felt like the first time in forever.
At just the moment when she was feeling the best, her cell phone began to ring. Caelyn didn’t recognize the number, but she answered it anyway, just in case.
She hadn’t really expected it to be him, as she’d tried to call Elijah’s hospital room the previous night and hadn’t been allowed through.
But then she heard the familiar voice on the other end and her heart skipped a beat. “Hey kid,” he said, and she could almost hear his grin through the phone. “What’s new?”
She closed her eyes and felt a wave of relief at hearing his voice again. At the same time, she felt an intense longing and grief for not being physically with him. The two emotions seemed to do battle inside her body, until the love for him won out and she allowed herself to just enjoy his voice. “I’m sitting at my house trying to avoid reporters outside,” she said, finally.
“Are you serious?” Elijah asked. “The reporters followed you all the way home because of me?”
Caelyn laughed. “Actually, no. The reporters at our house have nothing to do with you, strangely enough.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “There’s some other reason why they’d be there? Is it because of Jayson?”
She hadn’t thought of Jayson in a little while, and the mention of his name caused her to flinch. “No, it’s not Jayson, thank God,” she said. “It’s about Deena.”
“Go on,” Elijah said. “I’ve gotta hear this.”
So Caelyn began to tell him everything about Deena and her English teacher, and how she’d discovered it first but then kept it to herself, trusting that the truth would eventually come out—which it did. She ended with the fact that her parents had admitted Deena to an inpatient psychiatric unit.
When she was finished telling him everything, Elijah whistled. “Holy crap,” he said. “You sure do have a crazy life for a girl who’s supposedly normal.”
“I don’t think I’m normal.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “Enough about Deena and my crazy family,” she said. “I don’t want to waste precious seconds of our time talking about all of that.”
“Well I know you don’t want to hear about my boring life,” Elijah said.
“Of course I do. And your life is hardly boring.” Caelyn sat down on the sofa and curled up with a pillow, wishing he could be next to her, hugging her as they talked.
“Actually, things have been kind of interesting around here,” Elijah told her. “They let me do an interview with Anderson Cooper from my hospital bed.”
“What?” she shrieked, sitting up straighter. “Anderson Cooper? As in Anderson Cooper from CNN?”
Elijah laughed. “Yeah, the same dude. Last night he flew in and sat down right in the room with me, and there were lights and cameras and then we just shot the shit for like an hour. He told me I did really well being on camera.”
Caelyn’s head was spinning. “When will it be on TV?”
“I think Anderson said they’ll be airing it tonight.”
“Are you nervous?” Caelyn asked.
“Nervous about what?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “What the whole world will think when they watch you on TV.”
Elijah laughed again. “There’s no point in being nervous about it. I’m already on YouTube and people are writing about me and saying all kinds of stuff. So I might as well put my version out there. And anyway, I’ll be locked up so what the world thinks of me doesn’t matter that much to me.”
Caelyn’s smile faded. “Are you sure you’ll be locked up? I mean , there’s got to be a chance that they won’t send you back to jail. We need to get you the best lawyer we can, someone who can fight for you.”
“Caelyn, I’m not going to fight it. I already told you, I’m ready to pay my debt to society.”
She swallowed back a bitter taste. “You’ve paid your debt,” she said. “You risked your life for four people you didn’t know and you saved
At just the moment when she was feeling the best, her cell phone began to ring. Caelyn didn’t recognize the number, but she answered it anyway, just in case.
She hadn’t really expected it to be him, as she’d tried to call Elijah’s hospital room the previous night and hadn’t been allowed through.
But then she heard the familiar voice on the other end and her heart skipped a beat. “Hey kid,” he said, and she could almost hear his grin through the phone. “What’s new?”
She closed her eyes and felt a wave of relief at hearing his voice again. At the same time, she felt an intense longing and grief for not being physically with him. The two emotions seemed to do battle inside her body, until the love for him won out and she allowed herself to just enjoy his voice. “I’m sitting at my house trying to avoid reporters outside,” she said, finally.
“Are you serious?” Elijah asked. “The reporters followed you all the way home because of me?”
Caelyn laughed. “Actually, no. The reporters at our house have nothing to do with you, strangely enough.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “There’s some other reason why they’d be there? Is it because of Jayson?”
She hadn’t thought of Jayson in a little while, and the mention of his name caused her to flinch. “No, it’s not Jayson, thank God,” she said. “It’s about Deena.”
“Go on,” Elijah said. “I’ve gotta hear this.”
So Caelyn began to tell him everything about Deena and her English teacher, and how she’d discovered it first but then kept it to herself, trusting that the truth would eventually come out—which it did. She ended with the fact that her parents had admitted Deena to an inpatient psychiatric unit.
When she was finished telling him everything, Elijah whistled. “Holy crap,” he said. “You sure do have a crazy life for a girl who’s supposedly normal.”
“I don’t think I’m normal.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “Enough about Deena and my crazy family,” she said. “I don’t want to waste precious seconds of our time talking about all of that.”
“Well I know you don’t want to hear about my boring life,” Elijah said.
“Of course I do. And your life is hardly boring.” Caelyn sat down on the sofa and curled up with a pillow, wishing he could be next to her, hugging her as they talked.
“Actually, things have been kind of interesting around here,” Elijah told her. “They let me do an interview with Anderson Cooper from my hospital bed.”
“What?” she shrieked, sitting up straighter. “Anderson Cooper? As in Anderson Cooper from CNN?”
Elijah laughed. “Yeah, the same dude. Last night he flew in and sat down right in the room with me, and there were lights and cameras and then we just shot the shit for like an hour. He told me I did really well being on camera.”
Caelyn’s head was spinning. “When will it be on TV?”
“I think Anderson said they’ll be airing it tonight.”
“Are you nervous?” Caelyn asked.
“Nervous about what?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “What the whole world will think when they watch you on TV.”
Elijah laughed again. “There’s no point in being nervous about it. I’m already on YouTube and people are writing about me and saying all kinds of stuff. So I might as well put my version out there. And anyway, I’ll be locked up so what the world thinks of me doesn’t matter that much to me.”
Caelyn’s smile faded. “Are you sure you’ll be locked up? I mean , there’s got to be a chance that they won’t send you back to jail. We need to get you the best lawyer we can, someone who can fight for you.”
“Caelyn, I’m not going to fight it. I already told you, I’m ready to pay my debt to society.”
She swallowed back a bitter taste. “You’ve paid your debt,” she said. “You risked your life for four people you didn’t know and you saved
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