Why could i have gotten a text message with no text box?

Yesterday morning, I looked at my smart phone ( android) and I got a text from someone. I clicked on the contact's text and there was no message, no blank bubble, nothing. It just looked like one of us was getting ready to start a conversation but no message was sent. (Extra info: I may be wrong but I think this certain contact has an iphone.) What could cause this? I don't want to ask the person because it would be extremely awkward.

Perhaps they sent it and your phone had trouble receiving it. Sometimes, network errors like this occur and the message is lost