With Roman busy at his uncle’s farm, the rest of Isis’s summer went by uneventfully, and she was happy to be going back to school because it meant she would see him more. And, she was a sophomore!
Her and Roman ran up to each other on the sidewalk outside of the school. Roman picked her up and swung her around as she clung to him giggling. When he set her down, his phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket to check it. A shadow seemed to cross his face but it quickly disappeared.
“Who was that?” Isis asked, wondering why he didn’t look happy.
He shoved his phone back in his pocket and said, “Uh, my sister.”
He kissed her cheek and grabbed her hand, saying “Let’s get sodas from the vending machines before class starts!” And his smile distracted her from asking anything further.
When school was out, they went to a cafe to talk about their classes and new teachers. They didn’t have any classes together this year and Isis was bummed out. On top of that, he had joined the after-school computer team. She felt like they didn’t see each other enough! Roman assured her they would meet in the halls as often as they could and that they would spend every single lunch together.
After an hour they got up to leave, and on the way out Isis noticed the ‘Now Hiring’ sign on the door.
“Oh my gosh, Roman! What if I got a job?! Jackie started working at the department store in Magnolia Promenade, and now you’re busy after school. I’m going to be so bored!”
Roman replied “Isis that’s a great idea! Plus you could save faster for the new computer you want!”
Isis laughed with glee and decided she would get on the computer to look for jobs as soon as she got home.
Later that evening she was browsing for jobs that would hire teenagers and she was severely disappointed in the options. She scrolled past a data entry position, boring. She scrolled past a construction worker position, yeah right. She scrolled past a janitor position, heck no!
She was about to give up when she spotted a listing that said ‘Streamers Wanted.’ and she clicked it out of curiosity. She knew of a couple kids in school who played video games on live stream.
The listing read:
Brand-new live streaming platform looking for fun personalities who know how to entertain, engage, and build communities. No professional equipment or years of experience necessary. Just bring your enthusiasm and make $$$! Must be 16 years of age. Sign up now.
This was perfect! She was turning sixteen in a few weeks! She closed her laptop and immediately ran downstairs to tell her parents.
Her dad was less than thrilled about the idea. He said it wasn’t a real job and that “weirdos and creeps” watched live streams.
Her mom was a little more open and said it was a good thing that Isis wanted to earn her own money.
They agreed she could do it as long as homework was finished before, that she quit by 10pm (because of the weirdos and creeps, her dad insisted) and only if she sent them her profile when she signed up.
Isis readily agreed to their terms and ran back upstairs to text Roman and Jackie her exciting idea!
Leave a Reply