An Unwanted Gift

Sofia didn’t know how she felt about starting her new school. She had heard things about the way the kids were there, that they were snobby and stuck-up, and that they were as high-tech as they came. She worried most that she would be judged for the way that she was; even at her old school, being old-fashioned like her was not a desirable trait. She knew that it was natural for people her age to be interested in all the modern things, although she had no idea why. She thought it safe to assume the reason she turned out this way was because she lived with her grandparents, who had not modernized at all since moving into the house in the mid-forties. Perhaps the reason she was so disinterested in modern life was because she didn’t grow up living it, but even so, she wouldn’t change a thing. 

“Grandma, do I absolutely have to go to Richardson High? They’re just going to judge me since they’re all up with the new stuff and I’m not,” she said, not trying to hide the nerves in her voice. 

“It’s a good school and your mom and dad wanted you to go there. At worst you might be a bit of an outcast, and listen, I know that sounds bad, but you’ll live through it,” her grandma explained. “But do at least try to make some friends.”

Sofia knew that her grandma was trying her best to put her nerves at ease, but it just wasn’t helping. “I know, and I’ll try, but I’m just worried they’re all going to be like that.”

“Like what, dear?”

“Like I’m the crazy one since I don’t have a cell phone or have any idea of what’s popular,” said Sofia. “I mean, I’m not complaining, grandma, I love the way I live and I don’t ever want to change. It’s just...I’m afraid they’re going to be shallow and arrogant and make fun of me all the time. Not that I couldn’t handle it, but it just wouldn’t be making things any easier on me.”

She paused, thinking of how she might be treated by her classmates. 

“‘Look at Sofia, she still uses a rotary phone and a record player, and oh! Don’t forget her typewriter!’” she exclaimed in a mocking voice. 

“Honey,” her grandma started. “You know, you don’t have to live like us. If you want to live like all the kids do now, that’s alright. I mean, your grandfather and I may not like it that much, but you’re living in a different time. It’s only natural to live like the other kids. And I don’t have to worry about you getting too addicted.”

“But grandma, I don’t want to! I told you, I have no desire to change. I like the way I am, and if I have a hard time because of it, that’s fine, because they’re not going to change me.” Suddenly, Sofia found a confidence she didn’t know she had inside of her. “You know, what? It’s fine. I can deal with whatever comes my way. Maybe I won’t have to worry. Maybe it’s just a stereotype and they’re not actually like that. I’d better get to bed. Where’s grandpa?”

“He’s already in bed, dear.”

“Oh, okay, then good night, grandma,” she said. 

“Good night. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks.”

It only took two minutes of being inside her new school to confirm her suspicions of the kids that went there. A sea of students, all of them with their heads bowed down and looking at their cell phones, not even watching where they were going. She would try to make friends later. Right now, her priority was finding the right classroom. Her first period was art. Luckily for her, she found it in a few minutes. 

She and the teacher were the only ones in the room.

“Well, hello. Welcome to art class. I’m Mr. Jeffrey,” the man said. 

“I’m Sofia. I guess I’m early,” she said, looking around the empty classroom.

“Lots of kids like to stand in the hall until the bell rings,” explained Mr. Jeffrey. “Feel free to take a seat anywhere.” 

“Okay.” 

Sofia sat down in the front row. A few minutes passed and the bell rang, with students filing in, staring at their phones and giggling. As they settled down, Mr. Jeffery spoke. 

“I’m Mr. Jeffery. I will be your art teacher this year. For your first assignment, I want you all to get out your phones and walk around the building. Take ten pictures of things that stand out to you. Feel free to walk around a bit outside as well, if you wish. Does everyone have their phones?”

Sofia shook her head, but he didn’t see her. 

One girl said from the back of the room, “I don’t have mine, my parents took it because they got mad at me.” 

“That’s okay,” said Mr. Jeffrey. “You can ask your parents tomorrow to let you bring it with you, tell them it’s for school, I’m sure they’ll understand. All right, then you guys can go take pictures and Alyssa, you can stay here and draw something.”

After everyone left, Sofia went to tell Mr. Jeffrey that she didn’t have a cell phone. 

“I have a camera, though. I could bring that tomorrow.” Just like her, her camera was old-fashioned.

He said that it was fine and that she could join Alyssa and draw something, although the way he looked at her was strange. As if she was from another time period. Although, in a way, she was. Mr. Jeffrey went out to stand in the hall.  

