Barbie and the Spy Squad: New Gen I3

Chapter Two: The Behavioral Complex

"ELIZABETH JULIETTE CARSON! Get down here or you'll be LAAAAATE!"

Brisk pounding alerted Barbie to the movement above her. Sassy footsteps thumped across the room upstairs, back and forth, if footsteps could be quantified as 'sassy'. Audible irritation and snarkiness seeped through in frustrated grunts and groans that traveled downstairs to Barbie's ears.

Barbie stood at the bottom of the steps, hands on hips, glaring back and forth at the ceiling as the noises continually moved about... still not coming downstairs. She sighed and cupped her mouth like a megaphone.

"NOW!"

"Ugh! Coming!"

At long last, much to Mrs. Barbie Carson's impatience, Elizabeth Juliette Carson did indeed make her way down the flight of steps, coming face to face with her mother's agitated look. She halted and held out her hands, gesturing to her present form.

"Happy?"

Barbie sighed, "Libby, it's the first day of school! You've been doing this for years; you know how things work"

Libby slumped, trudging her way to the kitchen, "But this year is soooooo much earlier!"

Her mother followed and laughed, slightly amused but not necessarily sympathetic to her daughter's 'suffering'.

"True. But this is junior high. Things are going to be earlier. Which is why you need to wake up earlier to get ready on time. Therefore, requiring you to go to bed on time instead of staying up until one in the morning on the phone I told you you couldn't take to bed with you"

Barbie's tone dropped the more her lecture continued to the point where she actually snuck up behind her daughter and pulled the cellular device out of Libby's back pocket at the last second.

Libby gasped indignantly, spinning around at the sight of her mother with her phone, "But mom!"

"Uh uh! No Buts! You know the rule: phones in the kitchen at night. I've warned you multiple times. So, this is it..."

Barbie walked across the expansive living area into their spacious chef's kitchen to place Libby's phone on the charging station set up for the family. She turned back to her daughter and crossed her arms, definitively making her executive parental decision.

"Grounded for a week"

Libby gasped, practically melting in despair at the thought of losing her ability to document her daily lunch.

"MOOOOOMMM!!!"

Barbie didn't response. Instead, she pointed towards the kitchen, "Get some breakfast. The bus will be here soon. You will NOT be late on the first day of junior high"

The 12-year-old going on 20 just gaped at her mom's power stance. She couldn't believe what just happened! Her mom just took her phone and... *gasp*... GROUNDED her!

"Go, missy"

Libby growled and glared at the ceiling but slouched towards the kitchen area to make herself a quick gourmet breakfast of Pop-Tarts and orange juice: the breakfast of champions for new 7th graders.

Barbie knew parenting was going to be hard, but no number of classes, expert advice, or anything can really prepare any parent for a teenager... especially when that teenager isn't quite a teenager yet. Truth be told, Libby was more advanced than any other girl her age.

She was the daughter of a duet singer... a Geophysicist... and prominent figure in her community's volunteer organization. Barbie did it all. She still created music occasionally with her singing partner, Brooklyn, a.k.a. the other Barbie Roberts. On top of that, her mom was currently involved in a project that was tracking newer earthquakes to the San Francisco area relating to climate change and the Earth's core temperature... plus, she made sure that Libby helped out her own community service endeavors - car washes, animal shelter fundraisers, tutoring services, the works.