"Sing me anything"

Kate



I'm such an idiot. Right now, all I want to do is sleep, but instead here I sit at my desk resisting the urge to lay my head on it. Why? Because when I close my eyes, I remember the image of Alberta in Gabe's arms. I had a dream this morning that he had finally managed to charm her in that quiet way of his.





I know I can't make Alberta feel the same way I do, but I can at least keep her away from boys who probably will hurt her. She's too good for all that.

Gabe struts in with a glance at me. For once he doesn't scowl at me as he usually does when he sees me still sitting here. This time, he sits in the seat next to me. The seat Rich usually sits in.

Rich is behind him. He looks as confused as I probably do. "Hey man; you're in my seat." Gabe pats the seat next to him, the one that Gabe usually sits in. Richard shakes his head, shrugs his shoulders, and takes the seat.

My nose is still stuffy so there isn't enough oxygen getting to my brain to make it work properly. I seriously can't find a way to flat out ask him what the hell he thinks he's doing, and then I'm suddenly too tired to even try. Instead, he starts talking to me which, frankly, doesn't help the confusion.

"I need to talk to you about Alberta." Gabe glances towards the door. "Listen, something happened yesterday, but I don't know what."

I massage my temples trying to understand. "What? Then how do you know something happened?"


"She was about to cry yesterday. I caught her coming in from outside. Outside I found Glenda."

I look away as my brain fumbles over the details trying to put things together. So Gabe is sitting next to me to tell me this? It had to be serious if he was talking to me. And he thinks Glenda had something to do with it? I'm not surprised at that. Let me tell ya: "Glenda" is an ironic name for such an evil witch.

My brain finally snaps together into one coherent ball of seething anger. "Ooo, where is she? I'll clock her if she said something mean to 'Berta!"

Gabe's eyebrows come together angrily though his voice stays soft. "I already almost did that. Didn't help. She's a weasel."

The others start coming in from outside; their foot steps scuffle on the wood flooring in the lobby. Everyone enters in a large group, including Ms. Kerr who stands at the podium shuffling through her notes.

Gabe and I glare at Glenda when she walks past. I can see that she's pretending she doesn't see us, but I manage to catch a glimpse of a smirk on her face. I'm so ready to wipe that smirk off her face I hardly notice when Alberta enters.



She comes in last and takes a quick glance at me and then at Gabe before she heads to my old seat in the front of the room. My mouth drops, and I'm ready call to her to sit with me. But she doesn't turn around. She doesn't even look at me again for the rest of the class.

**************************

Is it any clearer just what Kate's problem is? *cough* XD

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OMG Cuteness!

Well, I was playing Bonnie Centowski's clothing shop (Ama's mom) and I had a surprise visitor!

Hobart came in alone looking at the quilt Melanie had been eying in this post.



It was set to a high price since it is a custom object, but Bonnie is quite observant. She also happened to notice Hobart hanging around Melanie (who happens to be Bonnie's niece) who had been looking at the same object.

Bonnie's too smart to ask him directly, but when she asked if it was for him, he only sniffed, "I'm too old for that stuff. It's a gift."

"Well, in that case..." and so she knocked it down to a cheaper price.

Hobart used all of his saved allowance to pay for it. He's a very responsible kid, and he'd been saving up for something good. I suppose this is worth it.



***********
Snarkysims noted in her latest entry that sometimes the AI seems to have some odd timing. Or maybe it's perfect timing.

Behind Hobart in line? That'd be Demi Love, Melanie's mother! I wonder what she would think if she knew that the boy in line in front of her was buying something for her young daughter? Yikes, I wonder what Water will think when his oldest baby girl brings home a gift from a boy!

And here I had been planning on sending Melanie's father to buy it for her! I was thinking it might be important later on, but SHEESH Hobart.

