I just ignored her and sipped my hot chocolate. It was a chilly Saturday morning in Vancouver, BC and I had begged my mom and dad if we could go to the local outdoor rink. They said it was ok as long as Suzie could tag along. I reluctantly agreed because I really wanted to go skating. Suzie wasn't too excited about the idea, but my parents said that she was spending too much time on her phone and laptop when she should be spending this Saturday spending quality time with me.
"Ok…", she had said.
That's how I got stuck spending my whole afternoon with my crazy sister. Suddenly, I felt her poke my shoulder.
"Rose, can you lend me 20 bucks?" Suzie asked.
If you're wondering, yes, Rose is my name; short for Rosella. I love skating and hanging out with my friends. Ever since I watched the Winter Olympics's skating competition, I fell in love with that sport. My last name is Barnes and sometimes the boys in my class make fun of me and say I live in a stinky barn or something stupid like that. They're so annoying. I used to live in warm, sunny Los Angeles, but my dad got a new job here in Vancouver. Luckily, I'm ok with trying out new things. I was about 13 at that time and Suzie was 9. I'm 16 now and Suzie is 12 and she's totally addicted to technology. I have one dog named Fluffy and one hamster named Acer ( named after Suzie's favourite laptop brand) Now that you know a lot about me, it's time to get back to the story.
I thought about why Suzie would need that much money.
"Why?" I asked her.
"I want that!" she said.
She was pointing at a big stuffed panda in a toy store window close to the rink. Pandas were her favourite animal and she collected tons of things panda related. I could tell she wanted it more than anything else in the world at that point in time, so I took out my wallet and gave her a crisp 20 dollar bill.
"Go wild", I told her.
She smiled and ran towards the toy store as fast as she could.
I laced up my skates once again and decided to skating for a bit while Suzie was buying her panda. Back in Los Angeles, I was in skating lessons and was one of the best students. My parents have been thinking about enrolling me in skating lessons here, but they're not sure yet.
I skated around and did a few twirls and a figure eight. The cool wind blew through my hair and it felt really good. I did a double axel with a perfect landing and everyone stared at me and clapped. I blushed and started skating again. It was getting colder, so I skated over to the exit and carefully stepped out of the rink. I went over to the bench and sat on it again. Suddenly, I heard someone shouting my name. It was Suzie carrying the stuffed panda. Her cheeks were really rosy.
"Thanks for lending me the money sis!" she exclaimed.
"Anytime", I said.
We watched the sun set and decided to head home. When we opened the front door to our house, mom and dad were watching a movie in the living room.
"How was your day?" mom asked.
Before I could answer, Suzie cut me off.
"It was awesome! I learned how to skate backwards and Rose lended me 20 bucks so I could buy this panda for my collection!"
She held the panda in front of mom's face.
"Isn't it cute?" Suzie asked.
"Very!" my mom agreed.
Suzie beamed and skipped out of the living room. The great thing about mom was that she was always making us feel better and encouraging us to do new things. Dad is always kidding around and making us laugh. Together, we're one big happy family.