Leah held the CD book cover in her shaking hand as her other hand held the phone up to her ear. She'd just finished dialing Nick's cell phone number - it had taken her 10 times, each time she'd hung up just before dialing the last digit. Her stomach was in knots as the line continued to ring. It was on the tenth ring when Nick's voice mail picked up.
"Hey... Leave a message and I'll call ya back. Later."
Leah let out a sigh - 1/2 in a small amount of relief that he hadn't actually answered, 1/2 in ecstasy at the sound of his voice. She figured she could just leave a quick message and then it would be up to him to call back. That way she would have no guilt, because after all, she did call.
"Hi, Nick-"
That was all she'd gotten out when suddenly there was a small click, and Nick's voice, "Hello??"
Okay, since when are people able to pick the phone up, once voice mail has clicked on, on a cell phone?? Leah thought, but didn't have much of a chance to think it over. She had to answer him.
"Ummm... Nick... Hi. I thought this was your cell phone? How did you answer once voice mail picked up??"
Nick's eyebrows scrunched, "Um, no, this is the bus' phone. We have a machine that you can hear, and we usually screen calls. Who is this?" He'd thought it was one of his friends back in Florida, but now that he heard her talk more, he realized it wasn't.
Leah blushed, before letting out a small laugh, "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. Silly me... This is Leah. I'm a fan... you gave me your number at a meet and greet yesterday...?"
Nick's eyes widened and he looked over towards AJ, who knew it was Leah. He'd known it was her when she started talking on the machine, but he didn't tell Nick - he'd just let him answer. "Oh! Hi, Leah... How are you?" He kicked himself and AJ laughed at him.
"Um, I'm good... You??"
"Pretty great..." Nick sat down as she began to come alive a little more, and Nick found himself surprised at how mature she really was for her age. She was silly, and playful, but she had a lot of intellect for a fifteen year old.
They talked for two hours, about anything and everything - her parents had gotten divorced when she was 10, and though Nick's were still married, he sympathized with her nonetheless. He told her of all the hard things he'd been through, and they gave each other small words of wisdom, and by the time it was dinnertime for Leah Nick didn't want to get off the phone.
"Hey, Leah? I'll be back in Tacoma in two weeks to visit a friend... You wouldn't, by chance, want to hang out with me on that Saturday, would you?"
Leah's eyes widened. She had to tell him! She had to tell him that she was only fifteen. If he found out her age, after talking on the phone with her for such a long time, he'd hate her! But if he found out, after meeting her, he'd kill her! Wanting to die anyway, she answered, "Nick, I... I don't think that would be such a good idea." She hated herself for saying it - this was her dream! - but she had to.
Nick smiled, knowing why she'd said no, "Oh, c'mmon, Leah! Pleaaaaaaase?? This will be my first break in a really long time. I wanna hang out with you."
"Nick," Leah smiled, never feeling as happy as she did at that moment. "Alright, alright... Just call me with the details, okay?"
"Alright, cool! What's your number?"
Leah relayed her number to him, Nick wrote it down, and then after saying their goodbye's, they hung up.
AJ, walking into the room again and grinned over at his friend, "So you thought you couldn't be friends with a fifteen year old, huh??
Nick sighed and turned his head to look out the bus window, "Shut up, Age." He knew that Leah had a very loveable personality, he knew that she was beautiful, and he knew that if he were to forget her age for any amount of time he could very easily fall in love with her. But he had to make sure that never happened! It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair to either of them... and it wasn't possible. But Nick had a feeling that falling in love was often an involuntary thing.
AJ sensed his friend's sadness, so he patted him on the shoulder, apologized for his comment, and left the room so that Nick could be alone with his thoughts.
Nick sighed again and ran his fingers through his hair. What was he going to do? He had to find a way to tell her that he knew her age, so that she wasn't making herself sick over it. Oh gosh, he was already putting her feelings above his. Wasn't that the first sign of feeling at least some kind of love for somebody?
