lxxi. a gift and a three way conversation

It was the day before school was supposed to start. I was sort of excited for school. Aaron and I had more classes together this year. We were both taking French, and that would be fun. I wanted to savor these last few days of freedom though.

Dad knocked on my door. I opened it for him. "Hi Dad," I said.

"Hey McKenna." He took out a small box. "I have something for you. Think of it as an early birthday present."

Why would Dad give me an early birthday present? I took the box and shook it, but I couldn't tell what was in there.

"Don't do that, McKenna," Dad said.

"Oh okay," I said. I tore open the wrapping paper. "It's a box," I said jokingly. I opened the box and I couldn't believe what I saw.

A phone. Dad had actually gotten me a cell phone. I jumped up and hugged him. "Thank you Dad!" I shouted.

"You're welcome," Dad said. "Just be careful with it."

"I will!" I turned on my new phone and texted Aaron and Justin. The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey! I got a new phone!

Aaron: OMG that's great!

Justin: Sweet. I'm kinda busy right now though.

Me: What are you doing?

Justin: Sorting through my dad's old record collection

Me: Oh ok.

Aaron: I don't want to go back to school.

Me: Why?

Aaron: It's so boring.

Me: It's not that bad.

Aaron: At least we have French together. We're learning the language of love. :)

Me: I can't wait!

Aaron: Well, now we can text each other about it!

Me: Yep. I have to go soon though. Dad's going out with Shonali so I have to watch Noah and Brooklyn.

Aaron: Shonali's your dad's girlfriend right?

Me: Yes. Can't you remember things once in a while?

Aaron: I only remember random things that I'll never need to know later. Did you know that there are more ways to shuffle a deck of cards than there are atoms on Earth?

Me: You can't even shuffle a deck of cards at all.

Aaron: I know.

Me: I actually need to go now.

Aaron: Ok bye McKenna.

I turned off my phone and smiled. It was nice being able to talk to Aaron and Justin whenever I wanted. I was glad that Dad finally gave me this.