Sanya Lime tells:

Our ”new” shack seemed ominous in so many ways, that I undoubtedly needed to check, that the stove was not left on! Maybe the former residents had simply… died, all of a sudden, an God knows if they were in the middle of cooking, when that happened!!!

Unlike me, Dave was highly excited of the foul pond on the backyard, and wanted to learn to fish as soon as possible!

Diamanda, for one, was SICKLY excited of some zombie-novel! She was just standing and reading, completely ignorant of the world around her!

I would have wanted to play on the laptop, that was placed on the kitchen table, but Diamanda stood on my way. I must say, that she was abnormally absorbed into the novel, because I shouted to her several times, that she should step aside, even a little… but there was no way to catch her attention! (except maybe punching her, but punching Diamanda wouldn’t be a very good idea… )

So finally I left the whole rathole behind me, and decided to go and meet our new neighbours.

Yes, it’s definitely not typical of me to be that sociable, but first of all I NEEDED to get out of that cramped horror house, and secondly… I was very bored!

The house that was closest to our place didn't look very homely either...

I immediatly had a perception, that there was something suspicious about all those doors, the small but numerous windows, that were placed mainly in the corners, and that thick stone wall around the house… not to mention all the trees and bushes overshadowing it! It felt like if there was a horrible secret in the heart of the building…

But I was in a determined mood, and approached the house curiously, ignoring the cold chills.

I Expected, that he'd obviously greet me, ask me who I am and so on... but he just walked right past me, in a state of absolute ignorance!

It was strange, and I started to feel more and more insecure... but I still shouted after him, in the hope that he had sincerely missed me.

-Hello! My name is Sandra (that's my fake name in my falsified ID) and I'm your new neighbour, I tried to be as polite as possible, -Could I possibly come and visit your family?

I still remember the exact words that he said as a reply, because they were cold as ice:

-I have to go now. I think it’s time you left also.

Well, reverse psychology seems to really work, because a flash ago I was doubting, if I’d even like to visit that house… but now, when the boy had rejected me so rudely, I ABSOLUTELY wanted to go inside their house! Now I was sure, that they’re hiding something, and I was as curious as one can be to find out, what.

-Are you sure, that I couldn’t come in even for a short moment, to have a cup of tea or something? I insisted.

Now the boy didn't look that hostile anymore, but there was something false about his wide smile, when he replied calmly:

-Hmmm… let’s consider that some other time.

At the very moment a car stopped by, and out of it stepped a woman, obviously returning from work.

She seemed to be on her way to that mysterious house… so was she maybe the mother of the boy I was talking with?

The woman stagnated, staring at me very broodingly. I needed to find something amicable to say...

-Eh… well… you’re anyway welcome to our place for dinner, any time you like, I stammered, -I’m great at preparing… salad.

-Salad? At... your place? the boy repeated in a tone of disbelief. Even a teenager guy had discretely appeared in the background!

Both the woman and the teen boy glared at me, like if they wanted to murder me with their looks!

-Actually, I don’t care about salad that much! the small boy replied quickly, when he noticed the staring duo, and he even seemed somehow frightened!

-Besides, I need to go right now! he added in a hurry, -I have the... book-club!

More people kept appearing. To me it felt like if they just popped up out of nowhere, but maybe they had been hiding in the bushes, or something...

The woman had paid a quick visit indoors, but now she seemed to be going again – the teen guy for one was only now heading inside, and the child, who had sounded so hasty with his book-club, was still just standing around!

I considered asking someone else, if I could come inside. The teen had stared at me rudely, but on the other hand, that adult man looked even more threatening, and the teen had promisingly turned around, and was now walking back to my direction (I thought that he was on his way indoors? What a restless family! Is walking in and out their favourite hobby, maybe?).

But it turned out, that the guy was approaching me anything but with a friendly purpose…

-Don't you get it?! he yelled at me furiously, -You're as welcome here as a pile of garbage!

-Just piss off and leave us alone! he continued.

-HEY! I yelped deeply offended. I was so shocked, that I was about to say something sissy-like, for instance: “What did I supposedly do wrong?”. But then I drew myself up, and instead I snarled :

-Consider who you are talking with! My room-mates could squish your crappy family like flies!

All upset I started to run away. If I had stayed there one eyeblink longer, I probably couldn't have helped myself from attacking him right away, alone... which probably wouldn't have ended well.

When I ran past our own cottage, I came to think about, that I might have gone a little too far in my talks! That family seemed crazy enough to consider my last comment as a declaration of war between our households…

Hopefully this stupid quarrel wouldn’t end up in a ferocious massacre?!!! OMG!!!!!!!!

… oh … I think I’m freaking out way too much, as usual…

I started to get tired of running, when I realized, that there was one more run-down (and suspicious... ) cottage in the area!

Well, my original idea had been to see some neighbours (the latest encounter simply couldn't be counted!), so why not do it now! The cottage DID look a little spooky, but still it had a lot better aura than the last place (!!!), so I rang the doorbell.

An elderly man came to answer the door. He seemed harmless and even kind of friendly, but there was something strangely absent about his appearance. He even gazed to a completely different direction from me, until he was just a step away from my face.

He greeted me politely and told me his name - Josiah Greene. It sounded somehow familiar... I probably had heard someone mention it at school... but I couldn't remember what they had talked about him. At the same time some boy appeared on the yard.

Despite of his warm greeting he almost seemed to forget me after that. He left the door open when he walked inside, but he didn't invite me in or anything. I followed him anyway to a livingroom, that was utterly run-down, but decorated with nice paintings - maybe painted by himself?

Soon it turned out, that I was right about him forgetting about me! He was standing right in front of me, but behaved like if I was just air, and started to make a call to someone!

From the corner of my eye I saw a little, green-haired boy heading outdoors.

Apparently that other boy had come to meet him...

When Josiah just kept on talking in phone, and the boys socialized with each other, I got so frustrated, that I took forth my school papers!

Apparently just EVERYTHING about our new place was terrible - not just the house itself, but the neighbours too! A bunch of raving mad hostiles and some senile grandpa - blah!

When I was done with my school assignments, I returned to my icky home, only to notice, that those creepy garden trolls (or gnomes, whatever! I hate them anyway!) had changed their positions!!!

And apparently the gnomes where the ONLY ones, that had changed their position - Diamanda was still reading that darn novel in the exactly same spot, Dave was still trying to catch sharks and Dennis was just standing around like a dunce.

I took the chance to inform him, that I had maybe accidentally declared a war with our freaky neighbours… Hopefully Dennis and the rest wouldn’t take it too hard!

A lot has happened since we moved here in Emerald Harbour… At first everything seemed to go well – almost too well to be true – except that I didn’t like it when the paper girl kept coming all the way to our backyard!

