Chapter 18

“You dial,” Mia said.

“But you talk. Remember, first you ask for Robert, then when he gets on, you say, ‘Is this Robert Smith?’”

Mia leaned on my shoulder. “How many times should we let it ring?”

“Hello?” a woman said.

I pushed the phone at Mia.

“Can I, um, speak to, Robert?”

I leaned in close so I could hear.

“Hello?” Robert said.

“Hello, Robert?”

“Yeah.”

Mia looked at me. “Robert? Hi. This is Mia,” she said. I couldn’t believe it. She patted her mouth like she was trying not to burst out laughing.

“Mia?” Robert said, like there were at least forty-two Mia’s in our school.

“Mia Jenson.”

“Oh.”

“I’m, uh, here with my friend, Ami.”

“Who?”

“Ami Pelter. She says hi, too.”

“You mean Foghorn Ami?”

“Yes,” I whispered hoarsely.

“That’s not very nice,” Mia said, rolling her eyes at me.

“No offense,” Robert said. “They call me Carrot Top.”

“Your hair is beautiful.”

I couldn’t believe she’d had the nerve to say it. Suddenly, she stuck the phone out to me, right next to my mouth. “Talk!” she whispered.

“Hi,” I said. I mean, I croaked. I sounded just like a frog.

“Hi.”

“This is Foghorn Ami.”

“This is Carrot Top.”

Then I didn’t have anything else to say, so I gave the phone back to Mia. “Hi, it’s me, again,” she said.

“Me, Mia? So, what are you doing, me Mia?”

“Talking to you.”

“That’s humorous.”

“What are you doing?” Mia looked over at me, sticking out her tongue and making faces like she was dying.

“I’m going out to play basketball.”

“Where?”

“In the driveway. We have a light out there.”

“We have a hoop in our driveway, too. So does Ami.”

“Do you like to play basketball?”

“No, I don’t like sports much. I’m terrible at them, anyway. My sister Stacey is good. And so is Ami.”

“I know,” he said. “I saw her playing in gym. I saw you, too.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. Well, I have to go now. Bye.”

“Bye. Ami says bye, too.”

“Bye, Ami.”

I leaned into the phone. “Bye, Robert.”

“Bye, Ami. Bye Mia.”

“Bye bye, Robert,” we both said. Then we hung up.

“I don’t know how you did that,” I said.

“I know! Do you believe me? I didn’t even think, I just did it.”

“Hello, Robert, this is Mia,” I said.

Mia leaned against me. “He’s so nice,” she said. “Wasn’t he sweet, Ami?”