Poll results!

Thank you, everyone, for voting, we have a winner!!

5 of you have voted:

4 for Yes
and 1 for No

So, I'm sure you can figure out who's one without any complicated maths :)

Thanks again! Can't wait to show you the new house :3

MischiefTheKitten

Poll

Yes, it's another poll :) Don't act so surprised, I told you this was happening ;)

Ebony is moving together with Caelan, Leon and Tess. I'll move them together so they don't lose their relationships, but I'm unsure what to do once they're there. Shall Leon stay with her once they're in Brooklyn Hights, or shall he get his own place and I wait until she rolls the wish to either move in with him (which never works in my game, btw! It never acknowledges that my sims are already living together!) or get married?

Since I'm not sure I thought I leave it up to you :)

You can find the poll as always to the right :) I probably won't leave the poll open for long though, two days at the most, since I want to get playing (the house is already built and I want to move in).

Thank you!!

MischiefTheKitten

Generation Two - Chapter Nine

Somewhere further down a word is greyed out and doesn't show up - it's supposed to say apparently, but it just shows a white block. Until I can figure out how to fix this, just put in Apparently yourselves while you're reading :)

"I haven't seen you in ages, Eb! We've got to hang out again sometime!" I had always gotten on well with Danielle, but she had some annoying tendencies! For one, I hated it when she called me Eb. It made me sound like an old frustrated guy who's constantly angry at everything and kicks his mailbox.

Also, she was in the habit of exaggerating things. She hadn't seen me in ages? Hardly, she'd only been over four days ago. Add to that our nearly daily phone calls... No, it really wasn't as bad as she made it out to be. I didn't mind, though. Not completely. We really were getting along, and I wanted to be friends with her. Coping with her habits wasn't all bad once you got used to them.

A few months after Mom's funeral we refurnished her room. The room was bigger and lighter, it had loads of windows which all had an amazing view, and, well, I wanted it. We painted the walls in my favourite colour - spiceberry red, and bought matching sheets for my new bed. I moved my trophy next to it together with my old lamp and bedside table, and even considered moving Ted in. I liked him on the kitchen table, but his bowl took up a lot of space which sometimes got in the way of dinner plates.

Later that week I received a phone call from an unknown number. Curious, I answered. "Hello?"

"Yes, hello, am I speaking with Ebony, the daughter of Catherine Blackwood?" It was so strange hearing my Mom's full name, and hearing it from a stranger.

"Yes, who is this?" Could he be another man? Was this where I found out that Max wasn't my father at all, but some other guy who had only just worked up the courage to tell me? Mom had cheated on Dad once that we knew of, who knew how often she had slept with other men before or even after that.

Lost in thought, I didn't catch his name "... Town Hall. I am supposed to bring these news to your mother, but my records show that she is deceased." Wow, wasn't he a sympathetic man! "You are her daughter, yes?"

I was beginning to feel like I was repeating myself. "Yes, I am. You have something to tell me?"

"I am afraid I have. Don Lothario has died last night of old age. I am sorry for your loss."

"My-" The sympathetic man hang up before I had a chance to reply. Don was dead. The man my Mom had cheated with. The man who had destroyed our happy family. Mom had obviously seen something in him, but I had no kind thoughts for him. It was weird to know, but it wouldn't change anything. There had never been much of a relationship to speak of between us, and I had never wanted there to be one.

One relationship that had been improving a lot lately was the one between Caelan and me. We weren't fighting any more, and sometimes we even bought each other presents. Nothing big, only small things, like this book he had bought for me. It was about chess strategies and complicated moves, which I absolutely loved. It was a fairly difficult read, nothing for beginners, but I had a pretty good understanding of chess by then and had always been a very quick learner, so it was no problem for me.

I had actually started to miss Danielle, and since I had some time in the mornings before work now I invited her over.

"So Connor said to me" she started "that he still sometimes wonders where his girly toy pony went when we were kids! Can you believe it? Do you even remember that ugly thing?" Boy, did I! I was the one who had nicked it! I wasn't about to tell her, though, even though she probably didn't care whether I had burned it or not.

"Why does he still remember that? That pony must have meant a lot to him!" We burst into laughter, imagining little eight year old Connor crying over a white and pink stuffed pony.

