“Ummm… ok… well, let’s go watch this competition since George is poor,” Salina suggested.

            “Don’t forget homeless. Remember that time when George met us at the mall Vanessa? He had that homeless backpack with holes! HAHHAHAA!” Denny said as he shoved more rice in his mouth.

            “SHUT UP!!!” George screamed.

            “HAHHAHAA, ya and he couldn’t afford a bus ticket to my house after and we had to walk and you nearly died cuz u were so tired and we almost had to carry you!” I reminded Denny.

            “SHUT UP!!!” Denny screamed.

Jonny, Salina and I laughed as tears rolled down our cheeks.

            “Ok, so let’s all switch cell phone numbers so we can get a hold of each other when we get there.” Jonny suggested.

            Everyone agreed.  As everyone madly swapped phones and typed in their cell numbers, I sat there, looking down.

            “Vanny?” George said.

            “My phone’s died…” I solemnly said.

            No more questions were asked after that. 

            “I’ll have to email you my cell phone number when I buy one tomorrow. Vanny, you come shopping with me!” Salina said.

            I nodded.

            “Hey, this reminds me of this rumour that’s been going around about cells!  There was this one girl who got a call on her cell and it left a message dated 2 days after of herself screaming!  When she tried to trace this phone call, it was traced back to her cell. And what’s scary is that 2 days later, she met with a tragic accident.” Salina spoke while she tried to pick up her egg roll with her chopsticks.

            “OMG, is that true?” I nervously asked only to see Salina nod.

            Why are you getting a cell then you idiot…

            “Hey Val, I gotta pee, come with me.” George casually said.

            “Ok man, let’s go.” Valiant replied.

The rest of the crew stopped eating as we watched them walk to the washroom.  We all had the same thoughts going through our head but tried not to think too much about it.

 

***

The sound of the toilet flushed as Valiant waited near the sinks. 

“Ahhh, much better.” George calmly said.

“Dude, why was everyone acting kinda weird?” Valiant asked with a puzzled face.

“Who knows, they were always a lil weird.”

            The sound of the zipper echoed in the large, gray washroom.  The room was unusually dark and damp and was quite cold.  The phone rang. 

            “Yo, your phone’s ringing.” George said. 

            “It’s not my ringtone.  You sure it isn’t yours?” Valiant replied.

            “No man, I left my in my man purse at the table.”

            “Oh, that’s weird.”

            Valiant reached for his pocket and found that he had one missed call.  George walked out of the stall and said, “So, it’s yours?”

            “Yeah, that was weird, who changed my ring tone.”

            Valiant highlight the missed call and clicked on it to find out who the caller was.  The caller was from his own cell.  What? It’s from my own cell? Fido’s service really sucks!  George looked over the shoulder and saw his own cell number on the screen. The two looked at each other as Valiant looked at the missed call and saw that the caller had left a message dated on Saturday at 9pm.  He brought the cell closer to both his and George’s ear and opened the voice message.  There he heard himself. 

            The sound of a train went by from a distant was heard.  Shit! I’m late….. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *beep beep beep*

            The two looked at each other dumbfolded.  Valiant flashes back to when Salina was telling them about the rumour.  It can’t be…

            “Vanny is prolly behind this phone prank! She always does something like this!” George said to calm his worried friend. 

            “She doesn’t have her cell with her.” Valiant slowly said.

            “She prolly used Denny’s cell! Come on, it’s cold in this washroom, not to mention that it stinks like shit!”

            The two walked out of the washroom as Valiant clutches onto his phone.

 

***

 

            “Nice try Vanny! You almost got us there!”  George said.

            “Heh?” I said.

            “What the fuck are you smoking! Haha!” Denny said.

            “The phone prank on Valiant, damn that got us for a second.  And you got Salina to tell us the rumour to spook us out first! Haha, come on guys, admit it.”

            “I didn’t send anything George…” I turned to a paled faced Valiant, “Valiant? You don’t look so well. You ok?”

            “DAMN IT VANNY! Look at how scared he is, fuck! Just admit it! I didn’t know you would go this far!” George lashed out.

            “WHAT THE HELL! WHAT DID I DO!” I dragged Valiant to a quieter corner as George is being sat on by Denny to prevent him from spazing out on me.

