Annie

by Lexi Ryals

  “I told you to stop!” Annie yelled.

  Will hadn’t been on a walk in a long time — at least not a walk out on public sidewalks — and he had just remembered why. He couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized.

  A garbageman hanging off of the back of a truck had shouted, “Your phone bill’s killing me, bro!” as he drove by. And some pushy woman had run up to snap a selfie with him before he could stop her. “I’m taking a picture of Stacks on my Stacks!” she’d squealed to her friends.

  Between the whispers and the photos, Will was ready for his walk to be over. He trained his eyes on the ground and picked up the pace.

  As Annie hurried to get to the alley, Will rounded the corner and the two of them ran smack into each other. Annie fell backward into the street and landed flat on her back. A van was barreling toward her! It slammed on its brakes, but it wasn’t going to stop in time.

  Will didn’t even hesitate. He darted into the street and dragged her out of the van’s way. He had saved Annie’s life!

  “Whoa,” Annie said breathlessly as she turned to look at her rescuer.

  “You okay?” Will asked.

  “Yeah,” Annie said. She stood up and frantically scanned the sidewalk for the dog. The boys chasing it had been distracted by her dramatic rescue and the little dog had used the opportunity to run out of sight around the corner. She was okay. Annie smiled.

  “You could have gotten run over,” Will chastised Annie.

  “Sorry.” Annie shrugged.

  “Don’t be sorry, just be careful,” Will told her. “Why are you running anyway?”

  “Gets me places quicker,” Annie said with a smile. Then she turned and jogged down the street toward home.

  Will shook his head. “Little kids.”

  He continued on his way, totally oblivious to the man behind him who had just recorded the whole incident on his Stacks cell phone.

  When Annie got home, she found Miss Hannigan working out in the living room using an old piece of exercise equipment.

  “How was the library?” Miss Hannigan asked sarcastically.

  “Educational,” Annie replied.

  “Well, here’s some more education for you.” Miss Hannigan stopped exercising and scowled. “I told Family Services I don’t want to foster you anymore. As of next week, you’re somebody else’s problem.”

  “Did they say who?” Annie asked, looking hopeful.

  “Not a who, sweetie. A what. Group home. I think it’s in Albany. Or Schenectady. Some place ending in Y. As in, ‘Why are there three hundred kids sharing one room?’”

  Annie shook her head, trying not to cry. She didn’t want to give Miss Hannigan the satisfaction of seeing her upset, so she turned and hurried to her room.

  “Maybe this will teach you to stop running your smart mouth!” Miss Hannigan yelled after her.

  Far away from Harlem, Will Stacks was in his office. The room was state of the art. It was equipped with all of the latest technology and it had amazing views of downtown Manhattan — not that Will noticed. He was too busy working.

  “We got the cell-phone battery to last up to one hundred fifty hours,” Grace reported as she scrolled through an e-mail on her computer.

  “That’s not a week,” Will said, frowning. “I wanted a full week without a recharge.”

  “I know. We’ll get there,” Grace assured him. “But right now it’s burning people’s hands.”

  Just then a video-message screen popped up on Will’s laptop. It was Guy calling.

  “What’s up, Guy-O?” Will answered.

  “You’re up. Five points in the polls!”

  Will had never heard Guy sound so excited.

  “People liked that he vomited on a homeless man?” Grace asked, confused.

  “No, you saved a little girl from getting hit by a van. Someone recorded it and it’s gone viral!” Guy explained. He pushed a few buttons on his phone and a video box popped up on Will’s screen showing the clip of Will saving Annie. “This is fantastic, Will. First time this campaign you’ve done anything vaguely human. All due respect.”

  “You didn’t tell me you saved a little girl.” Grace looked at Will. “You never tell me anything.”

  “Like Batman,” Will said, joking.

  “We have to capitalize on this,” Guy announced, already making plans. “You invite her to lunch, see how she’s doing, snap a few pics. The press will eat it up!”

  “Do we know who she is?” Will asked.

