_tammy was in a bad mood. her parents had insisted that she was too young for a cell phone，no matter how much she begged. “but sun and alicia have cell phone!” tammy cried. “if i don’t get one, i won’t be popular.”
_“having a cell phone doesn’t make you popular,” tammy’s dad said. he is always saying stuff like this, as if he knew what it was to be in fourth grade. “besides,” dad said, “your school doesn’t allow cell phones, and you can call your friends from the house as soon you finish your homework.”
_“but i can’t send them text messages,” tammy relied.
_“you can use email,” mom said. “cell phone are expensive. we want you to wait until you can pay for part of the cost before you got one.”
_“by that time i won’t need one,”tammy said. “nobody will know who i am. i might as well moved to a desert island!”
_“in that case, i’ll get you some empty bottles and some *,” dad said. “bottle messages are much cooler than text messages.”
_“ugh,” sighed tammy.
___