That wasn’t me. The troll is home.
“Where are you going?” She always has to know everything.
“Out.”
“Mom, where’s she going?”
Of course my mother has to tell her, and naturally she just can’t wait to have some, and there goes what was going to be a perfect day. Even hot fudge tastes like boiled liver if you have to sit at the same table with the grunge. PS, she’s still wearing my socks.
“You’d better walk Norman before you go,” she announces.
“It’s not my turn.”
“It is too. I walked him for the whole weekend while you were away.”
“So what? You were supposed to. I walked him before I left on Friday, and Sunday was my turn but you owed me a time so you have to walk him today.”
“I don’t owe you any turn.”
“You do too. Remember Thursday I walked him for you when you said you sprained your finger and you told Mom you couldn’t hold the leash.”
“I couldn’t, and besides it was your turn anyway.”
“Wrong again, creep, Wednesday was my turn.”
“But Mom took him to the vet on Wednesday.”
“So … lucky for me.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Tough.”
“Bugbreath.” I don’t know where eleven-yearolds pick up that kind of language.
Norman is basically a wonderful dog and I love him to pieces except that mostly he’s incredibly lazy and stupid and like everyone else in this house (except me) he overreacts, so when he hears the word “out” he goes berserk and starts barking and throwing himself at the door. Naturally my mother hears the pounding and comes in from the kitchen to see what Norman is making such a fuss about.
“It’s because Victoria won’t take him out,” Big Mouth says.
“It’s not my turn, Mom.”
“Somebody, anybody, walk him please”
“Not me,” Nina says.
“Me neither,” I say, and I explain very logically why it’s Nina’s turn. I’m not coming on like a baby, it’s person-to-person stuff, and my mother is listening, and I can feel it’s our new relationship, and she keeps shaking her head, and I can see Nina’s dying. Things are really going to be different from now on. I can tell. If only Norman would stop yowling.
“Victoria, dear …”
Good start, Mom.
“I’m sure you understand that this isn’t the time for a long discussion. ’”
That’s reasonable.
“… The dog must go out right now.”
On cue Norman lunges for his leash.
“… And since you were away all weekend, you take him out.”
“But it’s Nina’s—”
“Now.”
I can’t believe she could do this horrendous thing to me after all we’ve been through.
“It’s not fair.” So what if it sounds baby.
“I said now”
It’s useless. Hopeless. Nothing’s changed. I have no choice. I hate to do it, but I have to…. “Make her take off my socks.”
With terrifying calm my mother silently holds the door open for me. Then she turns to Nina and quietly says, “Empty the dishwasher.”
“It’s not my turn.” Nina practically whispers.
“And set the table. And Nina?”
“Yeah?”
“TAKE OFF THOSE SOCKS RIGHT THIS MINUTE!” Then she turns to me with a smile, a different look, and says, “I haven’t forgotten our hot fudge … or anything else.”
“I’m on my way,” I say happily and Norman and I start out of the door.
“Victoria?”
“Oh, oh …”
“Put on your jacket, it’s only May.”
“Ah, Mom!”
“On second thought, you decide.”
“Sure thing, Mom,” I say good and loud. And then, very soft …, “Thanks, Cici.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Francine Pascal is the creator of the phenomenally successful Sweet Valley™ series: Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High™, and Sweet Valley University. First launched in October 1983, the series now sells in twenty-two countries and has been translated into fifteen languages. Francine has also written for adults, including fiction, nonfiction for magazines, and TV scripts.
Francine has three grown-up daughters and several grandchildren. She draws much of the inspiration for her books from her own experiences and memories of growing up in New York. She says, “I was a very optimistic teenager and my conflicts were the stuff of everyday teenage trauma: loyalty, friendship, sacrifice, honor, truth, and love.”
She divides her time between New York and her second home in France.
FRANCINE PASCAL
my first love and other disasters
The second title in the Victoria Martin trilogy
Victoria’s got it B-A-D. Falling in love with Jim, the school heart-throb, was just the start of it. Now she finds herself caught up in major plots to win over Mr. Wonderful himself, and get rid of his girlfriend, the annoyingly gorgeous Gloria. So when she hears that Jim’s going to be spending the whole summer on Fire Island, Victoria knows that this is her chance to be noticed. She signs herself up to work the summer there—as a mother’s helper. It’s got to work! But as Victoria discovers, first love can so easily collapse into sheer disaster….
… A GIRL BORN WITHOUT THE FEAR GENE
FEARLESS™
A SERIES BY FRANCINE PASCAL
PUBLISHED BY SIMON & SCHUSTER
3029-01
Francine Pascal is the creator of the Fearless™ series, as well as the phenomenally popular Sweet Valley™ universe. She divides her time between New York City and the south of France. My Mother Was Never A Kid (previously titled Hanging Out with Cici) was her first published novel for teens.
My Mother Was Never A Kid (Victoria Martin Trilogy) Page 17
