In my surprise, I grappled with my phone and struggled to answer it, almost losing the call. Normally I would never pick up the phone while working, but our shift was ending in five minutes and no one was in the store.

“Tamiko!”

“Alley Cat!” she cried. “Hi!”

Sierra flew to my side. “Hi, Miko!”

“Sierra! My homies, all together!”

“We’re just about finishing up at work,” I said.

Tamiko laughed. “And look at me! I’m in bed!” she said as she spun her phone to show us her bed. I caught a glimpse of a low futon on the floor. “I woke up early and had some time, so I decided to call. What’s going on over there?”

At that, Sierra grabbed my phone. “We were just talking about Colin,” she said.

“Sierra!” I yelled.

“Talk some sense into this girl, please,” Sierra said to Tamiko. “Allie’s making new friends, but she’s not working to keep one of her best friends of all. She’s been neglecting Colin ever since she got home. She hasn’t contacted him once, and when she runs into him, it’s super-awkward!”

“Put her back on!” demanded Tamiko.

Sierra thrust the phone back at me.

“What?” I said sullenly. I didn’t need my best friend to call me all the way from Japan to yell at me.

“Listen, old friends are gold, but new friends are important and fun too. Got me? You need to call Colin and make it up to him. This is unacceptable, Allie. How can Sierra and I help but wonder if you’ll do this to us one day too? Sheesh!”

“It’s different!” I wailed.

“No, it’s not. Shape up or ship out, Shear!”

I had to laugh. “Ship out of where?”

Tamiko spluttered for a second. Then she laughed too. “Oh, I don’t know. My grandpa has me watching too many old war movies with him! I’m just saying. Fix this. It’s good for you. Okay? And then maybe I will bring you back a nice present when I return.”

“You’re talking about your return already? I joked.

“You know you’re counting the days!” Tamiko wagged a finger at me.

“I can’t wait,” I said seriously.

“Me neither!” shouted Sierra over my shoulder.

“Okay. In the meantime, get in touch with Colin. You’d better get cracking!”

I laughed. “Thanks, Tamiko.”

We signed off, and I stood there for a minute, smiling at the ghost of Tamiko on my phone.

Finally Sierra said, “So?”

I sighed heavily. “So.”

“Just do it. Ask him to meet you. Do it now and get it over with.”

Without thinking, I took a deep breath and let my fingers fly over the keyboard of my phone.