24Please respect copyright.PENANAKGo6emr6MV
I opened my eyes and looked out the window. Sure enough, the drapes had already been opened – my mom, as always, had walked in and pulled them ten minutes before my alarm went off. She had read somewhere that the sunlight helps your body to wake up slowly and smoothly, which is supposedly much healthier than waking up from the alarm yelling at top volume. But she certainly didn’t consider that it wasn’t the gentle sunlight that would wake me up every day by tickling my nose like in Disney cartoons, but rather the sound of her steps when she came into my room.
I stretched with pleasure, yawned with my whole mouth, got out of bed in one jump, and went to the bathroom. After closely examining my face in the mirror and rinsing it off, I decided to check out my body. Yep, my boobs are still the smallest in my class, but my stomach looks like I'm about to have abs, like one of the Victoria’s Secret models. Damn those gorgeous witches!
After completing my morning routine I got dressed and went downstairs. Mom was already calling everyone to have breakfast. As I walked into the kitchen I greeted Dad with a pat on the shoulder – he, as usual, was deeply immersed in reading on his iPad. I flopped down into the chair to his right. My sister, Mary, immediately poked me in the ribs with her puny elbow. She’s five years younger than I am, small and prankish, but very funny.
Mary and I are constantly teasing each other, and it may even appear to others that there’s a “life-or-death” war between us, like between most siblings, but actually, we are friends. Maybe, I even love this little monkey, but I will definitely never tell her that.
I stuck my fingers under her ribs in retaliation, making her jump up from her chair. Mom was whirling around the stove frying the last serving of a giant batch of pancakes. She turned to me and said, “Good morning, Samantha.”
“Good morning, Mom. And please stop calling me Samantha. Just Sam!”
“Sam is a male name. And you are a girl!”
“Firstly, I am already a woman, not a girl. Here’s a girl,” I said poking my sister in the side with my elbow. “Secondly, this is the 21st century, Mom! Male, female – who cares?”
“Don’t pick on your sister. She is the little one. As her older sister, it’s your job to take care of her and protect her from all the hardships and misfortunes in life,” Mom spoke in a tired voice.
“Madame, please, save your breath! I can stand up for myself,” Mary said in a serious voice, then quietly snatched the fork off the table and jabbed it at my knee.
I gnashed my teeth in pain. Oh, this Mary! To be honest, because she is so bold and grown-up for an eleven-year-old, sometimes I want to hug her for real, and not as a move in one of my wrestling holds, but I think it is somehow wrong to cuddle with my younger sister or any other relative. It’s one of those things that only happen in movies, like saying “I love you” to your parents every time you leave the house.
I decided not to continue escalating the violence, so I didn’t fight back. Instead, I looked at Mary with an angry frown and did an “I'm watching you” gesture, to which she only smirked.
My mother began piling the puffy pancakes onto our plates. The first one, of course, went to Dad. He had always had a poor appetite in the morning, and if it were not for my mother, he would hardly ever eat breakfast. To brighten up the painful procedure of eating, he decided to start some small talk, “Well, Sammy, how are you doing in school?”
“Not bad. Quite well, actually,” I mumbled, trying to squeeze the words through the dense layer of pancakes that filled my mouth.
“How's the team?”
“Good,” I finally swallowed a bite of my pancakes and washed them down with a gulp of orange juice. “Actually, I’m making progress. Coach Camp said that if I continue improving as fast, she’ll make me a forward. It seems like lately I’ve started running faster, and my reaction has improved.”
“That's great, just great. You know, it doesn’t hurt to have extra points for athletic achievements when applying to colleges.”
“Maybe I’ll even be able to get an athletic scholarship.”
“You know my position – only few people make it as professional athletes, but a good education is necessary for everyone. But, if you’ll manage to somehow magically combine sports and studying, I’ll totally support you.”
I had already finished my pancakes, but the feeling of hunger in my stomach remained at almost the same level. The last few days I’d been hungry almost all the time. I looked around for something else to eat, but the big stack of pancakes standing in the middle of the table had disappeared and, apparently, mostly due to my efforts.