"Yeah, he used to cuddle it at night. You'd think I have another sister, not a brother!" For a moment I considered giving it back to him after all those years, but then I tried to think where I had put it, and I had no idea. So that thought died pretty quickly.

Caelan still trained me sometimes, when he wasn't writing. However, by that point I was so fit we were pretty much equals. The treadmill didn't look it, but it was definitely worn out. Scratches covered every surface, and every now and again it made this weird squeeky noise which made us believe that it wouldn't survive much longer.

To do me and the machine a favour, I was jogging more and more often. I couldn't see Caelan doing it and often thought that he'd probably get lost, but I enjoyed it. It took me a while every time, but I had even started jogging to work some mornings. If I left early enough, I made it on time, although that was learned by trial and error. I had been half an hour late the first time I jogged in, but my boss considered it over time and loved my enthusiasm to stay in shape, so he let me off easy.

I had tried the waters and asked my boss about the possibility of a referral to Brooklyn Hights, too. A few nights before I asked him I had done some research online, and had taken a look at the city. My fear had been that it would be too industrialised. It sounded like a huge city with skyscrapers everywhere and some lovely parks, but not much nature otherwise. Parks were fine, but I preferred something that wasn't man made, something away from the noise and the chaos.

It turned out I had been wrong. According to the website and pictures, there were some lovely jogging paths, some of them leading up to quiet, hidden-away fishing spots and lakes. The majority of the living seemed to be in the city, but there were some quiet neighbourhoods, too. It looked lovely, actually, and I felt myself getting all excited when my boss told me that a referral would be possible.

I still wasn't sure, though. Riverview had been my home all my life, and I had no good reasons to leave. It sure looked like a nice place, though... I wanted to talk this over with my friends and Caelan before making a decision.

I was finally able to make some time for them again. Health-wise I was pretty much where I needed to be for my job, so I could get away with working out a little less every day. I invested that time into Danielle, Tess and, of course, Leon, and invited them over in the mornings before I had to leave for work.

It was amazing, being able to spend so much time with him. He didn't seem to mind that I wasn't ready for sex yet, and was happy holding me and kissing me. I wasn't sure why I wasn't ready. I wanted him, but something was holding me back. The idea that it was the house was ridiculous, and I didn't believe it one bit, but I honestly had nothing better, either. It wasn't too bad, really. Since I had never done it I couldn't miss it. I wanted to, yes, but I wasn't feeling desperate. Instead of having sex we spent our time together getting to know each other more, and we had fun in different ways.

For example, Leon really loved our slip and slide. I wasn't sure if he had ever been over without using it, but that was fine with me. Caelan hardly ever used it these days, and I didn't use it as much any more as I used to, either. This way, it still got some attention, and I did usually use it with Leon.

"You look really hot, all wet and half naked" he teased with his cheeky grin.

"Oh yeah? So do you!" It wasn't the best response, but maybe I was just bad at these things? He pulled me into a hug, rubbing his wet skin against mine and I'll admit, it did feel good. Again I wanted more, but something was holding me back. Maybe I had simply waited so long to have sex with him that I was too nervous now? Whatever it was, it was stopping me. And it was most definitely not this stupid theory of the house being cursed through my Mom's actions.

"You look a little tense. Turn around." Obediently, I did as he asked, and moaned a little when he started massaging my aching shoulders. Leon was really good at this. He had some muscles in his arms and had strong hands which he knew how to control perfectly, so he always knew just how much pressure he had to apply where. It was like magic, the only thing that worked against my sore body.

As the sun was slowly setting, and it was getting dark outside we decided to sit down. We had no garden furniture whatsoever, so the smooth surface of the grass had to do. I had started to get cold over the last few hours and had changed back into my clothes, whereas Leon was still dressed in nothing but his shorts. No complaints from me there.

"Leon, I wanted to talk to you about something." I wasn't too sure how to start this, so I dove right in. "Have you ever thought about moving?" It was a beautiful night, and the atmosphere felt right, so I thought it was now or never.

Apparently, my words came across all wrong though, and he sighed. "Look, I know, I don't want to be still living with my parents either, but it's impossible to get a job here and -" I thought it best to interrupt him and correct myself.

