Chapter 12

The frantic voice of someone calling my name woke me up. I sat up groggily, and immediately noticed Jason sitting at the edge of my bed. I scowled at him as I saw the time; it was only 6 a.m.

"What do you want, Jason?!" I snapped irritably, rubbing my eyes sleepily. As my vision cleared, I could see the dark circles under Jason's eyes, and his expression was full of despair. I frowned, my heart starting to beat a little faster. What's going on? I thought.

"Mom's not home yet. She said she was working in late, but it's 6 in the morning now, and she's never been out this late," Jason said miserably. "She hasn't even called, and isn't picking up her phone," he added.

I couldn't breathe. It seemed as if there was no air surrounding me. "W-what?!" I choked out. All my sleepiness was gone, and I threw my covers off, jumping out of my bed.

Stumbling a little, I reached for my phone, and with shaking hands, dialed my Mom's cell phone number. It kept ringing, and no one picked up. I tried again two more times, and still no one picked up.

Jason grabbed my shoulders, and forced me to sit back on the bed. "I'm sure she's fine. I mean, she might have had an emergency or something," he said soothingly. I knew he was trying to stay strong for me, even though he himself was worried sick out of his mind about Mom.

"W-where's Ulises?" my voice cracked.

"He's downstairs, trying to find out more about where Mom-"

Ulises burst into my room at that moment, a look of relief on his face. "Mom did have an emergency. There was a huge accident somewhere, they didn't tell me where, and there weren't enough doctors to tend to the injured."

 "They asked Mom, and other doctors to go there, and she agreed. Even Sarah's gone," he explained. "And I have her phone. She left it here before leaving for work."

I sighed in relief, and Jason's shoulders relaxed as well. I plopped down in a lying position on my bed. Ulises continued talking. "She's going to stay there for about 3 weeks, apparently."

"Three weeks?! What kind of accident was it?! And what are we going to do about her?" Jason pointed at me. "You have work, and college, I have practice, and games to attend to. We can't leave her alone!" he exclaimed.

I groaned. "I'm not a baby, Jason. I can take care of myself. It's not like you're not coming back home."

"No. It's not safe-"

"Fine! I'll stay at Beth's! Or, she'll come to our house!" I said, frustrated. Did they think I don't know how to take care of myself?

"But, two girls alone in the house isn't a very safe thing-"

"Are you kidding me, Jason?!" I practically yelled at him. "We've done this thousands of times in the past, and now you're telling me it's not a safe thing? You...I'm not a baby!"

Jason and Ulises burst out laughing. "Your face!" Jason managed between laughs. "Jeez, I'm kidding Ellie. I'm fine with you staying with Beth," he laughed more, and ruffling my hair, he got up, and with Ulises on his heels, left my room.

"Idiot," I muttered under my breath. My eyes felt droopy once everything quieted down, and I debated whether to just go back to sleep. I mean, today was Saturday, and I was planning on sleeping in late.

 After a few minutes, as I got sleepier, I decided to just sleep for a few hours, so that I don't feel exhausted all day.

I was on the verge of falling asleep, when my phone went off. I groaned, and picked up my phone. Scrunching my eyebrows, as I failed to recognize the number, I clicked the answer button.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Hellooo?!"

Growing impatient, I ground out, "Who is this? And why are you calling me at". I looked at my clock. "6:30 in the morning on a Saturday?" I can be grumpy if woken at this hour.

"Because I knew you would be awake, love," a deep voice responded. I frowned, trying to remember where I'd heard this familiar voice before, but nothing came to me.

Who would know I'd be awake at this time? Which was only because of the little incident with Mom? Should I ask the person all that?

"Who are you?" I settled with the simple question. Might as well find out who the stranger was.

"Ah-ah-ah. I'm surprised you don't recognize me. You're on my mind 24/7, and you don't even recognize my voice? What a shame," the deep voice on the phone drawled out.

What the heck? Is this some kind of prank? Or is it a stalker? It can't be a prank, since the voice sounds very familiar. Or maybe it is. "Listen. Whoever you are, either tell me who you are, or hang up, and don't ever call me again, alright?" I retorted angrily.

"Ahh. Still as feisty as before. Though the stunt you pulled in front of the whole school was totally not cool. And I assure you, I will get revenge for what you did," his voice sounded menacing, and I shivered involuntarily.

Not wanting to hear any more, I pressed the 'end call' button, and lay still with the phone in my hand.

