Just as I reached the end of the hallway, my phone rang, startling me so badly that I nearly dropped the glass of milk that I'd just picked up from the fridge. I hastily placed the glass down on the kitchen table and fumbled my hand through my pocket to fish my phone out. It took me a couple of tries to unlock the screen so that I could answer the call, and then another couple of tries to turn my phone on.
"What?" I asked as I answered. "Hello?"
"Hey," said a voice I recognized instantly. "It's Brian."
"Brian? What are you doing calling me this early? Didn't we agree to meet after lunch? Are you free?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, we did. Sorry. We're meeting today at noon at the park."
"Great," I responded sarcastically. "That's great."
I thought he'd be upset with me for sn
