The next morning, Sam told me I had a message on the answering machine.
“I would have told you sooner,” he said. “But I forgot. Sorry.”
“Who was it?” I asked him.
“I can’t remember. I only heard the first part, and it was kind of confusing. Go listen yourself.”
I wobbled to the kitchen and saw the blinking light. It had to be Tony. Right? Who else would it be?
I pressed the PLAY button.
“Hey, Eliza. This is Annie.” (Only it came out as, “HeyElizathisisAnnie.”)
She went on. “I didn’t see you at orientation today. I was wondering who you got for homeroom. I got Ms. Naylor. Maybe you did, too. I hope so. Anyway, call me back when you get a chance. Or I guess I’ll see you on the first day of school. Man, I can’t believe summer is almost over. That stinks. Well, um. Okay. Bye. And oh, I can’t remember if I said it or not, in case I didn’t, this is Annie. Bye.”
The machine beeped to let me know the message had ended. I stared at the light, which wasn’t blinking anymore. I tried to decide if I should erase the message or keep it. I played it one more time. Just to make sure I’d heard it right.
Huh. Annie looked for me. And she’d called me.
I was surprised and shocked. Kind of like that day I got hit in the lip at taekwondo. The day Master Kim said to watch out for small movements because they gave away hints of bigger things to come.