“You don’t have a phone?” asked Alyssa, looking through her long, black, sharply cut bangs. “Strict parents? I can’t imagine it’s because you can’t afford it.”

This caught Sofia off guard. Do I look rich or something? she thought. 

“What?”

“Well, even though you don’t have to pay to come here, you need lots of supplies, like a computer and stuff, and everyone who goes here is on the higher end when it comes to money” she explained. 

“Oh, I just, um, I never wanted one,” Sofia said simply. It was true. All the things she could do on a cell phone, she could do without one. She had a calendar, a camera, a notebook, a contacts book, a planner, a record player, a map, an alarm clock, books, a television (black and white, but she didn’t care) and a telephone. Yes, it had a dial, but she wouldn’t trade her red rotary phone for anything. Even then, she couldn’t deny the charm of rotary phones. They were just so cute! She knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed, and she actually wasn’t embarrassed, but she was put in an awkward position. 

“I have a computer, though. Obviously. But I only use it for school since we don’t have Internet at home.” I should not have said that. Why am I so stupid?! “It’s not that we can’t afford it or that I have strict parents. I just never wanted one. Everything on a cell phone, I can already do.” Oh, you are asking for it, Sofia!

Alyssa’s face was full of shock.

“Woah, that’s...I thought you were joking at first. Here I was this morning laughing because Kyle has an old smartphone and he doesn’t have a smartwatch or Alexa, but you? This is just too good! I have to write this on my social media and my blog!”

Although this was expected, Sofia couldn’t help but feel betrayed. She panicked, she didn’t want to be on any social media or blogs. She liked her privacy and she didn’t want to be on the Internet. 

“Wait! What? No, what’s- what do you mean? I don’t want you to write about me at all, let alone writing about ‘the girl who’s so crazy because she lives in the fifties and still uses a rotary phone!’” she exclaimed. 

Alyssa gasped. “Oh, and it just gets better! I am so writing about you! And I’m guessing you don’t have social media? That works great because then you can’t write to me on it, telling me to take it down!” Alyssa was just loving it. 

“Please,” Sofia begged. “Don’t. I like having privacy. I don’t want to do this, but if you insist on writing about me, I’ll tell the principal. And before you say anything, yes, I know we’re in highschool, and telling the principal is a kid-thing, but I will not be put out there for people to know about me. So just don’t.”

Alyssa thought it over, realized she’d better not get the principal involved, as she saw that Sofia was very serious. “Fine. But you never wish you had one? Like, ever? You say you can do all the stuff that you can do on a phone without an actual cell phone, but what if you’re stuck somewhere? Or what about if you need to call someone while you’re out? Wouldn’t it make at least that part of life easier? Payphones are dying, you know.” 

Sofia was shocked this girl even knew what a payphone was, what with how high-tech she was. She did know that it was a problem, and that it would make life easier to be able to call while she was out. She just didn’t want one, though. Even though she could get one that would only be for call and text, she had no desire for one. She’d always forget to take it with her and it would just gather dust. 

“Yeah, I know,” she replied. “I know payphones are dying and I do admit it would be nice to be able to call someone while I’m out, but I just don’t want the hassle. I know you don’t see it as a hassle, and it’s honestly more of an obsession it seems, for you, but I just don’t want to deal with it. This is going to sound cheesy, but just look up from your screen once in a while, for God’s sake. Do you ever just go for a walk, have a nice talk with someone, or write letters?” She could tell the answer was no by the look on Alyssa’s face. “Then you don’t know what you’re missing.”

“Why are you like this?” asked Alyssa, not believing what she was hearing.

“It’s not some phase or some interest if that’s what you’re thinking,” she started. “This is my life. I like it this way. I live with my grandparents. My parents died in a car crash when I was only a few months old. If I would have lived with them, maybe I would have been different, but I still kind of doubt it because this is who I am and it just feels right. My grandparents still live like it’s the fifties, and maybe I’m a product of my environment, but this is just how I want to live. I’m happy like this. I’m sorry, but, well, no I’m not sorry. I don’t need all this technology to make me happy. It wouldn't give me any sense of fulfillment, and quite frankly, I don’t lack any sense of fulfillment. And also, I just think technology has been long at a point to where there is no need for further progression. It already does everything for you. What more do you need, really?”

Alyssa didn’t say a word, so Sofia continued. “And in case you’re wondering, this wasn’t forced on me by my grandparents. Yeah, they prefer me living like this, but it’s just the simple fact that I like living like this. More natural, more in the moment, I guess you could say. I feel more connected to everything like this.”

