Calling Anne

[Alfred F. Jones]

"Hey Anne! Uh, it's me, Alfred...If you get this message, could you please call me back? I have something I want to ask you. Er, okay, thanks. Bye." The American hung up his cell phone a little dejectedly. He was hoping that she'd answer before he lost his nerve, but even so he might have hung up if he heard her simply greet him over the phone.

It was very uncharacteristic of him to be this nervous (it was extremely unheroic, he thought), but he had a very good reason to be. The British woman seemed to act like she hated him, but he still wanted to ask her out somewhere. He wanted it go to McDonald's, but knew she would probably reject the notion. But he didn't want it to be called a date, just a...friend-to-friend meeting.

Yes, of course. That's all it was.

Well, why was he still nervous?

A little aggravated with himself for his sheepishness, Alfred started to pace the room a bit, fiddling with his phone absentmindedly between his fingers.

[Anne Kirkland]

Anne didn't quite remember when she'd fallen asleep; the last thing she remembered was trying to find a certain quote from The Wife of Bath to add into her English essay and the next she was being jerked awake by a loud yell from somewhere behind her.

She absentmindedly twirled the end of her blonde hair between two of her fingers as she slowly woke up and, readjusting her glasses, stood up – the group of Seniors that’d just entered the library were being quite loud and Anne knew that she wouldn’t be able to continue working or sleeping there. She quickly piled all of her books and pens back into her messenger bag and, and after picking up her mobile phone (ignoring the little voice in the back of her head that yelled ‘it’s a cell phone here!’) she quickly left the library and headed back to her dorm.

When outside she slowed down, breathing in the fresh air, and looked down at her phone. She tilted her head at the ‘1 Missed Call’ displayed on the screen and dialled the number that would take her to her answering machine messages.

“Hey Anne! Uh, it's me, Alfred...If you get this message, could you please call me back? I have something I want to ask you. Er, okay, thanks. Bye."

She blinked. What would Alfred possibly want to ask her?

She slipped inside her dorm building and made her way to her room – eternally thankful when she got there that her bickering brothers (who had kept her awake all night) were absent – and found Alfred’s name in her contact list. She pressed ‘dial’.

As she waited for the American to pick up she kicked off her shoes and sat cross-legged on her bed. She tapped the fingers of her free hand on the frame.

“...Hi?” Alfred uncertainly answered. Anne rolled her eyes.

“Hello Alfred, I’ve just got your message – sorry I missed your call originally. What on Earth did you want to ask me?”

[Alfred F. Jones]

Alfred put his phone on the table, sighed, and went to get himself a hamburger from the dorm's fridge. He had snuck them in there that morning because no one else but he and Allie ate them, and Belarus was threatening to rip his tongue out with her bare hands if he brought in any more. Which was why he secretly put them in the fridge, and would secretly eat all of them before she came back in the dorm that night.

While he was putting a smiley face on the patty with ketchup, his phone rung, and, heartbeat quickening, he got up to answer it. The American saw Anne's name and became even more nervous.

"...Hi?" he answered shakily when he opened the phone and held it between the side of his head and his shoulder. He tried to occupy himself by continuing the finishing touches on his burger, but found that his smiley face came to resemble something much more grotesque than what he first envisioned. This was probably because his hands were shaking like a pair of leaves on a windy day.

He knew that he had to reply to her, but what should he say? 'All I need to do is ask if she's busy tomorrow. That's all I need to say,' Alfred told himself. Involuntarily, he took a bite of his burger and began to speak. The combination of food in his mouth and his nervousness was not an easily understandable mix.

"A-Ar-ru yoo gon' bee en-niware t-t-tomurro...?"

[Anne Kirkland]

Anne pushed her glasses back up her nose and resisted the urge to roll her eyes – Alfred speaking with his mouth full was no surprise – and then she fully processed what he’d said.

“Am I going anywhere tomorrow?” She asked, frowning. ‘Why on Earth would he want to know?’ “Well, there were a couple of things I was going to do...but they’re not important,” Alfred seemed to still be eating so Anne continued, smiling slightly. “Why?” She shifted on her bed and leant back against the wall.

[Alfred F. Jones]

Alfred was slightly surprised that she understood what he had been trying to say. He swallowed his food and answered, "Uh, I wanted to know if you'd like to go anywhere with me...It could be anywhere you want." Suddenly, he lost his appetite for any more burgers and walked away from the kitchen area of the dorm. He shifted the phone back into his hand and, as though he didn't possess control over his fingers anymore, he involuntarily snapped the phone shut and turned it off quickly before he heard her answer.

'That was much more embarrassing than I thought it'd be!' he thought. 'Good thing I hung up - I can tell her I disconnected and then pretend I didn't say that.' Blowing the whole thing off seemed like a great idea to him at the moment.

[Anne Kirkland]

Anne blinked and then blushed slightly. She shifted, unconsciously twirling her hair around her fingers again, and smiled.

“You’re asking me out?” She asked. “Really?!” She grinned. “I don’t mind where we go...I think there’s some sort of concert or something in the park? We could always go to that...or just wander around for a bit,” Alfred was quiet, so Anne took that as a hint to include something he’d probably like to do more. “And I know how much you like McDonalds-” ‘I’d have to be blind not to notice...’ “-so I wouldn’t mind going in there if you want...” Alfred still didn’t say anything. Anne paused in twirling her hair. “...Al?” She asked cautiously. “Are you okay?” Nothing. “Alfred?” ...Nothing. Anne’s eyes narrowed slightly as she moved her phone from her ear to look at the screen...

...and was met with the picture of her and Arthur in London with Big Ben in the background. Not the ‘You are in a call’ message.

Anne rarely had signal trouble at the Academy, and she had never accidentally hung up on anyone so that only meant one thing.

...Alfred had hung up on her.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she stood up. She slipped her shoes back on and stormed out of the dorm.