The Haunted Cell Phone

The Haunted Cell Phone(Full Manuscript)

The Haunted Cell Phone

Chapter One

Hi, I'm Jessie Davidson, and boy do I have a story for you. It all started with a big fight between my parents and I.

"You're just not old enough, Jess!" Mom shouted at me. Dad was also in the kitchen waiting to give his part. The two of them went back and forth giving me the rundown.

"I hate to say it, squirt, but Mom's got a point. You're only thirteen. Those things will turn your brain to mush!"

"But mom, dad, every kid at school has one. Please? I'll never ask you for anything else ever again, I swear." Of course, I didn't actually intend to follow through on that promise. But, I needed to tell them something legit if I wanted to make a real case. I was usually pretty solid with the guilt trip routine. My puppy dog face was epic. "You don't want me to be the only kid at school without a phone, do you? I'll be a total loser! Even Marcus Sneadleman just got one!" Marcus was the biggest weenie in school. He's short, super nerdy, had huge thick red glasses and never showered.

"Oh, well in that case, I suppose we should just spend the five hundred dollars and get you your precious device then, shouldn't we?" I sensed Mom's sarcastic tone.

"Why do you care what Marcus Sneadleman does, squirt?" I hated when Dad did this. He always made it about me, even though he was probably right. In my life, all I cared about was not being a total dweebazoid. I refuse to be the only kid at school without a cell phone! "This is about you. Don't conform to society, don't give in to peer pressure. Besides, what does a 13 year old need a cell phone for, anyway?"

The truth is that I didn't NEED one, but I truly, desperately, badly wanted one. Last year at school, all my friends started getting phones, and it was the coolest thing to have. Everyone wanted to make their own Instagram pages, and if you didn't have one, you were totally left out of every inside joke and popular topic of conversation. Just this past week, I walked up to Josh Hartley and Nelson Strong to say what's up. The two of them have been in my class since we were five! I gave them a nod, and tried to have a conversation with them. Neither of them looked up at their phone for even a single glance. Looking down, they both started laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"Check out your insta, Jessie!" Of course, I was instantly crushed. I didn't have an insta, nor did I have a phone.

I responded, "Oh cool, yeah, I'll do that later." The two walked away still looking down at their phones. I found out later that there was some meme all the 7th graders were laughing at. It was all the rage. In short, having a phone was a necessity. I had to have one.

I got down on my knees. "Please Mom, Dad, I stand here, excuse me, I kneel here before you, as your only son, and your precious baby, this is a life or death situation. I must have this phone. This is not a drill, this is not a joke. Please, and thank you." I was quite convincing, I must say. And, I really didn't ask for much often. I was a good kid, always got B's and A's, and for the most part, my parents got me the things I always wanted. But, on the phone issue, they would not budge. They were a brick wall of no. And that wouldn't change anytime soon.

Dad began talking, but mom jumped in first. "Listen, buddy. We hear you, we really do. You know us. We want you to be happy, we want to get you what you want, but this......this is just not something we can get behind. We don't want to get you a cell phone simply because everyone else has one. When we feel it's important for you to have one, we will get it for you, I promise."

"Well what if I get abducted tomorrow by a band of nasty outer space aliens, and my only chance of survival is to call you in a last ditch effort from my cell phone to tell you my whereabouts."