked up the twirling stairs. As I rounded the corner, I thought about how- CRASH. I fell on the floor with a thud and looked up to see Mister Rhodes, a look of surprise across his tired face. "Grace!" He exclaimed, "I'm sorry!" He outstretched a large hand, and reluctantly, I took it and he pulled me up. I was very close to him, but he did not step back. He smelt of cinnamon buns this time, which made me feel even sicker. "I didn't see you," he noted, "My mistake."
"No, I was walking too fast up the stairs, sir." I shuddered. It felt wrong apologizing to him, his cool gaze making me feel victimized about something I didn't know of. "Well," he said softly, "You sleep well, hear? I'll see you in class." Without waiting for me to reply, he brushed past me and disappeared down the corridor. If I hadn't bumped into him, I would have managed to get to my room in time to hear the phone ring. But, because of my late arrival, I had just missed it and
forgot to check my phone. I climbed into bed and switched off the light, my phone holding secrets I knew nothing about.