The First Time

Chapter 11: You Belong With Me

I sighed for the millionth time. "So, what Mom? You can't ground me. There's just no way."

The line went silent for a moment. Then she said, "Since I can't technically ground you, I'm just going to cut you off. No allowance or money for a whole month. I'm temporarily cutting off your credit card, too. Money for meals will be with Alex, so you'll have to get everything from him."

My jaw dropped, and my phone also dropped in my shock. "But, Mom! You can't cut me off! I need a lot of things. The book I've been waiting for is coming out in two weeks!" I yelled.

It's a wonder that she heard me through the phone, since it was currently on the floor beside my bed. My yelling had to be pretty loud for her to hear me.

"That's your fault. This is your punishment for your little mall incident with Noah. The only punishment that Alex is getting is to take care of you, which he is going to hate."

"What if I desperately need something?" I asked.

"Then get a job."

"A job?"

"Yes, a job. That way you'll get what you want if you need it by working."

I groaned. Why was this happening to me? "Fine," I grudgingly said, "I'll get a job."

I heard my mom sigh through the phone. "Next time, do me a favor and don't get stuck in a mall jail," she said. "I'm expecting to hear what job you're doing soon. Okay, I got to go talk to your brother now. I'll see you soon, Lia. Bye!"

With that, she hung up on me, leaving me in my own self-pity lying down on my bed. The last time I tried to get a job was disastrous because everyone in town knew that I sucked at working. And the one thing that I was actually good at was already filled up. Then I had to go to Boston to find a job, which did not work either because I had no way to get there. And I couldn't take the bus because according to Alex: "You don't know who will be on that bus. And once you get out and walk on the streets of Boston, you never know when some pedophile with drag you away, and you'll never come back to us."

Needless to say, I am now paranoid of walking on the streets alone.

Speaking of Alex, my door suddenly burst open with him barging right in. "Tell Mom to take it back! Did you know that I have to take care of your money supply for a whole month? I have to take care of you. Do you know how difficult that is?" he ranted. I was about to snap at him for basically insulting me, but he beat me to it. "No, you don't know how difficult that is!"

Then, Noah walked in and joined the conversation. "Oh, leave the girl alone. You're sucking all of the blue right out of her." He laughed like that was supposed to be funny. "Get it? Cause she's a little smurf, and you're sucking the blue out of her."

Both of us stared blankly at him, not amused by the joke.

Noah laughed awkwardly. "No, you don't get it? Smurfs are blue, and you're yelling at her, and it's kind of like you're sucking the blue out of her." Alex and I still didn't react to the joke. "Forget it, then," he grumbled.

We went back to arguing. "It's not my fault! According to mom, you're the one that's supposed to watch over me; that's your punishment."

"How was I going to know that you were going to fight in a fountain with Noah?"

While we continued our sibling banter, Noah was muttering, "When everyone else says a joke, you guys laugh. But when I say a joke, nobody laughs. I don't get it."

Alex and I looked at him momentarily, wondering why he was still upset. The joke was plain out not funny. That was something he had to deal with.

We went back to our sibling banter yet again, and it actually stopped with my next words: "Do you know what the worst part is? I have to get a job."