Learning Phillip - 3. Chapter 3

Ethan, Gabriel and Bob.

I took another glimpse at the paper I had in my pocket, those were the first three names on the list. Of course, if they didn’t want to, then I’d have to try to convince someone else, that’s why I had made a list of every guy in our grade that played an instrument.

Actually, I made the list for that, yes, but also I did it trying not to worry about Phil’s dad, Mr. Reed. Needless to say, Phillip didn’t come to school the day after the incident, so I had started worrying.

That’s why yesterday when I got home I started thinking of this list. Now, I had some kind of goal that kept my mind from going back to what concerned me most.

"Frank! How’s it going, man?" Ethan said. I had talked to him only once since the school year started, the first day before I met Phillip.

"It’s good! How about you? Did you get the part in the play?"

"Hum… actually, nope, I haven’t," he said blushing.

In case you didn’t figure it out, he’s an artist, an actor, and also plays the guitar. And, if that wasn’t more than enough, he’s also very cute. His body is amazing, he definitely knows how to work out. He’s maybe five inches or so shorter than me, his short blond hair had been cut with a machine and his eyes were a deep shade of green, with a hint of brown.

"Really? I can’t believe it, they just missed a big chance, poor guys," I stated, and he just gave me a ‘are you kiddin, man?’ look.

"Anyway, what brought you here today? I thought you didn’t want to hang out with any of us anymore," he joked. "The day before yesterday Mike called you and your mother said you were buying onions, come on! Next time please come up with a better idea, onions?"

"Actually the onion thing was true, I was making pizza." I said with a smile on my face.

"Okay… If you say so."

"And, I had an idea, what do you say if you come over my house this weekend, maybe bring your guitar?"

"Yeah, that’d be cool, how about Saturday at… say, three o’clock?"

"That’s cool with me."

"K, gotta get to class, see ya later!"he said as the bell rang.

"See ya! And by the way, maybe I’ll invite some other guys, you cool with it?"

"Yep, the more the merrier." He winked at me and then rushed towards his classroom.

‘He’s exactly what I need, now I hope the other guys like the idea’ I thought to myself while I walked towards the canteen; I had some free time between classes.

"Mr. Collins, please come here!" I heard someone calling me so I looked around and saw the doorman staring at me. I decided to approach him.

"Hello, I’m Frank Collins, were you calling me?"

"Yes, we received a call for you, they asked if you could please call them back when you were at home," he said handing me a piece of paper. It said:

‘Give to Frank Collins.

Please call as soon as you reach home.

74457333.

Phillip Reed.’

What!? Phil gave me his number and asked me to call him as soon as I can? Wow! Oh God! Just… wow! What does he want anyway, it sounded like it was urgent or something--probably about his dad-- but… I HAVE HIS NUMBER!! HE GAVE IT TO ME! Same ol’ Frank, the one who never kissed anyone… has Phil’s number! Oh God… I think I’m going to get a heart attack if I keep thinking of him…

I’m not saying that he wants me to come over, but what if he does? I mean, what does his bedroom look like? It must be perfect, just like him… he must have the softest bed in the world, where he sleeps, it must smell so great! Imagine me sitting in his chair, or on his bed for that matter, where he… um… does that. Oh God! I have to stop thinking about that right now… I don’t want to ‘tent’ in the hallways, it’s um… uncomfortable.

Wait a second… where am I? This seems to be the first graders hallway, and that’s on the other side of the school, I’ve been walking for, um… 15 minutes? Wow, a hundred meters in 15 minutes… that was a slow walk I guess, and I just ‘skipped’ it while thinking. Oh shit, I have to get to class in no time. Awesome, now I have to rush, just… great.

Luckily, I made it to the class on time. Right after I entered the room, the teacher did it too and the class started.

I was staring at my phone and the paper was in my hand. Everything is fine, so I should just call, shouldn’t I? But what if he’s busy right now… I don’t want to be annoying, at least I don’t want to annoy him, you know? What if he hates me for calling him too early, or while he’s at the bathroom… wow, I can picture him on the bathroom, his back turned to me without a shirt, and his length pointing towards the toilet, where I couldn’t look at it, and him, just chit chatting with me while I wash my hands, and… nah, what a silly thought, he’s not going to hate me for calling him… I think.

I mean, he asked the doorman to give me his number, it’s not like I asked for it, and he asked me to call him as soon as I could, so yes, I’m going to pick up that phone and I’m going to call him, I’m going to…

"Riiing, riiiiiing, riiiiiing!" I froze, the phone was ringing. Has he decided to give me a call? Wait, he doesn’t have my number, now does he? How could he get my number? Anyway, I’m just going to pick up that phone and then I’m going to play it cool.

"He… hello?" I answered the phone with a shaky voice.

"Hello, are you Mr. Robert Collins?" a female asked in a very polite voice.

"Um… who’s this?" I asked confused, she is not him.

"Hello, I am Ms. Fubich and I am calling from DCAB Banking Company, I wonder if you could please put Mr. Collins in the phone." she said, always politely.

"I am sorry, but right now Mr. Collins is not available. If you want you can give me a contact phone number, I will give it to him as soon as I can," I said imitating her polite voice.

"Yes of course, 46140246, and please have him ask them to forward him to Ms. Fubich."

"Thank you, I will give this information to my father. Bye." And the lady finished the call before she lost more time. I wrote down what she said to me, and then resumed my previous position--staring at the phone.

I finally took the phone and dialed Phillip's number, the one he gave me. Yes, that’s it, I’m calling him, now I just have to wait and…

"Hello?"Omigod! No way! Oh his voice! It’s amazing, it’s like very soft, but… "Is anyone there?" Oh wait, I have to talk! God, I wish I could ‘restart’ the conversation, or something like that.

"YES! It’s me, Frank." What!? I can’t believe I just shouted at him…

"Oh, Frank! I didn’t recognize you, how are you doing man?" his voice changed abruptly, he started to sound a little nervous.

"I’ve been doing fine, but how about you? How’s your dad?"

"We’re better… the shock passed, the wounds weren’t that bad, but my mother and I got really scared…oh, and the medic says that luckily the bleeding was stopped on time, so no further action was required, he’s coming back home tomorrow."

"Great! It’s good to hear that."

"Yes, thanks for your concern, and my dad thought you were a pretty good guy, when I told him I knew you… let’s just say that you can come to my home any time you want, hehe!" Oh God! I think I just gasped out loud, I hope he didn’t notice.

"Wow! I’m… flattered, I think." I heard giggles. "What are you giggling about?"

"Nothing! Okay, I just heard some noise… it was damn pretty funny, like a gasp or something!"

"Haha! Really? Oh, I think I heard something too, it must have been… um… my dog I think." What!? I don’t even have a dog, and I just told him I do… I can be such a klutz sometimes.

"Yeah, sure… your dog, it must be that, man. So, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Um… I guess nothing, why?"

"Because I missed some school days, and I thought that maybe you could come over tomorrow and explain to me what you guys learned on those days."Haha! He says that as though we learned something…

"Yeah sure! So, tomorrow Friday after school, right?" I asked with a shaky voice. Oh my God! He is asking me to go over to his house! Just me!

"Right! I’ll see you tomorrow! Now, I have to go before my mom starts complaining about how long it took, see ya!"

"See ya!" I said, and he hung up the phone, now I just have to survive one school day, in which I have to talk to the musician guys, and I’ll be on my way to his house…

His house… I just can’t believe it! I’m going over his house! Tomorrow… hurry up already! Great, one minute less… I’m not going to be obsessive about it. Look! another minute passed by…