Ok, so I think I have this all figured out.....

I work hard to keep a high GPA and I work ten hours a week. The lowest grade I've ever gotten was a B in conversational Spanish, and I practically got my ass kicked for that.

On the other side, my cousin was a straight c student, and just barely. He regularly lied to my dad about his homework, his tests and his attendance. He's twenty years old now and the only time he's ever worked was last summer when my dad took both of us to work with him. When he came to work, though, he spent all of his time in the IT department "checking things out" while I worked my butt off in a stinky case room pulling milk crates off of trucks and handling spoiled milk.

I love my cousin a lot. I know he hasn't had it easy, and to be honest, I'll never know everything his mom and dad did to him before he came to live with us way back in the day. I know that they beat him and that they abandoned him in some weird city that he'd never been to before. If there was a way I could take that away from his life, I'd do it.

My dad took him in when he was thirteen and made him his son. He even calls my dad "dad" and my stepmom "mom". It used to bother me when I was little but I cant imagine him calling my dad anything else now, and I wouldn't want him to. But is it too much to ask that we be treated equally?

Here's what's going down....

James has always had a brand new car. When he was sixteen, my dad bought him a Maxima for Christmas. After he wrecked the door, my dad got him a brand new xterra in 2005. Now he wants another new car, and my dad's gonna take the Xterra and drive it and trade in his old Sentra for whatever James is gonna get.

In the meanwhile, I could have gotten a 2007 Civic but with no options. Instead, I looked around for a better deal for all of us and found a 2005 with a system and rims already on it. My dad put a system in James's first car, and the Xterra had a bad ass Bose system in it when they got it. Plus, both of his new cars were loaded. I don't want my dad to have to pay for a brand new car, anyway. He already works hard enough, and I'm willing to accept less if it means he doesn't have to stress out about another new car payment.

So, you say, It was your choice to get the 2005, Nick.

I agree, it was, but here's what pisses me off. I'm working my butt off, trying to actually save some money so I can have a decent summer and maybe afford to buy my own school clothes in September. James, in the meanwhile, isn't doing crap but going to college. So what does my dad tell me? I have to pay for my own car insurance and gas or I cant drive at all.

Ok, I don't really have a problem with that, but James has never had to do anything like that. My dad still pays for all of his crap...including his gas, his car, his insurance, his college and his apartment. I had to call my grandpa and ask him to help me with some money for the down payment and license and all that other crap I didn't know was part of buying a car.

I know I sound jealous, and maybe I am just a little bit, but everytime I think about it my blood boils. I haven't even gotten my license yet and I'm already forking over all kinds of money that my cousin didn't have to have. It makes me feel like my dad loves my cousin more than he loves me, and I hate feeling that way because I know it's not true. I just can't get it out of my head, though.

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Ok, so I was chatting with Talonrider today, and he asked me a good question....

Where does Time In A Bottle take place?

I will now answer the question in full.......the same place The Christmas Letter takes place. The Moores live right across the street from Jude and Quinn from The Ordinary Us, and around the corner from Chris and Owen from The Log Way.