Chapter Three: One Missed Call

Skylar has been having mood swings ever since her audition for the Old Navy commercial. But when she gets a call from someone mysterious, Skylar soon becomes curious as of why.

Chapter Three

 

         “I’m home.” Danielle yelled, scurrying to open the door. She carried her Prada tote in her hand as she walked into the kitchen. Danielle had just got home from school, and she was craving Gold Fish more than anything. She ran to the redwood cabinet next to the refrigerator, and reached in to grab some colored Gold Fish. Danielle ripped the pouch open, and started to inhale the goldfish handfuls at a time. In less than thirty seconds, the bag was gone.

         Janis Reeder, Danielle’s mom, came into the kitchen with a smile on her face. She was dripping wet, and her Chanel bathrobe reached just below her knees to reveal freshly shaven legs. Her hair smelled of John Frieda: Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner. “I see you’ve had your after school snack.” She said, noticing the crumbs that outlined Danielle’s face. Janis winked, and opened the refrigerator.

         Danielle stuck her tongue out in a playful way. She and her mom were really close, and Janis was more of a sister than anything. She grabbed a napkin and wiped off the Gold Fish crumbs from her face.

         Janis took an apple out of the refrigerator, and after washing it, took a big, crisp bite out of the side of the apple. You could see apple juice squirt from the apple and onto the floor. “Are you sure you don’t want a real snack,” Janis said. “Or are you full now, after that Gold Fish you just had?”

         Danielle rolled her eyes. That was typical Janis. She was definitely good to talk to, but she was still a mom. She had that motherly instinct, or whatever.

         “No, mom.” Danielle teased, grabbing the last apple from the bottom of the refrigerator. “If it makes you feel any better, I ate all my lunch today. Even the tuna!” She felt like such a kindergartener, it was sickening. She leaned up against the granite counter, taking a bit e out of her apple.

         Janis made a confused look, and said, “I didn’t pack you any tuna this morning for lunch.”

         The apple Danielle was eating started tasting bitter, so she threw it away in the trashcan that was standing next to her. “Well, then dad probably packed it.” Unsure of what to say next, Danielle blurted out, “Hey, I heard that a new girl is coming to Jackson.”

         “A…new girl?” Janis said, her confused look still printed across her face. “How often are there new students at Jackson High?”

         Danielle thought. Janis was right. New students were rare. “Well,” Danielle said, walking out of the kitchen, “Let’s just hope she’s a good one.”

 

☆☆☆

         Skylar threw herself onto her bed. Her zebra print PB Teen bedspread covered her mattress perfectly. She took a deep breath, and lay on her bed for a few minutes. She took her latest issue of Seventeen from bedside table that she’d forgotten to read over the weekend, for she had a commercial audition that hadn’t gone to well.

         Skylar walked into the warehouse where the commercial auditions were being held, scratching her nose. Unlike some other auditions she had done, Skylar had to show up in person instead of send in a tape. For some reason, Old Navy wanted to see their actors in person during the audition.

“Up next,” the voice said over the loudspeaker. “Skylar Simmons, number 471.” Skylar’s mom, Holly, put her hands on Skylar’s shoulders. “Okay, relax.” Holly said, closing her eyes. “You have done this before, but just in front of a camera.” She opened her eyes.

         “I know mom.” Skylar said, rolling her eyes. Holly always gave her the worst pep talks.

         Holly tensed. “Hey! Skylar, focus. Just pretend that you are in front of the camera making your audition video. You just can’t call cut, and you can’t redo it, and…”

         “Mom!” Skylar said, getting annoyed. Holly was great, but she just didn’t understand how to calm someone down. “I have to go.”

         Skylar ran up to the stage. She looked up at the lights hanging from the ceiling, and suddenly covered her eyes with her hands. It was like looking right at the sun, and so hot that she felt like she was in a tanning bed. She looked out ahead of her, and could only see a bit, for the rays of light took over her vision.

         “Okay, Skylar.” A man sitting at a table on the edge of the stage said. From what Skylar could see, the man had short brown hair that had been spiked with gel. He had small, rectangular glasses, and was wearing a red Ed Hardy t-shirt. “Show us what you got.”

         Skylar nodded. She took out her script, and read it aloud. “Expensive jeans that cost over one hundred dollars? Aren’t you sick of it? I know I am. That’s why I shop at Old Navy.” Skylar looked up. Again, she couldn’t make out the faces of the people sitting at the table. Oddly enough, when she read this commercial she couldn’t help but think about her new pair of True Religions. She kept reading. “Jeans are always in style, and at Old Navy I can get my favorite, good-fitting jeans at a great price.” Skylar stopped. She held her script at her waste, and took in a deep breath. Skylar bit her bottom lip so hard she started tasting blood.