.

Even if Diamanda, Dennis and dave were my best and only friends, as a loner I often prefered solitude…

.

The Sastiras were very motivated to proceed on their criminal careers, and took much effort on improving their skills. Dennis and Dave concentrated mostly on physical exercise…

…while Diamanda trained her brain with the computer. Except one day, when the PC all of a suddenly totally broke! A lot of ominous smoke came out of the device, and I tried to convince Diamanda, that we need to call a pro computer tech… but she insisted, that as a computer whiz she can easily fix it herself.

I was quite nervous when she started to work on it! What if she would get a lethal electric shock?! Oh my gosh!!! When the computer made a smallest sinister sound, I was almost jumping on the walls of fear. (yeah, a lot of things make me nervous… I guess I’m neurotic, then).

Luckily everything went fine, and I had freaked out ALL IN VAIN (hrmph... actually that detail makes me kind of grumpy... but anyway I'm absolutely joyful that nothing happened to her!)

Because the criminal organization doesn’t hire teens, I sometimes feel quite left out and bored. Even SO bored, that at times I voluntarily do my homework!

.

Despite of me being a loner, as the time passed even I got some friends from school and the neighbourhood. One of my favourite friends is Mick McGruber, even if he’s quite mean at times… Well, I guess I’m so used to hang out with meanish people, that it doesn’t bother me.

Finally Mick’s mum came to open the door, looking slightly grumpy and hostile… I ignored her mistrustful glare and headed straight to the cellar, where they actually live. I gladly greeted Mick, and soon we started to dance together.

.

Then we watched TV, even if the show was pretty boring… Mick’s little sister Anisia played on the background with a red rocket, and because we weren’t focused on the TV anyway, we started to chat about children and toys.

-Anisia has played with that same rocket for weeks! Mick exclaimed, -She would seriously need a new toy - a stuffed bear, for instance.

-Well, at least she can amuse herself by mopping the floors, I joked, 'cause Anisia had just started to clean up a puddle...

-Personally, I think that cleaning is awful! I added.

-Yeah, it definitely is! Mike approved, gazing into my eyes, -That’s why Anisia can do it for me too!

.

After that we simply froze, looking each other deep into the eyes… Even if the topic, that we had been discussing, was most unromantic, and even the room was tumbledown, I suddenly forgat about everything around me, except Mick… and I was filled with a flood of attraction.

Then it just… happened. Without us saying a word.

.

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After our fist kiss I felt terribly shy and embarrased, so I desperately needed to say something, that was NOT related to romances and kisses… So I quickly asked, if Mick would like to come over to our place, and he gladly agreed.

When we arrived there, it was quite late already, and I was afraid, that Mick would leave almost immediatly. So I invited him to stay over the whole night, and he agreed to that too.

.

At that point Mick seemed already very dirty, and I presumed, that their bathroom was out of order - AGAIN (or maybe still? Maybe they had never fixed it?). So I thought, that inviting him over the night wasn’t only a gesture of friendship, but for him it was also a practical favour?

I guess I was right, 'cause Mick headed right away to the shower!

 After that he mentioned, that he was quite exhausted, and went to take a nap on the bench outside our house. On my behalf he could have used the comfy sofa in the livingroom, or even some of the beds, but maybe he was shy of my room-mates, or simply needed a moment of solitude (which I would understand very well).

If it was solitude he was looking for, he couldn’t enjoy it for a long while…

...but on the other hand he was asleep, so maybe Diamanda's "coffee break" didn't disturb him.

Meanwhile I and Dennis were watching TV, but I concentrated more on his fascinating stories about their heists, than the TV. It made me feel a bit jealous to hear all the adventures the Sastiras had experienced, while I had only slacked off at school or at home.

When Mick woke up from his nap, he joined us on the couch, and even the TV show was finally getting interesting…

Too bad for Dennis, that he needed to go and eat just when the show was reaching it's most exciting point.

Whoah, and it really WAS exciting!

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When the movie ended, even I started to feel quite tired. But I couldn’t resist flirting with Mick a little more! I could as well have asked him to go steady with me – that’s how deep our crush already was – but I’m not of the most “commitment-yearning” type, and I think that Mick neither is.

That was one of the great days of my life… but then something not-so-great happened! A failed robbery gave us a really hard time…

The Sastiras were given an opportunity to pay huge sums of penalty instead of spending a long time in jail, and they chose to pay (just like I would have done). In the lack of money we even had to give up our beautiful house on the beach!

Our new home is a spooky, run-down cottage on the opposite edge of the town. I hated it at the first sight!

First of all, the yard is full of dreadfully creepy garden gnomes, in different, weird positions! Their names are written on their soles, and even they are sinister! One of them is called “Mean Marwin”, just for instance…

Diamanda was deeply annoyed by the gnomes too.

Secondly, the yard is swarming with all kinds of disgusting bugs…

...and on the backyard there is a little pond, that bustles of somehow mischievous-looking fishes!

Seriously, those huge black ones, that are jumping in the air all the time, give me cold chills…

...not to mention those... little SHARKS?! At least they look like sharks... I bet that one day they'll grow up and gobble us in their mouths, if we go too close to the pond! Brrrrr... the nature is just so creepy!!!

To crown it all, we only have an OUTDOOR bathrooms!

And it just keeps getting better... someone has obviously died on the lot! So we must prepare ourselves for howling ghosts that disturb our sleep, and everything!

When I stepped inside, I realized, that I hadn't even seen half of the horrors of this cursed cottage yet! There was something truly sinister about the fridge!

At the first sight I thought, that it was broken and surrounded by dangerous, little lightnings… but it turned out that it works just normally. Still it has this weird radiation around it, and somehow I think that it affects my mood – negatively. It’s like if every time when I’m nearby the fridge, I feel sad and tired… it must be some kind of a ghastly curse!

After all this it wasn't too encouraging to find two urns in the bedroom! In addition to it, that one of the beds have a similar, mysterious radiation around it as the fridge...

PS: Sorry everyone for the horrible graphics! I’ve had computer problems, and I had turned the graphics down to make sure, that the game doesn’t crash anymore (recently it crashed so badly, that I had to re-install it). Well, on the screen (when I was playing the game) the graphics looked just fine, and even in the screenshots, when I open them on my computer, it looks OK, but for some reason, when I uploaded them here, they looked all grainy and very bad

The new baby is here!  Sed and I decided to name her Susan after Sed’s Mom.  She is just adorable! 

After taking care of a set of twins and then a set of triplets, only having to take care of one baby seems to be a piece of cake by comparison.  I can remember so many days of dragging myself out of bed to feed and diaper the others and then going right back to bed.  I’d barely get to sleep before I’d hear crying again and have to get up and start all over again! 