"No, that's not what I meant. I just sometimes get the feeling that you don't want to stay here, so I was wondering." Which was entirely true. He was right, as well. The job market really was rubbish in Riverview. It was a small town with only few jobs that didn't require experienced people, which made it hard for people like Leon and me to find something. I had been lucky, and I often wondered if I only got the job because of Mom's reputation as an athlete and the fact that my Dad was currently in charge. It didn't matter for Caelan since he was self-employed, but for Leon? It wasn't easy.

He sighed again, but this time he sounded less annoyed. "I was thinking about leaving, Ebony. There are more opportunities elsewhere, but we would never get to see each other. I don't want to leave if it means losing contact with you." Never had I been so moved by someone's words. I was honoured and touched that he stayed for me, but at the same time I didn't want him to stay because of me. There really were better opportunities in other places, and I didn't want him to ruin his future because I was here.

"Well..." I began, carefully thinking over my next words. "I have been thinking, too. About moving, I mean."

That earned me a surprised look. "You have? Why?"

"I'm not sure." Technically, that wasn't a lie. I could hardly tell him that some crazy theory had started this thought process. "But I was thinking that, maybe, we could move together? We don't have to stay living together once we're there! We can get our own places, you and I, but we would be in the same town or city." The more I was talking about this the more excited I was getting. Maybe I could even commission my wood cabin paradise?

It was getting late, and we were tired, so we went inside. Leon was staying over that night, and he promised to think about it and let me know in the morning how he felt.

I woke up to the smell of waffles that morning. Quickly, without even changing out of my pj's, I went downstairs, praying that Caelan hadn't touched the stove yet. I found Leon cooking away in the kitchen, and was glad to see that he knew what he was doing. It looked like he was, anyway.

"Good morning, beautiful!" He greeted me, and flashed me a smile.

"Good morning. You're cooking?" Leon nodded, not taking his eyes of the dough. Some waffles were cooking already, and it smelled amazing.

"I prepared you a little something, just to get your hunger going." I looked at the table where I spotted some toast with jam, and sat down. Even that tasted good. Damn, he was good a this! "What do you think?"

"It's delicious!"

"No, I mean about me making you breakfast. If we were to move together, and if I stayed living with you, I could do this more often, maybe. So what do you think? Can you stand my cooking?"

"I haven't tasted actual cooking yet, making toast isn't exactly difficult..." He gave me a playful frown and rolled his eyes. "But it's nice, thank you. I like it." It was nice waking up and finding Leon in his underwear in my kitchen. I could just get used to this!

"Then my answer is yes. Don't worry, I have other reasons, too" he laughed when he saw my face. "I would love to move some place else with you."

And just like that, I was convinced.
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I'm sorry about moving them guys, I hope you don't mind! It's just, I downloaded Brooklyn Hights last week and it's too beautiful not to move them :3 I'm unsure whether they should stay living together once they're there, though, or whether Leon and Tess should get their own space, so I'll put it to a vote :)


I'm sorry, and thank you :3

Wishes fulfilled

Read a book about logic
Become friends with someone
Pillow fight with Danielle
Improve Athletic Skill
Give gift to Caelan
Earn a raise
Invite Leon over
Kiss Leon
Invite Danielle over
Go Fishing

Generation Two - Chapter Eight

Life became a boring routine, consisting of nothing but eating, sleeping, and working out. Work was great but exhausting. If I hadn't needed food and sleep every now and again I wouldn't have done anything else but work and extra training. I saw Leon less and less, and slowly felt my friendships fade away.

I tried my best to stay in touch with Tess, at least. She was Leon's sister, after all, and I wanted to get along with her. Sadly, she never had much time for me on the phone. We usually talked for ten minutes every few days, but that was it. If it hadn't been for Caelan or my co workers, my social interactions would have equalled zero very quickly.

I was thrilled when I was finally able to make some time for Leon again. My body was one big bruise, judging from the aches I had every time I moved a muscle, so I decided to treat myself for a change, and not work out before work. Instead, I rang up Leon and asked if he would like to come over.

Not ten minutes later and he parked in front of our house. Mom had a proper parking space put in when the house was built, so that everything would be ready for when we got a car, but so far that hadn't happened. We were simply lacking the money for one.

