Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
He shrugged. “It could be pretty funny.”
“I don’t know.” Barrett bobbed from side to side, his hands buried in his pockets. “Needles are ouchie.”
“Come on, you’re a big tough guy! You can handle it!”
“I can knock twenty bucks off the price.”
“Deal!”
Before we left the tattoo parlor, we grabbed another six-pack of beer. The bottles clanked and clattered with every step. I forgot where we were going, but that didn’t matter. Something in my gut told me we were almost there. I’d always had excellent instincts.
“Turn here,” Barrett said, leading us down a side street.
“My feet are starting to hurt.”
He paused and scanned our surroundings. “How much further?”
“I don’t know. I was following you.”
We both looked at the unfamiliar buildings. The fact that the sun was coming up confused me. “What day is it?”
Cars were starting to drive on the road. I glanced down at my white satin heels, which were now black and covered in grime. “Aw, man.”
“I’m gettin’ kinda tired.”
“Me too.” I yawned. “How much money do you have left?”
“Why?”
“Because we need to figure out how to get home.” I was broke and completely at his mercy. “I could sell my blood.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ways to make money. I have blood.”
“Where do you think we are, the underbelly of a vampire apocalypse?”
I shrugged. “Where are we?”
“No clue.”
Then I saw it.
Angels sang and trumpets blared as the sun crested the buildings and shined down on a lone payphone in the middle of a vacant parking lot.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” I raced across the lot toward that stunning relic of technology. “Give me a quarter!”
He ran after me and shook his head. “That’s not going to work.”
“Ew!” I retracted my hand the second it touched something sticky. I gagged and used the material of my unicorn shirt to lift the receiver. “Ha! Dial tone!”
“Who the hell are you going to call?”
It occurred to me that I didn’t know Hale’s phone number. “What’s your brother’s number?”
“I have no idea.”
“Your dad’s?”
He shook his head.
“Damn it, we have to call someone to get us!”
“What about Elle?”
“Yes!” I nearly cried. “We can call Elle! I need a quarter.”
He searched his pockets. “I have cash, credit cards, a condom, and three beer caps.”
“A condom? Seriously?”
“What? It’s wedding week.”
I rolled my eyes. “What about collect?”
“Does that still work?”
I wasn’t sure. We were literally in a technology Armageddon and lost without our cell phones. Did phone operators even exist anymore? And, if they did, were they trapped in a tiny closet somewhere with a switchboard and wearing saddle shoes?
“Hey.” A car pulled over and a man yelled from the window. “Hey, are you guys okay?”
We were in trouble. I stood very still like a statue so the man wouldn’t see me. Barrett did the same.
“Miss?”
Shit. He definitely saw me. “We’re fine,” I yelled then looked at Barrett and hissed, “Say something.”
Barrett stumbled forward when I shoved him. “We’re cool.”
“Did you need air?”
I smiled nervously at the stranger in the car, speaking quietly at Barrett through my teeth. “What is he talking about?”
Barrett shrugged, then yelled back at the man, “Do you need air?”
The man got out of his car, mumbling something about morons as he approached us. I had a feeling we were the morons.
The man took the phone out of my hand and hung it up. “This is an air pump. For a car.”
I looked at the pump then I looked around for the payphone, which wasn’t there. Something wasn’t right. Barrett scratched his head.
“You know,” I said, taking in our surroundings and finding nothing familiar. “I think… I think we’re high.”
“That would make a lot of sense.”
The man looked at us and hesitated. “Do you guys have someone you can call?”
“Do you have a phone?”
The man nodded. “Yeah. Hold on.”
He went to his car and came back a second later with a phone in hand. I plugged in Elle’s number, which was the only number, aside from my mom’s, that I knew by heart. It rang several times and went to voice mail.
“Let me try again.” I hit redial and then her beautiful, groggy voice picked up. “Elle! Oh, thank God you answered! I’m in a parking lot and I lost my phone and my purse and my Hale.”
“Rayne? Slow down. Where are you?”
I looked at the man. “Do you know where we are?”
“Brooklyn.”
“We’re in—Wow. Really? Brooklyn?” Barrett waved a hand for me to keep talking and I remembered I was on the phone. “Yes, we’re in Brooklyn.”
“It’s six-thirty in the morning, Ray. What the hell are you doing there?”
“I have no idea. But I’m with Barrett and we need someone to bring us a phone so we can get a ride home.”
“I have your phone.”
“What? How do you have my phone?”
“Hale gave it to me.”
I frowned. “Why would he do that?”