? Produced By E.F.A. and L.F.A.

Lizz

"Lizz? You're not playing that silly game again?" A voice came from upstairs (A.K.A my mom).

"No mom, I'm doing my homework." This is a joke between us, because my teachers don't know what they're doing enough to assign homework. It must have been better 1,000 years ago when you went to physical school instead of vr classes.

"Okay, carry on. Dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes, so you'll have to get off- er- take a break by then."

"Alright, mom," I replied, but seriously, I did have algebra homework. I don't know why anyone thought algebra was a good idea. I want to smack the inventor. But since time travel is impossible, it most likely won't happen in my lifetime. Anyways, a couple hours later the oven went off, snapping me awake from sleep. Yes, it was all the way upstairs, it's a loud oven.

"DINNER!" yelled mom.

"Coming!" I was not looking forward to dinner. Mom was making tuna casserole, the one food I only eat because I love my mom. I went upstairs, to find the total opposite of tuna casserole- Papa Bob's Take n' Bake Pizza.

"The casserole burned about an hour ago, I just decided to surprise you." Which made sense, tuna casserole doesn't go from taking 20 minutes to taking 3 hours unless a tragedy occurs. Although it being a tuna casserole we're talking about, it's not that tragic.

"Wow, thanks, but I know that you know this was too expensive." I wasn't complaining too much though, the pizza was Hawaiian, my favorite.

"So what, as long as you're happy, it doesn't matter," she said. I knew it was just her being stubborn about my life.

"I'm going to win this in the end, you know," I said, even as we cut into the freshly baked pizza. It was delicious. Just as we finished, my phone dinged.
'Hey u open?' I smiled down at the message and texted back, 'Yeah, what do u wanna talk about?' There was a moving ellipsis, and finally, he replied, 'what does IRL mean?'
'In real life,' I messaged back. Respecting my mom's wishes-she being a firm believer of 'stranger danger'- I had never answered a question about me IRL, except to Ezra, who had been my squad partner and friend for years.

"Hey mom, can I go out?" I asked; a question she was used to because I regularly explored the city I live in, searching for interesting bits and bobs that Mom could sell at her general store.

"Sure, as long as you're back before ten and stay safe." And off I went.

Signing off,-Lizzianna