Chapter 19
I didn't call him from the road. Instead, I waited until I arrived home, where I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and threw on some fresh clothes. And then, feeling almost human again, I pulled out my cell phone, only to pause at what I saw on the screen – a voicemail from Derek.
Reluctantly, I hit the play button and listened as Derek's voice said, "Alright, fine. You win, alright? I talked to my dad, and he's agreed to drop the thing with Joel. And just so you know, I had to really sell it. So you owe me. Remember that."
Listening to this, my jaw dropped. I owed him? For what? Living up to what he originally promised?
Talk about nerve.
And besides, it didn't even matter, not anymore. Thanks to what I'd learned from Jake and Luna, the suspended sentence was no longer an issue, which meant that Derek and his dad could take a flying leap for all I cared.
Even a day ago, Derek's message would've gone a long way in easing my concerns. Now, it was just plain annoying. As the voicemail droned on, mostly with reminders that I should be grateful, I muttered, "Thanks for nothing."
The message ended with Derek's promise to stop by early the next day to discuss something else. I sighed.Just great.On top of all my other troubles, I'd be getting nice dose of Derek first thing in the morning.
I checked the time. Already, it was past midnight. And late or not, I still wanted to call Joel.
The odds of him answering were almost zero, but I was reasonably certain that, at the very least, he'd listen to whatever message I left. As expected, my call went straight to his voicemail. At the prompt, I took a deep breath and tried to pack as much as possible into a brief message. "Listen, it's me." I hesitated. "Uh, Melody…."
I winced. That didn'treallyneed to be spelled out, did I? I sure hoped not.
Pushing aside the distraction, I went on. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that your suspended sentence, well, it's gone. I mean, pretty much like it never happened."
Again, I hesitated. There were so many things I was longing to say, starting with "come back" and ending with, "don't ever leave."
But the words died on my lips. It felt too much like begging, and I'd done plenty of that already. So instead, I briefly outlined what I'd learned from Jake and Luna, and summarized by saying, "So the thing with Derek, meaning all of his threats, well, they're pretty pointless now."
I forced an awkward laugh. "I mean, it's not like he can have you dragged off to jail or anything." In a quieter voice, I said, "I hope you're okay, and um, if you want to talk, let me know."
With that, I ended the call and stared down at my phone. Maybe Joel was listening to my message right now. And maybe, he'd call me right back and tell me all of those sappy things that I'd been reluctant to tellhim.
But none of that happened, at least not right away. So against all hope, I sat there, clutching my phone, for at least an hour, praying that he'd call.
In the end, it was a total waste of time. I received no call, no text, and no sign whatsoever that he'd even gotten my message. I shouldn't have been disappointed or even surprised. After all, he'd made it pretty plain that a happy reconciliation wasn't in our future.
And yet, I kept telling myself that there was always tomorrow. Maybe he hadn't gotten my message. Or maybe hehadgotten it, and was still deciding what to do. Or maybe – and this was the best one yet – he wasn't going to call at all, but rather, was going to show up here and surprise me like I surprised him outside that warehouse.
Sure, it was a long shot, but anything could happen, right?
Finally, exhaustion caught up with me. Still clutching the phone, I curled up on the sofa and drifted off, only to be startled awake by the doorbell.
I bolted upright and looked around. I'd fallen asleep with the lights on, but now they were drowned out by the sun's rays filtering in through the front window. From what I could tell, it was just past sunrise – a fact that was confirmed with a quick glance at the clock.
Recalling Derek's promise to stop by, I stood on shaky legs and peered out the front window, only to freeze in mid-motion. It wasn't Derek's car in the driveway.
It was Joel's.
