2 Chapter 2:

Finally, after a lot of arguing and shopping, we chose some clothes that we thought were nice and mom rated it acceptable.

Then we went to Hank's diner down the street and treated ourselves to some burgers and fries.

As Kiara was slurping, she asked my mom again about the teddy bear she saw at the shop down the street.

'Kiara, you are becoming very stubborn these days! How many times have I told you no? ' My mom scolded.

'Alright kids, you keep arguing, I'll go the bathroom.' he exited.

She knew that mom wouldn't budge if she asked another time. She finally decided to drop it.

'Awww...did your plan not work, kiki? Is the wittle bwaby sad?' I snickered.

'It's not as funny as your purple nose bleeding a river that day.' she blew a raspberry.

'Oh.' she scratched her head and chuckled nervously.

Mom suddenly turned her attention to me. Uh-oh.

'Trish, what is she saying?'

'She's spewing nonsense, that's what.'

She folded her arms and gave me that tell-me-what-you-did look.

I sighed. Stupid Kiara. Always ruining things.

'Ok, fine! I might've argued with one of the boys in class and got in a fight with them. But it's not anything serious, just a broken nose. It wasn't even bleeding, I swear!' I lied.

It bled a lot. And it sure hurt worse.

My mother switched from angry to sad and concerned.

'Trish! why didn't you tell me all this?'

'Well...fights happen, mom, it's no use elaborating everything to you.'

'No, this is a serious fight and you didn't even tell me??' my mother choked.

'I told Kiara.' I shot a look at her, and she glared at me furiously.

Technically, that's not true. She accidentally saw me returning with my broken nose at night.

'I'm going to get a refill on this drink. Uh, catch you later!' she jumped out of her seat and ran across the shop.

That snake, ditching me while I'm in trouble! I'm going to rip one of her bear's heads when she's asleep.

'We'll take care of her later. When did this event happen?' she went back to interrogating me.

'About three months ago.' i mumbled and slurped my smoothie loudly.

'Three months?? Did it happen three months ago? What? And why didn't you tell anyone about this? But, even the teachers didn't say anything when I went to the parent-teacher conference!' she glowered.

'Well, that's because the fight happened behind the school walls, at night, when no one was around.' I whispered.

'WHAT? At night? You mean you snuck out of bed?'

'Holy guacamole. You snuck out of bed again?' My dad ran back.

'What does he mean 'again'?' she scowled at her son and husband.

'Oh, did I say again? No, I meant like-, I've seen-, I mean how many times have you snuck out of bed like this young man?' he changed the subject deliberately to escape from this situation.

'No, it's the only time, I swear!'

'If you don't tell the truth, I'm going to cut your allowance for a year!' she threatened.

I can't live without my allowance, there are just too many things I have to buy!

'Alright, I'll tell you. I snuck out when I had late-night parties and watched school fights. but I seriously didn't involve in any of them except the one time!' i replied.

Ok, they were definitely mad at me.

Kiara just came back thinking that the tension had escalated.

'Hey mom, I'm back. So, what are you guys eating?' she tried to play cool.

'Well, I'm not eating because my son here got into a massive fight at school late at night and didn't even tell me about it for at least three months! Go on, what else haven't you told me?' she frowned.

'That I...love you?' I grinned awkwardly.

She sighed in disappointment.

'Trishy, you know that we care about you and only want the best for you, if you don't tell us how you feel, then how can we help you?' she replied solemnly.

I nodded my head. They always say that but, they don't understand. It's not like she would let me do what I want.

'Next time, I'll tell you what happened mom, sorry I made you worried.' I apologized.

I guess that's the least I could do.

'I don't hide anything from you mum, am I your favorite child?'

'Sweetie, both of you are our favorites. There's no good child and bad child.' my dad explained.

'But I don't hide everything from my dear parents, so that makes me a great child right?'

'Let me guess, you want the teddy bear from across the store and you are using that as an excuse.' I growled.

'Well, that's what I deserve by being the most honest and sincere child.' she said proudly.

'Oh please, you snake, you eat dessert before dinner.' I fumed.

'That's not true mom! He skipped school once!' she shouted.

'Ha! what do you do on that tablet all day?'

'I watch informational videos! Unlike you who sits on the cushion and watches TV all day long!' she roared.

'Both of you stop! You clearly hid several things from us. But we're moving to a new place. This is supposed to be our fresh start. So please, tell us whatever wrong you've done before I lose it after moving.' my mom grumbled.

We both exchanged looks at each other and then turned to her apologetically,

'We're sorry, mom.' we chorused.

'And you're right, this is a fresh start, we'll try to get along with each other.' I replied.

'Yeah, maybe what we need is just some fresh air and a new start. A new chapter in our book. Like my stupid brother said.' she added.

'Ok, that's not really necessary.' I scolded.

'Or helpful.' My father filled in.

'Oops, sorry, habit!' she chuckled.

'Alright guys, let's go shopping and pack those boxes back home.' I replied enthusiastically.

'Fine, but only after we finish lunch. I haven't even had a good breakfast.' Kiki groaned.