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"Or loud and out of key"

Glenda sat on the cool dry grass thinking to herself and smiling. Oh that poor, sweet, cute, innocent Alberta. As far as Glenda saw it, she was only teaching the girl a little lesson in the hardships of life. You couldn't trust everyone after all.



There was a slight movement from the front of the building which caught Glenda's attention.

Gabriel glanced around sharply with his hands balled into tight fists. Glenda sat still in amazement to see Gabriel looking so angry. Normally laid back Gabe, who had never been in a fight so far as Glenda knew, looked like he was ready for a fight now.



It was clear to Glenda that she probably did not want him to spot her waiting on the grass in the mood he appeared to be in. Glenda stood up slowly and slunk around to the back of the building.

Had Alberta told Gabriel anything? She couldn't have; Alberta had barely just run in before Gabriel appeared out front looking ready to beat someone. Most likely Gabriel had seen Alberta looking distraught and raced out here to the stupid girl's rescue.

Glenda intended to sneak to the other side of the building, the side she felt Gabe was least likely to walk down, so that she could peek around and see if he were still out front. She hoped that he'd come check behind the building starting from the side she had found Alberta sitting on so that she could sneak back inside.

Unfortunately, as she rounded the corner, she bumped right into Gabe who glared at her.


"What are you doing?"

Gabe stood before her with his hands in still balled up in fists. His shirt and jacket pressed against his skin as if it were suddenly a size too small. Glenda refused to let this new side of Gabriel frighten her.

"What about you?" Glenda crossed her arms tightly. "What're you doing skulking around back here?"

Gabe took a step closer to her like he was going to throttle her. Glenda stepped back to put some distance between them. "I'm not in the mood. Did you do something to Alberta?"

Glenda simply refused to allow herself to be afraid of any punk teenager. Especially Gabriel who didn't even know if his parents were Service NPCs. "I did not. Why would you assume I did something?"



Gabe was now looking like he would grab her by the lapel of her jacket and drag her inside to face Alberta. If it came to Alberta's word against Glenda's, it was no contest who would be believed.

A voice floated over Gabe's shoulder to Glenda's ears. Richard, Gabe's brother, strode out to stand next to Gabe. "Hey, man. C'mon before Ms. Kerr sees you out here. You know she lets a lot of stuff slide, but she won't let it go if you hit a girl. Even if it's Glenda."

Gabe glared at Glenda, but his fists unclenched. He walked along behind his brother and back into the building.

Glenda sat down in the damp grass behind the building. She had been saved by Richard-- a thought that poisoned her little game. It would have been better to have been hit by Gabe so she could have shown her bruise to Alberta. Then the girl would really know what kind of sim Gabriel Mellon was.

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"Sing me something soft"

Glenda found Alberta hiding out along the side of the school building where she sat on the ground watching the sky. No one else would have thought to look for her here except for Glenda who was beginning to get a feel for the timid girl even though she hardly spent any time at all with her. But then it was impossible to get near the girl when Katherine was at school. The two girls were attached at the hip.



Katherine had not come to school today which left Alberta open for Gabe's attempts at flirtation. Even thinking about it now forced a mostly involuntary eye roll from Glenda.

Now, Gabriel was stuck inside, working on a project he had been given by Ms. Kerr which left the girl completely on her own. Not that she seemed to mind. Rather than mingle with the other students, she sat alone on the cold ground.

Glenda sat next to her and smiled at the look of surprise on her face. "Hello. Found a quiet spot, I see." Alberta only nodded stupidly. Glenda sighed inwardly and continued on. "Listen, I wanted to ask you about Katherine and Gabriel."

"What do you mean?"



"Well, I'd heard that they'd started dating, and I just wondered if that was a good idea. I mean, you know Gabe's adopted, right? He could be her brother and not know it. I was just a little concerned and figured I should mention it to you since you're Katherine's friend and all."

Alberta looked as if she had swallowed a lump of salt. "They're dating?" Glenda could almost taste the betrayal from her spot on the ground next to Alberta.