  “That’s the best part. She’s a foster kid. Lives in Harlem. How perfect is that? Foster kid! Harlem!” Guy was ecstatic.

  “Your neck vein is bulging,” Grace commented. She clearly thought his campaign tactics were less than likable.

  “I’m going to go get her,” Guy continued as if she hadn’t spoken.

  “Not you. Grace,” Will told him.

  Grace raised an eyebrow. “Why me?”

  “Would you want 5-Hour Energy showing up at your door?” Will asked, gesturing toward Guy’s face on the screen.

  Grace tried to protest, but Will flashed her one of his most convincing “everything will be fine!” smiles. She sighed. When it came to Will Stacks, she had a hard time saying no to his plans, even if they were crazy.

  Grace knocked politely on the door to Annie’s apartment.

  “Yeah?” Miss Hannigan’s voice yelled through the intercom.

  “Is this Colleen Hannigan?” Grace asked. “I want to talk to you about a girl in your care. Annie.”

  “Uggghhh,” Miss Hannigan groaned. But she pulled the door open. “You can take her today, but I want to get paid for the month. I already bought her food.”

  “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” Grace told her. “I work for Stacks Mobile.”

  Miss Hannigan looked around surreptitiously and lowered her voice. “It’s not my fault I went over my Anytime minutes last month. I didn’t know that guy was in Sri Lanka.”

  “This isn’t about your phone bill. I’m here on behalf of Will Stacks,” Grace continued. “He’d like to invite Annie to lunch.”

  “What? Why?” Miss Hannigan demanded.

  “They ran into each other yesterday. Annie didn’t tell you?”

  “She never tells me anything,” Miss Hannigan said, doing her best to be charming. “We didn’t get a chance to have our girl-talk jawbone last night.” She yelled for Annie and then turned back to Grace with a calculating glint in her eye. “He ran into her, huh? You know, her neck did seem a little whiplashy.”

  “We’d also like to make a donation to the charity of your choice,” Grace added.

  Miss Hannigan let out a long, dramatic sigh. “So many to choose from. Save the Whales … Clean Water … You know what? Just make it out to ‘Cash’ and I’ll divvy it up.” Miss Hannigan eyed Grace’s checkbook greedily. Then she turned and yelled again, “Annie! Get out here!”

  Annie came out of her bedroom, pulling on a hoodie.

  “You’re going with this lady,” Miss Hannigan said, pulling Annie to her in a tight hug and pretending to sound like she cared. “Is that okay, sweetie?”

  Grace bent forward so that she was at Annie’s eye level. “Hi, I’m Grace. I’d like to take you to lunch. I promise I won’t keep you long.”

  “You can keep me as long as you want,” Annie assured her, looking delighted.

  Grace led Annie downstairs where Will’s SUV was waiting for them. Annie’s foster sisters trailed after them, in awe of Annie’s good fortune.

  “No way!” Tessie exclaimed when she spotted the car.

  “Is this for real?” Isabella asked.

  “You’re so lucky!” Pepper said jealously.

  Annie just smiled and climbed into the SUV. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The car was fully loaded with bottled water, sodas, candy, gum, magazines, and snacks. She had never seen a car with so many treats!

  “Help yourself to whatever you want,” Grace told her as she took her seat.

&
nbsp; “Really? Thanks!” Annie exclaimed. She grabbed handfuls of treats, rolled down her window, and handed them out to her friends waiting outside.

  “Maybe I should come with you? Make sure everything’s USDA Grade-A Awesome?” Miss Hannigan called down from an open window.

  Annie laughed. There was no way she was letting Miss Hannigan ruin this. “I’m good!” she yelled as they drove off.

  Lou walked over as the girls ran back into the building, eager to eat all the candy. “Hey, gorgeous,” Lou yelled up to Miss Hannigan. “How does it feel to have a famous kid?”

  “What?” Miss Hannigan asked him, genuinely confused.

  Lou held up a copy of that day’s paper with a photo of Will Stacks saving Annie on the cover.

  “Arrgh!” Miss Hannigan screamed. If there was one thing that bugged her more than not being famous, it was seeing other people get famous!

