Just Me - [S. Barber]

A Friggin' Liar

LIA SILENTLY enters the house, not wanting to wake up anybody in the process. She slowly tiptoes her way through to the living room, finding Sydney and Mrs. Novak on the couch, staring directly at the TV.

She makes way towards them, sitting herself in between. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Syd." She says, eyeing Sydney, who seemed to be devouring a jar of peanut butter as Mrs. Novak drinks a glass of wine.

"What are we watching?" Lia asks. "Nope. You're going to sleep, young lady." Her mother shakes her head. "God, that's the second time someone has called me that today." Lia groans, rubbing her eyes in annoyance.

"You barely get any sleep. I'm surprised you're home this late. Where have you been?" She inquires. "Stanley's." She says casually, causing Sydney to avert her eyes at the girl.

"You were at Stan's?" She asks, raising her eyebrows. "Uh, Yeah. You seemed tired, so I didn't in—"

"It's fine. I don't really talk to him anyways." Sydney shrugs, licking another portion of peanut butter off t knife. "Cool." Lia purses her lips awkwardly.

"Lia. Bed. Now." Her mother says, emphasizing each word. "Ugh fine." She groans, getting up and leaning her head up. "Hey, quit it with the attitude." Her mother comments.

Lia shakes her head along with an eye roll, escaping into the hallway, then into her depressing room.

The soft purple walls faded to a sad blue as the dark sky reflects onto the room, creating an eerie and somber feeling. The only light in the room is coming from the moon that hangs high up.

She sighs deeply, flipping back onto her bed and pulling up the covers. As she lies, staring up at the ceiling, she can't help but think about Stanley. Why Sydney? Why does Sydney always seem to do everything better than her.

This sucks she kept repeating. Suddenly, a loud crashing noise form her wall sounds, causing her to spring up from the mattress. She runs out, quickly entering Sydney's room, which happened to be directly beside hers.

"Syd, What the fuck did you do?" She asks. Sydney, wide eyed, looks up at her sister and gasps. "I—Uh.. I got a little, angry." She says, looking back at the hole in her orange painted walls.

"So you broke the wall?" Lia crosses her arms. "Yeah.... I used.. a— my hands." She lies. "You did that with Your hands." She raises her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Lia, just— Just go to sleep, alright? This doesn't concern you." Sydney dismisses. Lia sighs, shaking her head. "You know what? Alright. Goodnight, Syd. Have fun explaining that to Mom tomorrow." She walks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

LIA AND Liam sit at the kitchen table. Lia made herself and Liam some Cereal, whilst Syd attempts to work the toaster. "Hey, Syd?" Liam speaks up.

She looks up, humming in response. "Do you think Banana Wigglesworth knows he's a hedgehog?" He questions, squinting at the small creature. "And if he does, do you think he likes being one?"

"Goob, Trust me, Banana's proud to be a hedgehog." Sydney states, lightly smiling. "No question." Lia adds tiredly.

Sydney glances back at the toaster, awaiting for the ring, signifying the toast is ready. "Mom says if you stare at the toaster too long, it'll never pop." Liam comments. "Liam, mom tells you too many thing." Lia ruffles his hair, grinning at him.

"Yeah, well, see, what Mom doesn't know is that i can do stuff with my mind." Sydney says casually, placing her two fingers on the side of her head. "Oh, can you, now?" Lia laughs.

"Cool! Can I see?" Liam asks. Sydney nods, turning to face the metal toaster. She places her fingers on her temple, seemingly focusing all of her attention on this one task.

"Bullshit." Lia mutters. Suddenly, the toast flies out. "Whoa!" Sydney cheers as Liam gasps in shock. "That was a coincidence. You can't be serious,  Syd." Lia speaks up.

Before she had a chance to answer, their mother walks in. "Didn't you wear that sweater yesterday?" She asks, pulling open the refrigerator. "Yeah, Mom. I did." Sydney nods, toast in her mouth.

"'Cause I'm disgusting." She says with a mouthful. "Got that right." Lia comments, earning a dirty look from Mrs. Novak. "Hey, watch it, kid." She ponts her index finger at her.

"Listen, I need one of you to do some shopping for me today 'cause we're about to run out of everything." She adds, causing the two girls to quickly glance at each other.

"Not it." They both say. "Oh, come on. You two are not babies. Sydney, you're the oldest. You're going." Their mother concludes. "No thanks." Sydney shakes her head.

"I wasn't asking." She replies, handing her a list of the groceries and a fifty dollar bill. "How am I supposed to bring all this home?" Sydney questions, carefully reading the long list.

"However you got it home last time." The woman says, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "In exchange for... sexual favors with strangers. Got it." Sydney jokes, smirking.

"Hilarious." Mrs. Novak rolls her eyes in disbelief. Sydney pauses for a moment, eyeing her mother before heading towards the front door. "Lee, come on. We've got school." She states.

Lia chugs down the last of her water, before picking up her backpack and heading out behind her. "Hey, change your sweater." Their mother calls, only to be ignored. "Sydney. You're making me look like a bad mom. And I'm a friggin' good mom!" She shouts.

The door slams, leaving the two girls outside on their own.

"She's a friggin' liar that's for sure."