Page 12 of From Drummer to Gamer

Why can’t dinners ever be normal in our family?

But then, my family was as unconventional as they got.

Even then, that’s what I loved about my family.

My father was half Mexican and half Chinese, and my mother was a Chinese immigrant who moved to the US with her parents when she was young, with big hopes and dreams, none of which she got to fulfill when she became a housewife.

So her plan switched to force them upon me and Raphy, me more so than him. And now it fell upon us to add meaning and pride to the Chan name.

“Raphael, have you thought about your options for college?” My mother turned to her next victim.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m thinking chemistry,” he stated, flashing her a charming smile. His blatant lie somehow seemed to suffice her, like they always did.

And I had to suppress the urge to laugh. I was pretty sure the only thing about chemistry my brother knew was that OH meant alcohol.

“Good. I hear chemical engineering is a competitive field. But it’s wise not to put all your eggs in a single basket. You need to have a solid plan. You only have two years left,” my mother replied without catching onto the fact that fucker was lying.

His only dream was to become a musician. Raphy adored to sing and play guitar so much that he went busking on the streets. Mother wouldn’t allow him to play at our house beyond the scheduled hours because it was loud and uncharacteristic of a gentleman. I secretly hoped that Matt Evans really did want to work with my brother because, aside from my selfish needs, seeing my brother succeed would make me the proudest sister on earth. Although I would never admit that aloud to him.

And yes, he had two years left.Two freaking years. He was only sixteen. He was supposed to be hanging out with his friends and making out with girls, not worrying about college. But my mother wasn’t going to let it go, I knew, because I went through the same roster not too long ago.

“Sierra, how was your day?” Mother’s sharp voice jolted me out of my musings. I was always the last one on her list because daughter dearest was the anomaly who couldn’t act like her obnoxious brother and always ended up putting her foot in her mouth.

“Great, Ma. I spent the day researching possible summer classes I could take. I want to be at the top of my game before I start,” I mustered a confident voice. What I was really doing was eating copious amounts of Cheetos and winning twenty-two matches in a row.

My brother snorted, jerking his knee with mine, and my mother watched me with squinted eyes.

She didn’t buy it, did she?

“I thought I heard gaming sounds coming from your room?” Her voice lowered a decibel.

Fuck.“Just one game, Ma.” I let out a shaky laugh. “Tin needed an extra player.”

Her lips pursed in a thin line. “I don’t know when you’ll ever grow up, Sierra. I told you, games aren’t going to put food on your plate. You’re going to start college soon. You need to be serious.”

“Yes, Ma,” I muttered, averting my gaze to my plate.

According to my mother, a lady was supposed to be driven, disciplined, and elegant.

And the perfect career for a lady was to become a doctor.

Sometimes I wondered if she even knew me. If she truly did, she would know what a terrible idea it was to leave a patient’s life in my hands.

I was messy, loud, and gauche.

The opposite of what a lady should be, and my mother never failed to correct it every time.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity to go to an Ivy League, Sierra. I want you to focus all your energy on that.”

Something heavy sat in my heart at her words.

My family thought I was going to Columbia for biology as my pre-med. A goal my mother spent the past three years forcing on me, but with the grades I got, the only email I could get from Columbia was a big no and a lengthy request for me to go back to school again.

So I lied.

It was a simple lie at first, which soon turned into the biggest lie I had ever pulled.

I didn’t know if it made me proud or terrified.