Who the heck would be calling me for revenge? And what stunt was he talking about? I never pulled any kind of stunt in front of the whole school....unless..Luke! Of course it's Luke. How the heck did he get my number?! And...how did he know I'd be awake at this time?

I pondered over the conversation and started to feel sleepy again. This time, I didn't need to decide whether I should just stay awake or just fall asleep.

My brain did that for me. I fell asleep instantly as I lay back down with the phone still in my hand, and the thoughts of my conversation earlier with Luke still in my mind.

*********

My phone buzzed in my hand.

I rolled over on my bed, trying to ignore the buzz. But the stupid phone wouldn't stop buzzing. I opened my eyes groggily and glared at my phone. All traces of sleep vanished when I looked at the time.

Eleven a.m.?! How the heck did I even sleep that long? My phone buzzed again, and I checked my text messages.

'Ellie, did u hear about the accident?' -Beth

'I mean, I didn't really hear about the actual accident, just that some of the doctors were requested over there. They have to stay there for 3 weeks! That's awesome! But my mom didn't stay cuz of Kelly (Beth's sis).' -Beth

'She's still a baby after all xD' -Beth

'R u awake yet? If ur not, then WAKE UP! I can't believe you're still sleeping!' -Beth

I sighed. One text would've been enough.

'Yeah, I heard about the accident, my Mom's there, and yeah, I can't believe I slept for this long either' - Ellie

I replied back to her, and got up to freshen myself up. I left my phone on my bed and went in to take a shower. I inhaled in the sweet scent of raspberry body lotion as I entered the bathroom.

My bathroom always smelled like raspberries, and I loved it. I undressed and entered the shower, instantly turning it into a hot one.

I reached up for the raspberry body wash, and as I grasped it in my hand, it slipped out of my hand. The thing is, the lid of the bottle was open. And it fell right on my -you guessed it- head.

I felt the body wash trickle down my scalp and onto my face, along with the bottle, that fell down in the tub with a loud SPLAT.

Quickly rubbing my eyes as they started stinging a little, I reached down and picked up the bottle and put it back up. I don't think I would be needing any more of it right now.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I washed the body wash out of my hair. Surprisingly, my hair felt soft as I dried it off with my towel. I left it down as I went down in the kitchen for breakfast.

Ulises was already up, and so was my breakfast. Finally, something that made my mood go up. I smiled at Ulises, as he walked towards me. I knew what he was going to do, and let out a groan.

I tried to dodge his hug, but it was no use. Seriously, what kind of brother gives their sister a hug everytime he sees her?

"You know you love my hugs El!" he grinned at me.

"More like your death grip..." I muttered as I sat down for my pancakes. I stopped suddenly, staring incredulously at the pancakes.

At the same time, Ulises sniffed around a little, and then said, "Is it just me, or does like, the whole kitchen smell like raspberries now? I mean, I'm pretty sure the smell of pancakes wasn't this strong."

The world probably hates me. Because surely, the day I accidentally dump almost the whole bottle of raspberry body wash on my head, couldn't be the same day that my brother cooks raspberry pancakes? Apparently, it was the same day.

"Why did you make raspberry pancakes today?" I asked grumpily. I knew it wasn't his fault, and the fact that he actually cooked something was more than enough, but I couldn't help it. I lost half of my precious body wash today. It's bound to make anyone grumpy, right?

"What? You should be grateful I even cooked something for you. I just poured some extra powder accidentally, so I had to give it to you instead of wasting it." So much for brotherly love.

"Whatever," I grumbled, and started eating. "When's Jason going to come back? Doesn't he have practice for only three hours today?"

"I don't know, he might stay at his friend's after practice," he replied. "And I have to go to work soon, so you can just go over to Beth's for until we come back."

I groaned. I've been doing a lot of groaning today. "But it's too early!" I protested. "And anyways, Beth's going to come here herself, so I don't need to go to her house," I added as I remembered her text from last night.

And as I remembered that, I also remembered that I'd been texting her before I went to take a shower. Oh crap. I ran upstairs, and as I expected, my phone was already buzzing as a reminder to check my text messages.

It said I had 3 missed calls, and 6 text messages. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. It's not like it's the end of the world if I don't reply back to her immediately.

Beth always thinks that everyone should reply back to her immediately. Or else she gets impatient and keeps texting the person until they reply back to her. Or in my case, even call.

