The room around her was a mess. Dirty clothes and dished littered the floor, among textbooks, notebooks, and numerous crumpled up sheets of paper. There was a loft with a mattress covered in disheveled purple sheets. It wasn’t too high off the ground, and underneath it was a dresser full of, well, just about everything. The only other pieces of furniture were a table with a TV on it, a chair, and a vanity with a mirror. Next to the loft was a small window overlooking the ocean. The shrill ring of the telephone rang out, interrupting the silence of the room.
“Hello, this is Lila,” the eighteen-year-old girl said into the receiver, annoyed. When she heard who answered, she smiled.
“Hey, Li, it’s me!” It was her best friend, Nick. Nick, who had known her since he babysat for her when she was nine and he was twelve in Ruskin, Florida. Nick, who had helped her with her homework whenever she didn’t understand something. Nick, who had been offered a singing career at age thirteen. Nick, who had become a boy band wonder and drew crowds of thousands of screaming girls at every one of his concerts.
“NICK!” she squealed, putting down her pencil. “Hey! What’s up? How are you?”
“I’m great. What are you up to?” he replied. “Doing homework?”
“Yeah, I’m writing a French paper on Joan of Arc, and I don’t seem to be getting anywhere,” she groaned. “Where are you?”
“I’m in Orlando finishing up my tour.” He paused. “Where are you going to be next week?”
“I’ll be here. Where else would I be?”
“I don’t know. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to be at your parents’ or something.”
“Oh, okay. Why?”
“I’m on break for a couple months, and I was looking for somewhere to spend a few days. I miss you, so that seemed like the logical place to go.”
“Really? I would love that! Would you stay in a hotel like last time?”
“Yeah. So you wouldn’t mind if I came to visit?”
“Did you really expect me to say no? I miss you, too! How are you going to get here?”
“BJ will drive me.”
“Okay. Great!”
“I’ll let you go so you can do your homework. Love ya, sweetie!” Nick said.
“Okay. Love you, too. See you next week!”
“Yeah, bye!”
She didn’t bother hanging up. She just hit the disconnect button and dialed another number. After two rings, a girl picked up. “Hello?” It was Lila’s best female friend and somewhat of a friend of Nick’s, Kate. She and Nick had met a few times, and they got along well.
“Hey, Kate! It’s Lila.”
“Oh, hey! What’s up?”
“Guess who’s coming to visit next week?”