  Annie had never been inside such a cool car. In addition to the awesome snacks and free sodas, there was a touch screen that controlled the in-car entertainment system. She swiped through the buttons, finally selecting a news program on a talk radio station.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to listen to music?” Grace asked, raising an eyebrow at Annie’s choice.

  “I love talk radio. It calms me,” Annie insisted and then buckled herself in.

  Once Annie was settled back in her seat, Grace turned to her. “Mr. Stacks would like to take a few pictures with you, if that’s all right.”

  “I guess so. Why?” Annie asked.

  “Well, people want to know you’re okay,” Grace told her.

  “What people?”

  “Everyone who saw that,” Grace answered and then pointed to an electronic billboard outside the window for a local news station. It showed an enlarged picture of Will rescuing Annie.

  “Whoa!” Annie gasped. “My hair is gigantic!”

  Annie glanced out the car window and noticed that other people were staring up at the billboard, talking and pointing.

  She was starting to get the feeling that today was going to be about much more than just lunch.

  Annie couldn’t believe her eyes when she arrived at Will’s office. There was a buffet set up with more food than she had ever seen at once — all of it served on china and crystal.

  “Annie!” Will greeted her warmly, reaching out to shake her hand for the small crowd of photographers waiting at the edges of the room.

  Annie had prepared for this. She’d been thinking on the car ride over. A guy this important didn’t just invite someone to lunch without an angle. Annie knew something was up.

  “Slow your roll,” she said.

  “Excuse me?” Will asked, surprised.

  “Can we sit down first?” Annie asked.

  Will turned and looked at his team for guidance. Grace just shrugged. Guy looked annoyed, but nodded. So Will waved the photographers away to get some lunch and led Annie over to a table. “Are you okay from yesterday?” he asked kindly.

  “I’m fine, thanks,” Annie replied. “So what’s the hustle?”

  “What?” Will asked. Either this was a very strange little girl, or a very smart one.

  “You picked me up in a space car, brought me to James Bond’s house to eat …” Annie trailed off and examined the lobster on the platter in front of her. “… giant bugs. I’m guessing it’s got to do with that photo of us. I’m ten, I’m not an idiot.”

  Will was surprised — she was smart. “I didn’t say you were an idiot,” he answered. “Or ten. I have no idea how old you are.”

  “I’m ten,” she assured him.

  “Okay, so you’re not an idiot,” Will agreed. “But a lot of people are, and when they saw that photo they thought I’d be a good mayor.”

  “Why?” Annie pressed him.

  “I’m a rich guy, you’re an orphan …” Will started to explain.

  “I’m not an orphan. Foster kid,” Annie corrected him.

  “Let’s just say that the more that people see us together, the better it is for my campaign,” Will finished.

  “That’s how a mayor gets elected?” Annie was shocked.

  “I know, it’s insane,” Will agreed. He took a sip of water.

  “I bet if I moved in with you, you’d become president!” Annie exclaimed.

  Will laughed and spit his water across the table, choking.

  “I saw that photo, too,” Annie told him, referring to Will spitting on the homeless man at the soup kitchen. “Why do you do that? Is it like a throat thing?”

  Just then Guy came rushing over. He’d been listening in on their conversation.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Guy said. “Annie staying with you.” He paused for a moment at the incredulous looks on Will’s and Annie’s faces. Then he turned to Annie. “From what I understand, it’s pretty crowded where you live now. How about a little more space? Is that something you might like?”

  “Living with a billionaire?” Annie replied. “I’ll allow it.”

  “See? It’s perfect.” Guy nodded enthusiastically.

  “What are you doing?” Will hissed at Guy.

  Guy took Will aside. “It’ll just be for a few weeks, then she’ll go back,” he whispered. “Take in a foster kid? Fifteen-point jump in the polls, guaranteed!”

  “So you want me to play daddy?” Will asked louder.

  “It’s easy. All I need is a bed and meals,” Annie assured him. “You don’t have to do anything else. And you get one hundred fifty-seven dollars a week.”

