The next morning Keeley was woken up by voices that seemed to be arguing. Curious to see what was going on, Keeley headed downstairs. Her brother Zach was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Her mother was sitting on a nearby chair shaking her head, frowning while her father was pacing the living room, wildly gesturing and shouting.
"You could have gotten yourself killed!" he roared.
"Dad-" Zach started to say but their father cut him off.
"What were you thinking?" he shouted at Zach, his face getting red from anger.
"Dad-" Zach started again.
"Obviously you weren't thinking, were you?!" their father continued to rant. "You put yourself and everybody else on the road in danger!"
"I said I was sorry!" her brother shouted resentfully, finally able to get a word in. "And nothing bad happened!" Zach knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as it left his mouth.
Their father's body stiffened as he clenched his fist into a tight ball. "You will be doing yours and Keeley's chores for the next month," he said through gritted teeth.
"That's not fair!" Zach instantly protested. "Football practice starts this week! You know how hard Coach works us."
"You should have thought of that before drinking and driving!" their father bellowed before storming out of the room.
Keeley's head snapped in surprise at that statement. Her brother was never that irresponsible. He always got a designated driver when he was partying.
Zach looked to their mom, sitting in the corner. "Mom, please," he pleaded, "talk to him."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry Zach. I agree with your father."
Zach huffed and stalked out the room. He came to an abrupt halt when he saw Keeley. His eyes spewed venom as he approached her. "It's all your fault!" he hissed.
Keeley was so taken back by his anger, she physically took a step back. "What did I do?" she asked in shock.
"You know exactly what you did, Keeley. How could you do that to me?" Zach asked with obvious resentment. "I thought we had each other's backs. Guess I was wrong, twin," he sneered as he emphasized the last word. Zach brushed past her and marched toward his room.
Keeley ran after him. "Wait, Zach." She grabbed his shoulder but he forcefully shrugged it off and continued down the hall. "Zach!" Keeley shouted after him but he didn't stop.
"Leave him alone for now, sweetheart. You know he needs time to cool off," her mother said. "Let's go make some waffles. That will put everyone in a better mood."
Keeley followed her mother to the kitchen. She didn't understand how Zach blamed her. He was the one foolish enough to drink and drive. He should be happy he got off so easily. Extra chores for a month? That's nothing. Their parents could have grounded him or taken away the car.
Keeley and her mother talked about a book they both were reading as they made waffles for the family. Once a month, Keeley and her mom would pick a book to read and discuss the story like a book club except it was just the two of them.
Breakfast was awkward to say the least. Zach refused to talk to anyone and her father just grunted out commands like, "Pass the bacon" and "Give me the syrup." Keeley and her mother chatted amiably about mundane topics to cover the tension in the room. When their father ordered Zach to clear the table and wash the dishes, Zach visibly clenched his jaw and slammed his fork on the table. He yanked all the plates off the table and dumped them in the sink with a loud clank.
Keeley stood next to him as he angrily scrubbed the dishes. "Why are you mad at me?" she asked. "I don't understand what I did wrong."
Zach threw down the sponge and whirled on her. "You hung up on me when I called and didn't respond to any of my texts!" he said fuming. "You left me out to dry. That's why I'm mad at you!"
Keeley felt horrible. "Zach, I'm so sorry-" she began.
"Just don't," he said coolly, his eyes were hard and bleak.
"I didn't have my ph-" she tried to explain but he turned his back to her and picked up the sponge.
"Leave me alone Keeley. I don't want to talk to you right now," his voice left no room for discussion.
Keeley lowered her head and went back to her room. She felt it was partially her fault. When Zach had started to party their freshman year of high school, Keeley had promised to drive him whenever he drank. Keeley grabbed the phone lying on the nightstand and dialed her number. She waited impatiently for Talon to answer but it went to voicemail. About two minutes later the phone beeped with a text.
What do you want? Can't talk right now. Only text. -T
You jerk! You hung up on my brother last night! -Keeley
He called at 3am. Of course I hung up on him. -T
But you talked to me last night. -Keeley
Well you're a girl with a sexy voice ;) -T
Keeley rolled her eyes once she saw his text. If he thought lame compliments were going to impress her, he had another thing coming. She couldn't believe the whole time they had talked he didn't once mention her brother's calls and texts. Just went to show what a rude, selfish boy he was.
Ugh! You could have told me! He got in trouble with our parents -Keeley
Not my problem baby doll. -T
He drove home drunk bc I didn't come pick him up and now he's mad at me. It's all your fault! -Keeley
Your bro sounds like a douche. He's the one who drove drunk. -T
Keeley huffed. Obviously, he wasn't going to apologize. Keeley couldn't wait to switch phones with the arrogant jerk.