            “Valiant, what happened? You know I wouldn’t go too far on a prank. Besides, I couldn’t of made the call, no one had their cell on hand.  Stupid Denny ran out of battery and Jonny left his at home.  They only wrote the numbers on a napkin! It was so pathetic.”

            Valiant handed me his phone with his shaky hands after selecting the voice message.  After it finished playing, I frozed, not knowing what to do or say. 

            “Don’t worry, it’s probably one of your immature friend you hang out with a West.  Like Salina said, this rumour is spreading like wildfire!” I assured him.

            “Yeah, you’re right. West is full of idiots and stinky people.”

            “Yup, but man, do I miss that highschool.”

 

            After the crew calmed George down and convinced him that I didn’t do it.  We all left as we all agreed to meet at the DDR competition at 6. 

 

The sounds of people screaming as they jammed into the arcade were heard as Salina and I got off the bus.  The bus ride was particularly odd after seeing a manlady arguing with her husband about picking her face and an ugly blond flirting with a bus driver who looks like his bones are made of dust.  The world is mutating in the worse way possible.  Salina and I stood 5 feet away from the entrance where a fat dude was stuck at the doors as everyone else tried to push him through. He screamed while taking a big bite out of his hotdog.  I turned, trying not to watch the rather large man barf back out his hotdog as one muscular bald man charged at him, freeing him from the doors.  As I turned, I saw Denny and Jonny getting out of a rusting blue green car with dragon stickers on all parts of the window.  Wow they’re so azn… were the thoughts that ran through my head.

“Wow, that fat man is barfing. That’s sick!” Jonny said with wide eyes.

“Ohhh man…” Denny said.

            “So, I guess we’re waiting for the two… uh…. Lovers?” Jonny said as he made a face.

            I nodded slowly.  When they arrived, we saw how packed the competition was and not only that, it reeked of barf and B.O.  We decided to hangout elsewhere.  We went to watch a Jackie Chan movie.  Valiant had to pay for George’s ticket because George is broke.  He proved it when he opened his empty wallet and saw an “I Owe U” note.  I tried to hold in my laughter. 

            The movie was unexpectedly  long as it ran for 4 hours straight, way longer than King Kong. 

            “I gotta pee… really really bad.” I said as I drank more pepsi, “Don’t leave without me!” I ran towards the washroom.

            The phone rang with a ring tone that brought back memories for George and Valiant.  Valiant left his phone ringing and vibrating in his pant pocket. 

            “It can’t be… I changed the ring tone back.” Valiant nervously whispered with a shocking wide black eyes.

            “Yo man, you ok? You look dead!” Denny jokingly said.

            “Valiant… you better stay with us for a while, even if it’s a joke, it’s damn elaborate.” George said.

            “Isn’t it odd that we’re always not with Vanessa when this phone call comes?” Valiant said in revelation.

            “What are you talking about? The phone call?  Vanessa may be a hacker, but she knows nothing bout cell phones! She can’t even save a phone number in her phone, I had to do it for her! Plus, she doesn’t have a cell anymore!  And I’ll prove it to you. Let’s go to the washroom.” Salina said.

            The group of idiots azn/wzn walked towards the washroom and stopped in front of the girls’ washroom door.

            “Dude, I ain’t going in there,” Denny said as he stepped back.

            “I’m going in! Vanny’s gone too far with this joke!” George stepped forward.

            “She didn’t do it, she’s not that smart for this joke!” Salina said as she pushed the door open.

            “Vanessa! Which stall are you in!” Salina yelled.

            “What the heck! Why?”

            “There! She’s in the last stall, and are we stupid, that’s the only stall with the door closed!” Jonny commented.

            “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING IN THE GIRLS’ WASHROOM JONNY!”

            “This prank has gone too far Vanny, Salina kick open the stall!” George demanded.

            Salina walked over to the stall.  It was like a déjà vu all over again.  This time smarter, I pulled up my pants and prepared for the attack.  The door flung over as I jumped out ending in a karate stance. 

            “Hiya! I’ll kick whoever’s ass that was part of this!”

            “Why did you make the call again, you think it’s funny?” George asked angrily.