It looked like Leon had been able to afford his first car, though. He looked pretty proud as he stepped out and walked towards me, huge grin on his face. To celebrate his purchase and me having some time for us, we went out to lunch. It was great spending some time with him, and I went to work with a sad smile on my face since I didn't want to leave.

I was changing into my sports clothes when my phone rang.

It was a text from Leon. Party tonight at my house, can you make it? :) I really wanted to, but I knew I'd be late.

What time? I texted back, hoping I'd have at least some chance of making it.

It starts at 7.30... When is it you get off work again?


9. I'll be there, but I'll be late. I sighed, knowing I'd be home late, which then meant that I'd be getting to bed late, which then meant that I'd be knackered in the morning. But it was worth it. If it meant that I could spend a few more hours with Leon it was worth it.

And just as I had thought, I didn't get to his place until half nine. Work had been harsh on me, but I had earned that promotion I had been busting my ass for. Leon had exaggerated a little when he had called it his place, since technically it was his parents' place, but he couldn't have meant any other house. I knew he hadn't moved out yet, but I had a feeling that he wanted to. Whether he wanted to move in with me or on his own, I didn't know. Maybe he wasn't going to stay in Riverview altogether? The thought did bad things to my stomach. I would hardly get to see him if he left...

I could see as I approached the door that the party was already in full swing. Some of his other guests were gathered around the TV watching football, and I thought that Leon had joined them.

It was great to see him for the second time in the same day. We weren't alone, of course, but it was still nice. I made a quick mental note to maybe throw another party over at our place, so he and I could have some moments to ourselves.

I got up much later than usually the next day. Normally, I got up around half six, half seven at the latest, but that morning I slept in until it was nearly ten. I hadn't even bothered with setting my alarm clock after I had gotten home, and had just gone straight to bed. Deep down, I knew I deserved a bit of a break.

That didn't stop me, however, from pushing myself harder than usually. I rushed my shower and my cereal, and set the treadmill two stops higher than I normally did.

As it turned out, being a toddler's sports coach was a lot more taxing than I had thought it would be. Not because three year olds could run really fast, or kick those balls like a pro, but because their parents were idiots if they really believed that ten of them would sit quietly together in a group, pay any attention whatsoever to sports theory, or kick the balls where I had told them to. It took me three hours, but eventually I had them divided into five groups of two, and was watching proudly and, yes, also a little smug, as they kicked their balls between each other.

If that didn't earn me another promotion, or a huge pay rise at the very least, I didn't know what would.

Slowly, money was coming in. Caelan had sold his first few books, and my promotion had helped a fair bit, too, so we decided on buying a burglar alarm. We had gotten lucky the last time, but I didn't want to risk getting lucky again.

It took a huge chunk away from our savings, so that we were pretty much broke again after the purchase. We could only hope that it would save us money in the long run.

Annoyingly, Caelan turned out to be an awesome brother. Only two days after Leon's party, he wanted to throw his own. I was over the moon, since it meant that I'd get to see Leon, but apparently my dear brother was even more excited.

He went all out for this one. At first I thought he just had to get it out of his system when he bought a rather big buffet table, but he didn't stop there. Now, Caelan wasn't exactly a pig around the house, but I was the one who usually did the tidying. It was the weirdest thing seeing him running around, tidying every surface he could get his hands on. He even cleaned his old nemesis, the toilet. And then he went and did the rest of the bathroom.

He was like a man obsessed, trying to have everything perfect for his party. I was tempted to say something, but he did clean everything, so I stopped myself. Even though the only thing missing from this perfect picture was him screeching OMG! They are here! as soon as the doorbell rang.

A few hours before his guests were supposed to arrive I used the slip and slide. It felt so good, behaving like a kid after all that work and effort for my career. I forgot about the time a little, and only just dried off in time when the first people arrived.

I felt myself getting more excited when I heard Leon's voice coming from downstairs. He was the one, I knew it in my heart, but I didn't feel comfortable rushing into anything

I was just washing my hands, when Leon came in.

"Hi there, beautiful." His handsome smile made me feel dizzy.

"How did you know I was in here? You could have walked in on my brother sitting on the toilet!"

"Ha, you think? Everyone else is in the living room, and I heard the water running in here without seeing you anywhere. I thought I'd take my chances" he grinned. Suddenly it was feeling really warm in the tiny bathroom.

