The Library Card

Chapter 1: Wake your damn fanny up!

"I woke up cold and tossed and turned a few times to find myself on the floor. I wiped the sleepies off my eyes and checked the clock and gasped looking at the time. Six fourty A.M it read. I adjusted my stockings in which I had surprisingly slept in from yesterday, including my ruffled shirt and skirt. Oh well. I thought. I guess I don't have to change this morning. I quickly braided my hair and added a small bow at the tip to look pretty for father, although my parents would probably think I'd be dressing all nice for the neighbor, Lincoln; but I really wasn't. I'll get back to you on Lincoln later on, though.

 I ran downstairs to bump against a family portrait, adjusting it quickly, to  find my mom looking back at me with a disapproving shake of the head. "Mother, I'm sorry... why didn't you wake me up today?" She laughed, and I cocked my eyebrows, wondering what was so hilarious about the situation, not only that, but at the fact that mother was laughing. She only laughed when father told the jokes he'd read earlier on the newspaper. I noticed my mom wore lipstick today and saw some sort of resemblance between us. She was about my height, and had a somewhat brighter shade of blonde hair than I did. She had dark blue eyes that looked sad unless she laughed, and a few wrinkles here and there, with what I would call a donkey nose- in other words, this perfect nose with no bumps and made her look so much more feminine than most women.  "Well, you didn't notice, did you? I told you twice to wake your damn fanny up, and you didn't listen, when I tried to remove your bed covers, you ended up falling with that ragged pillow you like so much, and kept sleeping. I thought you'd be awake from that loud bump I heard, probably from that big head of yours-"

"Mother!" I interrupted, stifling a laugh as she rolled her eyes to continue her rambling.

"But I suppose you didn't. Anyways, get your flat fanny over here and dry the dishes up. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, Ellisa... by the way, you look a mess, your shirt is all crinkled, Mother of Mary, Ellisa, did you sleep in that thing?" I sighed quietly to myself, wondering why mother called me Ellisa when my name clearly said 'Elliot' on the attendance sheet at school, I made a mental note to ask Mother why she called me Ellisa as I began drying the dishes, and helping prepare Father's hearty breakfast.

~

"Elliot," Father started. "I hope you're not getting all pretty for that Lincoln next door, he's a good boy, but you're far too young for this whole boyfriend business, Elliot. You know when your mother and I got married? When we were 18, Elliot. We should have gotten married at 19, but when we were younger, your mother was a beauty-"

"Oh my freaking gosh, Dad! Elliot, don't listen to his B.S, have fun and don't even think about getting married, especially as young as 18, no, wait, like, finish college first for real-"

"Raven!" father snapped. Golly, I don't understand how Raven can be so rude, Father knows best after all.. I pondered while Father lectured Raven while she  made weird clicking noises with her braces, clearly annoyed.

"And what makes you think, Raven, that Elliot is going to college? You too, Raven. Women should be housewives." Raven gave Father this look of disgust, and hatred. "You're such a bastard. I will be whatever the hell I want to be!" Father's eyes got darker, and he stood up to give Raven a hit to the fanny and was sent to her room to do whatever it was she did, Father continued to tell me his speech on getting married. My mind wandered elsewhere, wondering what else Raven could be other than a housewife, would she be a teacher? Who would pay for college, and why wouldn't she want to be a housewife? What else was there to be? Raven was truly odd, and if you looked up 'rebel' in the Dictionary, you'd see her photograph. For the words rude, disrespectful, and let us not forget vulgar you'd see her photograph there too. I hoped I wouldn't be like her in two years. Raven was a year and a half older than me, being 16 and a half must have been stressful, maybe it was just a phase. Hopefully. I wanted to be close to Raven, but she was very distant and resentful of me. She didn't seem to enjoy the fact that I always sided with Mother and Father.