first week, so I wouldn't look like a total loser in my sisters' worn out hand-me-downs.
I got up extra early on the first day of school so I could get ready without anyone seeing me. A high ponytail was part of the uniform, and I didn't want a single one of my dark brown hairs to get loose. I showered and yanked my still-wet hair into a ponytail so tight it made my eyes look slanted.
I cracked open the bathroom door and tiptoed out into the hallway. When I'd gotten up, Rachel wasn't even home yet, so I kept an eye out for her. She could come stumbling in at any moment. Instead, it was my brother Joey who nearly gave me a heart attack when he seemed to step right out of the wall.
"Hey Baby. Good luck today." He sidled past me and slipped into the bathroom.
"Thanks Joey," I said weakly, just before he clicked the door shut. I hated to admit it, but it hadn't crossed my mind that Joey and I would be competing for the bathroom in the morning since we were the only siblings still in school, and we hadn’t gone to the same school since I was in seventh grade and he was in ninth. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him. Joey and I both spend so much time avoiding the rest of the family that we don't cross paths all that much. I guess we've found different places to hide.
I crept into the kitchen and opened the fridge, the rubber seal making a loud sucking sound as I pulled the door open and poked my head inside.
"Oh good, you're home."
At the sound of my mom's voice, I stood up so fast that I cracked the back of my head on the freezer compartment. "Ow!" I rubbed my head and scowled, closing the refrigerator door. There wasn't much in there anyway.
"I ran out of cigarettes, can you go and get some at the store?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Well, you know, besides the fact that I'm not allowed to buy them legally, Kaia will be here any minute to pick me up for school. I don't have time."
My mom poked her blonde curly head over the half-wall that separated her "office" from the rest of the kitchen. Crap. I should have known she'd be there.
"Oh. I thought you were Rachel." She stood up behind her desk. "What the hell are you wearing?"
Shit. Well, she was bound to find out sooner or later. "It's my cheerleading uniform."
"Are you trying to be funny?"
"No, I'm trying to be normal." I turned and opened a cabinet door way harder than I needed to, reached in and pulled out a box of Pop Tarts. I ripped open the flimsy foil wrapper, took out a cold pastry and bit into it.
She rubbed her hand against her face, pulling a hair out of the corner of her mouth and sneered. "Jesus Christ. Cheerleaders are dancers gone retarded."
I talked around the chalky wad of Pop Tart that refused to disintegrate in my mouth. "That's funny mom. Except for the Jesus Christ part, I swear I heard that same line in Bring It On. " I knew it would pay off to memorize that movie.
"Cheerleaders are hypocritical sluts. Are you gonna start going to youth group so you can marry Jesus, but still spread your legs for any boy with a letter on his jacket?"
"I dunno, maybe." I pitched the remainder of my Pop Tart, foil and all, into the garbage can in the corner of the room and grabbed my backpack off the counter. I wouldn't wait for Kaia to get here. I could meet her on the road.
My mom moved away from her desk, grabbed my arm, and twisted it hard. "Baby, goddamn it I will not let you turn into one of those fucking bitches. You are no better than me, you remember that."
I wrenched my arm away. That one would probably bruise. "My name's not Baby."
"Oh yeah? Then what is it? Janet? Miss Jackson if you're nasty?"
"Stop it! I'm sick of your crappy quotes. Just because you're my mother doesn't mean you can treat me like shit."
"No, no, of course not. Now that you're a cheerleader I guess I have to kiss the ground you walk on. Can I do anything for you? Make your bed? Buff your bible? Schedule your abortion?"
Did I hear tires crunching in the driveway? Kaia
I got up extra early on the first day of school so I could get ready without anyone seeing me. A high ponytail was part of the uniform, and I didn't want a single one of my dark brown hairs to get loose. I showered and yanked my still-wet hair into a ponytail so tight it made my eyes look slanted.
I cracked open the bathroom door and tiptoed out into the hallway. When I'd gotten up, Rachel wasn't even home yet, so I kept an eye out for her. She could come stumbling in at any moment. Instead, it was my brother Joey who nearly gave me a heart attack when he seemed to step right out of the wall.
"Hey Baby. Good luck today." He sidled past me and slipped into the bathroom.
"Thanks Joey," I said weakly, just before he clicked the door shut. I hated to admit it, but it hadn't crossed my mind that Joey and I would be competing for the bathroom in the morning since we were the only siblings still in school, and we hadn’t gone to the same school since I was in seventh grade and he was in ninth. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him. Joey and I both spend so much time avoiding the rest of the family that we don't cross paths all that much. I guess we've found different places to hide.
I crept into the kitchen and opened the fridge, the rubber seal making a loud sucking sound as I pulled the door open and poked my head inside.
"Oh good, you're home."
At the sound of my mom's voice, I stood up so fast that I cracked the back of my head on the freezer compartment. "Ow!" I rubbed my head and scowled, closing the refrigerator door. There wasn't much in there anyway.
"I ran out of cigarettes, can you go and get some at the store?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Well, you know, besides the fact that I'm not allowed to buy them legally, Kaia will be here any minute to pick me up for school. I don't have time."
My mom poked her blonde curly head over the half-wall that separated her "office" from the rest of the kitchen. Crap. I should have known she'd be there.
"Oh. I thought you were Rachel." She stood up behind her desk. "What the hell are you wearing?"
Shit. Well, she was bound to find out sooner or later. "It's my cheerleading uniform."
"Are you trying to be funny?"
"No, I'm trying to be normal." I turned and opened a cabinet door way harder than I needed to, reached in and pulled out a box of Pop Tarts. I ripped open the flimsy foil wrapper, took out a cold pastry and bit into it.
She rubbed her hand against her face, pulling a hair out of the corner of her mouth and sneered. "Jesus Christ. Cheerleaders are dancers gone retarded."
I talked around the chalky wad of Pop Tart that refused to disintegrate in my mouth. "That's funny mom. Except for the Jesus Christ part, I swear I heard that same line in Bring It On. " I knew it would pay off to memorize that movie.
"Cheerleaders are hypocritical sluts. Are you gonna start going to youth group so you can marry Jesus, but still spread your legs for any boy with a letter on his jacket?"
"I dunno, maybe." I pitched the remainder of my Pop Tart, foil and all, into the garbage can in the corner of the room and grabbed my backpack off the counter. I wouldn't wait for Kaia to get here. I could meet her on the road.
My mom moved away from her desk, grabbed my arm, and twisted it hard. "Baby, goddamn it I will not let you turn into one of those fucking bitches. You are no better than me, you remember that."
I wrenched my arm away. That one would probably bruise. "My name's not Baby."
"Oh yeah? Then what is it? Janet? Miss Jackson if you're nasty?"
"Stop it! I'm sick of your crappy quotes. Just because you're my mother doesn't mean you can treat me like shit."
"No, no, of course not. Now that you're a cheerleader I guess I have to kiss the ground you walk on. Can I do anything for you? Make your bed? Buff your bible? Schedule your abortion?"
Did I hear tires crunching in the driveway? Kaia
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