With Susan, I feel much more rested.  I have time while she’s napping and the other kids are in school to do things for myself.  I finally have the time to paint again!  I finished the picture that I had been working on the night I went into labor with the twins.  It was ages ago that I worked on it last!

I really love how well Sed takes care of things around the house.  Even working two jobs, he still finds the time to fix whatever gets broken.  While I’ve considered taking a job to bring some more money into the house, Sed and I agreed long ago that it would be best for me to be a stay at home mom. 

Sed, though he often wishes he could spend more time with the kids, is such a great Dad.  He loves all of the kids, and he adores Susan, just as he adored all of our babies.  I love to walk in and see him snuggling her or playing with her.  They’re just so cute together.

I was with the girls in the park one evening when we happened to see a boy get stopped by the police for being out after curfew without a parent.  I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked a lot like the description Paula Deen had given me of the McGruber boy. 

The girls were clearly upset that the boy was being put in the back of the police car, and one of them asked me if all changelings were like that.  I responded no…just the McGrubers, and then for some reason I panicked and told them that wasn’t what I meant.

I don’t know why I reacted like that.  Most of the time, I’m pretty easy going.  Sometimes though, the simplest things can make me just freak out.

Things breaking, for instance.  You’d think a busted toilet was the end of the world.  Even if I fix it myself afterwards, the fact that it breaks just drives me nuts.

A couple weeks after that night in the park, TJ got in trouble for breaking curfew too.  Thank goodness the girls were in bed! 

I totally lost it.  Not only did I freak out about TJ out after curfew, it reminded me of the whole changeling/bad person idea the girls had put into my head that day.  I started to freak out about the possibility of TJ going down the wrong path.  While he apologized and hasn’t done it again yet, every once in a while, I worry about him.

It appears perhaps my fears were justified.  I came home from the store one day to find TJ having lunch with Mick McGruber!

I put my things away, went upstairs, and quietly freaked out.  I was going into the baby’s room when I got a chance to see…

…Mick, very gently picking up Susan.  I kept quiet, and watched.  He snuggled her, and played with her for a bit.  I saw TJ come in the other door and I left before either of them knew I was there.  While I still don’t know if Mick is a good influence on TJ, perhaps he isn’t all bad.

When Maureen and Tim had originally planned their wedding, they were going to have it just before Christmas.  But, Maureen was increasingly on call at the hospital, and Tim also got busy with work.  They wound up postponing until into the New Year.  Luckily, the evergreens still were somewhat fresh the day their days off finally coincided and they were able to finally greet the guests for their wedding day.

Warmly, Tim and Maureen welcomed their guests.  “Come in, everyone!  The ceremony will start shortly.”  Each took a moment to personally greet those present.

As Penny was about to enter, she took a moment to pull Maureen aside.  “I’m afraid Sed and Linda aren’t going to make it today,” she said quietly.  “Sed got called away to a fire, and the new baby is sick.  Our twins seemed to be coming down with something too, so I asked Linda to watch them.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Maureen.  “I’ll stop over later and check them out.”

Even on her wedding day, Maureen was all business when it came to taking care of the sick, especially when it was family.

They gathered in the room that was Tim and Linda’s room when they were kids.  The bedroom furniture was removed.  Chairs were available, though most people chose to mill about.  Tim and Maureen faced each other.

Tim began his vows.  “Maureen, I remember the first day I came to be a part of your family.  I had been outside playing on my bike and had hit a bump and got a really nasty scrape.  I sat there next to my bike on the curb and cried.  You came up and asked me what was wrong.  I said that I had an owie, but I didn’t have anyone to make it better any more.  You took my hand and said, ‘It’s OK, Timmy.  I’ll make it better for you.’  You helped me take the bike to the house, led me into the bathroom, and washed and bandaged my knee.  I think even then, you knew you wanted to be a doctor.

“It was that simple act of kindness that was the beginning of me falling in love with you.  You did make it better.  You healed my knee, but even more than that, you healed my heart. 

“Maureen, my heart is whole with you by my side.  I promise to be there to make it better for you when you are hurting, to be there in good times and bad.  I want to share my life with you, and be your husband.”

As soon as Tim finished, Maureen began to speak.  “Timmy, I can remember when we were in school together, we would often study together.  Even when we finally got into our own majors, each very different, we would still get together to study.  Originally it was to work together, and we made a great team.  Later, it was to encourage one another.  You have always encouraged me; to study hard, to follow my dreams.  At first, being a doctor was all I ever dreamed of.  But, as our college days were coming to an end, I found that more and more, my dreams included you.  I want to merge our lives together, and work with you every day to make all our dreams come true.  By your side as your wife is the position I seek to have for the rest of my life.”

Then, they exchanged rings.  As Tim put the ring on Maureen’s hand, you could see her face light up as she looked at him.  Tim smiled back, and soon his smile broadened as Maureen placed a wedding band on his finger.

There was only one thing left to do, and Tim and Maureen eagerly reached toward one another…

…and intertwined in their first kiss as man and wife.

After the ceremony, the couple invited people into the main living space of the house.  A buffet was set up, and the stereo was turned on.  Maureen danced with one of the guests while Tim talked to Penny and one of his best friends.

Paula Deen was also in attendance, and she chatted with Penny for a few moments.  Penny received a tap on her shoulder.  “Hey pretty Lady…care to dance?”

Penny smiled.  “Excuse me, Paula…I haven’t danced with this guy in ages.”

Penny hadn’t danced with her husband Bradford in ages.  In fact, this was their first time out of the house since their twins had been born.  The girls would soon be at the age where learning to walk and talk and use the potty would be the priority.  But for today, Penny was glad she and Brad were having a moment with grownups for a change.

Maureen took a moment to chat with Trey Locke.  She learned that they both were both very dedicated to their jobs.  Though he was working his way up the ladder with the local sports team, Trey gave his all to athletics just as Maureen devoted herself to medicine.

Penny even had a chance to dance with her new brother-in-law.

Soon, the party broke up.  There was one last guest still in the house.

Maureen approached her.  “You’re Tim’s friend, Samantha, correct?  I’m glad to meet you.  I hope I’ll get a chance to know you better soon.”

Samantha stayed quiet.  She gazed at Maureen steadily, and eventually, Maureen became uncomfortable with her silence.  It was a bit unsettling.

“Well…I’m…glad you were able to come, but Tim and I have things we need to do before work tomorrow.  We’ll have to get together soon…all three of us.”

Maureen turned, expecting Samantha could show herself out.  She went to the kitchen to begin cleaning up.

