Maya, Riley and I where heading down the hallway in school when Riley suddenly stopped. Maya and I turned around to face Riley who was gaping at something. We followed her eye line to see a boy looking at a piece of paper standing outside the office. "He's cute Riles." Maya said to her with a smirk causing her head to whip round to face us. Her mouth opening and closing like a fish, "I u-uh, h-him... Woaw." she said in awe before a huge grin overtook her face. We all looked back over to the boy just as he lifted his head from the paper in his hands. His gaze swept over the hallway before he saw us. His eyes went across us until he reached Riley. He looked at her and her super happy face before a smile curved at his lips as I watched the whole thing in amusement. The warning bell rang causing their stare off to break, he looked back with a smile again before heading down the hallway. Maya and I turned to face Riley again who was still staring at the spot where the boy had stood with her grin still in place. Maya and I shared an amused looked, "Riles." I said trying to get her attention- nothing. "Riley." Maya tried again. We looked at each other silently communicating before turning back to her and simultaneously grabbing Riley. "Earth to Riley!" we shouted shaking her. snapping her out of her trance. "W-was he real?" she asked us, "Yes Riley he was." I told her with an amused smile. She nodded with wide eyes. "Okay." Maya said grabbing her arm and dragging her down the hallway with us.
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Riley had finally went back to... "normal". The three of us were standing by our lockers before class started. I was texting Lucas, which had become a more frequent thing since the first day of school. "Talk to him." Maya ordered causing me to look up to see Maya and Riley looking at me. "Why? We have a great text relationship." I told them. "You know what's a better text relationship?" Riley asked. "What?" I asked her. "Talk to him," Maya ordered as I continued to text Lucas. "he's right over there." she pointed out, gesturing to the bench nearby where Lucas was sitting with his back to us. "No! Too complicated over there. Lots can go wrong over there. The only thing that can go wrong over here is if I go over there." I told them feeling panicked at the thought. Riley held her hands out and I handed her my textbooks that I had been holding before heading over to Lucas. I stood behind the bench and began to speak but no sound came out. I leaned a bit closer to try again but I caught a whiff of something delicious. That something was Lucas. I took another deep inhale before I saw Maya motion for me to go back. I walked back over to Maya and Riley. "How'd I do?" I asked biting my lip. "You smelled him." Riley said handing me back my books. "Uh-huh." I said nodding. "You smelled him is what you did." Maya told me. "I couldn't help it! He smells so good." I told them with a sheepish smile. "Can we please talk about this?" Riley asked. I pretended to think about, "Nope." I told them before walking through the history classroom door.
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"First things first." We have another new student joining us." Dad said gesturing to the boy from earlier who gave the class a small wave, "I'm Logan Friar, I'm from Austin, Texas." he told us. "Friar?" I asked just as Maya said "Texas?" I turned in my seat to look at Lucas, he gave me a smile, "Logan is my cousin, his family moved out here too." he told me. I nodded before turning back to look at Logan as Riley spoke up "Hi." she said dreamily, leaning her head against one of her palms. Logan gave her an amused smile, "Hi." he said back not being able to see the panicked look wash over our dad's face. "How come you didn't start at the same time as Ranger Rick?" Maya asked him. "Ranger Rick," Logan mumbled with a chuckle, "It just took a bit longer to get things sorted back home." he told her before looking back to Riley who was in the same position at her desk, dreamy smile still in place "Okay," Dad said quickly, "you can take a seat beside Mr. Friar there." he said gesturing to the empty seat. "You guys don't connect with each other. It's like you can't exist without these," Dad said, holding up his cellphone, "you use emoticons rather than emotions. You're an unfeeling generation of zombies." Maya, Riley, and I leaned closer to one another and pretended to be zombies. "Stop eating the other two." Dad ordered us and I pulled away and giggled. The front door of the classroom opened, and one of the students from our class walked in. "You're late, Miss Myzell." Dad told her. "My goldfish died." Mina told Dad. "You see? This is what I'm talking about. Miss Myzell has clearly suffered a tragic loss. Yet she does not seem in touch with her actual emotions." Dad said, draping an arm around her shoulders. "'Scuze me? I am crying my eyes out. I'm gonna have to leave class early." Mina said then she re‐opened the door and walked out. "Oh, she actually made it out the door this time." Dad said, opening the door which revealed Mina standing there. "I actually made it out the door this time!" She said as she walked in and made her way to her seat. "Dad, adjust and deal." Riley said, "Dad?" I heard Logan mumble "Cellphones have been around for, like, ever." she told him "It'll amaze you to