Green Money is Rad

I sat in the backseat of the car with the window down and the wind blowing through my hair. I stuck my head out of the window to get a better look at the city. We were moving from a little town in Ohio to Las Vegas, Nevada. Can you say huge change of scenery? I think so.

It’s just me, my mom, and my brother Max right now. I don’t exactly know why we’re moving because I was never actually given a reason. I’m sure Max probably knows though…. Nobody ever tells me anything around here. Just because I’m the youngest doesn’t mean that I need to know the least about what goes on around here.

We just passed the city’s welcoming sign and finally, after days of driving, we were almost at our new home.

Broken by Lifehouse was on the radio and it made the final minutes of our drive seem more peaceful than the rest of it had been. Max and I had been fighting a lot over stupid stuff because we were getting tired of being so close together in the compact area of our minivan and our mom was getting tired of our fighting so when we finally pulled into the driveway of the new house, it was a giant relief.

I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized that I had been holding in and I stepped out of the car into the smoggy air of Las Vegas. I stared at the house in front of me wondering what it looked like on the inside.

“Hey, Sophie, why don’t you go inside and explore. Max and I can handle things for now.”

I nodded and walked inside. I guess there is one plus about being the youngest in my house. My mom and Max do most things for me even though Max is only about a year older than I am.

As I looked around the first thing I noticed was the stairs. They looked really fun to mess around on…. Looking around I figured out that the house had 3 bedrooms and 2 and a half bathrooms. The master bedroom, which would obviously be my mom’s, had its own full bathroom, there was another full bathroom in between the other two bedrooms, and there was a half bath downstairs. This place was a lot bigger than our last place. We had always had our own rooms, but there was only 1 bathroom in the house and everything was a lot smaller than it was in this one.

I picked out my room, which ended up being the smallest bedroom, and then I went back outside to help bring the stuff inside.

“So how do you like it?” my mom asked.

“It’s really nice. I already have my room picked out.”

She looked at me suspiciously. “The master bedroom is mine.”

I laughed at her. “I know that. I chose the smallest one. It’s still a lot bigger than my old room and you know that I don’t take up much space.”

“Alright then. Well, the rest of our stuff should get here tomorrow so until then we’ll just keep using our sleeping bags.”

“Okay.”

I lifted up a random bag and carried it into the house, setting it down next to the door before going back out for more. It didn’t take long before the car was empty and we were all sitting around trying to find something, anything, to keep us entertained. Mom was talking to someone, Max was upstairs playing his bass, and me…. I was just sitting on the stairs watching the front door to see if someone randomly came up to the house and opened it. They didn’t though. It just sat there closed tight and locked against any strange people that might attempt to break in.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and I sprang up to answer it. As I neared the door I shouted at no one in particular that I was opening it. Once I had unlocked and opened the door though, I saw that there was nobody there. I frowned and hit my head on the door. I had been hoping for some sort of human contact with anybody other than Max and my mom. Yes, I love them but I haven’t talked to anybody other than them since we left Ohio. I had forgotten to charge my phone before we left so I couldn’t talk to anybody which was the main reason for my complete and utter boredom.

Although… We’re in a house now meaning that we have electricity here since the lights and stuff work. I guess this means that I can finally charge my phone and call some of my friends. It’ll keep me entertained at least for a little while.

I thought that I saw a head full of brown hair but it quickly vanished from sight and I just shrugged it off figuring that my mind was playing tricks on me. I closed the door with a sigh before going into what was now my bedroom and plugging my phone in to charge.

I groaned as I sat down on the floor thinking about the stuff that would be happening within the next month. My mom would be starting her new job, Max and I might be getting new jobs, and…. I winced. We would be starting school. Well that’s just great, note my sarcasm.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and I ran downstairs to answer the door. Once again though, there was nobody there. I glared at a random house as I realized that somebody was playing ding dong ditch.

“You can stop with the games now!” I called before walking back into the house and slamming the door.

My mom peeked her head into the room at the sound.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just some jerks messing around.”

She nodded her head in understanding before going back to whatever she was doing. Just as I was about to go upstairs someone knocked on the door again. I clenched my fists and turned to glare at the door.

I stomped upstairs to Max’s room and ignored his questions as I grabbed his baseball bat. I ran downstairs. The doorbell rang again and I ran to open it with Max trailing behind me.

“Sophie what are you doing with the bat?” he asked nervously.

“Someone is trying to play games with my head and I am going to teach them a lesson,” I answered as I yanked the door open.

Once again I saw a head of brown hair run along the side of my house but this time I knew what it was. I heard someone shout something in the distance but I ignored it as I approached the boy who was crouching down next to the house.

“Soph! Sophie, slow down! God, you’re fast!” Max yelled from behind me.

I lifted the bat up to hit him but Max managed to restrain me and yank the bat from my hands.

“Max give. It. BACK!” I yelled as I tried to reach up and take the bat.

Unfortunately he was several inches taller than me and easily kept the bat out of reach.

A car honked and there was a screeching of breaks which caused me, Max, and the little terror to stare up and see what happened. There were two people, a guy and a girl, coming over to us and a car was stopped in the middle of the road, the driver yelling profanities at the girl.

“Uh… hi?” the girl said with smile that looked more like a smirk.

“Do you know that?” I asked in outrage as I pointed at the boy.

He looked slightly afraid as he saw how mad I was but the scared look was quickly replaced by a cocky grin.

“Aww did I make you mad?” he taunted.

I clenched my fists and glared at him before trying to take the bat away from Max again.

Max rolled his eyes. “Down slugger, you're in a dress.”

“I don't care. I want to hit him,” I growled.

The girl quickly stepped up to me and held her hand out. “I’m Brianna but you can call me Bri. That’s my brother Monte or Bryan, whichever you like better. And that little monster over there is Ronnie.”

I shook her hand and continued glaring at ‘Ronnie.’

“Well if Ronnie wants to keep his head he better leave me alone,” I sneered.

Brianna smiled weakly at me. “Sorry about him. It’s our fault really.”

“How could it possibly be your fault that this little shit decided to terrorize me?” I asked.

She looked at her brother and bit her lip seemingly to hold back a laugh.

“We were trying to beat him to his house in a race but we lost.”

Ronnie smirked at me. “Do you know what that means?”

I looked at him worried about what he might say. “What?”

“You get to be my new neighbor!” he exclaimed sarcastically.

He grabbed my arm and jerked me over to his body before pulling me into a headlock and ruffling my hair with his fist. I bit his arm and he shoved me away from him. He looked at me in shock as he held his arm in his hand.

“What was that for?” he asked incredulously.

“Because I felt like it,” I said with a smirk.