As she turned, a pained look crossed Samantha’s face and she looked about to cry.  Most people cry during the wedding ceremony though, so why did it look like she might cry now?

___________________________________________________________________________

“I wonder where the girls are,” Jimmy thought, looking mournfully at his food.

Kriss had been wondering the same thing when she got home – late. When she got upstairs she found out the girls really did have that slumber party they’d been talking about.

Suddenly the phone rang and Kriss quickly grabbed hers by reflex, assuming the hospital needed her to come back…or maybe..?

She realized it was Alice’s phone and sighed. Why was she so disappointed? She rolled her eyes.

“He-Hello?” Alice said nervously. She sounded hopeful.

“Oh….Hi Buck. No, sorry, I’m a little busy right now…,” she said sounding somewhat resigned.

“No, no, it’s fine, really, thanks. Yeah, see ya,” she smiled.

Jaime and Krystal exchanged glances.

“Two weeks in and Alice is already a man eater,” snickered Jamie to her sister.

“Who knew she was such a player,” giggled Krystal, “How many guys are you juggling? 4? 5?”

“The whole town?” snorted Jamie, followed by a peal of giggling.

“Oh please, it’s not even like that!” Alice scoffed.

“We know, we know. There’s only one guy out there for you,” Krystal smiled.

“Yeah…” Jamie continued, “Even though you won’t tell us who he is,”

“-Or his name,” Krystal sighed.

“-What he looks like,”

“-His zodiac sign,”

“-Whether he has purple skin,”

“-And so on,” Krystal finished, waving her hand in the air with a frustrated expression.

Kriss gulped. She had come home late from another date with one of Alice’s boyfriend’s roommates. They both knew about each other’s….er…romantic interests, but had made an unspoken pact to keep silent about it – from their roommates at least. They didn’t know each other well, but in this way they were united. However, at this moment the last thing Kriss wanted was an interview – or in this case an interrogation from her ‘friends.’ She silently apologized to Alice in her head as she tried to escape detection. However at that moment Alice tried to run away too, and the sisters caught sight of Kriss.

“Oooh…Kriss is home!” Jamie cried out.

“Oh..? Wonder where she’s been all day,” said Krystal.

“Sorry….You’re on your own!” murmured Alice as she fled the scene.

Kriss groaned. She hated karma. She quickly turned around – there was no escaping the sisters now.

“Hiiii….Kriss,” Jamie grinned. With bloodlust in her eyes, Kriss thought.

“Hello.” Kriss gave a forced grin back.

“Where’ve you been all night? You missed our slumber party,” she continued with a mock-hurt expression on her face.

“Er…well, just working…”

“All night?” Jamie gasped and her expression changed to a horrified one. “That whole time?”

“Ehh…well…”

“Hmmm..” Krystal interrupted in a thoughtful tone,“I think by working, Kriss means, eating out. At the bistro. With a guy…what was his name? Chili Pepper? Hot Tamale?’

“Nathan…” Kriss gave a twisted smile and shot daggers at Krystal.

“Oooh, is THAT his name?” said Krystal. Kriss grimaced.

“You mean that guy with the bright red skin?” Jamie continued the what-seemed-to-be -rehearsed conversation. “The party animal who’s friends call him Hellboy? What can he possibly be doing with someone like Kriss? They couldn’t be dating now could they?”

Kriss frowned. “What’s so unbelievable about us going out?”

“Hah! You admit it!” Jamie exclaimed.

“Kriss, how could you keep something like that from us?” scolded Krystal.

“We slave over a long process of charming compliments and pleas for our parents to get tens of thousands of dollars so that we can all live in this house, and this is how you repay us?”

“By withholding gossip?” Jamie said as she shook her head disapprovingly.

“A serious sin and transgression on the kindness of your friends,” Krystal continued. “We moved all the way from the big city to this rural town and, because we care about our friends ( – Jamie wiped an imaginary tear from her eye while nodding – ), we decided to stay, despite the lack of high society, fun, and…scandalous rumors! ( – Jamie applauded – ) The least you could do for your selfless friends is to at least humor us with the hardly interesting details of your insignificant lives.” Krystal finished.

“We’re absolutely gossip-starved,” added Jamie, amidst fake blubbering.

The Strong sisters were snobby and somewhat spoiled socialites who had moved to Emerald Harbor to get away from their parents – though they still depended on them to keep the house. They had invited some ‘lower-class’ friends (and Krystal’s boyfriend) along to keep it interesting, and after realizing there weren’t many shopping malls around a small town that had just re-opened, they’d taken to a hobby of pestering their roommates for any details in their lives that even slightly resembled what they’d seen on soap-operas.

Meanwhile, the men of the house were having troubles of their own.

“Dude…,” said the one left to Jimmy, “What is that?”

“Tch. What does it look like?” Jimmy retorted defensively.

“It looks like there would’ve been a disaster here if the owners of the house weren’t so rich. Thank Sponge for fire-resistant ovens.”

Andrew (the policeman) snorted.

“You wouldn’t,” Branzle said disbelievingly.

“I wonder if this qualifies as grounds for man-slaughter,” Andrew wondered.

“Whatever…I’m not speaking at his funeral,” Branzle muttered.

Suddenly Alice ran into the dining room where Jimmy was.

“Are they here,” she cried in panicky tones, “Are they gone? They’re not here are they?”

“Nope,” Jimmy replied, without knowing what she was talking about. Before Alice could calm down, ‘they’ had ran downstairs… …and into the kitchen where the rest of the household was.

“Food!” cried Branzle.

“Well, it’s too late now, we’ve already eaten,” said Andrew sadly, looking down at his cereal.

“Seriously, could you be anymore sexist?” Jamie snarled. “How’bout try cooking for yourself, Mr. Athlete? Honestly Krystal, I don’t know why you’re with him.”

Kriss groaned. She had tried distracting the sisters by hinting about Alice’s boyfriend, and it had worked. But instead of allowing her to sleep after her long night, they’d forced her to help them hunt Alice down – and now she was getting a headache. She managed to creep away, thanks to Jimmy, and hurried off to her room to sleep.

Jimmy silently walked up to Krystal.

“Who are you?” Krystal sniffed. “I still don’t understand what you’re doing here.”

“Neither do I,” Jamie scowled. Jimmy cleared his throat.

“You’re obviously a very talented chef,” Jimmy began, “After all, coming all this way to a small town like this to pursue a career in culinary, you need to be pretty confident in your cooking ability. Someone like me couldn’t hope to even taste something made by anyone approaching your ability. However, I’m also confident that you’re a generous person….That being said…would you mind giving me something to eat?”

“Of course! Anything for a charming young man like yourself!” Krystal winked.