"Well, then, I'm glad that you did" I smiled, hoping it looked pretty and not stupid.

I could hear Caelan chatting to Tess in the other room. The walls were too thick for me to understand what they were talking about exactly, but I didn't really care.

I was alone with Leon. In a small bathroom, sure, but we were alone.

"Oh? Good to hear I made you happy by coming in here. Maybe..." He paused, and blushed a little. Naturally, I was curious.

"Maybe?"

"Maybe I could make you happy in another way, too." His voice was low, but I heard him just fine. At first I thought he meant kissing me, but then I realised that kissing me wasn't at all what he had meant. The cute blush on his cheeks gave him away.

That's when I realised that we had never actually been alone. Of course we had been together in the same room many times, but this was different. The atmosphere was different. It was thick, and heavy, and- and-

"Excuse me, I think Caelan called me."

"I don't-" Leon started, but I had already left the room.

I had never felt so... felt so... I wasn't really sure how I felt. Not completely uncomfortable, but not comfortable, either. I escaped to the living room and picked up the first book my eyes found. The words didn't make sense and kept blurring into each other. When I re-read the same sentence for the eighth time, I gave up and simply pretended to be reading.

Caelan, Tess and Connor were talking about something, but I wasn't listening. My head was buzzing, and I decided to leave the room. There was still a lot of food left in the kitchen, maybe some turkey with cranberry sauce wasn't such a bad idea.

It was nice and quiet in the room, Ted was the only one in there with me. Why had I escaped from Leon like that? Was it really such a weird thought that he and I could have sex? We had been friends since childhood, had been together since Prom, and I'd had feelings for him since before Prom.

I loved it when he kissed me, and had even thought about sleeping with him during Prom. So why was the thought so weird to me now? For a brief moment, I wondered if it was the house. We had only moved here because Mom had cheated on Dad, and then Mom had passed away not long after. Someone had tried to break in the night of  our birthdays, and would have succeeded if Caelan hadn't beaten him up, instead.

Maybe I was worried that nothing good could come of this house? I blushed at the thought. I had had the highest IQ in my classes ever since primary school. Surely I was smarter than this?

And still... I loved the house, it was cosy and the location was fantastic. I wasn't superstitious in any way, never had been and I certainly wasn't now, but somehow it seemed easy to blame the house and its background.

After all, I loved Leon. He was amazing, and he made me happy. Perhaps I'd even marry him one day. But if he wanted to move... Maybe a new start was what we needed. What I needed. I could easily get a referral elsewhere if necessary, and Caelan could write anywhere that had a computer or a laptop.

I didn't want to make any hasty decisions, though. Deep down I knew that this was a stupid thought, but I wanted to think about this properly anyway. It didn't have to be right away, but it was still an option.

Completely lost in thought, I didn't hear Leon sneak up on me.

"Hi there again, beautiful." His arms wrapped around me before I could turn around to face him.

"You're all wet" I stated, surprised by how little I cared.

"I went outside to use your slip and slide. I'm sorry, shall I dry off?"

"No, I don't mind..." It only took one more second, and his lips were on mine, hard. I wanted him, no doubt about that! And yet something was holding me back.

Even if nothing would come of it, moving was worth a thought. After all, I was only going over pros and cons in my head.

No hasty decisions.

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Wishes fulfilled

Reach level 4 of athletic skill
Improve athletic skill 2x
Get pumped
Hangout with Leon
Buy something worth at least S250 (burglar alarm)

Generation Two - Chapter Seven

A lot of things happened in a short amount of time after our birthdays, before things returned back to normal again. First of all, I started looking for a job somewhat immediately. Luckily, there were a few openings as an athlete. I had to start pretty low down, but I suspected that Mum had done the same many years ago, and a low start was better than no start, so I gladly took it.

Then, not two hours after Caelan and I had gone to bed after the celebrations, I heard a noise from downstairs. My windows didn't face the front porch or the street, so I couldn't see what was going on, but I had a pretty good hunch. I called the police, and waited.

There were more noises coming from downstairs not long after I had made the emergency call. It sounded like two of them were fighting, but I couldn't be sure. Besides, why would they fight each other? For all they knew Caelan and I were sound asleep, and we didn't have the money to buy a burglar alarm, so technically, they had all night to rob us.