know that there was a whole world before you and cellphones." Dad said and Maya let out a fake gasp. "No. That is unbelievable," she said, mockingly. Dad gave her a look. "And it'll amaze you to know that I have 394 friends in here." Riley said, holding up her phone and gesturing to it. "And I'm amazed that you believe that." Dad said, walking up to the chalk board. He drew a not so straight horizontal line. "This is a timeline of all human existence. Starting here is everyone who ever lived, laughed, loved, and understood the value of life." Dad told us. He then drew a vertical line at the end of the first one. "The cellphone era, which begins right around here pretty much destroys all of that. Way to go, you." Dad said. "Sir, if I may take a different position?" Lucas asked. "Yeah, save me, Mr. Friar. Do I go too far?" Dad asked. "Always, sir." Lucas replied. "I understand your point, but I use my phone to video chat my old friends and to find out what's going on in Texas." Lucas said. A tiny smirk appeared on my face. "Yeah. How else can he keep tabs on all the hoedowns?" I asked. "And don't forget about the cattle pageants," Maya added. We giggled. "Raven! Maya!" Riley hissed at us, "He's not the only one from Texas." she reminded us "It's okay, Riley. I'm unaffected by their views of country life." Logan told her. "As my Uncle Buster always says, "Be like an eagle and soar above the mockingbirds." Lucas said. "You two are the mockingbirds." Riley told us. "We know." Maya and I said in unison. I turned around in my seat to face Lucas as Maya looked between him and Logan. "It kills me that I can't get to you." Maya told the two." Sorry madam." Logan said, tipping an imaginary hat at her. Maya turned back to the front of the room in anger as I chuckled softly causing Lucas to smile at me. "Ooh‐hoo‐hoo‐hoo." she shuddered as I turned back to face the front. "Farkle time, sir?" Farkle asked, raising his hand. "Oh, I love Farkle time." Dad commented as Farkle walked to the chalk board. "With all due respect to history, Mr. Matthews, what's important to our generation will be on this side of the timeline, when Farkle and technology rule." Farkle said. I watched as Farkle approached Riley. "And I will easily be able to make another one of you," Farkle said, pulling out a strand of Riley's hair. "Ow." Riley said. "And another one of you." Farkle said, pulling out a piece of Maya's hair next. "Ow." Maya said. "And. Another one of you," Farkle said, pulling out a piece of my own black hair. "Ow," I said. "Wait, so now there's six of us and one of you?" Riley asked. "That's awesome." Farkle said. "Nope, it's crazy." I pointed out. "The future you can't escape it. I am Farkle!" Farkle shouted, ignoring what I said and walking over to his desk triumphantly. "The assignment you can't escape it. I am teacher!" Dad shouted, mimicking Farkle. I couldn't help but let out a few giggles and he beamed. "Okay, so here's what we're going to do, guys. We're going to split into teams and discover whether or not new technology has made us better people. You'll do presentations on your findings. And there's a twist," Dad said "no computers." "What?!" Riley shouted. "We're going old school. You're going to do your research at the New York public library." dad told us. "Where?!" Maya exclaimed and I shook my head softly. "And here's another twist because I trust you not at all give me your cellphones." Dad said. "No!" Riley shouted. "Yeah." Dad said, handing Sarah a box for all of us to put our phones into. I was the last to receive the box so once I'd put my phone inside I passed the box to my dad. "Okay, so our teams for this assignment. Maya," Dad started. Maya opened her arms out wide and Farkle jumped into them. "What up!" Farkle shouted. Maya pushed him off. "Raven and Riley, you will be with," dad started. He glanced at Lucas then at Logan before a scared expression crossed his face. "No! No." He panicked. The bell then started to ring and we all stood up and headed towards the door. "No!" Dad said as he made a dash for the door and stopped in front Lucas and Logan. "Why did you have to come here?" dad asked them. "Sorry we make you uneasy, sir." Lucas said and Logan nodded before they both walked out. "Oh, dad, we don't even have our phones. I mean, what could possibly happen?" Riley said as the three of us walked out of the room.
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We were standing outside of the classroom in the hallways when Lucas and Logan walked past "Hey, soaring eagles, you walkin' with us to the library tonight?" Maya asked them. The boys shared a look before turning back to face us "Sure, if that's good with you guys." Lucas answered "It's fine with me but seeing as you're Raven and Riley's partners on this assignment, I guess we should find out if it's okay with them. Raven? Riley?" she said. "Yep." I managed to squeak out with a nod causing Maya and Logan to smirk while Lucas smiled "Riley, any thoughts on this that might come out of your mouth in word form?" Maya asked turning to my frozen twin. "No, because you don't have your phone anymore, so what are you going to do to communicate? I wonder." she continued. Riley held up two thumbs up and did a smiley face. "Oh, look at that. Two thumbs up from Riley." Maya said. "And a smiley face." I chirped smiling at my adorkable sister.
