Action (DNF)

Chapter 23: New Phone

George POV

“So what type of phone would be the best?” I questioned, looking at the different types, each of them having several minor differences but apparently each of them requiring a twenty pound price difference despite being basically the same.
“Well your main purpose is social media, so something with a good camera.” Wilbur suggested.

“And which one is that? They all look the exact same, how are we supposed to know that one of them has a better camera then the others?” Maybe it was just because I haven’t grown up around technology, but it felt like there was no logical way to actually see which was better.

For a while the two of us just kept staring at the phones, with Wilbur picking some up off of their stands to suggest them to me. None of them were too special. He’d show me one, I’d say no, then a minute later he’d show me another one with the only difference being the new one being an inch or so smaller.

After a while of the same routine a female employee approached us. “Can I help either of you two?” She asked, giving us a smile as her gaze flickered between the two of us.
“Yes please.” I nodded, feeling thankful that we had an expert.
“No, we’re all fine thanks.” Wilbur spoke at the same time..

She took my words over the other brunette’s but this time focused her gaze only on me. “What can I help you with?” She questioned.
“Well I am looking for a phone, one that would be good for social media.” I explained. “Maybe something with fast internet.”

“The phone doesn’t determine how fast the internet is.” She hummed. “But if you wanted I could help you find a fast router and a phone too.”
“That’ll be nice, thanks.” I responded, and after giving a nod of confirmation she began walking over to another part of the store.

I followed after her, with Wilbur grabbing my arm as I did. “We could have found this stuff on our own.” He told me, causing my attention to move off of the woman on the other side of the store and looking over at him.

“Neither of us are experts with technology though.” I told him. “She at the very least looks like she knows what she’s doing.”
“Fine.” Wilbur huffed, looking like an annoyed child. “I just think that it’s a waste of time bothering her. We could have found everything that we needed.”

“And now we can find everything easier. It’s her job to help us find stuff in this shop, plus you didn’t say anything about a router but apparently I will need one of those to use the internet.”
“I was going to tell you about it after we got you a phone. Then I was going to help you find a phone case and a screen protector to keep your phone safe.” He explained.

“These are our most popular routers.” The woman explained, motioning to a row in the far corner of the shop. They give you fast reliable internet, depending on where you live of course, country homes tend to have slower internet in general.”
“That makes sense.” I nodded before looking over at Wilbur. “Which one looks the best?”

We began discussing with the employee about different routers and after a while I’d chosen one, then I was taken over to the phones and they began talking about them. There was one that was a decent price and had a good camera, according to the female employee, so that was the one I had taken.

I was still unsure whether this was what I wanted to do. Living without the technology that the rest of the world had was nice, it was peaceful. If I went along with this then it would be near impossible to go back. But I wanted to explain how Clay wasn’t as bad as Monica claimed that he was. It was for him. So I went through with it.

The nice employee helped to set up my current phone number onto the new phone, causing a satisfied smile to appear on my face when I found that I was able to message all of my contacts (Clay, Wilbur, and my parents) on the new phone. Both she and Wilbur insisted that I put a password on it right then and there in the store, which I did.

After that was what Wilbur called the fun part. Once we had paid (and I felt most of my savings disappearing from my bank account), he took me to another store, one filled with phone accessories.

Surprisingly the type of phone that I grabbed had a lot of different accessories that I could have, more than I had expected there to be. There were dozens of different phone cases, phone holders, screen protectors, stickers to decorate, and things called pop-sockets which you could use to hold your phone easier. It all seemed unnecessary for me.

However Wilbur disagreed. He said that all of these features were of the utmost importance. For at least an hour he showed me all of the cases, putting them on my phone to show me how they look under the watchful eye of the store employees. We went from store to store in the mall, trying each and every case that there was.

Most of it was the two of us joking around, him suggesting I buy something like a custom barbie phone case, with a pink plastic cover and sparkles. After a while wandering around I returned to the second or third store we visited and decided to take a dark blue phone case. It was only eighteen pounds and looked surprisingly nice when contrasted against the black screen.

“It looks really nice,” Wilbur hummed as we sat at a table facing each other and outside of a small cafe. “Maybe I should buy myself a new phone to match.”
“But you already have a phone, and it works perfectly.” I reminded him while sipping on the milkshake that we’d brought, since it was quite warm today despite being Winter.

“I know, but I’ve had it for a year and there’s a new one that is better that was released a month or so ago. More storage and it looks a lot cleaner, and mine has cracks on it from when I dropped it once.” He explained.
“And this is the reason why I didn’t want to get a phone.” I grumbled.

Wilbur chuckled at my words and so I continued. “What’s the point of spending several thousand for your phones and your cases and your pop-sockets and all your apps. Then buying a new one a year later when the new phone comes out. This was why I liked the flip phone I have.”

Sitting in between the two of us was my new phone, and after staring at the plain lock screen. A moment or so passed before Wilbur piped up again. “You know what we should do? We should take a selfie together for your lock screen. It would make sense since you’re my best friend.”

“Fine.” I nodded, passing the phone to him so he could show me what to do. He just told me to smile for the camera while he moved closer to me. I did as the brunette asked and he took a few photos. I was pleased with how the results turned out and quickly made one my wallpaper while Wilbur watched from over my shoulder.

Both of us were too preoccupied with the photo that we didn’t realise someone was taking photos of us from behind.
_________________________________________
1334 words

Who do you think was taking photos of George with Wilbur?

Also, some people said that George shouldn't get a phone without Clay's permission. What do you guys think about that? Should he have gotten Clay's permission or what else should have happened?