When I heard sirens, I made my way downstairs to meet with the officer and, hopefully, to kick the robbers where it hurt.

Unfortunately, the robbers had gotten away. The police officer had seen them run off, and had sent her partner after them so she could make sure that we were fine. According to her, the robber had been limping and holding his side as he ran off. Only one robber, you ask? I thought you said you heard two, you say?

My confusion was answered by my brother, who looked more than a little smug. He was obviously a lot braver than I was, because when he had heard sounds coming from downstairs he had gone to face the robber, and had (according to him and the officer's observations - bear in mind, it was very dark) apparently given him a good beating.

Nothing had been stolen, and the officer promised to keep in touch if they caught the robber. I went back to bed that night swearing to myself that I'd buy a burglar alarm once we were able to. They cost a lot of money, and it would take us a while to save up for it, but it was definitely top of my to-buy list.

Next it was time for our graduation ceremony. It felt weird, accepting our diplomas without Mom being there with us, but I felt proud nonetheless. Everyone was so happy and overwhelmed that day, it was hard not to be happy with them. It was infectious, and it had hit my brother just as hard.

He had somehow managed to get on the honour roll, and had been voted Most likely to write a best-selling novel. I had a feeling he was much more excited about the latter, but he was obviously happy, and I didn't want to ruin that for him.

I had made it on the honour roll, too. I had also been voted class valedictorian, and had spent hours on my speech! As a joke, at least I supposed so, I was voted Most likely to get arrested. I was a bit hurt, but was just going to see it as a last joke amongst class mates. After all, I had done nothing to make anyone think that I had criminal potential. Well... Apart from those times I had stolen from Connor and Tess, but no one knew about those. Not that I was aware of, anyway.

After all that, things finally started to settle down a little. I was very determined to earn at least a few promotions and pay raises as soon as I could, since we really needed the money. Caelan was writing on his book pretty much every day now, but it didn't pay much yet. He was an unknown writer, and as such wasn't paid much from his publisher. I knew he had talent, but it would take time.

To earn myself the favour of my boss, who happened to be my Dad, I worked out everyday. I didn't want to be at an advantage just because we were related, and was working hard to prove that I deserved a promotion anyway. I had never been so exhausted, but I knew that my efforts were starting to be recognised, and had a feeling that I was in line for my first promotion.

Caelan and I had been bonding a lot since Mom's death, and he was actually helping me. He had already been working out for years, and didn't mind training me. In fact, he seemed to love shouting orders and insults at me, and I actually didn't mind, either. It helped me, and I appreciated him doing it.

When I wasn't killing myself on the treadmill, I played chess. I had really gotten into it at school, and didn't want to let it slip now that we had graduated. It was fun, and a challenge both, and I found that it helped me relax, too.

I was getting really good at it, as well! Caelan never played with me (to be honest, I wasn't sure if he had the mind for it), and I hadn't played with Leon since childhood. Mom had sometimes played with me, but, well, that was over now. I was considering a ranked chess match - after all, I couldn't be sure that I was really good at it if I only ever played with myself, could I?

Whether I had Caelan training me or not, I was working out. I knew I was creeping closer towards a promotion, and maybe I could even get a pay rise if I practised hard enough.

Caelan was usually writing on his book while I was using the treadmill, and I knew I started to annoy him. This old thing had seen better days, and I realised that I would have to invest into a new one eventually, or else this one would fall apart on me.

To do us both a favour, I had picked up jogging. Mom had sometimes told us that she had gone jogging every now and then, and the weather was nice enough for it this time of year, so I thought I could head outside for my workout.

Honestly, I had no idea why I hadn't tried this sooner. I loved being outside, so it was a mystery to me how running outside hadn't occurred to me earlier. It was lovely, the breeze felt amazing against my hot, sweaty skin, and I could hear the birds sing every step of the way. I felt completely in my element, and vowed to myself that I would go jogging a lot more often in the future. Caelan would be grateful to be left alone, too, since he'd get more writing done that way.

Not long afterwards I arranged my first ever ranked chess match. I had gotten the number for the local chess club online, had phoned them up and asked them if they could send someone to play with me. After a few questions, such as how long I had been playing and if I had ever played a ranked match before, they told me that a woman called Constance Shelley would be around in a few days time.

