"Will you stop kicking me?" Elizabeth screamed at her sister, Carrie. "I swear, I will end you. Mom!"
Bree rushed in, holding a plate of meat she was seasoning for dinner. "Carrie, kicking your sister while watching tv ultimately will lead to no tv for all of you. That includes your brother."
Matthew, the middle child, seemed to hear what she'd said. "Okay, that's totally unfair! I've done nothing but play video games all day!" he yelled from upstairs.
Their mom raised her eyebrows. "At least you're aware of what the issue is. Maybe read a book or two instead. Does anyone wanna help me with dinner?" she asked.
Elizabeth quickly got up and followed her mom. "Anything to get me away from her," she said, sticking her tongue out and walking into the kitchen.
"Fighting with your siblings again?" Elizabeth's dad asked, cutting up some garlic.
"They can get a bit annoying sometimes, but I try to not let it bother me. How did you survive life having a sister, Dad?" She sat down at the kitchen table and leaned her head against her hand, watching her parents work.
"Well, Alex and I are twins, so I guess that made it easier. But I did get annoyed at times, like when she wouldn't shut up about school or when I got compared to her." Conner explained.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Where's Aunt Alex anyway?" she asked. "I haven't seen her in forever."
She saw her parents look at each other. They were obviously keeping something, but it was probably private, so it would be best to ignore it and leave them alone.
"She's out of the country right now. You know how she's been travelling a lot lately." her Dad said, pretending to focus on the garlic he was chopping.
Elizabeth picked up the book she'd been reading for the past few days and became deeply absorbed in it. The book was about all the fairy tales that everyone knew about but continued by other authors. Her dad sat down next to her after ten minutes of uninterrupted reading.
"What's that book about? Anti-gravity? Looks like it's impossible to put down." Conner joked.
"Oh my goodness, Dad. Your jokes are... wow." Elizabeth laughed.
Her mom placed five plates down, each with broccoli, corn, and a few slices of pork. It smelled amazing.
"Kids! Dinner!" she yelled.
Soon Matthew and Carrie were both sitting down, scarfing down their meals like it was the last time they were gonna eat. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"So, Dad. I was reading that book just now, and I was wondering if we could visit the bookstore and get the second book."
"Yeah, sure. We can go down to the bookstore that's just out of town," Conner replied, scooping up some corn with his fork.
Elizabeth bit her lip nervously. "Actually, I did some research last night and... that bookstore doesn't have it. But the other bookstore... Wilson's Bookstore? It has some in stock."
"Oh, sure, we can visit that one, but... it's been a while since I've gone," he answered.
Elizabeth knew that that bookstore had been called Bailey's Books, their family name before the building was sold. It had once belonged to her grandfather, who'd passed away when her dad was Carrie's age.
"You can go tomorrow honey, after school, but right now you need to put your book down and eat your dinner," Bree said.
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Elizabeth rubbed her eyes as her alarm clock rang loudly. She groaned in frustration and stopped the alarm from giving another ear-splitting ring. Elizabeth got up from her bed, completed her morning routine and chose to wear a cropped white t-shirt, a denim jacket, black ripped jean shorts, and white running shoes with thick heels. She styled her hair in a messy bun on the top back of her head and went down for breakfast.
Her mom placed a bowl of cereal in front of her and she looked at it with half-open and tired eyes.
"Still tired?" Bree asked her daughter.
"Mhm..." she replied.
Elizabeth ate her cereal slowly. She grabbed her bag when she was finished, filled with books, work, and her lunch.
"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" she yelled as she walked out the door with her brother.
The walk to high school was short and they arrived right on time. Only two seconds after they arrived on the property, two groups of friends rushed at them like they hadn't seen them in years. Matthew's friends led him to the other freshmen, chatting away. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's friend group that consisted of all the popular kids in a sophomore year crowded around her, catching her up on the latest gossip and news.
Elizabeth was a popular girl because of her intelligence and calm personality. Her closest friends always told her that she was pretty, with her light blonde hair tied up in a messy bun, light blue eyes with long lashes, and her slightly pale skin.
Soon, the bell rang and everyone rushed to their classes, not wanting to be late. Elizabeth followed her friends inside and headed to her first class. She liked some subjects, like Phys Ed and English. Others were boring but she still paid attention.
After her classes for the morning were over, Elizabeth met up with her best friend, Angelina, after closing her locker with a chicken wrap in her hand and headed outside to eat lunch.
"Hey, can I get some of that?" Angelina asked, poking her wrap. "You always have the best lunches. Look at me with leftover pizza slices from last night's dinner."
"We can switch if you want. I don't mind a little soggy pizza." Elizabeth offered as she held out her wrap for Angelina to take.
Her eyes widened and she didn't hesitate to take Elizabeth's wrap and replace it with her tinfoil wrapped pizza. "Thanks, Ellie. You're the best!"
"No problem. I can ask my parents to make me two next time. It's no big deal."
"Oh, gosh... yeah. Thanks. Thank you so so much."
A voice interrupted Angelina's gratitude. "Hey! Angie and Ellie! Come on, you guys walk as slow as turtles do."
It was Elizabeth's best guy friend, Christian, and their group, the one that she was talking to in the morning. He gestured for them to sit down, which they did.
"Okay," Elizabeth started. "It's a tortoise. Not a turtle, dumb dumb."
"It's the same thing," Christian retaliated.
The rest of the group mumbled in disagreement.
"Hey, are you dudes really taking her side instead of mine!?" Christian practically shouted.
Someone else in the group, Julian, tapped Elizabeth, stopping the debate between what they'd said. "Hey, isn't that your brother over there?" he asked, pointing to a group of kids. She could see Matthew standing in the middle, a nervous and embarrassed expression on his face. Elizabeth shook her head with anger and stormed her way over, the group splitting as she walked through. A boy Matthew's age stood in front of him, making rude remarks.
"Hey freshman, what are you doing to my brother?" Elizabeth asked him with no facial expression on her face.
She knew she had to act cool if she was going to get her brother out of this one. All of Elizabeth's friends were practically surrounding them, and they would've backed Elizabeth up if they knew she didn't know what she was doing.
"Chill. I'm doing nothing but telling the truth here," the boy said, not moving, but he had a noticeably nervous expression.
Elizabeth crossed her arms. "And are the truths yours to tell?" Elizabeth kept a straight face, but you could see the daggers shooting out of her eyes and into your soul, which usually scared the heck out of people.
"I... I mean, I was just-" the boy stammered.
"Just what? Publicly humiliating a boy that's done nothing but make your sensitivity and jealousy act up? You don't like him, you leave him alone." she glared at the boy, causing him to back up a bit. Elizabeth noticed a small wet spot forming on his pants. Was he serious? He was a teenager. Surely he couldn't be wetting himself. But it was something she could use.
"Forgot to use the bathroom before throwing insults at my brother? Or are you just scared of me?" Elizabeth shot before he could take another step.
Everyone immediately noticed the stain and the boy's face grew incredibly red, redder than Elizabeth had ever seen. Everyone that was witnessing the moment laughed their heads off, some even vomited into the garbage bins nearby. Elizabeth spotted a few people take out their phones. She rolled her eyes and left, her brother and friends following closely behind.