The last two managed to survive on my sister’s plate. There was clearly no room for five thick and nourishing pancakes in her little puny body. Looking at my sister’s plate carnivorously, I asked hopefully, “Are you going to finish that?”
She looked at me with feigned contempt as if I were a bum asking for money and slid the plate toward me. I gratefully took it, and, in a few seconds, the pancakes were gone. Mom looked at me worriedly.
“Sweetheart, are you all right? You’ve been eating so much lately.”
“Everything is okay with her, Molly, it is just puberty – her body is growing actively,” Dad said. “Let her eat as much as she can hold. Looks like obesity isn’t a threat at this point.”
A quiet family breakfast was impudently interrupted by a car horn.
“That's for me,” I said, and hurried to leave the table.
“Does the school bus driver now inform you personally of his arrival?” Mom asked.
“No, it's Chris.”
“He has a car already?” Dad asked.
“Yep, his father gave him a Lexus convertible when he returned from rehab.”
Mom's eyes widened in surprise.
“I'm kidding! His parents bought it for him because he gets "A"s all the time!”
My mother sighed with relief.
“How about buying a car for me?” I asked my dad, as I climbed the stairs to the second floor.
“Nothing has changed since we spoke last time. As I said – you go working during the holidays, and if you don’t spend all of the money you’ve earned on drugs and lipstick…,” at these words Mom shook her head in disapproval of Dad's sense of humor, “…we’ll give you three times as much as what you’ve earned in total, and we'll buy you a new car. At first I suggested that we only double the total, but your mother said that you are unlikely to earn much, and she won’t allow you to drive some heap of junk that will kill you at the earliest opportunity by driving a steering wheel without an airbag straight into your young and fragile chest.”
By the time my father finished his words, I had already gone upstairs. I leaned over the railing, shouting down, “What if I make a lot of money? Will you still give me three times as much as what I’ve made and buy me a new Porsche?”
“We'll see. But don’t earn enough to buy a Ferrari,” my dad joked. “You won’t be able to park it in our driveway because of the high curb.”
“I'll try, Dad, but I cannot promise anything,” I said before coming into my room.
I picked up my bag and hurried back down the stairs. Judging by the third honk, Chris was already tired of waiting for me outside. I turned to my sister, “Hey, Peanut, do you want a ride or are you taking a school bus like a total loser?”
“Pff! All right, I’ll do you a favor and join poor Chris so that he doesn’t have to talk to you,” Mary answered as arrogantly as usual and headed for the front door.
“Mom, do we have anything else to eat?” I asked a little apologetically.
“Else? You've eaten a triple batch of pancakes! Are you sure you're okay?”
“Molly, leave the kid alone. A growing body needs fuel. My sandwiches are in the fridge. You can take them. But they are loaded with garlic, so you probably want to eat them after Chris brings your Royal Highness to school.”
I got sandwiches out of the fridge, shouted “Thanks, Dad”, and ran out of the house. Mary was already walking to Chris’s new and shiny cherry red car. I picked up the pace and caught up with her near the car.
“Hey, girl! What’s up?” shouted Chris, smiling when he saw Mary.
“Not much. What about you? When are you going to leave that old bag of bones? She already has wrinkles all over her forehead!” Mary responded in a businesslike manner.
Chris laughed. He had a magnificent smile, exposing his perfect snow-white teeth. His father must have spent a fortune on that smile.
After reaching the car, I grabbed my sister under her arms, lifted her up and placed her in the back seat.
“Careful, you are carrying valuable cargo!” Mary snapped.
I went around the car, sat in the front seat, leaned over to Chris, and kissed him. He cranked the volume on the stereo. A sick bassline poured through the speakers. Peanut started bobbing her head in time with the music. Chris saw her in the rearview mirror, smiled again, and began singing along cheerfully. Mary joined in. Chris laughed, pushed the pedal to the floor, and we rushed down the road – on our way toward the land of learning.
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