         “Good job,” The man said flatly. He pointed off to the wing, and Skylar followed as directed. She knew that she blew the audition. As she read her lines, she didn’t feel confident. She felt like she was reading a Shakespeare novel in English class. The lines were so corny that it was hard for her to say the lines professionally. Her shoulders felt stiff, as if she were a statue. Skylar knew she did horribly, and would be surprised if anyone in her family were to even bring it up.

         Skylar groaned and sat up straight, surprised at how much energy it took. The magazine still sat on her lap. She picked it up, and opened it up to the first page. Skylar went to the table of contents. No articles listed in the table of contents seemed interesting, until she saw something that made her heart skip a beat. On page 98 was an article titled Girl Looses Arm. Not a very good title. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but just the thought of that injury happening to anyone else besides Valerie was startling. Skylar flipped through the magazine, finally reaching page 98.

         Tulsa Hospital has a new patient. Mary Thompson, a fourteen-year-old girl from Tulsa, Arizona has a mysterious disease that is so far undetectable. The disease caused Mary’s arm to turn a dark shard of purple. The doctors still do not have any treatments.

         After reading the first paragraph, Skylar threw the magazine onto her floor. She didn’t care if “Mary Thompson,” had some kind of gross arm disease. She was expecting to see an injury that may have been similar to what happened to Valarie. It might have even given her some ideas as to how Valerie lost her arm.

         “Skylar?” Holly whispered, opening the door to Skylar’s room a few inches.

         Skylar, who was lying on her bed, jolted upright. “Yeah? What do you want?” she said curtly.

Skylar really didn’t want to be bothered.

         “Nothing.” Holly said. She opened the door a tiny bit more, and slid herself through. “Dinner’s on the table.” Holly took a few steps forward, then sat next to Skylar on her bed.

         “I’m not hungry.” Skylar lied, closing her eyes. Skylar was, in fact very hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. As she read Seventeen, she often

held her stomach to stop it from growling. She lay back down on her bed, and tried to go to sleep.

         “Skylar,” Holly said, sighing. Her shoulders fell, and her head hung to the side. “I made your favorite. I though you would…”

         “No.” Skylar said. She rolled over so that she was facing her wall and not Holly. “Can’t you see I’m not in a good mood?” She rolled her eyes.

         Holly, finally understanding what Skylar wished, stood up. Again, she sighed and said, “Okay, you can just…lay here and sleep.” She started walking toward the door. “Ryan and I will just eat together.” Right as Holly reached out for the door, she turned around, facing Skylar and said, “Do you realize that we have had dinner together as a family since you were ten…or maybe even before that?”

         Skylar tightened her lips. She sat up, and faced Holly. “Just leave!” She then stood up, grabbed one of her zebra-print pillows and aimed at Holly. She threw the pillow, and just barely missed Holly’s right shoulder. Instead of hitting her mother, like she intended to, the pillow hit the door. Skylar didn’t know why she was so mad. It could have been hormones, or because of how badly the audition went. In fact, it probably was audition, but at the time Skylar didn’t care why she was having a fit. She just wanted to be left alone.

         Holly, surprised at Skylar, shook her head. Her eyes didn’t move. She just stared at Skylar for few seconds, who felt the need to scratch her nose. “I’m sorry, Skylar.” Holly said, shrugging, and left.

         Skylar sighed. Why did her mom have to be so stupid about this type of thing? It was just dinner, it wasn’t the end of the world. She was always so uptight.

         All of a sudden her phone started to vibrate loudly against her side table. She reached over to grab it, and realized that her agent, George, was calling her. Skylar couldn’t force herself to answer her Blackberry. George was probably calling with news about the audition. Skylar knew she did horribly, and didn’t want to hear it from anyone, especially George. After a few seconds of torture, her phone finally stopped vibrating. Skylar sighed in relief. She put her hand that was reaching out to her Blackberry underneath her pink pillow, and adjusted her body in prepare to take a nap. Then, her phone started to vibrate again. Skylar screamed in outrage. How could George call her again? Didn’t he realize that Skylar wasn’t going to pick up? Once her phone stopped vibrating, she reached out again and grabbed for her phone. On the screen in bright red letters said, “Missed call: 555-0845.”

         Skylar gasped. She knew that number anywhere. It was Valerie’s number.