David's POV
It was the middle of summer. Warm weather, not a single cloud in the sky and, of course, no more school. Despite our fondness for video games, me and my friends couldn't in good conscience spend this day inside. Which is why me, my sister Cassandra, and our friends Stephen and Laura decided to go to the park instead.
Stephen and I were sitting under a nearby tree, discussing recent video game announcements. Cassandra and Laura, however, were talking about family matters. Or rather, Cassandra was talking, and Laura patiently listening.
"Can you believe this?" Cassandra exclaimed. "That bitch told me I was wasting my body. What the hell does that even mean?"
She was, of course, talking about our 14 year old sister, Amelia. We don't get along with her.
"No offense, Cassie," said Laura, "but I think she means that you dress like a boy."
"So what? I can dress however I want. She's always been jealous of me. I couldn't care less about my boobs, so why is that girl so upset that mine are bigger than hers?
Leaning over, Stephen whispered in my ear: "Why are girls so obsessed with their looks?"
"I don't know." Shrugging, I said, "It's like Cassie's the only sane one. Then again..."
Chuckling, Stephen said: "I guess the only way to understand would be to become girls ourselves. Fat chance."
Stephen and I laughed as we went back to listening to Cassie vent about Amelia's childish behavior. A few weeks ago, Stephen said Amelia was "pretty cute, but freakishly annoying". That description is pretty accurate. I usually ignore the girl, but Cassandra has a bit of a temper. These two fight a lot.
After a while, we eventually got bored of Cassandra's seemingly infinite rant. I turned to Stephen.
"Want to do something else?"
"Couple rounds of Twisted Metal?"
"Yeah, sure."
As quietly as possible, we snuck away from the girls. I don't know how Laura had the patience of listening to my sister, but Stephen and I didn't. We ran over to my place and fired up my PS3.
Stephen Anderson and I had been best friends since freshman year. There was a team project and... well, we were the only ones who couldn't find teammates. He's a computer nut, and I'm a gamer, so of course we hit it off. As for Laura Clarke, we met her two years ago. She came from London when her dad found a job here. She's always been a very cute girl, the kind who could have been very popular, but that's not how high school works.
Despite her looks, Laura got picked on because she'd skipped a grade. As it turns out, popular girls and class nerds don't mix very well. Feeling ostracized by the popular kids, Laura started to hang out with me and the others; eventually becoming one of our closest friends. She's the feminine presence of the group. That was kinda needed, since the previous feminine presence was actually less feminine than the guys. Laura's been trying to get Cassandra to act, well, like a girl. Good luck with that.
Elizabeth's POV
It seems like this is always happening. Me and my husband, Phillip, sitting on our bed, discussing what to do about our children's constant conflicts. Cassandra and David get along just fine, but whenever Amelia's in the same room as one of these two, that room turns into a battlefield.
"Amelia came to see me earlier today," I said. "She says Cassandra's been mean to her and called her a 'bitch'".
"I'll talk to Cassie," replied Phillip. "But honestly, knowing Amelia, I think she was asking for it. Bugging David and Cassie seems to be her favorite hobby these days."
"Why can't they just get along? I'm getting tired of their constant fighting. Ever since Amelia entered high school, she's been at odds with her siblings. I just hope Melody won't be like that when she gets there."
"They're teenagers. It's in their nature to antagonize everything. Still, I think we need to have another long talk with them."
I agreed. As their mother, it was my responsibility to make sure my daughters behaved properly. If only that were our sole problem. Unfortunately, our family had other issues that needed discussing.
"That's not the only thing we need to talk about, Phillip," I added. "There's still our money issues, too. We're already behind on payments on our mortgage."
"I know, and I'm doing all I can. My job just doesn't pay all that well. Maybe I should get a second job."
"No, don't do that, honey. You'll kill yourself working. I'll find a job."
"But you've never worked a day in your life. You have no work experience, and I can't-"
That's when Phillip's cell phone rang. Probably Larry, his best friend. These two see each other several times a week, to grab a beer or watch a sports match. Phillip answered. After a short conversation, during which he seemed quite shocked, Phillip turned to me.
"We need to talk..." he said. "I think we may have found a solution to our problem."
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