Alissa dropped the coins into the phone and dialed her father’s cell phone.
“Who is this?” he demanded, picking it up.
“Daddy? It’s me, Calypso,” Alissa said.
“Cali? Oh, Cali, baby, were are you? What’s wrong? Are you coming home?”
“I can’t tell you where I am, and no, I’m not coming home. I just wanted to tell you I’m ok. And that I love you.”
“Calypso, don’t hang up this phone,” he began, just before Alissa hung up the phone.
Veronica was next.
“Mom?” she asked, when her mother picked up. “It’s Circe.”
“Oh my god, Cira,” she said, breaking down into sobs.
“Mom, I’m ok. I’m with Calypso and Lorelie. We’re all ok. But we’re not coming home. I love you.” She hung up the phone.
“Here goes,” Alice said, dialing her parents private line. “Dad?”
“Who... Lori?” he asked, shocked. Quickly, he put it on the speaker phone. “You’re talking to your mother, too.”
“Mom, Dad, I love you, I’m ok. Nothing’s wrong. But I can’t come home now.” Before they could reply, she hung up.
“That’s done, now what?” Veronica asked.
“We go on with our lives,” Alice said. “We have another six weeks in this life. We’ll live it out, and go back to our old life, and live happily ever after.”
“If that’s possible,” Alissa murmured.
They all fell silent, Alissa’s words echoing in their minds as they walked home. Would it be possible for them to go back to their old lives?
“You’re serious about the college thing?” Alice asked Alissa the next morning, as Alissa prepared to go out.
“Very.” Alissa tied her shoes and stood up. “I want to go to college, get an education.”
“Would a college take you in?” Veronica asked. “After all, you did go to a French boarding school.”
“I’ve already talked to a few people, mainly the headmistress at L’Etolie, before we left. She told me I would be able to get into any college I wanted, especially since I took my SATs and got a 1600. And I wasn’t being entirely truthful when I said we were useless. Our education wasn’t entirely useless. We did have the basic classes most American’s get.”
“Like those damn math and science classes,” Alice complained. “Chemistry and Calculus, Anatomy and Statistics.”
“Stat’s was the hardest class I had,” Veronica said. “I hated it.”
“So did I,” Alissa agreed. “It was pure hell.” She picked up her wallet. “I’m gonna go now. I’ll see you two later. If Justin calls, tell him I’ll call him back.”
“Hey, Alissa, before you leave, answer this,” Veronica said. “What do you feel for Justin?”
“What do you feel for Joey?” Alissa returned.
“I don’t know,” Veronica said, shaking her head.
“Same here,” Alissa told her. “Ali, what about you and JC?”
“I don’t know. I know I like him, but any more than that, I can’t tell you anything.”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Alissa sighed. “Well, I gotta go. Laters.”
“Hey Justin, it’s Alissa. I’m just returning your call. I’ll be home all day-”
“Sorry, Lis,” Justin said, picking up the phone. “I was in the shower.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. But I got your message- ‘call me the minute you get home’- and I figured I’d call.”
“Did you just get home?”
“Thirty minutes ago.”
“I said the minute you get home.”
“Oh, like you’re my master and I’m supposed to jump at what you say.”
“You should.”
“In your dreams, Justin. In your dreams.”
“Want to go to dinner tonight?”
“Sure. When, where?”
“When- eight. Where- it’s a surprise. But it’s formal.”
“Ok. I’ll be ready at eight.”
“Ok, see you then.”
“Isn’t it nice having the place to ourselves?” Alice asked. She and JC had her apartment to themselves. Veronica and Joey had gone to the movies, and Justin had taken Alissa to dinner.
“It’s very nice,” JC said. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. “We have all the privacy we want.”
“But the others will be back soon.”
“No, they won’t. They’ve got plans. Joey’s taking Veronica to his house, Justin’s taking Alissa back to his place.”
“I thought you guys lived together.”
“We do, when we’re recording and stuff. But we’ve all got our own places.”
“So they’ve all got plans for tonight,” Alice mused. “Do you have any plans for tonight?” She turned around in his arms to face him.
JC leaned down and kissed her. “If you want.”