“Thank you!” Jimmy said breathlessly. After the waffles, anything made by competent hands would taste like heaven.

.

.

.

“Here’s some soup. Enjoy.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“- Oh, I know what you meant,” Krystal finished for him.

Jimmy stalked off disappointedly.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Krystal had left Sim City to pursue a career in culinary – something her parents disapproved of. Not only because they wanted her to join a career in their business, but because as they’d never seen their children work a day in their lives. They couldn’t take her decision seriously and could only assume that this was just another petty, flighty decision that she had made and that she’d return home soon enough (they’d, of course, provide for her while she way away).

However, they underestimated Krystal’s passion for cooking. She’d only considered it a hobby she loved until she realized she could enter a career in it.

Krystal knew that a place like Sim City was too crowded with people trying to be noticed and recognized for their talent. Her family was prominent there – but she wanted to become successful by showing off her own talent. Her parents would only interfere. Jamie had tagged along for the fun of it, and so that her sister wouldn’t be alone in a town of strangers.

To Krystal, like many others who had moved into town, Emerald Harbor was a new beginning, and a place where her dream could come true. Though she considered it a little too quiet for her liking, she had to admit there was a certain beauty to it that she couldn’t help but appreciate.

Meanwhile, Alice could be seen apparently gazing at the town’s beauty as well.

Jamie had become concerned with her disappearance – Alice did strange things when she was alone, and they preferred it when someone kept watch on her. They didn’t want to be responsible for trouble in town so early on in their arrival.

Alice didn’t like being cooped up indoors for so long. When she had troubles on her mind she’d go outside and talk to something. Like a tree. Or in this case, the ocean.

“I’ll call you soon, ok baby?” she muttered in a shrill-copy cat voice.

“It’s already been a week and he hasn’t called me,” she grumbled. “Where is he? I haven’t seen him since our last date…What could he doing that’s taking him so long to contact me?”

“Oooh…good point. He could be working. Or he’s still unpacking boxes for his house. He’s probably just busy, right now.” Alice nodded happily to herself.

“Aagh! That’s stupid. It’s almost been a month, and there are four of them, the house should be settled in by now. And he could’ve called me back after work, or at night even. He said he would! Why hasn’t he called me?! Is this normal?”

“Hmm…I’m too obsessive of a girlfriend? He could be getting tired of me?”

She silently doubted the ocean’s credibility as an adviser on personal relationships.

“Yeah, well I didn’t ask you did I?! I know what I said! Ohh, so you have fishes and sea urchins, do you?! WELL AT LEAST MY BOYFRIEND DOESN’T CHEAT ON ME WITH THE EARTH! WHAT NOW?!” roared Alice.

“Oh boy,” Jamie smiled to herself pityingly. This was going to be interesting.

“Alice…I couldn’t help overhearing. about your..er..frustrations. Do you want to talk about it?” Jamie adopted a sympathetic tone.

“Oh, no, I’m fine. I just talked to someone about it, and boy am I feeling better,” Alice laughed.

“Riiiiight….Well, it could be your boyfriend just…forgot to call you. No big deal,” she added quickly, “You could try calling him first, he’ll probably pick up. If he doesn’t, at least he’ll call you back, right? Maybe you could set a date, since you miss him so much?”

Alice eagerly followed her advice, and they agreed to meet at the Bistro. Jamie persuaded Alice to let her come along and meet her boyfriend (“We’re friends, and friends have to approve of their friend’s boyfriends. It’s in the rules.”) They agreed to meet up separately, since Jamie had to ‘get ready.’ As soon as Alice left, Jamie ran into the house, up the stairs…

–“God, I hate this room. Hey, get up! I’ve finally figured out a use for you.”

“Gosh, what’s wrong with your hair?” Jamie grimaced.

“I like it..” muttered Jimmy sleepily.

“It looks like spinach!” she spat out.

Somehow, Jimmy had managed to secure for himself his own room and a king sized bed, despite the fact that nobody in the house could claim to have known him prior to the move, and despite the fact that he was the most looked down upon among the Strong sisters. Meanwhile, Branzle, Krystal’s boyfriend, had a bed in the small gym, while Jamie and Kriss had somehow ended up taking turns sleeping on a twin-sized bed and on the couch. Jamie had eventually realized how odd the situation was and had began resenting Jimmy more actively.

“Anyways, get ready, we’re going to meet Alice and her new boyfriend at the Bistro.”

“I’m tired…I don’t want to…” Jimmy groaned as he got out of bed.

“Well, I don’t want you in this house,” Jamie retorted, “What’s it gonna be?”

“Slow down..”

“No.”

Outside of the Bistro, Alice was melting as a result of Don’s charms. She was in her own little world, and everything seemed brighter when he was around. She even forgot why she had called him in the first place. All of her concerns and anxieties seemed to have drifted away.~~♫

/crickets chirp

Jamie didn’t want to rely on unfair first impressions – but her brain couldn’t help but scream “PLAYER!” when she saw him. She shook those thoughts away and managed to get a hold of Alice’s attention.

Alice initiated the introductions.

“This is Jamie…my…er…er..roomma-”

“I’m Jamie Strong, Alice’s best friend,” she winked. “Nice to meet you.”

Alice looked over and caught Jimmy’s attention. She grinned with a maniacal glint in her eye.

Alice was Jimmy’s closest friend. He was also the best  at handling Alice’s craziness when she was feeling unhinged.

“You’re obviously a secret agent, right?” Alice said abruptly.

“Err…what?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” she dismissed the issue with an impatient wave of her hand. “So you’re a secret agent. If you were or became a double agent, you’d tell me, right? It’s the responsible thing to do, right?”

“Right,” Jimmy nodded curtly.

“But see, that’s the thing. Wouldn’t it be best not to tell me? After all, as a double agent, telling me those secrets might jeopardize your position, and put me, one of your best friends, at risk of being targeted by the agency you’re deceiving. Am I right?”

“Yeah, I see your point,” Jimmy agreed blindly. Jimmy always tried to follow her train of thought, but eventually he’d give up and just try to understand what she was saying at the moment, instead of trying to comprehend the whole conversation.

Next to them, Jamie and Don weren’t hitting it off so well. It had started fine, but the conversation took a sour turn – quickly.

“What do you mean, she has the most beautiful eyes? I asked you about her personality, and you can’t stop talking about the way she looks!” Jamie was getting frustrated.

“It’s cause I’m so struck by her…beauty! I told you, I like her, would you give it a rest? Sheesh…”

“No I will not give it a rest!” Jamie was getting hysterical. With every word he said he seemed more like a player. Someone like Alice didn’t deserve to be with scum like this guy.

