Chapter 8: New Balance-$7

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: New Balance-$7 As soon as Lucas went to his room, Aurora dashed to the desktop. Her fingers trembled as she logged into the 200% rebate system. She went straight to the purchase submission page, her heart racing with excitement. "What did you buy, and who that person was?" the first box asked. Aurora typed, "Pink eraser for Lucas." "How much did it cost?" the second box asked. She typed, "$1." Taking a deep breath, Aurora clicked the submit button and waited. The loading icon spun on the screen for what felt like forever. Finally, a message popped up: "Transaction verified. 200% rebate credited: $2. Your new balance is $5." Aurora's jaw dropped. It worked. It actually worked! Her heart raced with excitement as she stared at the screen. This was real. She could hardly believe it. Aurora couldn't hold back her excitement. She jumped up from her chair and started dancing in the middle of the room. Her arms flailed wildly, and her feet stomped in random directions. If anyone were watching, they'd probably think she was trying to fight off an invisible swarm of bees. Just as she spun around, her second brother, Theodore, walked in. He froze in the doorway, watching her with wide eyes. "What are you doing?" Theodore asked, his voice dripping with disbelief. "You look like a ghost dancing on some dead bodies!" Aurora stopped mid-spin, her hair a messy halo around her head. Instead of getting mad, she grinned at him and grabbed the candy from the table. "Here," she said, shoving it into his hand. "Eat this." Theodore blinked at the candy, then at her. "What's this for? Did you hit your head or something?" Aurora shrugged, refusing to explain. She turned back to the desktop and quickly started typing on the screen. Theodore watched her for a moment, shook his head, and walked off, muttering something about how weird his sister was. Aurora didn't care. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she filled out the details of her candy purchase. Just like before, the system processed her submission, and a message popped up: "Transaction verified. 200% rebate credited: $2. Your new balance is $7." Aurora's heart soared. It worked again! But then a sneaky thought crept into her mind. What if she could trick the system? What if she pretended to buy something super expensive? She typed in a fake purchase: "$100 for a fancy notebook for Mom." She clicked submit, her hands trembling with excitement. The screen froze for a moment, then refreshed. Aurora eagerly checked her balance, but... nothing changed. Her face fell. "What? No rebate?" she whispered, feeling a pang of defeat. She leaned back in her chair, staring at the screen. Maybe the system was smarter than she thought. But she needed to be sure. Was the money really transferred to her account? She decided to visit the bank again tomorrow. At dinner that evening, the family sat around the table, eating in relative peace—until Aurora's mom, Mary, sighed loudly. "The electricity bill this month is $500!" Mary exclaimed, her voice tense. "How are we supposed to handle that?" Her dad, Adam, frowned. "We'll figure it out, Mary. Maybe we can cut back on some other expenses." Aurora puffed out her chest confidently. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll pay the bill!" The entire table went silent for a moment, and then laughter erupted. Olivia, Aurora's second sister, smirked. "Aurora, do you even know how much $500 is? That's not your pocket money." Theodore snorted, still munching on the candy she'd given him earlier. "Yeah, what's next? Are you going to buy us a mansion too?" Adriana giggled. "Aurora's going to save the world with her magical eraser and candy!" Their teasing wasn't mean, but it made Aurora's cheeks burn. Before she could snap back, Lucas, her oldest brother, cleared his throat. "Hey, enough," Lucas said firmly. "Don't tease her like that. Aurora, it's sweet that you want to help, but paying the electricity bill is a big deal. Maybe one day, when you're older and earning money, you'll be able to do things like that. For now, it's okay to let Mom and Dad handle it." Aurora glared at her siblings but didn't say anything. She decided not to reveal her secret—at least not until she was absolutely sure everything was real.