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I was sitting at our dining table as my little brother Auggie talked about his day. "It was a good day. And then my friends treated me nicely. And then my teacher measured us and then I'm growing. And then Jenny Lewis loves me. I think because I'm growing." Auggie said. "It wasn't a good day." Riley told my family, "And then one of our friends pulled our hair out." she continued gesturing to me, "And then our teacher took our phones away and then our teacher was also our father." she finished "At least you're both growing." Auggie said, trying to cheer her up causing me to chuckle. "Honey, please don't come apart. Look at this as a beautiful opportunity to spend time with your family." My mom told her. "Hello, Raven and Riley." Auggie greeted us. "How you doin'?" We asked. "Want to hear about my day? It was a good day." Auggie said, not letting us give him an answer. "Mom!" Riley shouted, cutting him off. "Forgive her, Auggie. She misses her telephone." our mom told him. "Well, then she can have mine." Auggie said, handing her his toy phone. The toy phone began to beep. "The cow goes "Moo!" Auggie and I said. "We're not gonna make it." she admitted. "That's what your father thinks." Mom told her. "They can't." Dad said. "Honey's, please don't make your father right. It's no good for any of us when your father is right." My mom said to us. "She's right." dad said. "Why are you really doing this?" I asked him. "Because I want you and your friends to become human beings. And I believe that by doing this, you guys can learn to become real human beings." dad told us. I heard the door intercom buzz. "Hey, losers, it's Maya." Maya said, from the other side. Another buzz. "Except her." Dad said as I stood up and walked towards the door. "You know what? We are going to do this." I said giving Riley an encouraging look, "We can get through this whole thing without making a text or a call." Riley said as I pressed the intercom button. "Come on up." I called into it. "Of course you can, sweethearts." My mom said, "And you know what? You're already a wonderful human beings. But every so often, little tests like this are gonna come up." she told us. "Why?" Riley and I asked. "Because it's your father's job to give you little tests. And maybe along the way, you guys are going to learn a little bit more about yourselves." she answered. The front door opened and revealed Maya. "Yeah, like I've learned that I'm actually really okay with all of this." Maya said. "You don't miss your phone?" Mom asked. "Mrs. Matthew, I thought about this. I'm the only ones in class without a smart phone anyways," she said. "And now I kind of feel like everybody's even." Maya added. The intercom buzzed again. "Farkle." I heard him say. "Be ready in a minute." I said. There was another buzz. "Lucas." I heard Lucas say, I smiled to myself, "And Logan. I heard his voice ring out "Ready now!" Riley shouted, jumping up. She grabbed Maya and I's arms before dragging us out the door.
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"What is this place?" Riley asked, as we entered the libary. "This is where the ancients stored all of their wisdom." Farkle told us. "Look at all of those" Maya said as she gestured to a shelf. "Books." I said simply. "Books." Maya and Riley said in unison. "Look." Lucas said, picking up a book and started to blow off the dust on it. "Tales of human interaction." Logan read the title. "We'll take it." Maya said, grabbing the book, from Lucas and walking over to the table with everyone else behind her. "Thanks, quickdraw." I said to Lucas with a teasing smile and he gave me a playful glare. "Farkle, do whatever you do with that." Maya said, dropping the book on the table. "You mean read?" I asked. She nodded. "Chapter one" Farkle begun. "Oh, I'm bored out of my mind. Let's go to a movie." Maya suggested. "Shh!" Someone shushed us. "Ah!" We all screamed and whipped around to see an old lady reading a book. "There's one of those ancients now." Farkle whispered to us and I raised an eyebrow amused. We walked over to the old lady and stood in front of her. "Oh, wondrous gatekeeper of the knowledge, we are travelers from another time and place." Farkle introduced. I rolled my eyes. "Seventh grade middle school." I told her. "We wish to partake of this information from your great hall of wisdom." Farkle said. "Do you rent phones?" Riley asked. "Shh!" The lady shushed. "There's no one here but us." Lucas pointed out. "Why do we have to shush?" Maya asked. "Let me handle this, Maya. She obviously likes it quiet." Farkle said. "Hello, book lady." Farkle greeted. "Well, hello. And who might you be?" The librarian asked. "I might be Farkle." Farkle answered. "Would you do me a favor, Farkle?' she asked. "Oh, we all know he will," he said. "Why don't you go over there and shh!" She shouted. "Well, that was disappointing." Maya said. "So Yeah. Uh‐huh." Farkle said, walking over to the book. "This chapter is called "disconnect to connect." Farkle said. "Not until we put down our phones, switch off our computers and look in each other's eyes will we be able to touch each other's hearts." Maya read from the chapter. "Yeah, like that's going to work on anybody." she added.
