Hello August, Please Be Good To Me

Chapter 3: Help! I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

JUNE

                  

The newest iPhone is as good as mine, though I still don't see the need of my dad accompanying me. I think I'm perfectly capable of buying my own phone. After all, I was using my money as well as buying it no-contract, which is crazy and unheard of in my circle of friends. My dad and I wait in line to be helped, and I look around the store as people, young and old, all seem to be there for the same reason. I wasn't crazy enough to camp out and wait for the phone the day it came out. In fact, I had waited a precautionary fifteen days before taking the trek to the Apple Store, dad in tow. I see one girl who looks to be in elementary school and I scoff at the fact that her parents are giving her a smartphone. When I was in elementary school, I was perfectly satisfied with the High School Musical CD, playing it until it had scratches on the bottom.  This is how monsters are made, I think as I glare at the little girl. I'm more than convinced.

When it's my turn, Dad and I listen politely to the employee as he lays out the design and features of my new phone but someone catches my eye. Just another counter line from us is this freckled boy with deep, gray-blue eyes. I can't help but stare as he stands with his hands in his pockets, running a couple fingers though his hair. God has done you well, I smirk, then tense up when his gaze catches my own. I freeze instead of quickly averting my eyes - thank you awkward gene - but instead of reacting in any reasonable way for a guy who's just caught some random girl gawking, he smiles back, and turns back to face forward in the line.

"Alright Ms. Moore, your contacts have been transferred over," the employee says, and I whip my head to face him. Who knows how long I stood there. I thank God for blessing me with my own sunshine which contrasts from the thunder clouds outside, and whip my Tangled theme case on my phone. "Anything else?" The man asks me, and I take the moment to read his name tag. "No, I think I'll take it from here Victor. Thank you." I whisper a silent goodbye to the beautiful stranger, glad he's preoccupied with what appears to be a Mac desktop (I could never part with that much money ever), and my dad opens up his umbrella when we step outside. "Paying seven hundred dollars on a phone, that's ludacris!" I don't bother responding to my dad's rant, as we've been through this conversation many times. His permission was all I needed, and no guilt talking from him would make me change my mind. I had just upgraded from the iPhone 3G, and couldn't be happier. No more behind the times for me. I snapped a picture of me ginning proudly, with the caption reading "Just did a serious upgrade, please, hold your applause". My dad continues talking, though now it's just to himself, and he flicks the radio on without hesitation.

As soon as we get home, my brother can't wait to pounce on me. "Let me see the goods," he reaches for my pocket but I slap his hand hard. "Dude, chill!" I slip my hand in my pocket and pull it out. After I unlock it, I place it in his hands and let him go to town. "Woooow, this is awesome." I grin and take a seat in my beanie chair. "I know. Much better than your Samsung, right?" He frowns and pretends to swat at my face. "Don't talk about my phone." I lean forward and make a mowing sound as I move my hand across his hair. "Time for a haircut, don't you think Danté?" Before I know it, my phone is back in my hands and I'm alone in my room. In my opinion, he looked like a fur ball with his curly dark brown hair. While I envied how different it was from own, I sure wasn't jealous of the look he sported. My dad and I plot how we will secretly shave off all his hair in the middle of the night, but Danté makes sure to leave a trail of crap leading up to his bed just in case we try something just like that.

I place my phone down beside me and reach for my sketch book. In this action, I accidentally knock over a small stack of papers. I look down to pick them up and groan out loud when I see it's just my UCF acceptance letter and other college related papers and information. Why was it so hard to gather some enthusiasm about going to college? The pros more than outweighed the cons, and who wasn't excited about leaving Tallahassee for at least the next four years? And Orlando was one of my favorite cities to be in, but it all felt bitter to me. It could be fear, but how do I answer the question what for myself when even I can't place my finger on it? I can say it's because I'm ready to start my life...but I don't even know what that "life" consists of. My frustration boil over in rush, then the beautiful stranger pops into my mind without warning. If I had been thinking, I would have snapped his picture when he wasn't looking. It didn't matter however, because my memory was more than enough. I feel like the old ladies in the Life Alert commercials exclaiming how they've fallen and they can't get up, and realize that I too have taken a fall. Professional help not needed though. I'm still grinning like an idiot when my brother comes back in to ask if I want subs from Publix and I quickly wipe off the smile on my face.

"Yeah, and make sure they put banana peppers on it this time!" I call after him. Danté is notorious for forgetting to check the orders of food other than his own, and I want my banana peppers, damn it!