1.1
Ryder is not the kind of person who makes spontaneous decisions. Everything he has done has been planned well in advance. Everything he has done has been planned well in advance except for this phone call. As the payphone rings and rings in his ear, Ryder begins to feel quite foolish. He can imagine his mother scolding him, her Ghanian accent becoming more and more pronounced as she goes on about how idiotic it is to be calling random payphone numbers. Ryder knows that it's idiotic. That doesn't mean he's going to stop. It was idiotic to expect that he would stay with his high school girlfriend forever, yet he had. It was idiotic to skip class with Dominic to smoke weed and make out behind the gym building, yet he had. It was idiotic to run through the poor neighborhoods in the darkness, yet he had. He didn't regret having faith in Erica. He didn't regret spending those sweet moments with Dominic. He didn't regret getting away from the hotel. And he sure as hell is not going to regret calling this number. "Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up," Ryder mutters under his breath. "Come on, Teagan, pick up."

1.2
This 7/11 seems to be mocking him as he stands there shivering in the dim light of the store's front windows, one hand clutching a dully ringing payphone to his ear and the other poised in front of the slot with quarters at the ready. It seems to mock him, and Ryder understands why. After all, it's prom night. The entirety of the rich side of the city is slow dancing in the ballroom of a hotel. The entirety of the rich side of the city is slow dancing in the ballroom of a hotel except for Ryder. Ryder is here, praying that a girl named Teagan is going to pick up his call and that this night can be salvaged in some way. After all, he has five hours to burn. It can't hurt to burn them with a cute chick.

1.3
The payphone is ringing and ringing and ringing, and just when Ryder is about to set it down, it stops. There's a beat of pure silence during which Ryder is filled all the way up with apprehension and nerves. Then, "Hello?" sounds through the line in a deep voice that almost makes Ryder drop the phone.

"Holy shit," Ryder gasps aloud before he can think.

"What?" asks the voice. "Who is this?"

Ryder pauses, considering his options. "Are you Teagan?" he asks at last.

"Yes," Teagan says, "I'm Teagan. Who are you?"

Ryder tells Teagan that he is Ryder, that he was dumped at prom, and that he called the number on a whim. "Sick. Our prom was last week," Teagan says. "Sorry you got dumped. I'm glad that you called, though. I have nothing better to do than to talk to a random stranger on the phone." Ryder isn't sure if that last bit is sarcasm. During his silence, Teagan laughs. "I mean it, dude. Are you at the 7/11?"

"Yeah," Ryder replies. "I am."

"Awesome. Do you have time and quarters?"

"Yeah," Ryder says. "I do."