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We split off into our pairs. Riley and Logan took over a table while Farkle and Maya took over a window seat. Lucas and I where sat on the floor in one of the aisles. We both leaned against a bookshelf facing each other as our legs lay touching, side by side. I had been trying to build the courage to talk to Lucas but every time its just us, I freeze up. We were just looking into each others eyes. His are a pretty shade of green. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans as I took a deep breath, "Lucas?" "Yeah?" he asked curiously "What do you miss most about Texas?" I asked him biting my lip, he smiled a little, "A lot." he told me honestly and I gave him a sad, sympathetic smile. "Would talking about it make it worse?" I asked nervously, he shook his head softly, "No," He said with a reassuring smile, "I think it might just be the right thing." he told me. I smiled. "I guess the thing I miss most about Texas are the pets I used to have," he told me. "Riley and I had a hamster once," I said. "I had 24 horses," He said "You win," I told him with a chuckle and he smirked, "Tell me about them." I said "Well, one day after school, Sofia was foaling," He started. "That mean she was giving birth, right?" I asked. "Not bad, city girl," he teased causing me to smile before continuing on with the story, "and there was no one there, so I called Dr. Galendo and he talked me through it. Anyways that was all." he said "Tell me more." I requested. "Did you know that a baby horse stands in the first hour it's born?" Lucas asked me. "I had no idea. That's sounds really amazing," I said, "I'd like to have been there for that." I told him "The coolest thing I've ever seen and I was a part of it," he uttered. "Raven." "Lucas." I repeated, saying his name. "I've never told this to anybody before," he said looking at me "I think someday, I might like to be a veterinarian." he licked his lips, "I delivered this beautiful Palomino," he continued, "I'd show you her picture, but I don't have my phone." he told me "That's okay, just keep talking." I said happily, leaning my head back against the shelf.
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Riley opened our front door and we walked in. I leaned against the doorframe, and sighed, happily. "How was your night, girls?" Dad asked. "Thank you for sending us to the library," I said. "Yeah, we needed that," Riley added. "Really?" Dad asked in disbelief. "Yes, we all did really well on our assignments," I said, as Riley and I walked further into the apartment, "I think we connected." I told him. "What do you mean, connected? What are you talking about? How did you connect?" Dad asked, rapidly. "We talked about stuff that was important to us," Riley said. "Too important to text," I said. "Did you know that when you listen to someone " Riley started. "They'll tell you things?" I finished. "Oh boy," Dad said. "Friends talk to each other." Riley said. "But real friends listen." I said. "Maya knows how to draw." Riley stated. "And we know how to be a real friend." I said. "You're a good teacher, daddy" I told him as I pulled him into a hug. "You can keep our phones for as long as you want." Riley said as she joined the hug before we both pulled away and headed to our room.
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The next I sat in the classroom as dad handed us back our phones. "Here you go take your phone. Take it now. Very good. Here's your phone." he said, handing out the last of them, "Good, great, nobody talks to nobody. No more feelings. Thank you." He walked up to the front of the room. "Okay, guys, the great technology debate. Let's boot it up!" dad cheered. Riley, Maya, Lucas, Logan, Farkle, and I walked up to the front of the room. "I have always believed technology would help us fulfill our potential as a species. And when Farkle does rule the world, no matter what devices we come up with, we should also never forget what we can do with a pencil, a piece of paper and our own imaginations." Farkle said. He took a folded piece of paper which he un‐folded to reveal Maya's drawing. "I've been keeping this in my pocket where my phone used to be. I keep looking at it. I'm fine." Farkle said. "Thanks, Farkle." Maya said. "Look in my eyes." He ordered. "No." Maya said, looking away. "I thought my whole life was in my phone, but it turns out that I don't really have any friends in here. And you don't need your phone to connect with your real friends." Riley said. "Allow us to show you a demonstration." Logan said. Lucas and I turned to face each other. "Hi." he greeted with a smile which I returned "Hi." I said.
