by Linda Nelson
Her dad stepped in, “Come on, Laurette. She is almost seventeen. We have to start letting her learn from her own experiences. We can't go about protecting her for the rest of her life.”
“All right… But if you get into any trouble I will see to it you are grounded for months,” her mom growled.
“Yes.
I promise I will not get into any trouble,” she quickly hugged both her parents and retreated to her room. Hoping they would not change their minds before tomorrow.
Karla was going to ask her dad about taking the wallpaper off her wall, but that could wait for another day.
She closed her bedroom door as soon as she entered the room, shutting her parents out of her life. Then she began her frantic search for Carol’s phone number she had given her earlier that day. Last time she had seen it, she had stuffed it somewhere inside her backpack.
All she could think about was how she was going to go to the mall without a parent chaperoning her. For the first time in her life, she would have the chance not to feel like a geek.
Now all she had to do was get a hold of Carol.
Where was the number?
Chapter ~ 9
Karla dumped all her books out onto her bed. It took her a few minutes of rummaging through all the stuff before she remembered where she had stuffed the paper. She found the piece of yellow paper with Carol's phone number on it stuck in her math book. The paper torn almost in half, but it was still legible.
She then took a deep breath. Karla opened her cell phone and tapped out the number. The phone seemed to ring for more than five rings. She was about to hang up when someone answered the phone.
“Hi. Is Carol home?” Karla asked nervously.
“No, she is out right now.”
“Okay... I will call back later.” Karla felt a bit of relief. She closed her phone and tossed it on her bed. She picked up her math book after deciding to do her math first, and opened it to the homework assignment page. She hated math.
She struggled with her math homework for about half an hour, doing all but the last two equations. They were extra credit, anyway. Karla began to wonder what was on TV.
She looked around her room for her TV remote. It was lying on top of one of the unpacked boxes. She flipped through all the channels and found nothing she wanted to watch.
How can you have almost fifty channels on your TV and not be able to find anything you wanted to watch, especially on a Friday night?
Karla looked over at her alarm clock. She was surprised to see an hour had already gone by. She picked up her phone and gave Carol’s number another try.
She punched out the numbers once again on the cell phone. This time on the third ring, someone answered the phone. It sounded like the same person who answered the last call.
“Hi, this is Karla. I called earlier. Is Carol home yet?” She wondered if the person on the other end of the phone happened to be Carol's mom. She feared they would notice how shaky her voice seemed to sound.
“No... I'm sorry; she is not back yet.”
Karla felt relieved but concerned at the same time.
“All right...I will try again later.”
Karla began to wonder where Carol could be. It was getting late. She remembered she had one more page to write on her report and decided to finish it, and then try Carol one last time. If she was not there this time she would have to try again tomorrow.
She worked on her report with her back to the clock so she could not watch the time. She had put on her radio for background music since there was nothing on TV. When she finished the paper and put it into her notebook, it was almost 9:00.
After she put her books and papers away, she gave Carol’s number one last try. She punched out the numbers again. This time, she felt a bit more relaxed. She figured she wouldn’t be home yet anyway.
“Hi, this is Karla again. Is Carol home yet?” Karla asked after the fourth ring someone answered the phone.
“No, and it is late...”
Karla noticed how worried the person on the other end of the line sounded. “Do you know where she is?” She asked curiously.
“No. I don't”
“Could you let her know I called?” Karla requested. The worrisome sound of the receiver troubled her. “And that I will try her again tomorrow.”
The person on the other end of the line stated quickly, “Make sure you call her early in the morning, before nine or you may miss her again.”
“All right, I will, and thanks.”
As Karla put her phone on charge, she thought about why Carol probably was not home. Could she have been out on a date? Maybe, but why didn’t the person who answered the phone not know where she was?
Maybe Carol was sorry she had given Karla her phone number and was there the whole time pretending not to be there. Maybe she actually didn’t want to hang out with her after all.
All these thought bugged Karla and increased her disappointment making her mood go sour.
She had nothing else to do but either read a book or go to bed. Since she didn’t feel like reading she decided on crawling under her covers instead. Just as she was about to fall asleep her cellphone began vibrating across her bureau. It startled her.
Her heart skipped a beat as she jumped out of her bed to catch the phone before it slid off and onto the floor. She caught it at the last moment.
“Hello,” Karla said after she opened her phone. This was the first time she had received a cell phone call.
The little flip phone felt small in her hand. It might take a bit of time to get used to it.
The caller turned out not to be whom she had expected it to be. It wasn’t Carol.
“Hey Karla, how was your first day?
I got the pictures you sent me today. Wow your school is enormous. You weren’t kidding, were you?”
It took Karla a moment to realize whom she was talking to.
“Sarah. I’m so glad you called…”
Chapter ~10
The clatter of Saturday morning breakfast dishes woke Karla. She looked over at her alarm clock and saw it was already 9:00 in the morning. She never slept in this late.
