Chapter Seven

~ Hazel’s Story ~

A phone ring woke me up from my deep slumber. "Damn," I mumbled crankily as it continued to ring. Stumbling towards the phone, I picked it up. "What do ya want?" "Geez," said a familiar voice, "you sure not a morning person, are ya?" "Oh my god, Howie! I’m so sorry! You’re right, I’m really cranky in the mornings. I’m really sorry!" I smacked myself on the head a couple of times. "Anyway, what’s up?" Howie cleared his voice on the other line. "I just called so that you wouldn’t forget our date tonight." I waited more; I knew that he had another reason for his call. "And I just wanted to hear your voice." It wasn’t exactly the answer I expected, since I was expecting something like "AJ wants to talk to Krys" or something, but this was a lot better than that. He was so sweet, so different from my boyfriend. My thoughts drifted to the time I finally broke up from him. Justin (Author’s Note: NOT Justin Timberlake of *NSync) had always been critical about my clothes, makeup, etc. Soon, my fragile self-esteem had been literally crushed to pieces. I left him and moved in with Krys after enduring 2 years of that pain. "Hazel, you still there?" Howie’s voice cut through my thoughts. "I’m sorry, Howie, I was kinda daydreaming," I hurriedly tried to make an excuse. A small chuckle came from the other line. "What about?" Possibly feeling my blush, he replied quickly, "Just kidding. I’m sorry, Hazel, but I have to go. I think Brian is desperate to call LEIGHANNE!" he said, putting emphasis on ‘Leighanne’. "Sure, Howie. See you tonight!" Again, I let my thoughts wander right to Justin. When I stated my problem to Krys, she had been a perfect friend and helped build up my ego again. Now, in my mind, the name HOWIE was continuously flashing. Forgetting that I was supposed to act mature and be 18, I took out a scrap paper and started doodling. The paper looked something like this:

HowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowie HowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowieHowie HowieDHowieDHowieDHowieDHowieDHowieDHowieDHowieDHowieD

I stopped when I heard from behind me somebody (like Krystal) click her tongue, making a ‘tsk tsk’ sound. "Geez, Hazy, even I’m not that immature about AJ," Krystal took the paper and started to look at it carefully. I hit her playfully and grabbed it away. "What do ya want, Harper?" "I need help on picking clothes, Hazel." When I started to refuse, she made a puppy face and said, "Please, Hazel, you know that I think you are best fashion designer in the whole wide world!" "All right, girl, let’s get started!" I jumped up and pulled her towards the closet.