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Chapter 1

"I don't want to go, mom! There's nothing for me to do!" I try to keep my voice down for the sake of our neighbors, but this is the last straw. I always gets dragged to my sister, Yara's, play group, but I'm 14 now. I should be old enough to stay home by myself, right?

"For the last time, Carmen, go wake your sister up. We need to leave in ten minutes."

"Fine." I storm off to Yara's room and yank open her shades, wincing at the bright yellow of her walls. "Morning, sleepyhead. Mom says to get up already."

Yara yawns. "Turn the sun off. Too bright." She rolls over and shoves her head into her pillow.

"Sorry, can't. Now get up. You're leaving in ten minutes. Mom said so."

At that, Yara sat up in shock. "You're not coming with? But you always come! And how're you going to get lunch?"

"I can make my own lunch, Yara. I'm fourteen now." Honestly! My birthday was last month, and she still can't remember?

"Did mom say you could stay home?" Before I could respond (and probably lie), I heard my mom's voice drifting down the hall.

"Yara! Carmen! Get over here! We need to leave!"

I sigh. "You'd better get dressed."

Yara groans again, but sits up. Taking that as a sign she's going to get dressed, I leave.

When I enter the kitchen, my mom is frantically setting out bowls and cereal. I pour myself some, then sit down.

"Is Yara up?" I nod. "Good. Now eat. I need to find my keys." She walks quickly off as Yara enters the kitchen.

Yara's a complete mess. Her hair looks like she was purposely tying knots in it. She's wearing black shorts and her favorite yellow tee. And when I say favorite, I mean most stained.

"Hey! Are you eating my cereal. You can't do that," she accuses me.

"It's not yours," I say through a mouthful.

"Is too! Mom bought it just for me! Give it!" She tries to grab my bowl, but I hold it far above her head (the advantages of being the older sibling). "Not fair," she exclaims.

"Is too fair. Now eat. You've got like two minutes before you leave, so hurry up."

My mom walks back into the kitchen, keys dangling from her fingers. "Hurry up, you two," she huffs. "We should've left a minute ago." Then she sees Yara. "Honey, could you maybe put on a different shirt? That one doesn't look so nice anymore."

"But it's my favorite!"

"Please?"

"Fine." She stomps off to her room.

"And don't forget to brush your hair!" A groan is heard from Yara's general direction.

My mom turns to look to me. "And are you ready to go, young lady?"

"I'm not going," I state firmly.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"I'm fourteen now. I can make myself lunch and take care of myself for a few hours. I'll even do homework while you're gone. I'm too old to be dragged to my little sister's play group."

"Fine, stay home. Do your homework. Whatever." She turned to see Yara coming out of her room down the hall. "C'mon, Yara! We're leaving!" I celebrated at this small victory. Maybe soon she'll allow me to go to the store or even downtown by myself too!

A/N: Heere's the first chapter! (Your fault, Audrey and Jillian. You got me into Be More Chill, you have to deal with the consequences. Also, hi!) Sorry I took an extra week to post this. Maybe I'll try to make that my publishing schedule. However, I DO have chapter 2 mostly written. That's when the plot will begin to pick up!