Her room was bright with the morning sun. She sat up in bed and took the remote for the TV and searched for something to watch. Finally, she settled for MTV.
Her room looked almost the way she wanted it to look. Karla had stayed up late and had talked for almost an hour to Sarah while she worked on her room. She only had a couple of small boxes left to unpack, and these she had stuffed into the bottom of her closet. Most of her clothes that belonged on hangers were hung neatly. But, she never bothered to close her closet door last night.
Karla could smell blueberry muffins cooking. They made her stomach growl. She poked her head out her bedroom door.
“Are you making blueberry muffins for breakfast,” she asked her mom.
Karla wandered out into the kitchen to have a better look.
“Yes. They will be ready in another five minutes.”
Her mom flipped on the oven light, showing Karla the big, puffy muffins browning in the oven.
“Yeah…I will be out in a bit. I’m gonna go get dressed.”
She hurried back to her room.
The sound of a Monarch Pram video boomed from her TV. She quickly moved to turn it down before her parents said something.
She was surprised that her mom had not said anything about the loud music yet.
Karla watched the video while she selected her outfit from her closet.
She loved her new closet. It was humongous, compared to the one she used to have. She could hang her shoes and purses on the door. There were even little wire shelves to stack her sweaters and things on.
When the video ended, Karla shut off her TV and began brushing her hair, humming the last tune they had played on the show. She tipped her head from one side and then the other as she brushed her hair to the beat of the music.
She knew this tune would be stuck in her head for the res
t of the day.
Karla slipped a clip into her hair to hold her hair back. It wasn’t very long, but it was long enough to use the clip at the top of her head. She checked her appearance in the mirror and was satisfied with the results.
“Muffins are ready.” Her mom called from the kitchen.
“'Kay,” Karla answered.
She tossed her brush on top of her bureau next to her cell phone. The sight of the phone reminded her that she was supposed to call Carol early this morning. It was now after 9 am. It was probably too late to call her.
So much for that idea, maybe she would give her one last try later.
She shrugged it off, deciding to call after having her muffin.
She had not made her bed yet, so she decided to close her bedroom door behind her. Her mother nagged her enough. She would take care of it after she ate.
She noticed a paper plate with a muffin was waiting for her in the kitchen on the breakfast nook. She slipped onto the stool and began to enjoy her favorite breakfast.
“Muffins are good,” Karla complimented her mom.
She could see her mom from where she sat. The breakfast nook was open below the cabinets. This allowed anyone sitting there to look out into the living room.
Her mom only raised a hand and waved an acknowledgement to her. She was busy reading. This didn’t surprise Karla.
“Mom…I'm gonna go sit outside on the steps for a while,” Karla announced when she was done eating. “I'm still waiting for Carol to call me back.”
“Did you finish unpacking?”
“Yup, you can go check if you want.”
“No, I believe you.”
Good, Karla thought since she hadn’t made her bed yet.
That was the first thing Karla did when she went back to her room. She quickly hurried to get it done doing a quick bedding fix to make it somewhat presentable. It might not meet her mom’s expectations, but it met hers. Good enough, she thought.
As soon as Karla stepped out onto the porch, she felt how warm the sun was. It was probably going to be in the 80's today. She took a seat on the bottom step, and was surprised to see how busy of a street they had moved to. The sound of traffic from Main Street traveled to her ears.
Someone’s car alarm sounded somewhere nearby.
Karla watched the people walking and jogging up and down the street. There were a few kids from her school walking down the other side of the street. Could there be a park or a basketball court nearby?
The day was beginning to warm up quickly. Karla was glad she had not worn her blue hooded sweater like she originally had planned. She reached in her side pant pocket and felt for her cell phone. It was still there.
She took it out of her pocket to check it to see if she had missed any calls. There was none. Still there was no return call from Carol. She put the phone back in her pocket.
A girl suddenly broke free from a group of teens across the street. Karla watched as she crossed the street and began jogging up her driveway. As she got closer, Karla realized it was Carol.
“Hey, Karla, my mom said you called me last night.”
Carol sounded a bit out of breath.
Karla had stood up as soon as Carol began jogging up her short driveway.
“Yeah I did…
I called to let you know I could hang with you today. I just have to let my folks know where we are going to be.”
“Oh. I was planning on going to the mall and maybe stop at the town field for a bit, ‘cause Heath and Gerry have football practice later, and I was going to watch them”
“All right, hang on, I will be right back, better yet, come on inside. You can meet my folks.”
Karla brought Carol into the house. She was glad to see her dad was reading his newspaper. She hadn’t been sure he was home. His car was not in the driveway.
Her mom was watching some cooking program on TV.
Most of the boxes were gone from the living room. The bookcase was assembled, and all the books had been neatly put away.
“Mom, Dad, this is Carol.”
“Hi, Carol, it is nice to meet you.”
