#Book 1 - Page 12 (1/2)

“Nope. Did he say what he wanted?”

“He said his name was Declan...something. And he was interesting in speaking with you about your blog,” she continued her scissor kicks. “I didn’t know you had a blog now, too.”

“I don’t,” I said slowly. Declan? Who the h.e.l.l was that?

My heart started to beat a bit faster. Maybe it was someone like a book agent who saw my blog and wanted me to write a book. I know that’s pretty far-fetched but it happened a lot to bloggers and my hopes were suddenly, naively, sky-high.

“His number’s on the kitchen table,” she continued. “He said for you to call him as soon as you could.”

Well, it was at least intriguing. I went into the kitchen and picked up the pad of paper.

My mom had scrawled a number with a Seattle area code on it and the name Declan Foray.

Dex Foray?

I reached into my wallet and pulled out the business card he had given me. Sure enough it was the same number, though I had no idea his full first name was Declan. The way the name is usually p.r.o.nounced (DEE-Clan) it didn’t even make sense.

I got strangely nervous when I had to call people I didn’t know. You would think that being a receptionist would have helped me get over that hump but it hadn’t. I tried to mentally trick myself into thinking I was making just another business call.

With my heart beating a tad faster than normal, I dialed his number from the house phone. It rang so many times that I was about to hang up when the other line clicked.

“Dex here.”

Ah, his voice; low, deep and rich, like a polished instrument.

“h.e.l.lo?” he said more impatiently.

“Uhh,” I stammered. “Hi. Um, this is Perry. Perry Palomino. You…called me?”

“Yes?”

“Yeah. Well… just…calling you back!”

“I got that much,” he replied matter-of-factly.

This was off to a horribly awkward start. I rubbed my forehead and thought of what to say next.

“So, yeah, I—” I started.

“Listen, Perry. Can I call you back? I’ll be two seconds.”

“Uh—”

“Perfect. Talk soon.”

Click. The line went dead. I looked at the phone in disbelief. How long was two seconds? I stared at the phone for what seemed to be forever before I decided to head back over to talk my mom. Just as I was out of the kitchen the phone rang.

I raced back to it, composing myself before I picked it up. I needed to be more demanding.

“h.e.l.lo, Perry speaking.”

“Perry! It’s Dex.” He sounded a lot more enthusiastic now.

“Hi...Dex? Listen—”

“So, Perry. It is Perry, right? I couldn’t remember what you told me in the lighthouse but that’s who your little blog posts were attributed to.”

Uh-oh. The blog. Dex was in my blog. I hope that it wasn’t about that…

“You found the blog?”

He laughed, albeit rather sarcastically. “Kiddo, who hasn’t found your blog?”

I started feeling ill. “Look, I’m sorry, I was just filling in for my sister and I had nothing interesting to write about.”

“You mean to tell me you’re not a narcissistic fas.h.i.+on blogger? I’m liking you better already. I might almost forgive you for publis.h.i.+ng that footage of me on f.u.c.king YouTube.”

He nearly yelled that last word. I cringed. I was in s.h.i.+t.

“Look, I didn’t say who you were, and you can barely even tell who is in the shot most of the time. I mean, you told me to turn my camera on, so I did, and there’s no law against that.” I was rambling.

“Did it occur to you that there was a reason I gave you my business card?” He sighed.

“Not really. You just ended up leaving me in there at the end anyway,” I replied, now feeling anger rising in my throat. Come to think of it, how dare he call me and give me s.h.i.+t. It gave me clarity. “And let me remind you again, as you seem to have forgotten, but you were trespa.s.sing on my family’s property, so actually, you should be glad I’m not turning your stupid shoddy business card over to the police.”

Silence on the line. It gave my heart enough time to slow down by a few beats.

“Fair enough,” he finally said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Well… so, is that what you wanted? To call me and get mad that you were somewhat featured in the video I posted? Or was it that I shot some footage that you would have loved to have had yourself for your little…ghost club…or whatever the h.e.l.l it is you do again.”

I could have sworn I heard him stroke his facial hair over the line.

“That was pretty much the gist of it,” he replied.

So much for my high expectations. He was just some guy that was annoyed that I made him look stupid in front of the entire world (or whatever miniscule portion of the world that had watched the video and read the blog), and annoyed that I c.o.c.kblocked his chances of using the footage for financial gain.

“But that wasn’t all…” he added.

“Well?” I asked, still vexed but also curious. Maybe he was asking me out on a date? My heart started to pump faster again. I was such a girl.

“I’m a producer for Shownet.com. You heard of us?”