"Mummy, can I get that one?" my sister asked, her eyes fixed on a stuffed bear on display. My mother glanced at the bear and then checked her purse.
"Dear, we came here to buy the necessary items for moving in. Teddy bears aren't necessary," Mom said.
"But Mom," Kiara pleaded, "I can decorate my room with it. Look at it, isn't it the cutest?" She spoke to the bear adoringly.
"Well, I guess so, if you didn't already have three of these," Mom replied, shooting a look at Kiara that clearly said, 'Let it go.'
But Kiara, being Kiara, kept begging anyway. "Mooom, I promise this is the last one. I promise!"
Mom shook her head. "No, not happening, dear. Let's get something useful, like a nice vase or a lamp."
Kiara sighed in utter disappointment and then turned to me.
"Trish, dear, put that phone away. We're moving to a new city, how exciting is that? We need to shop for essentials like soap and clothes since we're moving into a brand new house and we need to make sure we don't forget anything, okay?" she explained.
"By 'new city,' you mean a run-down town?" I scoffed.
"It was your idea anyway. I thought you would be on top of the world," Mom replied.
I heard it but let it go through one ear and out the other.
"Are you going to help me or not?" I felt her sharp glare.
"Uh-huh," I replied bluntly while scrolling through comments. They were awful; I don't even want to start with how the number of comments increased exponentially when they found out.
People were all so happy for me, but who knows if that's how they really felt? A couple of emojis and congratulations don't mean much. I have over 100,000 followers on Viper Net and I'm pretty much a celebrity. I mostly post about my family and daily life, which gets enough attention. My classmates didn't know until this August when I posted about my pool party. They must be jealous of me. At least that's what I thought until it hit the boiling point, where everyone pointed and said, "Oh look, it's Trashy Trish." Like, come on, get a life.
Whatever. It's not like I cared about those idiots anyway. All is well for now.
"Trish, can you get me the bear? I promise this is the last one I'll ask for!" Kiara tugged on my coat. I looked into her intensely adorable eyes and her bow tie and didn't protest.
"Of course, Kiki, anything you want," I replied without hesitation.
She beamed and put it in the shopping cart. Mom looked vexed, but she's the least of my problems; she's always been cranky.
"Trish."
"Mom, don't start—"
"I'm not starting anything. What, I'm not allowed to tell you when you're doing something wrong?"
"No, I'm not saying that just that you don't need to be so nosy and uptight about every little thing in my life!"
"God, where do you get this attitude from? You can't go spoiling her; she'll never learn."
"What? I'm not spoiling her. I'm just buying it because she's been getting straight A's, which you would know if you helped out with her homework or any kind of activity in her life like a normal parent would..."
"Tristan, are you insinuating that I am not a good mother to my own child?" Her face went red.
People around us were watching, some concerned and some curious.
"Ugh, do you have to make a scene everywhere we go?!" I huffed and left the store.