'Hey, I took my time 2 write all those text messages. And u reply back in one. freaking. sentence' -Beth

'And now it's been 5 mins and u haven't even replied back yet' -Beth

'I'm growing old El. Reply back 2 me' -Beth

'How dare u leave me hanging like that! I'm ur best friend! Forever!' -Beth

'If u don't reply to me right now... *scary voice*' -Beth

'Oh, this is pointless! I'm coming over to ur house in about 20 mins. Whether u like it or not. <3 u 2! ^.^' -Beth

I laughed out loud at her stupid texts, and quickly texted an 'okay' back as a reply. I knew what her reaction would be. She'll start all over again with that stupid "one word/sentence" message when she herself texted me a whole mountain of words thing.

At that moment, the bell rang. Beth's here already. Which means I'm going to be loaded with questions about Luke. That was one thing that I didn't want to talk about. But, knowing Beth, I won't be able to squeeze out of this situation.

I got out of my room and went downstairs to get the door. When I was on the last five steps, I saw Ulises get up to get the door as well. Me being silly, I tried to run to the door, so I could get there before him. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was still on the stairs. And so, I think you know what happened.

I lost my balance on the steps, because of the huge leap I'd made, forgetting I was still on the steps, and tumbled down the last five steps. I landed hard on my right knee.

I think it could've been much worse than that, but it still hurt like hell. I felt hands grip my arms, and I was hauled back to my feet.

"Ellie, are you okay?!" Ulises demanded. His eyes held concern as he checked me over. He sighed in relief when he found no blood, or scratch anywhere. Then his expression turned to one of disbelief. "Are you crazy?! What the hell were you thinking, just jumping off of the steps like that? You could've been hu--"

He cut off as the bell rang again. He turned his head towards the door, then looked back at me. "Sit down for a minute," he ordered me, and left to get the door. I rolled my eyes and sat down. Well, tried to.

Pain shot up my knee, and I let out a surprised yelp. I wasn't expecting that. My eyes watered of their own accord, and I gingerly moved my leg straight forward as I sat down on the steps.

Ulises opened the door, and let Beth in. Beth's eyes immediately fell on me, and a frown formed on her face. "Why're you sitting there like a monkey?" Ulises raised an eyebrow at Beth, and I hastily shook my head at him, warning him not to say anything to her. "Okay, not a monkey, but, why're you sitting there?"

"She fell, of course," Ulises stated, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. I was the one who shot a glare at him now. They both made their way over to me. "Does anything hurt?" he asked me.

"Nope," I lied. It didn't hurt that much. Just a dull pain. "Can we go up to my room now?" I added hastily. He apparently thought I was telling the truth, and let it go.

When Beth and I went up to my room, she immediately started asking me questions about Luke. This isn't going to be easy, I thought with a sigh. I told her everything from the beginning, how Luke and I met in the parking lot, and how he's been harassing me.

I also told her about the phone call. Her eyes widened when I told her that he said he already knew I'd be awake. "Do you think he has something to do with the accident?" she asked me. Exactly what I'd been thinking.

"Could be. We can't be sure though," I replied. "He might've heard about the accident, and thought that my Mom would be away..." I trailed off. I don't think he was awake until 6 a.m., watching the news, though.

Beth suddenly shifted closer to me, and...sniffed me. She gave me a weird look. "Did you dump a whole bottle of your raspberry lotion on your head or something?" she asked.

"How'd you know?" I mumbled out grumpily. This was the second time someone commented on the smell. I didn't think it would be this strong. Apparently, it was. Beth's expression turned into one of amusement.

"You seriously dumped the lotion on your head? I was over exaggerating when I said that. But..." she paused. And then started laughing. She fell on my bed in a lying position, still laughing her head off.

"It was body wash..." she continued laughing.

I face-palmed, but couldn't help smile at her hysterical laughing. She then grabbed my pillow, which was in a shape of a rabbit, and clutched it hard.

"Hey! Leave the bunny out of it," I said, and reached for it. She pulled back just in time, and just out of my reach. "Give it back to me, Beth!" it was my favorite pillow, and I had it since I was 5. I wasn't going to let her ruin my lifetime possession.

Suddenly, an idea formed into my head. I gave Beth a mischievous grin, and before she had time to react, I jumped on her. She squealed in surprise, and I reached for the pillow again.

But before I could grab it, she pulled her arm back, and threw it across the room. I turned just in time to see the ear of the bunny/pillow get stuck on the windowsill.

I untangled myself from Beth, and ran for the pillow. But it was too late. I couldn't reach it in time. It tumbled out the open window. I reached the window, and glanced down. And did a double-take.

Standing outside my window, with a garbage bag in one hand, and my pillow in the other, stood Ace.