Chapter 1 - In Trouble, Again

Jade Oliver sighs to herself. Her three kids will be home for the summer very soon. Her husband, Beck, will be in charge of them.

Three teenagers! How will he ever survive?

You see, last year, Jade and Beck were both working. Jade was directing a play and Beck was starring in it. Molly was twelve, Vega was fourteen and Zach was sixteen back then. Jade doesn't really trust her kids too much now and she certainly didn't trust them at all then. So Jade got a brilliant idea. She hired a babysitter.

A few pranks and some cartons of eggs later, five babysitters have quit. Finally, Jade dumps her kids off with Trina and Robbie and their daughters, Paris and London.

As Jade thinks about the tortures this summer will bring, her phone rings. She frowns and then picks her phone up. "Hello, Oliver residence."

"Hello is this Mrs. Oliver?"

"Yes," Jade closes her eyes.

"We have a little bit of a problem here at Hollywood Arts High School with your daughter, Vega."

"What now?" Jade groans. Her second oldest, after Zach and before Molly is constantly in trouble at school.

"She got kicked out of math class and then walked around the hallway until she was caught. This is the fifth attempt, Mrs. Oliver. Could you please pick her up and have a chat with me?"

"Of course," Jade hung up.

She then called Beck. "Hey, babe, I have to go to Hollywood Arts because Vega's in trouble again. I'll wait for you to yell at her." Jade hangs up. She hates voicemail.

Guess I better drive to the school. Jade gets in her car and drives to Hollywood Arts. She is quite familiar with the principal's office there.

As she opens the door, she sees Vega there. Her daughter doesn't look guilty at all. She's on her phone, playing Angry Birds.

This pisses Jade off more than anything else. With a scowl, Jade presses the power button on the phone.

"Hey! I was just about to beat the hardest level yet!" Vega yells. "What the fuck?"

Every head in the office looks up at mother and daughter, both glaring at each other.

"This is why you always get into trouble," Jade snaps. "Listen to yourself!"

"Well, maybe I'm this way because you're such a bitch!" Vega hisses back.

"Oh!" Jade's voice has gotten icy and low. "You're in so much trouble. Just wait until we get home, Vega Oliver."

They both sit in silence, not looking at each other.

Vega Oliver has long light brown hair and Jade's eyes. She does have Jade's skin, kind of. Both she and Zach have skin tones in between Beck and Jade's.

"I hope you're scared, young lady. I hope you're shaking so hard, you can barely breathe. And most importantly, I hope you're about to piss your pants." Jade hisses at her daughter. "You're getting off very easy this time, since you're father is deciding your punishment."

Jade and Beck take turns doling out punishments to their kids. Usually, Jade's punishments are much more severe, because she believes in scaring the crap out of her kids. Unfortunately for her, Zach and Vega have picked up on her scaring the crap out of them and now it only works on her daughter Molly.

Jade is glaring at Vega and opens her mouth when the principal walks in. "Hello Mrs. Oliver. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Get to the point," Jade scowls. The principal looks surprised.

"Of course," he nods. "Vega broke a lot of school rules and will be serving detention for two days."

"Fine; you don't need to list them. Vega will tell me."

"Um, I got kicked out of class and then didn't come straight here."

"I'm not smiling, Vega." Jade snaps. "This isn't new. You need to change your attitude."

"Sorry," Vega looks at the ground. She feels bad that her mother is pissed.

"We're done here," Jade s to the principal. "Call my children, Zach and Molly Oliver down here. They're coming home."

#+#

Molly sits in the front of the car, next to her mother. "Look at my hair, isn't it pretty?" Molly shows her mother her braid.

"I'm driving," Jade says. "But I saw it before. It's pretty. You look a lot like your father. You two have the same brown eyes and fluffy brown hair."

In the back, Vega is texting her friend, Hannah Savage. Hannah and her twin brother, Jayson, are the twins of Cat and Matt Savage. Cat is actually good friends with Vega's mother.

Hannah: i heard ur in trouble watd u do

Vega: me & ur bro got kicked outa math

Hannah: how much trouble

Vega: 2 detentions & mom hasnt decided

Hannah: haha ur gonna b grounded 4 life

Vega: so is ur bro

Hannah: cat is so ditzy she 4got bout it hlfway home

Vega: lucky ass

Hannah: haha :p

Vega: i hate u

Hannah: luv u 2

Vega: g2g im home

Hannah: good luck

Vega: c u tomorro

Jade is practically seething as she drags Vega into the living room. Beck is waiting for them.

"You're grounded for two weeks, young lady. I'll be taking that phone."

Vega scowls. "Fine," she hands it over.

"Now go to your room!" Jade bellows. "Before I kill you!"

As Vega stomps up to her room, she passes Molly. "Go charm Mom before she punches a hole in the wall, Mol."

"Okay!" Molly chirps and runs into the living room. "Mom, let me do your hair. I love your hair. I love Dad's hair too, but your hair is so pretty and soft and shiny and silky..."

Vega throws herself on her bed and begins to plan her revenge. Soon, she comes up with a plan to piss her parents off so much, they'll burn the house down, while at the same time, make them look like horrible, mean hypocrites to everyone else.

This is a mean, awful plan for the innocent soul Vega plans on take advantage of, but it should work...