The Good Life

*Alex*

~The Next Day~

Today we were celebrating Izzy’s birthday with the family. Even though she’s grounded I wasn’t going to be a complete monster and not have a party for her. I just didn’t let her invite any friends it was just going to be a family dinner at our house. She had to be taught a lesson and that lesson was when I say don’t do something, don’t do it. Or don’t get caught; had she went to that party and came back by midnight I wouldn’t have been suspicious of her whereabouts I would have let it go.

Since Izzy loved pasta so much Jack and I made almost every dish that had pasta in it: Spaghetti, shrimp Alfredo, lasagna, pasta salad, Ravioli, Macaroni, and etc. It was a carbohydrate heaven. We were waiting for Oli and Hannah like always so we could all sit down and eat. They were always late to anything that had a starting time. Everyone else could make it even my dad, Dr. Fey, and Joyce were here. Since Joyce retired a few years ago she’s been able to come down to visit more often; Jack would just buy her plane ticket and she would be on her way.

“Hey! Sorry we’re late!” Hannah apologized this time. Oli was trailing behind her with Izzy’s present in his hands.

“Hi Aunt Hannah and Uncle Oli!” Izzy ran up to hug both of them.

“Hey Sweetie, Here’s your present.” Oli told her as he handed her the large bag. I knew it was a black Alexander McQueen purse that Izzy had been dropping hints about to her uncle and aunt. The purse was almost two-thousand dollars, but Oli and Hannah always bought Izzy any designer bag she asked for.

“I picked it out.” Hannah said.

“I know it probably doesn’t beat the car your parents bought you. When can we go for a joy ride?” Oli asked Izzy and she stood there trying to think of the best way to tell him she was grounded.

“Three weeks from now.” I answered for her. She looked at me and sighed. That was how long she was going to be grounded for. I wanted to ground her for a month, but Jack said we should give her some leeway since it was her birthday.

“Why what happened?” Cass asked.

“I got grounded . . . For missing my curfew and going to a party. . . On my birthday.” Izzy said dramatically. I knew what she was doing, she was trying to get petty from the rest of the family so they could help her get out of trouble.

“Jack! Alex! You guys can’t punish her on her birthday.” My dad said.

“Alex takes care of all the discipline.” Jack shrugged.

“Dad, I can count at least three different times you’ve grounded me on my birthday.” I stressed and everyone laughed.

“Were you out with a boy?” Oli asked her skeptically.

“No! I was with my friends.” Izzy said.

“Well how late were you coming back home?” Alan asked also trying to help her.

“Almost two hours.” I said. “And she lied to us about what party she was going to.” I added.

“Don’t you remember what it was like to be a teenager, Alex?” Rian asked.

“I think you should let it slide this one time.” Cass told me.

“I let it slide last time she was grounded for talking back, remember?” I said.

“Well yeah, but one more time won’t hurt.” She pushed.

I looked at Izzy who was staring back at me with puppy dog eyes. She’d only been without her phone for one day and I could already tell it was slowly killing her. Like Rian said, I do remember when I was younger and when my dad would ground me I would always be so miserable.

I sighed in defeated, “Did you learn your lesson?” I asked Izzy.

“Yeeesss I promise.” She exaggerated.

“If this happens again you’ll be grounded for twice as long if not longer. Understand?” I threated.

“Yes!” She exclaimed as she ran up to hug me. I looked up at Jack who gave me a smirk, he knew I was going to cave in sooner or later.

“Now that all of that is done we can eat.” Jack said and everyone rushed to the kitchen to grab food.

There wasn’t enough room for us all to sit in one area so some people ate at the kitchen table, some were at the dining room table. Jack, Izzy, and I were in the dining room with Rian, Cass, Oli, Hannah, and Alan and Taylor. My dad, Dr. Fey, Joyce, May and Danny were in the kitchen and Ian and Evan were sitting at their own table next to ours.

Austin couldn’t make it because the new job he had as a software developer demanded most of his time right now. Alan quit his job to become a stay at home dad because Austin made so much money now and he didn’t need to work. I could tell it bothered Alan and their children because Austin had to work so many late nights and most weekends. Jack told me that Alan told him that they have been arguing a lot lately and both were becoming unhappy with each other. Oli, Rian, and I have all tried talking to Austin about it, but once again he’s been working so much he hasn’t been able to go out with us or he’s too tired to hold a conversations with us. I really felt bad for them, I hated the thought of Austin and Alan getting a divorce especially when there’s children involved. Alan also said Taylor has been acting out to get attention from her parents. He said that he’s caught her sneaking guys into her room two times and he doesn’t know how to control her. Also Ian’s grades have been slipping because he’s been so worried hearing his parents argue all the time. It doesn’t seem like things will end well for them right now.

“What time does Austin get off? Will he be able to come over at all?” Oli asked Alan making small talk.

“He didn’t say. We’re um not really talking again right now.” Alan answered.

“That’s because dad’s being a dick.” Taylor said.

“Taylor!” Alan scolded her.

“What? He is.” She said and rolled her eyes.

“Last time I talked to him, he said he was working on an important project and that it was super time-consuming.” Rian said trying to help.

“Yeah that sounds about right.” Alan said looking down at his phone.

“Um Izzy how come you didn’t invite Lynn or Kellin tonight?” Cass asked changing the subject.

“Daddy said I couldn’t since I was grounded.” Izzy said and Cass glared at me.

“You’re the worse kind of person, Alex.” She said making me laugh.

“It’s okay things are kind of weird between me and Kellin right now.” Izzy told Cass.

“Why?” She asked her.

“Because. . .” Izzy said out loud before moving to whisper into Cass’s ear. When she moved back Cass’s eyebrows were raised in shock. I was curious to know what happened but it was probably a “girl thing” that she wouldn’t tell me about.

*Izzy*

I love my family so much! I would rather be dead than grounded for three weeks. I’m so happy they talked Daddy out of keeping me grounded for that long. I know that what I did was wrong and I would probably maybe never lie to them again . . . well not on purpose.

Things got a little awkward when the conversation about Uncle Austin and Uncle Alan came up. I hated seeing things like that happen because I know how hurt I would be if Daddy and Papa were having problems. I tried to talk to Taylor to help her out, but she would either brush me off or promise that everything was okay. I know that she’s been acting out and getting into trouble, but I feel like I couldn’t really tell her what to do or what not to do because it would be like a pot calling the kettle black since I’m no angel.

I was relieved when the subject got changed as Auntie Cass asked me about Lynn and Kellin. I moved to whisper into her ear, “Well at that Halloween party I kind of had too much to drink and ended up making out with him.” I knew that I could tell her things like this because she wouldn’t ground me or tell my parents if it wasn’t life threatening. She also had more experience with problems dealing with guys than Daddy so I would always look to her for help with things like this. I would sometimes ask Papa for advice, if what I did wasn’t so bad.

“Do you want there to be more?” She was trying to inconspicuously ask me did I want to become more than friends with Kellin now.

“No” I said confidently.

“Did you tell him that yet?” She asked.

“Once, but I have a feeling I’m going to have to tell him again.” I sighed.

I wanted to text Kellin when Daddy gave me my phone back but, he was probably grounded for staying out past his curfew too so there was no use. I wouldn’t be able to talk to him until Monday morning at school.

Notes

Did you guys know that 50% of marriages (in the U.S) end in divorce?
And if Izzy doesn't like Kellin I wonder who she will like *cue dramatic music*