  Will looked over to Grace for guidance but she just shrugged.

  “You want photos, right?” Annie continued. “This is a way to get a lot of photos.” She jumped up, put her arm around Will’s shoulders, and posed for the photographers, hamming it up for the cameras.

  “There are easier ways of getting photos,” Will said.

  “Not with me in them,” she countered and then went back to posing happily.

  Grace pulled Will and Guy to the side while Annie loaded up her plate to eat. “Are you really doing this?”

  Will nodded. “I won’t even know she’s there. It’s like having a turtle.”

  “I wonder if she has her shots,” Guy mused.

  Annie, meanwhile, was practically jumping for joy on the inside. Living with a billionaire was way better than going to some crowded group home in Albany. And even if it wouldn’t last forever, it would give her time to come up with a new plan. Maybe even find her real parents.

  Today was turning out to be a pretty great day.

  Before she knew it, Annie was back at the New York Family Services Office. But this time she had Will, Grace, and Guy with her.

  “I can’t remember the last time I stood in line,” Will said, looking around at the drab office.

  Annie shook her head and smiled. “That’s the kind of stuff you need to stop saying if you want to get elected.”

  Just then a man walked over and took a picture of them with his camera phone. Will flashed him a double thumbs-up and Annie gave a dazzling smile. A few pictures later and they found themselves at the front of the line.

  “I need a temporary guardian approval,” Annie announced when she walked up to the desk, only to find herself face-to-face with Ms. Kovacevic again.

  “There’s a six-week waiting period and you need form NYS eighty-four dash —” Ms. Kovacevic stopped mid-speech when she looked up and saw Will Stacks. “Sweet Lord.”

  “Recognize,” Annie said.

  Thirty minutes later, Ms. Kovacevic escorted Annie, Will, Guy, and Grace to Will’s apartment to do an inspection.

  “I normally don’t do site visits,” Ms. Kovacevic told Will. “But I’ve taken a liking to young Annie. I forget sometimes why I got into this.” Then she pulled her phone out and took a selfie with Will in it. “For the files,” she assured him as they walked into the elevator.

  The elevator had a touch screen that recognized the handprints of Will and his most trusted assistants. Will scanne
d his handprint and pressed the electronic button for PENTHOUSE.

  Ms. Kovacevic looked down at her clipboard and read from the form, “Does the guardian have adequate income to provide basic shelter? I’m going to go ahead and check that box as ‘yes.’”

  The elevator dinged and Will held the doors open as everyone walked out into his penthouse apartment. “Come on in.”

  As soon as Will spoke, the apartment came to life. The window blinds rose, revealing amazing views of Manhattan. The lights came up and the air-conditioning kicked on.

  “Whoa,” Annie exclaimed in awe.

  “It’s a smart house,” Grace explained. “It recognizes Will and changes accordingly.” She turned to Annie and held out her phone. “Let’s get it to learn your voice. Speak into this.”

  “What should I say?” Annie asked.

  “Anything!” Grace replied.

  “I think I’m going to like it here,” Annie said into the microphone.

  “Got it.” Grace smiled, looking down.

  “Is there a co-temporary guardian?” Ms. Kovacevic asked Will.

  “No,” Will replied over his shoulder.

  “Would you like a co-temporary guardian?” Ms. Kovacevic flirted.

  Just then Will’s cell phone rang and he was saved from answering Ms. Kovacevic.

  “Take it,” Grace told him, waving him off toward the office. “Someone has to do some real work for the company today.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Guy said, following Will out the door. “Want to talk about a new campaign. Featuring Annie.”

  With Will gone, Ms. Kovacevic looked back at her clipboard for all the items she needed to see in the apartment. “I need to see the kitchen, ventilation, at least one sink per four persons …”

  “Come with me,” Grace cut her off. She took Annie and Ms. Kovacevic through the entire apartment, pointing out all of the cool features. There was a hot cocoa machine that made the perfect whipped-cream topping, and any wall could become a TV screen with a tap on one of the wall tablets. There was a tennis court on the roof and even an indoor swimming pool!