I suddenly feel extremely sad and miserable. I realize that my Coca-Cola is gushing on the floor. I quickly clean up the bubbly mess.
The phone beside me rings. "Hello?" I say.
"This is-" a man starts, but I immediately hang up because I know it's some weirdo asking for money or whatever.
Cautiously I turn the TV back on, desperately hoping that something sane appears on the screen. For extra measures I change to a random channel.
It turns out I stand corrected, because I have the best of timing to turn on the TV just when Wyatt Starmount gets a sword in his neck. I shriek and try to shield myself from the horror.
Within a matter of seconds Daddy is bounding up the stairs, poking his head in my room to find the source of the racket.
"What's going on, Arissa? Everything alright here?" he asks nervously. I shake my head quickly and assure him I'm just fine. His face floods with relief and tells me that he can supply me with anything if needed. He leaves. I scan the channel guide for a normal show and click to a show on koala bears.
"Perfect. I mean, nothing could be LESS normal than koala bears, right?" I ask myself out loud. I'm fascinated as a family of koala bears stick together with some eucalyptus trees. I am addicted to them and I'm sure that Taylor would be, too.
THAT'S IT! I can confide in Miss Taylor The Actress. I remember in fourth grade when I told her I was afraid of spiders, she told me that I was bigger and scarier than any spider in the whole world. I immediately began The Great Goldheart Spider Massacre. Unfortunately spiders, as I found out, are good for the earth because they eat bugs like mosquitoes and ants and pests like that.
I dialed her number wicked fast. Her younger brother Noah picked up and knew I wanted Taylor right away. I could hear his feet, her bedroom door open, a quick exchange between the two.
"Hello!" she sings out. I smile and laugh.
"So I'm in a pickle..." I say.
"Do explain why and what about," she questions.
"Well...I was watching the news-"
"No. Way. That's like, major." she jokes.
"Uhh...anyways, on the news there was a story about a kid our age in L.A. and he got killed by some hispanic maniac with a sword...a-and now I feel really, well, scared. And sad." I pour out. She knows how I feel.
"That really is terrible, Ari. But the bright side is that it's not very likely that the maniac will find you when he's in L.A. and you're in New York City." she explains. I understand. After about five minutes of awkward silence I bring up the koalas and we dive into deep discussion. I hang up when she does. I stare out my window, eyeing the early summer sun and greenery out in my backyard. I sit in silence.
The phone rings again. "Hello?"
"Hello again. I'm Mark Guthrie. Is Arissa Goldheart there?" the strange man asks.
I put on a slightly different voice: "No sir, she's out. May I take a message down for her?"
"Indeed you can. I need to talk to Arissa, if not see her and converse something important. If it's convient, she can meet me at Mattie's Diner tonight at seven. Alright? Thank you, ma'am. I'm looking forward to seeing her tonight."
I hang up and think. Okay, I can go meet a creeper at a diner or I can talk to a creeper over the phone and he will most likely call again and Daddy willl have a cow so I think I will sleep. I crawl into bed and pull the sheets over my head.
I drift into sleep for a few hours before I start seeing things.