True to their word, Constance arrived a few days later. She was old, possibly older than Mom had been when she had died, but she looked fierce. Playing with someone who actually took this game seriously was amazing. We were playing for nearly two hours, but I eventually won. Constance was a good loser, though, and even congratulated me. She told me how she thought that I should play against more opponents, and I thought she was right.

But before I arranged my second match, I phoned Tess. Caelan and I were getting along alright now, and I loved Leon more than ever, but I wanted a female friend, too. Tess was Leon's sister, so naturally I wanted to get along with her. I phoned her to find out whether she was home, and she said she'd only be ten minutes, so I could come over.

As it turned out, she wasn't. So much for Oh no, it's fine, I'll be home in ten minutes! I couldn't be too annoyed though, because Leon was home. In fact, he was the only one home, and I realised that we had never actually been alone before. Sure, we'd been alone in the same room many times, but being alone with him in the same house was completely different. I was a little nervous, but kind of in a good way.

"Ebony! What are you doing here?" he smiled what he thought was his alluring smile.

"I thought Tess would be here... We were supposed to hang out tonight and she said she'd be here by now."

"Tess? I doubt she's coming, she's on a date. She called me not five minutes ago to say she'll be home real late."

"Oh. So, erm... Can I stay, anyway?" My heart beat a marathon as I said those words, but I wasn't entirely sure why. So we were alone. He wasn't exactly a stranger to me, I had known him since we'd been kids.

"I was just about to make hot dogs, you want some?"

"Sure!" I followed him to the kitchen, where he had already started to prepare some sausages.

I had never actually tasted anything that he had cooked. Hell, I hadn't even known that he cooked! It was possible that he had always enjoyed it, and I had simply never known. I supposed we had never talked much about it.

Whether this was his first time cooking or not, I could see that he put a lot of effort into what he was doing. I myself had never cooked much, and couldn't tell the difference between basil and oregano without tasting them, name plates attached to the spices.

I could tell perfectly fine, however, when his hot dogs burned, horribly, and when his focused smile turned into a frown.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, Ebony! Shall we get some take away? I can get a pizza delivered if y-"

"Don't be silly, I'm sure they're not that bad." That's right, I ate them anyway. They really were burned badly, but it wasn't as bad as it had first looked. Or smelled. At least now I knew for sure whether this had been his first time cooking or not.

I needed a fair amount of orange juice with it, but I finished my hot dog, and made him smile with it.

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Wishes fulfilled

Join professional sports career
Play chess
Improve Athletic Skill
Improve Logic Skill
Reach Logic Level 4
Go Jogging
Work out until fatigued

Ebony and Caelan...

... are now up for download! :D

You can find Ebony here and Caelan is here. Also, I've made this forum thread about it if you want to take a look :)

The links are also available from the downloads tab :)

Mischief

Generation Two - Chapter Six

One week from now, and it would be my birthday.

One more week, and I would officially be a young adult. Graduation was just around the corner now, exams had finished and all clubs were throwing leavers ceremonies. Including mine. Caelan hadn't been part of any activities, but I had been part of two, and in this last week I had award ceremonies for both.

The most exciting moment of it all was when I was debating for presidency for the debate club. Of course, the presidencies never lasted long, since I wouldn't be returning to school in the autumn, but it wasn't about that. It was about being recognised as the best skilled member, the one who could give the most convincing arguments.

I had prepared a lot for this, and it all paid off. I won the debate, and was declared the 48th president of my school's debate club. This meant that my picture was taken, and hung up amongst all the other previous presidents.

Also, I was given this trophy. I didn't have much in my room besides my bed and night table, but now my trophy was one of my few possessions. It was shiny, and looked golden (even though it probably wasn't), and I was so proud of it.

To make good things better, the "advantages" of our new home were brought before my eyes everyday. Wild horses passed through what was technically our garden twice most days. Sometimes, I got really close to one and I had a feeling that they were getting used to us, too. It was amazing to be so close to nature all the time, and I loved it. Riverview was a pretty green town anyway, with trees and flowers everywhere, hills in the background, and wildlife everywhere, but I felt like we had secured the best possible spot for ourselves.