Alice was still feeling dazed by Don’s charms and hadn’t noticed anything was wrong. Jimmy took control of the situation and suggested they head towards the Bistro.

“You wait in line and I’ll ask Jamie and Don if they’re ready.”

“Hmm…okay,” she said dreamily as a reaction to Don’s name. She floated away and turned at the corner.

Jimmy made sure she was gone before walking up to Don. Jamie smirked. Maybe the dog (her new nickname for Jimmy) would be of some use after all.

“Yo,” Jimmy nodded his head towards Don.

“Hey…?” Don blinked, then grinned, “Heeeey, what’re you doing here?..Thought you hated crowds..”

“Yeaaah, well..,” he replied grinning back, “She dragged me over here,” he motioned to Jamie. Her jaw dropped open on cue. Did they know each other??

“Nice,” he winked, “not that I envy you…” He added as an afterthought. He hated it when people got on him about his commitment-issues. He liked Alice, but why did this chick have to treat their relationship so…well…seriously?

“Nah, it’s not like that..I’ll see ya around,” Jimmy turned to Jamie, who was giving him the evil eye.

“I’m heading over to the Bistro with Alice,” he muttered to Jamie-

“Yeah, you do that,” she said caustically. He fled the scene. She wouldn’t let Don have it that easy though. It seemed like it was up to her to save Alice.

“I know what type of guy you are! Smooth-talking, selfish shmucks who go around taking advantage of girls who don’t know any better! You stick to your own kind, you hear me?!” she exclaimed.

“What?!”

“Stick to girls who’re into shallow flings and know what kind of jerk they’re dealing with. Not girls as naive and nice like Alice! If you hurt her, I’ll hire someone to be your personal stalker, understand?!”

“You’re crazy,” he said staring at her in awe.

“You got that right! Now, get out of my plaza!” she cried out hysterically.

“Your plaza?” he said taking a step back in shock.

“That’s right, my plaza. The Strong family owns this whole area, the bookstore, the restaurant, all of it! If you don’t get off our property in the next ten seconds, I’m calling the cops!”

Not knowing she was bluffing, Don left the scene fuming and muttering under his breath. However, Jamie would be more than willing to buy the whole plot if it meant Don would stay away from Alice. She was no hopeless romantic, or a good girl like Alice, but she hated injustice and would stand up against it without hesitation. She stalked over to the restaurant searching the crowd for her friend, or Jimmy.

When she couldn’t find them she searched the crowd for someone who it wouldn’t affect her reputation to say something weird to. With Alice and Jimmy, everything was weird.

“Hey, I’m Jamie Strong,” – she took pride in her family name – “Have you seen a guy with gross looking green hair?”

“Umm…Don’t think so…Pink, yeah, but not green…”

“Hmm….Howbout a girl with black hair? Freckles, really light blue eyes, kinda creepy looking sometimes, maybe wearing something unusual for eating at a restaurant?”

“Alice?” he said in surprise.

“Yeah…you know her?” she said cautiously.

“Yeah…Think she was went in wearing her swim suit.”

“Ah….” She groaned. Why didn’t that idiot ever stop her? “So, she’s still in there..?”

Buck wasn’t paying attention. He was gazing at the door of the Bistro with a wistful expression on his face.

Then it hit her. This guy liked Alice. Feeling pity for him, she wondered if he knew she had a boyfri….

“So…what was your name again?” she said, flashing him a wide grin as Alice and Jimmy exited the restaurant.

Back at home, Andrew and Branzle were having an uneventful night. After Krystal had gotten home from work she had promptly went up the stairs and collapsed on the bed. Not wanting to provoke her, the boys contented themselves with eating Ice Cream and Pizza for dinner.

“I wonder where everyone is…” Andrew wondered restlessly. It was moments like these that made him want to spend the night out on the town with friends.

“Lets go out,” Andrew called to Branzle as he ran upstairs to change.

“Aw…but this is the first pizza I’ve had in a month,” whined Branzle, the aspiring star-athlete.

“Ugh….Why am I here? Why did you wake me up” griped Krystal.

“It’s friends night out! Everyone’s hanging out together,”  said Andrew.

“Oh god…Family-oriented sims, seriously…’ Branzle shook his head in disgust.

Andrew was getting somewhat discouraged by the negative atmosphere, but then he caught sight of his best friend.

“Jamieee!!” Andrew exclaimed. “…Lets go drinking!”

“Good idea! I’ll invite Buck!”

…

After a long and eventful night…which consisted mainly of snide comments from Branzle and Krystal, Jamie trying to make Buck and Alice talk, her griping about good-for-nothing ‘shmucks,’ Andrew, telling everyone how much he loved them, laughter and a whole lot of drinks and stares from locals…

Everyone headed home feeling exhausted, giddy, and, in some cases, somewhat nauseous with plans of sleeping in.

“Breakfast’s ready.”

“Oh,” Kim said, surprised. “Thanks.”

“You’re not gonna eat?” asked Kim as Rozii turned on the stereo and started dancing.

“Nah,” grinned Rozii, “ That waffle was supposed to be mine, but yours looked better so I stuffed it into my mouth before we could compete over it.”

“Gee, thanks,” Kim rolled her eyes.

“What kind of dancing is that anyway?” she scoffed.

“Don’t mock the moves man. When’s the last time you went dancing? You’ve got nothing on me.”

After breakfast, Kim took Rozii up on her challenge.

“You’re doing it wrong,” said Rozii.

“As if there’s a right way to dance like this,” retorted Kim.

“You know, I had an idea the other day.”

“What was it?”

“I think you’re really gonna like it,” Rozii said earnestly.

“Lets hear it then.”

“Well, you know how we’ve just moved to this town?”

“Yeah…”

“And we haven’t really been acquainted with any of the neighbors…”

“Get on with it.”

“House party. We put up a couple flyers around town, go door to door, and before you know it, we’re friends with half the town. Howbout it?”

“Hahaha,” Kim laughed mock-gently, still dancing, “Howbout no?”

“Oh, come ooon!” Rozii’s attitude changed abruptly. Kim let out an exasperated sigh.

“We haven’t done ANYTHING since we’ve gotten here, besides redecorate the house,” Rozii rolled her eyes.

“Throwing one party won’t hurt your chances of becoming a doctor any. It’s your chance to meet your neighbors. I’m not saying throw a rave party or anything…although..”

“NO.” scowled Kim.

“You dragged me all the way out here – ” Rozii protested.

“You invited yourself. I told you to stay home, but you wouldn’t stop complaining and ended up stowing away in the moving truck,” Kim said glumly.