Whatever. When can you meet up to exchange phones? The sooner, the better. -Keeley
Can't. Left for football camp today :) -T
She stared at the phone in shock. Left? He left? She grew more outraged by the second. She paced around her bedroom as she wrote him back.
You what?! Why didn't you tell me that last night? We could have met early this morning! -Keeley
Eh... Didn't feel like it. Wish you hadn't laughed at me now huh? -T
Grrrr! You are so petty! When are you coming back? -Keeley
Bet you sound so sexy when you growl... -T
Answer the damn question Talon! -Keeley
Feisty! I like that in a girl. I'm coming back in a week. -T
Seriously?? What am I suppose to do till then? -Keeley
Calm down baby doll. We'll just relay our texts and voicemails till I return ;) -T
Hell no! You are not going through my phone. -Keeley
Awww that's so cute you think I haven't already ;) BTW, you need a life. Only 67 contacts? Pretty pathetic. -T
There was a knock on her bedroom door. "Keeley? Nicky's on the phone," her mother said as she walked in her room and proceeded to hand Keeley the phone.
"Keeley? Why weren't you answering my calls?" Nicky asked her.
Keeley groaned in frustration. "I'm sorry. Some jackass has my phone." She vowed to hunt Talon down and kill him. She was just talking to him and he didn't tell her someone called!
"What?" Nicky asked in confusion.
"I'll explain later. Do you still want to go to the beach?"
"I'm down if you are. I've been dying to work on my tan," Nicky replied wistfully.
"Tan? Nicky, you're half-Spanish. You're naturally dark," Keeley retorted matter-of-factly. She was jealous of her best friend's olive skin tone. She took after her father who'd immigrated from Spain in his 20's.
"Hey! It can never hurt to get darker before the winter months approach," Nicky countered.
"We live in Southern California. The coldest it gets is around 50," Keeley said dryly.
"Alright. You got me," Nicky said in mock defeat. "I really just want to parade around in my skimpiest bikini and flirt with the surfers, even though I stand no chance," she said sarcastically. It was well known that most of their classmates hung out at the beach to flirt with the college boys who surfed there. It was pretty pathetic to watch high school girls stuff their bikini tops and layer on thick makeup to seem more mature.
Keeley chuckled at the dig. "Like totally!" Keeley cried out in her best valley girl impersonation. "They are like soooo dreamy!" Keeley changed her voice back to normal. "Anyway, I still need to take a shower. Can you give me ten minutes to get ready?" Keeley asked.
"No problem. See you then," Nicky said and hung up the phone.
Keeley dashed into the shower and rinsed the smell of chili fries and sweat off her skin. She quickly changed into her teal bikini and pulled a white sundress over the top. She added a light coat of waterproof mascara and pink lipgloss to complete the look. Keeley threw a book, her ipod, her wallet and a towel into a bag before grabbing her phone and heading downstairs. Keeley quickly looked at her phone and was shocked to see four text messages from Talon. She opened them up and immediately wished she hadn't.
Aww did I hurt your feelings baby doll? -T
Still ignoring me? -T
99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer. You knock one down, you turn em around, 99 bottles of beer on the wall -T
98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer. You knock one down, you turn em around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall...I can do this all day you know. -T
Keeley knew the best way to deal with someone like Talon was to ignore him but she couldn't resist the urge to respond.
Did you get dropped on your head as a child? -Keeley
Ah there you are! I missed you ;) -T
Aren't you suppose to be playing football instead of annoying me? -Keeley
Nope! I'm on a bus. Three more hours till we reach camp. I'm all yours! -T
Groan. Don't you have teammates you can go bother? -Keeley
You know most girls would die for the chance to text with me. -T
Well then go bother them. -Keeley
You have my phone remember? Not the sharpest one in the tool shed are we? -T
Says the football player who smacks teammates asses in group huddles. -Keeley
Touche baby doll. Although I do wish it was your ass I was smacking ;) Hmmm...think I'll dream about that for awhile....Talk to ya later :) -T
Keeley wrapped her hand around the phone and squeezed. Hard. The boy was absolutely infuriating. She'd seen his type before. The conceited player who thought every girl should fawn over him just because he played football. How the hell was she suppose to deal with him for an entire week? Keeley shoved the phone in her bag, burying it under all the things she brought. Just looking at it, made her blood boil.
"One week," Keeley muttered. "Seven Days. One hundred and sixty eight hours. Easy. I can do this," she said trying to convince herself it was the truth. Keeley groaned and banged her head against the wall. "Who am I kidding? This is a cell phone swap from hell!"
AN: Here's a look at how the chapter appears in Textrovert, which is the published version of The Cell Phone Swap. I absolutely love the text bubbles. So much fun! What do you think?