Stereotype Me

Chapter 1 - Valerie

     The breakfast table is silent, like every other day. My father has his glasses perched at the tip of his nose, while he reads the morning paper. My mother is placing the last stack of pancakes in the middle of the table. My brother, Mike, sits across from me, like usual, and is staring at something on his phone.

            “Must you always be on the dreadful device, Michael? Do you know how many brain cells you are killing? I knew we shouldn’t have bought the phone. You’ll never be valedictorian if you keep overusing it like a mindless fool! And we can’t have you break our family record!” My mother’s high pitched voice breaks the silence as she takes her seat at the table. Of course, we can’t have our perfect family record broken. My parents were both valedictorian at their high schools, along with their parents.

            “Sorry, mom,” he places the phone in the pocket of his jeans and grabs a pancake from the pile. Mike is only a year older than I. He is a senior and, even though he is first in his class, my parents never let him forget that his spot could be taken at any moment if he began to slack. They never let me forget that either.

            “That reminds me,” my father begins, “Annabeth is flying in this weekend. Harvard just finished their exams and she will be staying for the week.” I try not to groan when I see the look of delight on my mother’s face. Anna is my perfect sister. She had been valedictorian of her class with a perfect grade point average and now attends Harvard to become a lawyer with her perfect boyfriend. With her long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, she has the perfect looks that made every woman envy her. I hate her. While she looks sweet and innocent, the second my parents leave the room she turns into the controlling, snobby bitch she really is. Mike is the only other person who has ever seen her true colors.

            “That’s exciting,” Mike says, but he is lying. He hates her as much as I do. Mike and I don’t have many things in common nor do we get along very well, but we do agree on our hatred for Anna.

               I ignore their conversation and try to eat.

              “We could go on the seventeenth,” my dad answers.

            “That’s perfect! I’m off of work that day,” my mom states matter-of-factly.

            “Wait, where are we going on the seventeenth?” I ask only to be answered by my dad’s sigh.

            “If you had been paying more attention the first time you would have heard that we are going out to eat as a celebration for your sister.”

            “Oh,” I sigh. Of course they forgot.

            “Why are you busy that day? Is there something more important than celebrating your sister’s return from college?” My mom asks.

            “No.” Just my seventeenth birthday. I guess I didn’t expect them to remember this year, but I still had a tinge of hope. I refuse to look at Mike who no doubt is trying to keep from grinning. He thinks it is funny that they forget my birthday every year. At least he knows it is going to be my birthday. Having lost my appetite, I excuse myself to get ready for school. I leave the table before anyone can comment, which I am sure I will be reprimanded for later.

           I barely have time to take a shower, by the time I am upstairs in my room. I quickly throw on a baseball tee and a pair of jeans. I leave my long brown hair down and brush my teeth before I  head to the door.

          I don’t say anything to my parents as I leave the house and walk towards Mike’s car. He dosen't even acknowledge me when I finally get in the car. He is once again focused on something on his phone screen.