“ – telling me lies about how Emerald Harbor was a beautiful city of dreams, with an amazing nightlife, and clubs open 24/7 – ”

“I told you it was a rural and radioactive town that had recently reopened, with hardly any people and rotting buildings with dead things everywhere,” Kim interrupted again, “I said there were demons and evil bald elfs running amok, holding signs like ‘sobriety,’ ‘and ‘sepia,’ and that it was your personal hell,” Kim continued in the same apathetic tone.

“ – and finally convincing me with your plea that your life had no meaning without me in it,” she wailed. “How could you, Kimmy?!” she sobbed.

“I told you that you were nothing but a distraction to me and begged you to leave me alone,” Kim spat out indignantly. It was obvious she was blocking her out.

“Well…although it’s completely your fault that I’m here, I am a reasonable person – howbout we compromise?” Rozii winked.

Kim huffed.

“What’s the compromise?” Better to reach a solution than argue with someone so willfully thick-headed.

“You come with me to this place around town I’d heard about. I’ve been dying to visit it – don’t worry, it’s nothing like a nightclub. No parties. Just..er…getting ourselves better acquainted with the layout of the town, is all. You’ll have to dress up though,” she added.

“And…?” Kim said slowly.

“And I won’t say anything about partying for…the rest of the week,” – Kim raised her eyebrow skeptically – “Or the next two days anyway. Only if you do exactly what I say though.”

“Just don’t make it too outrageous, ok?” Kim said wearily.

“Heh, heh, heh…”

“There’s absolutely no way I’m going in there,” grinned Kim.

“Don’t start with me,” warned Rozii. “I let you wear that hat, remember?”

“Psh,” Kim scoffed. “Whatever, neither I, nor the hat, will be entering this rotting building. You can forget about that already, you hear me?”

“Whats the point of going out in disguise if we’re just going to attract attention anyway,” wondered Kim out loud.

“Look, killjoy,” Rozii put on her reasonable voice, “Since you’re being so difficult, I’ll make you another deal. At least look through the window for me? You don’t have to go inside, but I just wanna take a peak around. You can be my lookout.”

“And if you somehow fail to live up to this simple task, then I get to throw a party at our house. And you’ll have to buy me a bar for my personal use. Otherwise, just stand watch. Just stay put, we’ll go home, and no party talk for 48 hours.”

‘I’ll take it!” exclaimed Kim.

“You’ll have to explain the uniforms though,” Kim said.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious. We look like a couple of crazies, don’t we?” Rozii began.

“But since we’re dressed like this, we’re mostly unrecognizable. No one will suspect it was us….until we meet some of the neighbors maybe. We look pretty colorful for this sort of town.”

“Hey, whats with you?” Rozii nudged her friend. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“It’s a-a-a g-g-girl!….And she’s reading!” Kim whimpered. “In a arm chair! Thats red! And she’s alone!”

“Wha-?” Rozii started backing away.

Suddenly the front door flew open. Rozii let out a loud shriek.

Before they could take a second look, they had jumped over the railing and bolted out of there, with Kim leading the way.

“WAAAAIT, KIM, DON’T LEAVE MEEEEEeeeee…!!”

“DOES THIS MEAN WE GET TO THROW A PARTY..??’ Rozzi bellowed.

“What the heck was that?” said the girl.

“Beats me,” shrugged the teen.

They were on the verge of needing an inhaler by the time they got home.

“Hehehe….so you couldn’t even stand watch,” guffawed Rozii.

“Gotta….out…these clothes…Stupid drawer….open!”

“Ah well, there’s no avoiding it now. We’re obligated to throw a house party by an unwritten contract,” Rozii sighed. “Much as I’d like to spare you the annoyance of socializing against your will, it seems the bonds of our friendship are dependent on it.”

“Ah, thanks. I hate this stupid drawer. We should really get a new one. Or replace it with the bar you’re going to get me,” added Rozii thoughtfully.

“Hey,” Rozii called over to Kim as they changed, “Was the girl a changling kid?”

“Change-what?” Kim replied in an irritated tone.

“Some woman by the Bistro asked me if I was a changling the other day. Cause of my hair, I guess.”

“Oh…well, she had pink in her hair. I think I remember seeing some kids like that around the Diner too.” Kim recalled.

“Well….guess we’ll find out…when we invite the entire neighborhood to our party,” Rozii said cheerfully.

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.

After Kim changed, she left the house to apply for a job at the hospital. And also because she was peeved at all this party-talk.

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Leaving Rozii at home to plan out the party by herself.

“Whoa,” Mick blinked. He hadn’t seen this many strangers at one time in all his life – except on TV, but those were mostly cartoons anyway.

“Miiiick…! Wait up!” Anisia shouted.

Anisia froze. She’d been anxious to get to Mick and hadn’t noticed the crowd when she turned the corner.

“Mick, I’m ready to go home now. Mom probably made dinner already,” Anisia whimpered.

“What,” mocked Mick, “Is little Nisi scared?” he cackled.

“No. I’m tired,” Anisia pointed her nose up. Mick could get annoying when he was in his manically evil mood.

“Anyways,” he rolled his eyes,  “if you wanna eat, then come in. I’m not gonna wait for you,” he warned her.

Anisia sighed resentfully, but knowing Mick, he was serious. She didn’t want to wait here, so she figured she’d meet up with him at home.

There certainly was a lot of pink-haired people around, she noticed.

She rode her bike home, somewhat frightened of being alone, and feeling guilty for not being close to Mick like she promised her father she’d be. But she couldn’t stand being around strangers for too long.

When she got home she saw the Diamanda woman was still there. She kept her eyes on the floor as she walked past her.

She entered the dining room/kitchen and saw her sister explaining to her mother where she’d been all day.

“I only stepped out to buy a book for Mick,” she half-lied. “I’ve been at the beach behind the house for most of the day though.”

Danielle glanced at Anisia, who immediately looked down. Anisia hated lying, and her family could always tell if she was covering for somebody.

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Danielle shot Abbey a reproachful look.

Abbey couldn’t really do much but laugh pathetically and look at her shoes.

“I really do have the book though,” she mumbled.

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“Have you two seen Mick?” she asked exasperatedly, looking at Anisia.

“Umm…” Anisia began nervously, “He’s coming.”

“So, how’d you get home?” Abbey frowned.

Mick had discovered the reason behind the town’s new inhabitants – Emerald Harbor had re-opened.

Three weeks ago.

While he was recovering from the shock however, he had noticed a nearby policewoman eying him, and got irked when she wouldn’t look away. He called her out on it…

…and discovered that a new curfew rule had been established in town.

“Mommy, are all changlings like that?” worried Linda’s children.

“No, of course not,” laughed their mother nervously, “Just the McGrubers.”

“Wait, no, that’s not what I meant,” she panicked.