“Depends on what you have planned.” Alice ran her hands up JC’s arms. “You’ll just have to show me, and then I can tell you if I want it.”
JC laughed. “I like your plan.” He stood up and scooped her into his arms, walking down to her room.
Gently placing her on the bed, he looked into her eyes. “This is kinda personal, but I have to ask it-”
“Yes, JC, I am a virgin,” she told him.
JC sighed, relieved that he didn’t have to ask. “Then I’ll be gentle, I promise.”
“Whatever you want, JC,” Alice told him. “I just want you to be happy.”
“That’s all I want for you.” JC his hand down her cheek. “I’ll do anything to make you happy.”
“I didn’t notice how late it was,” Alissa commented, looking at the clock. She was at Justin’s house.
“What time is it?” Justin asked, yawning. He stretched out his body. They’d been laying on his bed, talking.
“Two.”
“Damn, I didn’t think it was that late.” Justin sat up and pulled Alissa into his arms. “Why don’t you just stay here tonight? It’s too late to go home. I did have a few things planned, but likewise, it’s too late.”
Alissa yawned. “Ok, I’ll stay here. What did you have planned?”
“Just some things.” Justin got up and walked to his dresser. “Want a shirt to sleep in?”
“Yeah, please.” Alissa walked over to Justin. “And you can show me where I can sleep.”
“You’re sleeping in here,” Justin told her.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“You’ll get your way this time, only because I’m too tired to argue.”
Justin grinned at her. “Sure. You know you just don’t want to argue with me.”
“Whatever, Justin.” Alissa took the shirt from him and walked into the bathroom. Five minutes later, she walked out dressed only in the shirt, which came down to mid-thigh. She placed her clothes on a chair and crawled up on the bed.
Justin had stripped to his boxers and a wife-beater. He wrapped his arms around Alissa, who curled up next to him, and within minutes they were asleep.
“I wonder what the other two are doing,” Veronica mused, as she stared at the stars. She and Joey were sitting on hill a few miles outside of town, star gazing.
“JC and Justin have plans for them. Don’t worry, they’re in good hands.”
“Now I’m really worried. What kind of plans?”
“You’ll have to ask them tomorrow,” Joey told her. “Right now, I don’t want to think about them. All I want to think about is you.”
“Me too.” Veronica rolled over so she was on top of him. Leaning down, she kissed him. “Make love to me, Joey.”
Those were five words he’d been waiting for. He rolled over so she was beneath him. “With pleasure.”
Veronica saw stars- both literally and figuratively- as he made love to her.
They were staring at the stars an hour later, when Veronica saw the shooting star.
I wish I could stay here forever. I’m happy, in love. Please, don’t take this from me.
“Last night was the most wonderful night of my life,” Alice said through a bite of ice cream. “JC is amazing.”
“Joey is amazing,” Veronica sighed. She took a scoop of ice cream from the contaniner sitting on the table between the three of them. “How was your night, Lis?”
“Now I know what Justin had planned,” Alissa told them. “We stayed up most of the night talking, and went to bed at two, so he didn’t actually go through with anything.”
“So you didn’t get any last night.” Veronica shook her head. “You poor, poor child.”
Alissa rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Ronnie.”
Silence fell over the room as they contunied to eat the ice cream.
“Do you thinkwe should tell them?” Alice asked in a quiet voice.
“No,” Veronica said. “We don’t know how they’d take it. It’s best to contiune to be the Cameron sisters.”
“I don’t want to go back,” Alissa said.
“Me neither,” Alice agreed.
Veronica looked at them. “We could stay here longer.”
“But Ronnie, the longer we stay, the harder it’ll be to go back,” Alissa told her.
“Lis, listen to me. We’ll give it another month after our original plan. We’ll get to know the guys better, and then tell them when they trust us and can understand why.” She looked at Alice, then at her best friend. “C’mon girl, it won’t hurt us.”
Alissa finally nodded her head. “We’ll leave in October.”
Veronica looked at Alice. “Agreed?”
Alice nodded her head. “Agreed.”
What are we getting ourselves into? Alissa asked herself.