Her dad looked up over the top of his newspaper.
“Karla says you live just down the street,” her mom questioned.
“Yeah, I live at 292 Kemper Street. It is just around the corner from the library,” Carol answered politely.
“Have you lived there long,” her dad asked.
“Yeah, well, we have moved around town a couple of times. But I have lived in Brantwood all my life.”
Carol smiled. She thought Karla’s folks were kind of neat.
Karla hated the fact that her parents were beginning to throw twenty million questions at her new friend.
“Oh, so you must know your way around here real well,” her mom asked.
“Um yeah, pretty much.”
Carol looked bewildered by all the questions.
Karla butted in, “I'm gonna go with her to the mall if it is all right, and then we are gonna stop at the town field for a while. Is that okay?”
“Yes, but,” her dad stated. “Be home before dark.
Her mom threw in, “And stay out of trouble.”
“Thanks.”
Karla hoped the question time was over for now. She began to move toward the door. Turning, she checked to see if Carol was following her.
“Bye – It was nice meeting you,” Carol said politely.
Karla caught Carol by her sleeve.
She tried not to look too obvious to her parents in her eagerness to leave.
She said quietly to Carol, “Come on, let's go before they change their minds.”
“Why? Your folks seem pretty nice,” Carol smiled.
Karla led Carol out the door.
“My mom can be a witch. My dad, yeah, he can be nice at times. He can even be cool at times, too. But he does have his moments.”
The traffic got thicker. They had to stop and wait before crossing the street. Walking silently, they made their way to the corner of Main Street.
Carol stopped before the entrance to the small convenience store.
“Karla, I'm gonna get a drink, you want one?”
“I didn't bring any money with me,” Karla responded.
She wished she had though. She would have liked to have been able to get herself another outfit, or maybe a Cd or something.
“That's okay. You stay here, I'll be right back,” Carol called over her shoulder.
Karla watched while Carol entered the store and headed toward the back, out of sight. The store may have been small, but there were a lot of customers inside, from what she could see from where she stood.
Turning toward the traffic on the street, she began to watch the people and cars. She was amused by the sight of a dog trying to cross a crosswalk by itself. Its owner appeared to be nowhere in sight.
Carol spooked Karla with her sudden appearance. She pulled a candy bar out of one pocket of her hoodie and handed it to Karla.
“You can have half. Go ahead, open it.”
Carol then produced a can of soda from the other pocket of her hoodie.
“Wow that was quick. Wasn’t there a big line? Did you cut in line or something?”
“No I know the owner.”
Carol popped the top on her soda and took her share of the candy bar.
“Oh. Right, whatever works, I guess.”
Karla took a bite of the candy bar and began following Carol along the sidewalk. She noticed many small shops lined the street. They were all facing a large town common with several park benches.
Karla followed Carol for what seemed like a half an hour.
“How far to the mall?”
“We’re almost there.”
Carol drained the last of her soda. She flipped the can into a trash bin as they passed by.
“Cool…”
She had never met such a fast walker. Karla wondered why they had to walk so fast. She was having trouble keeping up with her. They wal
ked for another two blocks, and then Karla saw the sign.
“I haven't been here in months.”
Carol slowed up a bit.
“Good. I can still plan on having some fun by showing you around.”
The mall grew before Karla's eyes. She thought it must have been about a mile long. Her eyes scanned the signs of store names mounted above each of the individual stores. She felt thrilled to see her favorite store was still part of this mall.
“Can we go in to Abercrombie? I want to check out their outfits,” she asked Carol as she spied the store sign.
Karla followed Carol across the busy parking lot. Drivers appeared to fight over some of the spots. She remembered what it was like when her Dad tried to park at this mall last Christmas. It was horrible.
Carol led Karla straight to the main entrance of the mall. She was amazed by the flood of people. She never realized how busy this place could be even when it wasn’t near the holidays.
“I know where the Abercrombie store is,” Carol stated.
Carol picked up the pace again; making Karla wondered why she had to walk so fast. She had to sidestep around people so she could keep up with her in the thick crowd. The task was proving to be difficult. She almost had to push her way through the people to keep up with her.
Carol stopped quickly, and Karla almost walked into her.
“Here it is.”
Karla followed Carol into the store. She heard the door chime when she stepped onto the store carpet. Carol immediately began checking out some tops neatly folded on a square table.
“Hey, I like this one.”
Carol held up the top in front of herself for Karla to see.
“Ah, yeah, that one is really nice,” Karla agreed.
“I have to try it on.”
Carol took the top to the dressing room, along with a pair of pants and a couple of other outfits.
Karla followed Carol. She grabbed a few outfits to try on too, even though she didn't bring any money to buy them. She could at least see how they would look on her. If she liked them, maybe she could come back later and buy them.
She showed the outfits she wanted to try on in the dressing room to the store clerk. The clerk gave them each a tag with a number of items they had with them.