Becky's phone rang. The number wasn't familiar to her and obviously not in her contact list. She hesitated before answering; afraid it might be someone telling her she had just inherited a million dollars from a wealthy overseas businessman or, something worse, concerning Linc or Rob. Becky pushed those thoughts aside. If it was something serious, Michael or Sheila would ring. "Hello," she murmured waiting to hear who was on the other end.

"It's me!" a voice shouted down the line. "Dad bought me a phone!"

"Linc. Is that you?" Becky chuckled. "Stop yelling."

"Oh...ah..." his tone dropped an octave. "I'm not used to it yet. You're the first person I've called. It's really cool. I can even take photos."

"That's great. Just remember you don't have to yell. Talk in a normal voice because even though the microphone seems closer to your ear than your mouth, they are really sensitive."

Linc laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll get the hang of it." He chuckled some more. "You do know that I'm not a little kid anymore, don't you, Becky? Remember I turned thirteen at the end of last year and will be fourteen this year."

"Sor... ree... I'll try to remember." Even though she giggled her heart crumbled. Becky couldn't work out if it was because she missed him or because of the downer she was on, which made her feel like her world was slipping away from her. To realise Linc was now heading into the mid-teens didn't help.

"Anyway," Linc said. "I gotta go. I've got lots of people to ring so they can get my number."

"Why don't you just text everyone?"

"Becky..." Linc sighed.

"Sorry, sorry." She held her hand out in apology even though no one could see her. "I forgot. You're not a little kid anymore. Got it."

"Good. You better remember it." Linc laughed. "I'm gonna hang up now."

"Wait. No!" Becky jumped to her feet. "Don't go yet. Tell me about school and stuff."

"Aw... Becky. I told you all about that on Sunday night."

"Yeah... But it's Wednesday now." Becky gripped the phone as if holding it tight was going to keep Linc on the line longer. "Surely you've done more than just got a new phone."

"Nah... I haven't. Just homework." He took a breath. "Becks I've got to go. I want to ring everyone."

"Okay." She took a large gulp of air. "Have fun. Love you." Becky made kissing sounds until she heard the phone go dead, and then slumped on the bed staring at the screen. When did he start calling her Becks? She smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. Becky quickly wiped them away and stared at the wall. She was so lonely and it was all her own doing. Demi had invited her out every weekend but Becky wanted to be home on Saturday nights so she could talk to Rob in private.

She blew out her breath and dried her face again. He only ever called on Saturday nights. His schedule was busy and they had early lights out every night except Saturday so she understood how hard it was for him but, something had to change. Easter break was coming up in a few weeks and she'd talk to him about it when she saw him.

As Becky thought more on this, her phone rang again. The screen flashed Rob. What the? Was he tuned into her? Becky's heart lifted. A huge grin spread across her face as she hit answer. "Hello, boyfriend. What are you doing ringing me on a Wednesday night?" Without waiting for him to answer she said, "It must be my lucky night. I just had a phone call from Linc. Michael bought him a phone."

"Yeah," Rob chuckled. "I got a similar call a few minutes ago."

Becky waited for him to say more but the phone went awkwardly quiet. "So what's up? Why the call tonight? Have they changed the rules and you get to stay up until nine-thirty now." She laughed hoping he'd get her joke.

"Ah...no." Rob paused. "Becky. I've got some bad news."

"What?" she gasped. Thoughts of Michael or Sheila being sick or injured flashed through her mind. "Are your parents okay?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that." Rob rushed out the words, and then took a breath. "I'm so sorry, Becky, but I'm not going to be able to make it to Adelaide at Easter."

"What...why..?" The flow of tears started again. A hard lump caught in her throat. Becky bit down on her lip because she didn't want Rob to know she was crying.

"It's the squadron. We're being sent on a training exercise. I don't have all the details yet but it's going to be over the Easter long weekend. I'm so sorry, Becky. I can't get out of it." Rob held his breath waiting to hear how she would take the news.

"Oh..." Becky swallowed her grief and put on an understanding voice. "I guess that's that then. I was so looking forward to seeing you."

"Yeah...me too, honey. I'm so pissed off. They didn't give us much warning so as soon as I heard, I rang you."

"Ok. Thanks." Becky thought if she didn't hang up she was going to burst into tears so she said, "Look, I've got a study group happening and I'm late. We can talk more about it on Saturday night."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll ring at the usual time." Rob's heart hammered with guilt. "Love you."

"Love you too. Bye... gotta go." With that Becky hit end and threw her face into her pillow. Seven pm on Saturday was a long way from eight pm Wednesday. She didn't know how she was going to cope for the next seventy-two hours.

*****

Becky woke blurry eyed. She must have fallen asleep. She reached for her phone. Linc had sent her a Facebook friend request. She smiled and hit accept. He really was growing up. Now he had a phone he'd probably be on it all the time using Snapchat and Instagram too.

Once she had sent Linc a wave on messenger so they had a conversation link, Becky scrolled through Facebook to see what was happening in her friends'  worlds.

Rob had been tagged in a post by someone named Sherry Cole.

Easter long weekend!! Freed from prison!! Melbourne here we come!! Yay!!!

#JacintaPeron#BrettSwanky#RobJarvis#GenevieveConnelly#CalvinDrum.

Rob. Rob. Rob.  What are you doing???