"Yeah, didn't she tell you?" Glenda feigned surprise as if an idea had just struck her.



Alberta stood up without saying a word to excuse herself and ran off, most likely to hide in the girl's bathroom.

Glenda sat smiling smugly to herself. Finally, something exciting at this school!


******

Of course! It made so much sense. Alberta once again felt out of place.

She walked hurriedly to the girl's bathroom with her eyes down to the ground as she fought back tears. Vaguely, she was aware of someone in front of her only a mere second before she bumped right into Gabriel Mellon-- the very last sim she wanted to see.



"Sorry," he said as he smiled down at her; one large hand engulfed her elbow as he held her steady. At the look in her eyes, his smile disappeared. "Hey, Alberta, are you okay?"

His voice almost broke her. It was hard with worry, but at the same time seemed so gentle and genuine she wished she could say something without the fear of breaking into sobs. She took her elbow from his hand and ran past him into the girls' bathroom.



She grabbed handfuls of toilet paper and stuffed them into her face to silence the sobs wrecking her body. Oh she was such an idiot! Did he know? Could he guess how she felt?

It hurt even worse when Alberta thought back on all the times Kate had teased Alberta about Gabe and his supposed attention to her. Now she felt even more like a fool. Her grandmother had tried to warn her. "They think we’re no better than service NPCs," she had said one day as she warned Alberta that they'd only play with her before they made proper friends or found proper girlfriends.

All those times she had glanced over at him to find him already looking her way, he had probably been glancing at Kate who had stood beside her all those times. What an idiot she had been to think that she could ever be on the same level as any of them.


********

Glenda's revenge for that noogie. I said Alberta would pay. Glenda does not mess around.

Oh, and I forgot about this until I was playing to get pics for some scenes, but if Glenda looks familiar, it's because she's Sofia's half sister. (And she's actually meaner than Sofia with only one nice point!)

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"When the sun came up"

"Amberle, it's good to see you. I hope Ama hasn't been causing more trouble."



Amberle sat down in the chair before Orlando Centowski's desk. The poor man looked a bit more frazzled than usual. Even the fact that Amália Centowski was his daughter was not enough to explain the tired look in his eyes.

"No-- er, well no more than usual." Amberle looked off to the side as she though on how to frame her next statement. "I'm actually here because we were thinking of having a spring dance for the high school students. But, uh, Ama was asking me some odd questions a few weeks ago, and well, I thought I should ask you."



Orlando sighed as he lifted his eyebrows and tilted his head in what could have been disbelief.

"She mentioned something about a murder that occurred a while back. And she was asking me about, uhm, vampires."

Orlando didn't say a word at first. He sat with a hand on his desk and his eyes on his hand as if he were waiting for it to do something without his knowledge. "That girl. I should have known better." He sighed again. "There's been two more murders since the last time. Two in one night and killed the same way."



Amberle gasped. "So it's true?" The elves had stories about vampires. Folk tales claimed that the vampires now dwelled underground, resting and waiting for their return.

She had eventually reached the conclusion as an adult elf that the stories were simply to frighten young children so that they wouldn't play too rambunctiously for fear the vampires would get them. But if it was true, if there was a vampire and Leander found out, it wouldn't bode well for the town. She hadn't seen him since their last chat, but she continued to keep an eye out for him. As if he could be seen if he didn't want to be seen.



"We've been trying to keep it quiet. We're on it, but this is definitely beyond the books."

Amberle was feeling quite tired herself, so she could only imagine how Orlando was feeling. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just report anything suspicious. That's all. We'll figure something out." Orlando tried his best to smile. "Hey, don't worry. We'll help you with the dance too, as best we can. We're enforcing a curfew though, so you'll have to be sure to let the kids know that they have to head straight home after the dance."

Amberle nodded, trying her best not to show how shaken she really was. "Thank you, Orlando. I know Sam's really looking forward to it."




*********

Welcome to Spring. :D

This spring turned into one large story. But at least the two story lines I've been playing with are resolved in their own ways.

