The Give And Take

I'm not lying, I swear.

I can't find it.

Unless you wanna tell me the truth,

Amy, you're grounded.

Get that basement cleaned up

and put those old CDs in alphabetical order.

The garage sale is this weekend.

F, G, H, I, J, K, L.

A,B,C.

A,B,C,D,E.

No, no, no.

Hop over the cliff.

No!

Not again!

No!

We're sorry, the number you have reached

is not in service.

- Ow! The number you have dialed

is not in service at this time.

Please check the number

or try your call again.

Ow.

Hello.

Hi. Hi.

Yeah, sorry.

Is this the right number for like,

if you need help with a game?

Yeah, it sure is.

Okay.

So, I've been on the same level for so long.

Cool your jets, kid.

What game?

Legend of Sursha.

Oh, thank God.

Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker.

Ames.

How you doin' down there?

Fine.

Making progress?

Yep.

Good.

It's like she's always watching me.

So, why did you thank God?

What?

- Before, when I told you what game I was playing.

- Oh, it's just everyone's been calling in today

about this new game, Ghoulies Two,

and I haven't played it yet.

What level ya on?

Three.

Why does it matter that you haven't played it yet?

Level three, okay.

So, you wanna start over at the beginning

and make sure you get those first two inch worms.

Okie dokie.

- Yeah, so you're game, I know how to win it,

but this new game everyone's calling in about,

I gotta keep transferring the calls to the other guys,

'cause I don't know how to beat it

and I think they're starting to get a little annoyed.

- Why don't you just play it so you know?

No time.

Been prepping for a sick gig.

What's a sick gig?

- The kind where I can finally shred my own solo.

Oh, I'm in a band, I play the guitar.

Oh, cool.

- And we have a show tonight, this is just my side job,

'cause nothing beats the 5.50 an hour they offer here.

5.50 an hour?

Whoa.

Yeah, it's pretty sweet.

Except when no one will cover your shift.

And I'm gonna miss this gig tonight.

Now it's too late to even let the guys know.

And that big record label dude was gonna be there.

You can't just message them?

What, like telepathically?

No, like group text, silly.

Like I had to do this morning.

'Cause I'm grounded, I had to tell my whole track team

I can't make it today,

even though this race is our only chance

to place for regionals.

That blows.

Whatchya grounded for?

Failing math.

Well, hiding that I failed math.

But what's the big deal?

I just hate math and I think I'm old enough

to decide what I hate.

Sure are, for me, it was algebra.

That stuff ain't for regular people like us.