            “What are you talking about? Wait, I gotta wash my hands,” I walked over to the sink, “Alright, what call?  I don’t even have a cell phone. You can check my bag, my pockets, my shoes, whatever!”

            “Man, I think she’s telling the truth, look her bag has a PSP, an mp3, her wallet, glasses, what the…. A manga?” Jonny said as he grabbed the manga and started reading it, “Wow, can I borrow this? It’s good!”

            “Were you a part of this raid?” I asked.

            “Absolutely not! I trust you leader! I tried to stop them in fact!”

            “Ok, but take really good care of my manga! Not a scratch!”

            “Hey, hold on! Roll back! If Vanny didn’t make the call, who did?” George said.

            All faces turned to Valiant except for Denny, who’s keeping watch at the door.  Valiant flipped open his silver phone.  Everyone looked over his shoulder. The screen read:

One Missed Call

Saturday April 24 9:00 pm

You have one new message

 

Valiant opened the voice message which read:

 

*The sound of a train went by from a distant was heard.*  Shit! I’m late….. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *beep beep beep*

           

We jumped as we heard it. 

           

“It’s not my voice right?”

            “It really does…” I said.

 

The door flung open and Denny screamed, “Guys! People are coming in, let’s go!”

We all got out of the washroom and walked on the streets.  It was 8:40 pm.  I was hungry so I suggested going to Mickey Ds for dinner.  We all agreed and walked towards the lone building situated across Westervelt College.  We ordered our food which took forever because Denny ordered one of everything on the menu.  Salina’s burger was not perfect and made them redo it.  George forgot he didn’t have any money as he begged us for cash after the cashier asked for them.  Valiant naturally paid the tabs. 

“BK makes better burgers! They are made with perfection! Crown on top…” Salina went on and on as she described the technical details of a whopper. 

“Hey Valiant, remember how you don’t like the fries? Wanna give it to me???” I said with a wide smile.  He reached for his extra large fries and set it on my tray.  My eyes lit up. 

            After all the food was brought to the second level of the building, we took the spot near the windows, with a view over the parking lot and Westervelt in direct view.  Denny told us of his dream of one day graduating and attending that college.  For now, it was unlikely.  But from my past experiences, miracles do happen.  The second level of Mickey Ds is empty, half of the chairs were put up.  Mickey Ds was definitely quiet.  As I was getting use to this empty dark atmosphere, Valiant’s phone rang, with a ring tone of some Indonesian song.  “That ring tone was different from before…” I thought to myself. 

Valiant hesitated for a bit before picking up the phone. 

            “Hello? Hey! Wassup!” Valiant greeted the caller, “Wait, the reception is bad here, I’ll call you back.”

            “Guys, I’ll be right back, I’m going outside to get a better reception.”

            Valiant walked downstairs and soon, he was visible from the windows near us.  The full moon above the night sky was mesmerizing.  It gave an eerie feeling and sent chills down my spine.  Then I realized something.

            “Hey! What time is it?” I asked quickly.

            George looked at his cell and said replied, “Eight… Fifty… Eight… Saturday.. April 24,” George looked up, “… the message….”

            We all ran downstairs as Denny was tried to catch up to us.  He slipped on a hamburger and a loud thud was heard.

            “Guys… wait up…” Denny called

            We didn’t bother with him, something else was troubling all of us.  We got to the entrance as we heard the sound of a train on Mickey Ds radio, it was supposedly a hit single called “Choo Choo”. 

            “Shit! I’m late!” Valiant screamed.

            We stood there in shock as the message ran through our minds.  Everything felt like it was running in slow motion as a strange invisible force pulled Valiant towards the parking lot in front of a speeding drunken driver.  The same scream as the phone was heard as tears ran down George’s face.  The cell phone flew in the air and landed quite a distance away from the accident.  The phone shattered into a million pieces.  The drunken driver pulled over as the staff at the fast food restaurant ran passed us.  Voice were heard everywhere as George fell down to his knees, Jonny and Salina broke down sobbing and Denny tumble down and looked at the gruesome sight.  He fainted.  I stood there, replying the voice message in my head over and over again.  The red flashing lit of a van soon appeared and the sound of sirens was ringing in my ears. The scene in front of my eyes started to get dimmer and dimmer and eventually, darkness appeared.