A confused look crossed Alyssa’s face. “How can you feel so connected when you’re not connected at all?”

“I just do. I know you don’t get it, but I just do.” 

“Do you wear one of those stupid little night hats to bed too?” she mocked.

“Nightcaps, and...maybe, maybe not. But if I did, it would be because they’re super cozy and keep my head warm. And, just so you know, babydoll nightgowns are really cute.”

Alyssa just laughed. “You’re unbelievable.”

Sofia and Alyssa were in the same English class, and happened to be partnered together for a writing project, much to the disappointment of both girls. In the few weeks that had passed, Sofia found that unfortunately, most of the kids at her new school were much like Alyssa. 

Alyssa’s mother made her go to Sofia’s house after school to do their project. Sofia’s grandparents were away shopping. 

“I don’t get why my mom sent us here and not my house. You don’t have Internet and my phone’s dead,” said Alyssa. 

“We can use my typewriter,” answered Sofia. “I know that’s not your style and you’re going to laugh, but really. I mean, do you have another way in mind? The school’s closed, the library’s closed for construction, and your mom won’t let us go to your house, so we’ll probably have to.” 

They did the project, or, more accurately, Sofia did the project while Alyssa sat, arrogantly laughing at her typewriter. Alyssa was about to leave, when she remembered something. 

“Oh, I almost forgot. Here.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a smartphone. “This is a super old model, but I thought you really needed one. It would make you less of an outcast. Don’t worry about giving it back, I have no use for it since it’s so old. I mean, not rotary phone old, but you get what I mean. I have instructions with it so you know how to start using it, and the charger’s with it. You did mention that it would be nice to be able to call people when you’re away from home.”

Of all things, Sofia was not expecting this. She also felt a bit insulted that Alyssa and the other people at Richardson High couldn’t just respect the fact that she was old-fashioned. She stared at the phone and couldn’t fathom how it could possibly be considered an ‘old model.’

“Thanks for the offer, but I really can’t,” said Sofia, trying to sound as much as possible like she meant it.

“Well, too bad. I’m leaving that here with you. I don’t want it anymore. It’s yours.”

Before Sofia could respond, Alyssa had her coat and was out the door. 

Yes, it would be really nice to be able to call people when I’m away. She thought, imagining how much easier it could make life for her. 

Just then, her grandparents walked in and Sofia showed them the cell phone she was given. Her grandmother told her again how even though they liked the old-fashioned Sofia, they wouldn’t mind a modern Sofia, and how it would be good for her to have it with her in case of an emergency. 

“You are becoming a young adult, and it’s something most young adults have,” said her grandpa. “It would be pretty useful. What if you’re in an accident, or you need to call someone right away? Remember that one time you needed to be picked up because there was a storm, and you had to borrow a stranger’s cell phone? Or all the times you had to meet someone somewhere but it was hard finding them because you couldn’t communicate? Just think it over. We’ll understand. You would...um, you would have to pay for it, though. Every month. We can’t afford to spend any more than we already do at the moment.”

Sofia sighed. “It’s okay, grandpa, I have thought about it, actually. I know that the fact that I don’t have one makes me an outsider and that it would help me and be a good thing to have in case something happens, but you and grandma are fine without one. I know it would be great to be able to call people while I’m out and have a little pod in my hand where I can have access to the whole Internet, but there’s a reason I haven’t gotten one yet. That’s because I just didn’t know how to feel about it. I don’t want to be one of those shallow people like the kids at my school, and I’m not saying having a cell phone will make me that way or that everyone who has a cell phone is like that.” Although many of them are, but I don’t need to go into that right now. She pushed that thought aside. “Honestly, I just don’t want one. I know the benefits, but I also know who I am. And this isn’t it. I can do without one. So unless you guys want it, which I don’t think you do, I’m going to throw it away. Alyssa doesn’t want it.”

This caught her grandparents’ attention. 

“Is that that girl who came over today for the project? Is she your friend? Did you make a friend yet?” her grandma asked, suddenly excited. 

Alyssa. The last thing Sofia wanted to think about. “No, we’re...probably the opposite of friends. I don’t think we’ll ever be friends. But I still have my friends from my old school. They’re not as judgmental, and maybe one day I will find a person or two who’s like me and understands me.”

Sofia couldn’t be happier with the life she lived and had no regrets. After she ate dinner and finished her homework, she listened a little to Buddy Holly and then put on her nightcap and went to bed.