The Morning After (Sweet Valley High Book 95) by Francine Pascal

Author:Francine Pascal [Pascal, Francine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

The phone had been ringing for some time, but Lila barely noticed it. She was sitting at her bedroom window, staring out at the swimming pool that shimmered in the near-darkness.

"Lila!" came her father's voice from downstairs. "That's your personal line. Are you going to pick it up?" She heard him come partway up the stairs. "Are you all right, honey?" he asked.

For almost a week, Lila had been ignoring the phone whenever it rang. She just didn't feel like talking to people. No, it was more than that. She was afraid to talk to people. The whole world probably knew by now what she had wrongly accused Nathan Pritchard of, and she didn't know what she would say if anyone asked her about it. But it was more than that. She was just afraid, period. Lately, being around people at all—especially boys or men—made her pulse race and her forehead break out in a cold sweat.

But her father was beginning to sound worried. He hadn't appeared to believe her on Friday when she told him she would be studying all weekend, but at least he hadn't questioned her any further. Lila hadn't opened a single book since then. She had been alone in her room since Friday afternoon; by now her father must know that something was really wrong.

He would probably try to talk to her again soon, Lila thought. And the last thing she wanted was a heart-to-heart talk with her father. Maybe he would be less worried about her if she took this phone call, as if everything were normal.

Lila stared at her phone for a few seconds longer, then lifted the receiver.

"Yes?"

"Lila?" asked a voice. "Where have you been? Are you all right?"

For a moment, Lila felt as if she were asleep and couldn't quite wake up. Then she recognized the voice as Amy's. She noticed, in a detached kind of way, that Amy's voice was full of concern.

"Hi, Amy. I'm fine," Lila said. Her voice was listless, but she gripped the receiver so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"You weren't in school most of last week, and I tried calling you all weekend. When you were out of school again today, I really got worried. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lila said.

"What do you mean, nothing? How could you be out of school almost a whole week for no reason at all?"

"A week? What day is it?"

"It's Monday, of course! What's the matter, Lila? Were you asleep when I called?"

"Asleep?" Lila asked, feeling stupid. Her brain seemed to be made of hair mousse. "No," she said finally. "I haven't been able to sleep all week."

"Lila, I'm worried about you. What's wrong?"

"It's the flu," Lila said quickly. "That's it - just the flu."

She heard Amy sigh in relief. "Well, I'm glad it's nothing more serious. But I thought you said you were fine."

"Did I?" asked Lila. "I meant that I'm a lot better than I was last week. But I still have the flu."

"You're going to be so far behind in history that it'll take you until graduation to catch up," Amy warned.

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