As I post this, I have pretty much played through the conclusion of spring. Everything is written, pictures have been gotten for all but one entry. I'm most likely set for the next four weeks (excluding this week).

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The Society of Tierra de Legado

Cherry Smith

This system sort of developed as I was playing, and I have Cherry Smith to thank for all this.



Ever think about the plight of your non-playables? They only exist around your playable sims (which in my case are all part of one huge family.) Unless someone brings them into their home, they will live forever and have few memories of what they did.

Lucy Mellon (Nee Hanby)

And there are sims like Lucy Hanby who was the lover of the Founder's husband after the Founder passed away. Later on she married his grandson. THAT would have to cause a scandal.


So here's how it works. Sims related to the founder are the most respectable with The Legacy Family being royalty. Then it goes: other playables, high end AL townies, all other townies, and lastly Service NPCs (NPC = Non-persona class).

Green and Amanda Mellon (Legacy Heirs)

There are always exceptions to the rule. I basically have this system set up so I know what their prejudices are. There are no "you may not;" there are simply consequences. (Like Water Mellon-- his wife used to be a police woman, so she was definitely a Service NPC. And he's still successful despite that. But notice he's not heir, he doesn't live on The Hill, and Ann didn't want his baby girls.)

Water Mellon and Melanie Love

The thing between the Mellons and the Strattons dates back to the Founder's two sons. The Founder couldn't decide who would be heir. The older brother, to help along the decision, married Christy Stratton and took her name so that he was automatically disqualified as heir. (In actuality, this was before I knew that you have to have the sim whose name you want selected when you click on the arch.)

That generation sealed the split. While the brothers were always best friends, everyone else fought without fighting which I think is worse than outright fighting.

Tristin Stratton

The Strattons are generally considered sleazy and lazy. Sofia Stratton is the epitome of what pops into my head when I think of Strattons. But it's rather ironic because some of the Strattons are hard and honest workers (like Kate's parents), and yet this stereotype remains.

Meanwhile Mellons are thought to be honest and hard working. Of course, this is also something of a stereotype.

Richard Mellon, Jr., The Mayor

Whew... Sorry. I hope that all makes sense. This will be more important next season when dealing with Alberta and her perception of herself. It's also why Gabe (and other sims) might be a little concerned as to who his parents are, and why Tristin has a church for the Wayward NPCs. Plus, I imagine that there will be a short side story that deals with a former service NPC which is going on now in my game but won't be touched on until later.

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Melanie's First date

It's tradition that I send kids out with their parents to buy new clothes when they age up. So when Melanie Love aged up, her father, Water Mellon, took her out and they ran into Hobart, the best friend of Mel's cousin, Ama.





Well Hobart must be tired of Ama's shifty ways and rather taken with sweet little Mel. Mel and her father went out for burgers after shopping and Hobart showed up at that lot too. They went skating under Water's watchful eye.



Then I was playing someone else the other day and Mel showed up at Bonnie's clothing shop thinking about buying a quilt oddly enough. And who shows up and stands right beside her?




I love when coincidences like this happen, but Hobart's just asking for trouble. Mel is totally her father's little girl.



That incident Kate mentioned off hand in BFF about Gabe & Rich and the SSX competition, that actually did happen. I just forgot to post the picture.

All I did was tell Rich and Gabe to have a gaming contest. (They both wanted to win one and, for the record, I'm pretty sure Gabe won this one.)



I think it's very clear what Gabe's excuse will be.

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Deal

"Make me a vampire."

Sofia sat on the edge of the bed watching him as he put his costume back on. He had first appeared standing before her looking regal in his costume, but now that the veil of whatever spell he had put on her seemed to have faded away it was difficult to watch him putting on his crumpled costume without laughing.

It seemed he forgot himself for a moment as his teeth, which he worked so hard to hide, glinted in the moonlight. "And what would I get in return?"

