Prologue
Howie was jolted awake by the ringing of the phone from the
nightstand on the other side of his bed.
“Can you get that, Krys?” he mumbled, disoriented. When he got no reply, he groaned and reached
over to turn on the lamp that sat on his nightstand. Dim light flooded the room.
Rolling over, Howie saw that Krystle was not in bed. I guess I hurt her feelings, he
thought guiltily. But then again, she
deserved it. She couldn’t really expect
me to be happy with her. Not after what
she did.
Meanwhile, the phone kept ringing, and Howie, growing annoyed with
its persistence, quickly crawled over and grabbed the phone from the nightstand
on Krystle’s side of the bed. This
better not be fan, he thought irritably.
“Hello?” Howie asked groggily, rubbing his bleary eyes as he held
the phone to his ear.
“Howie!” came Bianca’s voice, shrill and trembling.
Howie was immediately alert.
Something was wrong; he could tell by her tone of voice. “Bean?
What’s wrong?”
It’s probably nothing, he tried to assure
himself. She and AJ just probably had
another fight. He rolled his eyes,
slightly annoyed. He had no patience to
deal with AJ right now, not after what he had just found out. But deep down, he knew it was more than just
a spat between AJ and Bianca. Bianca’s
reply confirmed it.
“It’s AJ!” Bianca sobbed into the phone. “Oh, Howie, he’s… he’s dead!”
***
