The Book Of Faces

Briing! Briing!

I shot out of bed as the earsplitting ringtone ruptured the silence. With two fingers, I gingerly picked up the thin, rectangular plastic-y thingy and held it up before me, trying to remember which button Mei said was the 'End Call' button. Severely annoyed at the iPhone that simply would not stop ringing, I finally pressed a random button.

Worse luck, Elisabeta's high-pitched, smooth voice came on - so quickly it made me jump.

"Ciao, Yao!" she chirped. "Hope I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Oh, it's no trouble aru, I've been awake for hours," I lied.

"Oh awesome! Yao look, here's the deal, um, I'm planning this year's 'Used to Be Communists/Still Are Socialists' reunion. A few of the old gang have already said they want to come, and we'll figure out when and where to hold it. So-o-o, you coming?"

I was about to answer yes when suddenly a worrying thought came to mind.

"We-e-ell, um...it's not going to be LASER TAG, is it aru?"

Elisabeta's ultra-loud laugh blasted into my ear, causng me to drop the devilish western thingamajig.

"No, Yao dear, we all remember THE INCIDENT. Don't worry, you can always change your mind!"

"We-ell...OK, I guess, aru."

"SUPER!" Hungary screeched. "OK, man, we'll all be on Facebook at, um, 6:30 to discuss the date and location. Be there! Viszontlatasra!"

"Wait, what...Face...book? What's that...what?" I asked, confused. But it was too late. The beep signifying the end of the conversation had long ago sounded out, aru.

Oh, no, aru.

I slumped back against the wall. Whenever I agree something with these 鞭子, this sort of thing always happens, aru.

I wouldn't even have a phone if Mei hadn't practically dragged me to one of these new-fangled stores and chosen one with a pretty decor of pandas on the - what was it called? - carcass. (Eew, westerners have such weird names for stuff, aru.) I would have chucked it into the trash as soon as I got home, aru, if it weren't for those pandas, they conquered my heart. Now they are my friends, aru. I don't like them so much, though, when their home (the phone) gets me into such a mess, aru!

Oh never mind that, aru, I was supposed to talk to Hong Kong about something anyway, aru. He's always so into these strange foreign gadgets - he'll be sure to know about this Book-Face or Face-book or Book of Faces or whatever Elisabeta said, aru.