"I would give you half of everything. Joseph is just in the way now. He should be replaced."

"And how do I know you won't turn on me?" He said.



She smiled at him. "Because I actually like you." And she found that she did. Of course, she would never trust that he felt the same. Love was for saps and fools. Sofia was neither.

He lifted a hand to her. “Come.”

She placed her hand in his though she hated giving him not only that bit of power over her but also the advantage. Within the one second it took to draw her to him, she promised herself she would never make that mistake again. His teeth were in her neck before she could even say the word, and as the stinging pain of pressure from his bite spread along her shoulder, her mind raced to curse him for his violation. Did he simply mean to show her that he had some power over her?



Within a few minutes, the pressure was all over her entire body. Her fingers twisted horribly as the pressure became a burning sensation. Her mind could not focus on anything other than the sensation which twisted her body.

The burning sensation drew back from her finger tips, back from her shoulders and to her throat. Her body should have been exhausted, but instead it was energized with the pang of hunger.



He stood before her as if he meant to grab her hands. “Remember, you are not stronger, though you are possibly more vicious,” he said with a wink. “Come. It’s time for your first hunt.”



******************************

Ok, so I wanted to make another entry about these two, and I can't. I wanted it to be the entry where he explains her new body. Maybe it'll come up later.

Some basics about my sim vampires: They are not necessarily stronger than the average sim, but they can be more vicious which might make them appear stronger. They cannot do magic (and are probably immune to it), but they have an interesting understanding of the deeper human psyche and can manipulate it. (He pretty much did that to her the first time they met.) I assume that all sims have this "power", but it's deeply hidden. The change to a vampire simply brings up the baser instincts that lie hidden and haven't been used by civilized sims for thousands of sim years or more. (Predator is the word that flashes through my head when I think of vampires-- or Sofia.)

But they are dead, so I imagine that they have incredible stamina and feel no physical pain.


Also, this marks the end of winter, which means another new header or, uhm, three. I just couldn't decide, and last time I got bored always seeing the same banner. So I have it set to randomize now. :)

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Past Headers

Because this is just fun to keep track of.


The Original:

Sat behind the header text.





Winter 2





Spring 2

The winners:

Gate, Kate, & Alberta

Alberta sees her Shadow

Amberle

Runner up:


I chose not to go with this one because I think it would be misleading. She's not going to be all that happy this Spring, but she's so darn cute.

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Wait

The same afternoon as the previous entry:


"I must say that I'm surprised to see you here Sofia."



Sofia sat on the bench next to Cherry Smith. It was close to five in the evening; the sun would be setting soon. There was a tingle in her belly that reminded her of when she was a little girl waiting on the front porch for the newspaper to be delivered just so she could talk with the teen delivering it.

"I decided that I needed some time away. To think."

Cherry stood. "Well you're welcome to stay as long as you like. It's only $200 a day I ask. Meals will be cooked by me, and I can clean your room when you're out if you'd like. Let me show you the room."

There was a seething undercurrent to Cherry's chipper attitude that Sofia had been able to feel all the way in her own home just up the street a few miles. Sofia didn't know much about Cherry but that she had been a townie who had taken advantage of a situation (much like Sofia had often done herself). In the end, Cherry was the step mother of the city Mayor and yet she lived here on the edge of town running a "bed and breakfast" out of her home.



Cherry smiled at Sofia as she waved proudly to the rest of the room. It was decorated simply, much like a hotel room but with a homey feel to it. Sofia could easily spend the rest of the day relaxing and waiting.

"Well, thank you. I would appreciate privacy if you wouldn't mind."

Cherry nodded, though Sofia was sure that the woman was inwardly fuming at Sofia's power over her. "Well, we'll both be upstairs. See me if you need anything. There are some left overs from dinner in the fridge if you get hungry."

************

Sofia spent the rest of the evening in her room. Upstairs she could hear the tromping of Cherry's little brat, Jason, as he ran back and forth. Surprisingly, at eight the noise stopped.