It was one of those days when I was outside and felt almost overcome by the beauty of it all, that I thought about rebuilding the house. Not yet, of course, we hardly had the money to buy a new table and chairs, but one day. Mom had always made good money as a professional athlete, and I was going to be bigger than her. I'd earn more money, and I'd be able to transform our house into a wood cabin paradise.

In all this beauty, old habits were still coming through as well. I had only stolen once since I had taken Connor's pony, and that had only been as a test for myself, kinda like a bravery rite or somethin'.

But then, one day at school, Connor had invited me over. I eventually had to use their bathroom, and saw this beauty! The intricate design of it had me captured, and I took it.

Just two weeks later, as I was over at Leon's, I used their bathroom, and saw this cute little medicine cupboard. It belonged to his sister, Tess, but, well... I really liked it, so I took that, too. I wasn't sure if it was bathroom stuff that I liked, or some other reason, but I had never taken anything that didn't belong in the bathroom. Apart from Connor's pony, but I had been a child then.

I did feel bad though. Not two days passed and I felt guilty for taking her medicine cupboard. I bought a big box at the post office, and sent it back without my name on it. I wanted her to have it back, but I didn't want her to know that it had been me who had taken it. Things were going so well with her brother, and I didn't want to ruin it.

Connor, however, seemed to be a little pissed of with me. If he even knew, that was. One day, he invited me over after school again, but when I arrived at his place he wasn't there. Danielle and their parents were laughing and joking in the living room, and asked me to come in, but when I realised that he wasn't there I left. I wasn't sure whether he knew that I had stolen from him twice by that point, but assumed that he probably did and used this as a chance to get back at me.

I was still trying to bond with Mom. We often played chess together on our new chess table, which had been an early graduation present. She was good at it, but I was better, and usually beat her easily.

Sometimes she seemed confused when we were playing, which then in turn worried me. I knew that she knew the rules, so that couldn't have been the reason. She had told us once how she had used to hear voices when she had been younger, but, according to her, that hadn't happened for many years.

But I was worried that maybe, her health was slowly decreasing after all. One evening I was using the slip and slide, when I noticed her shouting at the bin and knocking it over on purpose. It couldn't have been an accident, because she had declared how she was "gonna show 'em" just before kicking it with her foot, which had sent it flying.

I went inside as it was getting a little cold outside, and I had started to freeze. I didn't even realise that she had stayed outside all this time, while Caelan and I were doing our last set of homework. Suddenly, the air around us went cold, and I just had this really bad feeling. Like something was wrong.

Mom had passed away.

We found her ghost in the garden, near the slip and slide. The grim reaper was easing her over to the other side, while Caelan and I couldn't help the tears from falling.

After Mom's death, things were different around the house. The walls and everything inside them was still the same, of course, but it felt different. My Momma was gone, only days before our graduation. Before our birthdays. She was going to miss out on the biggest moments of our lives. I had always expected that she wouldn't live to see our weddings, or to meet her grandchildren, but our graduation was something so different. It was so soon.

The rooms seemed empty now. Especially the kitchen/dining room/living room, since they were technically one big room, and the long corridor upstairs. It didn't seem right to enter her room, so we didn't.

As our birthdays crept closer, we decided to still celebrate, but only with a small circle of friends. Some happiness, we thought, would be good for us, and the comfort of our friends was sure to be good, too.

Still, standing in front of our cakes, waiting to blow out those candles, seemed odd without Mom. She should have been there.

All three of our guests had made it. Leon was such a welcome sight, Danielle had brought Connor, and we had decided to invite Dad. It had been years since we had last seen him. After their divorce, we had simply gone separate ways, all of us. Seeing him again now of all days was weird, but at least we had one parent there.

As Danielle was clapping excitedly, and Leon was scaring the shit out of Ted with that stupid noisy thing, I felt myself getting more thrilled for the future. Mom was gone, and we couldn't change that, but we could erect a nice family graveyard for her, to remember her. Some form of memorial, if nothing else. I was about to start my career, and who knew what was waiting for me and Leon?

Whatever it was, I was ready for it.

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R.I.P Kate Blackwood :(

Wishes fulfilled

Talk to Leon 2x
Buy something worth at least S100
Return Stolen Cowaway Cabinet
Buy a chess table
Play chess
hug Leon amorously
kiss Leon