This summer, we were going to win the competition. We had to. I was going to spend the last few weeks before summer planning, researching, and polling. We had never won before. Last year, the twins a few houses down won, and every year that I could remember before that, Phil and Greg won.

Let me explain: My name is Gabriella (Gabby for short). I have an older brother named Jack and a younger sister named Mia. Every summer, the kids in our neighborhood compete to see who can make the most money at our stands.

The boys down the street always used to win. Greg is the older brother and Phil is the younger brother. They charge people a lot of money for just simple lemonade. The problem is, they are the first stand that people see when they drive our direction, so more people stop there. They also bring out their dog and make him do tricks all day for the customers. We wouldn’t have a problem with them winning if they weren’t so rude about it. They buy things for themselves and then show off to us. They also make comments about how we “aren’t good enough to win,” and they come up with belittling reasons as to why we can’t make as much money as them.

Last year, however, was different. Two of my best friends, who are identical twin sisters named Lainey and Lindsey, won. Their grandma lives at the very end of our street and she put a big colorful sign in her yard to advertise. They also made a sign to let people know that any money they made would be going towards their ballet studio. This must have caught people’s eye because they made over $100 more than Greg and Phil did.

When Phil and Greg realized they didn’t win, they were really upset and insisted that Lainey and Lindsey cheated or stole their money. We all knew that wasn’t true, but none of us even tried to convince the brothers otherwise because they would never change their minds.

Anyways, this year it would be just Mia and I at our stand because Jack graduated last year and he was away at college. Mia had already started making all sorts of jewelry to sell. We had sold a lot of bracelets last year so she decided to expand to earrings, necklaces, and even key chains. The main thing we sell is ….

Come back for part two to find out!