App For The Future
Maybe knowing the future isn’t a good thing
“Whatcha doing?” Sandy slid into the seat beside Becky and glanced down at the phone.
Becky pressed a button on the phone, then looked at Sandy, excitement bubbling in her voice. “I’m getting the new future app.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
Becky rolled her eyes. “You really need to stay more up to date on technology.” She lifted the phone and pointed. “It tells you your future.”
Sandy raised an eyebrow. “Right. Like I would believe anything an app, who has never even met me, says about my future.”
Becky huffed. “You feed it information by answering questions, and then it tells you what’s going to happen in either a day, week, month, or year.”
“That’s so…”
“Cool! Right?”
“Not the word I was going to use.” Sandy shook her head and pulled out a notebook from her backpack.
“You should try it, then you’ll see how cool it is.”
“No, thank you. I prefer to have my future be a mystery.”
The bell rang, and the girls scurried off to class, the phone and the app of the future forgotten for now. The day seemed to drag on for Sandy. Every chance she got, Becky was talking about that stupid app and how much better it would be to know her future. By the time the last bell rang, Sandy was ready to get as far away from Becky as possible.
She pushed open the school doors and headed to her bus.
“Wait up,” Becky called.
Sandy sighed as she slowed her steps and allowed Becky to catch up. She forgot they rode the same bus. It would be another twenty minutes until she could get away from the chatterbug.
“I have a favor to ask.”
Sandy stepped up into the bus and took her seat, Becky right beside her. “What is it?”
“I need you to download the app and use my link code so we can be friends on there.”
“What!” Sandy shook her head. “No way.”
“Please. It says I need a friend to know my future.” Becky looked at her with puppy dog eyes and pouting lips.
Sandy rolled her eyes and handed over her phone. “Fine. But I’m not using it.”
The pout turned into a smile, and a joyous squeal slipped through her lips. “You don’t have to use it. I’ll set it all up and do everything for you.”
By the time they were stepping off the bus, Becky was handing Sandy back her phone, a triumphant smile lighting up her face.
“We will know our future in the morning.” Becky skipped ahead, then turned around to wait for Sandy.
“No, you will know your future tomorrow. I want nothing to do with that app.”
“Fine. I’ll look at it for you and tell you what’s going to happen.”
“I would rather you didn’t.” Sandy shoved her phone in her pocket and headed toward her house. “See you in the morning.”
Becky waved before walking down the street to her house and disappearing inside. Sandy sighed as she slipped inside her house. She had a feeling this future app would end up hurting Becky’s feelings.
The next morning, Becky was already waiting at the bus stop when Sandy walked outside. An unusual turn of events. She was rubbing her hands together and bouncing from one foot to the other as she tried to beckon Sandy to walk faster.
Sandy pulled her phone out and handed it to Becky before she could even ask for it. She didn’t understand why Becky would be interested in Sandy’s future, but it was too early in the morning to argue.
“Cheerleading tryouts are today.”
Sandy furrowed her brows before stepping onto the bus and taking her seat. “So?”
“So, we should try out.”
“Umm. No.”
Becky huffed. “You like cheerleading. You even told me you wished you would have tried out last year.”
“That was last year. This year I’m clumsy and don’t want to make a fool of myself.”
Becky shoved Sandy’s phone into her bag, then took her own phone out of her pocket and pointed to the words on the screen. “It says I’m going to get picked for the cheerleading team, as an alternate, of course.”
“So, you go try out.”
“I don’t want to go alone,” Becky whined. “Please. Just do this one thing for me.”
Sandy rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
The rest of the school day was uneventful, and when the final bell rang, Becky rushed to the gym, dragging a reluctant Sandy behind her.
Thirteen girls stood lined up, waiting their turn to show the coach and head cheerleader why they would make a good addition to the team. Sandy and Becky were last.
The waiting was fraying on Sandy’s nerves. One after another, the girls in front of her were rejected and sent on their way. It wasn’t boosting her self-confidence. When her turn finally came, her legs felt like jelly, and her hands shook.
Taking a deep breath, Sandy settled her nerves, then started the routine the cheerleader had shown them at the beginning of tryouts. She blocked out the people and focused on the moves, lost in a world of her own.
When she finished, the coach smiled, and the cheerleader standing beside her clapped her hands.
The coach pulled a team shirt off the table and handed it to Sandy. “Welcome to the team.”
Shocked, Sandy took the shirt and stepped back beside Becky. “Thank you.” It felt like a dream. She was sure she would wake up any minute and be the self-conscious, awkward girl laughed at for trying out.
Becky took her turn, making every move perfect until the jump. Becky came down wrong, landing on the side of her foot and rolling her ankle. A yelp echoed through the gym as she crashed to the hard floor.
Sandy stood in shock for a moment before rushing to her side. “Are you okay?”
“My ankle. It hurts.”
The coach crouched down. “It looks broken.”
“It can’t be broken. Sandy’s ankle is supposed to get broken, not mine.” Becky hissed as she touched her ankle. “I’m supposed to become part of the team.”
Sandy stared at her in disbelief. “Are you telling me that you thought I was going to break my ankle, and you still wanted me to try out?”
Becky looked up, a tear sliding down her cheek. “The app said I was going to become part of the team, and you were going to break your ankle at tryouts.”
“I think your app got it wrong.”
Becky pointed to her backpack. “Give me my phone.”
Sandy handed her the phone and watched as Becky deleted the app, then did the same to the one on Sandy’s phone.
Becky looked up at Sandy. “You were right, I don’t want an app telling me my future.”
This story was inspired by a prompt from Promptly Written. Thank you, Bella Smith ⭐for the great prompt!
