Free Uncertain by Avery Kirk

sure if it would go with the rest of the house. I thought I could get a nice piece of wood at a place I knew up north in Traverse City. I thought about taking a day trip or an overnight with my grampa and going to pick one out.
    The phone rang.
    “Hello?”
    “Is this Amelia?”
    “Yep,” I said, drawing figure 8s on a notebook that sat on the counter.
    “This is Felicia from Mundo Hermosa travel.” The people who’d arranged for me to go to California.
    My face fell, my untroubled mindset dissolved. I felt a pull down to my feet. Dread washed over me. My mouth became instantly dry.
    “Ma’am?”
    I hung up the phone. I stood there silently hoping that she wouldn’t call back. I was frozen, waiting for enough time to pass so I could walk away and pretend she had never called.
    The piercing sound of the phone ringing again made me jerk. I let it ring three times before I called myself a wuss and picked it up, gripping it unusually tightly.
    “Hello.”
    “I lost ‘ya there! Sorry about that.”
    I didn’t say anything.
    “Ma’am?”
    I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I’m here.”
    “Oh, OK. It looks like you’ve got a trip comin’ up! I just need to finalize some details for ‘ya before I get the info over to you.”
    I licked my lips. “Where would I be going?” My voice was one note.
    “Hmmm…looks like Oaxaca, Mexico! That should be such a lovely trip. I’ve never been to Oaxaca, but I’ve heard such wonderful things about the people and the culture. Not too touristy. It’s on my bucket list, really.”
    “OK.” I let out a very deep exhale.
    “OK, great. So, let me just take a quick look. It looks like your flight leaves on Thursday, December 14 th at two in the afternoon. I just need to know your traveling companion.”
    I sighed. I was quiet for a moment. Could this be real? Was I unknowingly some kind of secret agent? I almost laughed at how ridiculous that thought was. I had an impulse to hang up again. Maybe the whole situation would just go away. But it probably wouldn’t.
    “Does Margaret still work there?” I’d never forget her name from the first call.
    “Yes, ma’am, she does.”
    “Can I talk with her?” I placed my palm on my forehead.
    “She’s on another line, unfortunately.”
    I closed my eyes. “I’ll hold.”
    I leaned against the cabinets, listening to the insanely annoying hold advertisements about carefree travel. My mouth had gotten so dry that my lips were sticking to my teeth. I was thankful that my grampa wasn’t home. I wasn’t sure how to explain this to him. I had no idea what to do. I wanted to call Kevin, but I really didn’t want to involve him if I didn’t have to. He was working on the details of the sale of the bike shop with his uncle and seemed to be excited about buying the business.
    “Good afternoon. Thank you for waiting. This is Margaret. How can I help?” a cheerful voice said.
    “Margaret, do you remember me? Amelia Harper?”
    “I sure do—the California trip. Was that trip a surprise? I’ve been wondering!”
    “Kind of,” I said with a quick eye roll. I leaned on the counter and held my head in my hands.
    “Did you two have a good time?”
    I ignored her question.
    “Margaret, I seem to have a similar situation here, and the other lady there called me about a trip to Mexico. Can you tell me anything about who planned this trip?”
    “Same situation? I need a secret admirer like this…” Her voice trailed off.
    “Well, I can’t say that I’m crazy happy about it,” I said with force.
    “Oh, my mistake,” she began. “Let me pull up the internal notes.” I heard typing and stared at the ceiling. “It looks as though it’s a little like last time. Purchaser was named as Amelia Harper. Walk-in…paid cash. Notes say to call on this date—that would be today—to finalize the second ticket and such.”
    “OK.”
    “OK?”
    “Yes, just don’t do anything. I’ll call you back if I’m going to go.”
    “Ok,