"I'll arrive once all the lights are out and everyone is asleep," his note had said.

Was eight their bedtime? It would make sense for someone like Cherry to let her child do whatever it pleases and then force it to sleep at a certain hour.



Sofia smoothed her silky red night gown then sat on the edge of the freshly made bed. She would wait. She did not want to turn out her light too early, just in case he was out there watching now. So she would wait and make him wait as well. If he were feeling as anxious as she, then he could continue to feel so until she turned off her own light to signal him in.

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Church for Wayward NPCs

"Psst! Marylena!"

Marylena turned. "Joseph?" She had met him at the Sunday service. At the time he had appeared very quiet and rather anxious. Tristin had asked her to speak to him, as Tristin's relationship with him was rather awkward, but clever Tristin didn't want to lose any possible parishioners. Even if Joseph happened to be the partner to Tristin's troubled older sister, Sofia Stratton.



"Why are you in a bush?"



Joseph waved his hands like it was not a big deal and not worth explaining. "Hey, listen, can you help me out? I need to hide away for a few days is all."

Marylena was a rather innocent sim, but even she knew that Joseph and Sofia were trouble. Tristin had warned her if they showed up, he should be notified as soon as possible. Now Joseph hid in a bush asking to "hide out" for a few days.

"Well, sure. We can help you out. I'll go get Tristin."



"Hey hey... no need for all that! I don't really wanna join your cult or nothin'. I just need a place."

Luckily, Tristin came out of the building right then, so Marylena wouldn't be forced to argue or lie.

"Joseph, why are you in a bush?"



Marylena rolled her shoulders in an exasperated sigh. "I already tried asking him that," she mumbled.

Joseph looked around as he quietly said, "Listen, man, I just need to talk with you privately for a bit, if we could."

Marylena followed them into the church and closed the large double doors behind them. She took everyone's coats and lay them on a near by pew before standing between Joseph and Tristin in case she was needed.



Tristin waited for Joseph to speak while watching him with those piercing eyes of his.

"Well, you see, it's like this," Joseph said, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Sofia's been actin' kinda weird lately. I don't know how to explain weird when we're talking about Sofia. But she left this morning, like, in the morning. And well, I think something's up. Now, I'm not trying to say that Sofia's some homicidal maniac or nothin', but uh, I wouldn't really trust her if you know what I mean."

Tristin seemed to ponder for a moment before he spoke again. Marylena knew he had his own suspicions about Sofia. "If you stay here, you'll have to live as we do. We need help with planting the crops this spring. Jan is expecting."



Marylena could almost see Joseph cursing mentally. Tristin could probably sense it as well. But Joseph held himself well. "Sure, sure. I'll do anything. I just need a place for a few days is all."

"There are also a few rules we'll have to go over with you."

"Sure, man. Anything. Whatever. Just don't tell Sofia I'm here."

***************

The cult/ church is actually rather a fun lot to play, and I can't wait to see how much more fun I might have with Joseph there.

The rules for living on the lot:

1. No electronics such as TV or phone. (Tristin has a cell phone, but he's the only one since he's the one who looks for new members.)

2. No buying groceries. They grow their own food.

3. No modern clothing. Tristin wants to harken back to a simpler time when life was much more fulfilling than it is now.

4. No use of birth control devices. Tristin wants lots of little sims! (In ACR- I have high autonomy and high chance of getting pregnant, plus sims can try for baby out of wedlock. I’ve also turned off lot jealousy.)


On the side of the building there is a church which is run as a home business with an electrono ticket machine. I have Tristin stand at the front and give sermons and sims will usually sit down to watch. Then afterwards, I have him chat up the sims there.

This story was mostly inspired by Joseph showing up at the church the last time I played. He's not really a church man, so I figured he must have simply been worried that Sofia was up to something.

And boy, should he be! Next week, we find out where Sofia is!

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