Mick couldn’t have cared less that the police had just ‘arrested’ him. He saw it more of a ride home than anything. He had other more engrossing thoughts.

“Thanks for the ride lady,” Mick smirked lazily. The policewoman scowled at him before driving away. She could tell he was going to be trouble.

When Mick turned around he saw his mother running up to him with a furious expression on her face.

“Was that a POLICE OFFICER in front of our house?!” she shouted.

“Yeah,” Mick said cautiously, “What’s the big deal?” They all knew their father was involved in some sort of dirty business – she couldn’t really be about to give him a speech about morality now, could she?

“Whats the BIG DEAL?!” she shrieked. “Mick, there was a POLICE OFFICER in front of our HOUSE! You KNOW your father is involved in some shady business, yet you’re irresponsible enough to attract enough attention to bring a law enforcer to OUR HOUSE?!”

“Oh,” Mick realized. It hadn’t occurred to him what could happen if the police got suspicious enough to start some sort of investigation. His face became hot with shame.

“Do you want your father to be taken away from us? Who would provide for the family? We’d be turned out of the house, not to mention, your father would be in jail! Our reputation is bad enough, and people have only just started coming in!” – it seemed like Danielle was aware that the town had been reopened – “Don’t you think about your family at ALL?”

“O-of course I do..!” Mick stammered weakly.

“Well you have a funny way of showing it. I’m very disappointed in you,” she said with contempt.

Mick had never felt so ashamed – and foolish – in his life. While he knew it wasn’t his fault about being ignorant of the new curfew law, he should’ve been home earlier – or at least been cautious enough to leave when he’d caught sight of the police officer.

Mick slowly looked up at his mother ready to apologize for putting their family in danger when he saw a figure move out of the corner of his eye. Diamanda was still at their house?

His temper suddenly rose, and he gave his mother a furious look.

“You’re calling me irresponsible? I don’t care about our family? Who’s the one who let two criminals into the house, two dangerous people, and into the same room where Anisia was? It’s bad enough that you let her in,” Mick spluttered, “but then you have a shouting match with the lady in front of her? You know how scared Anisia is of strangers, nevermind her mother fighting with one!”

“And what was your reason for letting this happen?” Mick dropped his voice, “For the sake of our reputation. Be honest. When you get down to it, that’s what you really care about, isn’t it?”

“If anyone’s disappointed, it should be me. You don’t care about Dad, or Nisa, or any of us. Dad’s only the caretaker in your eyes. The rest of us  are just liabilities.” Mick was intentionally saying anything he could to make her hurt. A more virtuous sim might feel a bit of guilt saying all this to their mother – Mick reveled in her pained and resentful expression. Though Mick did care about his family, his inclination for the bad things in life didn’t always exclude manipulating and hurting them from time to time.

After Mick finished what he had to say, he walked into the house and went to his room. Danielle sighed and went to the kitchen to clean up. It wasn’t true what he had said -

– she did love her children, and though her relationship with her husband wasn’t always pleasant, she told herself that she loved him too.

However, when it came down to it, she wasn’t sure if her first allegiance was to herself or to her family.

Anisia looked around the park impatiently, waiting for an idea of what to do first. It had been so long since she’d been outside, she wasn’t sure exactly what to do once she got there.

Mick didn’t want to spoil Anisia’s day, so he contented himself with sitting down instead of causing trouble. They hadn’t been out long when a girl he knew walked by and started at the sight of him.

“Mick?!” she squawked.

“Hey Abbey,” Mick smirked. Perhaps he’d be able to cause some mischief after all. “Its certainly been a while. What’re you doing here?”

“Well, it’s really none of your business,” the girl started, “but I just got out of school. I was helping a teacher grade papers for extra credit.”

“School?” Mick’s eyes widened.

“That’s right,” she said haughtily, “and I heard the teacher talking about the people who had re-opened up the diner.”

“Job? Where?” Mick was baffled. Was she trying to start trouble?

“Here,” she motioned to the nearby restaurant. “I figured they might need waitresses or some sort of extra help, since it looks like more people are coming in.” She frowned.

“Dad know about this?” Mick asked smoothly.

“Nope,” she said indifferently as Mick scoffed, “- don’t tell.”

“You should really do your research before wasting time. They won’t hire teens,” he snorted, “Especially if they’re still in high school.”

“What? Why?!” she exclaimed, her temper rising up.

“This town has hardly any people in it, meaning they’re making very little money. If they have to pay someone for serving customers, they better be prepared to cook and clean too,” he replied, enjoying the expression of outrage on Abbey’s face, “That being said, I seriously doubt they’re hiring right now. These diners are usually employed by family anyway.”

“Genius sims,” huffed an irritated Abbey.

“That’s another thing,” Mick continued, “hot-tempered teens aren’t really waitress material, don’t you think?” Even Anisia would admit to that.”

“Where is Anisia anyway?” Abbey said glumly, “and what’re you doing out here?”

“Some lady came to our house and started causing trouble, and then dad came home early,” Mick sighed, “So we went to the park. With permission, by the way,” he added pointedly.

“So, where is she?” Abbey frowned.

“In the bathroom, I think. She’s been there a while actually,” Mick reflected.

“Wait – You let her go? ALONE?” exclaimed a suddenly alarmed Abbey.

“Well, geez, what, did you expect me to follow her in there??” Mick said indignantly.

“Haven’t you noticed? There are…” – Abbey’s voice dropped to a whisper – “STRANGERS, around!”

Mick couldn’t help but look incredulous as he smiled.

“I’m serious, Mick!” she said angrily.

Their quarrel was stopped short when Anisia returned.

Abbey let out a relieved sigh. Skeezix’s constant – and overexaggerated – warnings of the dangers of the ‘outside world’ had affected her, whether she wanted to admit it or not (On Mick’s part, however, it had only further encouraged him).

“AAABBEY!!!” Anisia hadn’t seen her older sister for a long time either. “Where’ve you been?”

“Aah, around,” she replied nervously, “I missed you! How’s my favorite sibling?”

“Ha-ha.” Mick said scathingly.

“What is this? How come I’m the only one who doesn’t get hugs?” Mick said resentfully.

“I can hug you now if you want,” said a muffled Anisia.

“So I’m an afterthought, am I?”

After admonishing Mick and ordering him to keep a closer watch on Anisia (“When I say ‘watch’ Anisia, I mean Abbey will kill you if you don’t watch Anisia”), Abbey left them to try looking for an open business around town.

“Micky,” Anisia called from the playground, “climb up the ladder and sit here with me!”

“Mmk.”

“It’s really high up here, isn’t it?” Anisia said earnestly.

“Yup,” said Mick with some forced enthusiasm, “Super high.”

He wondered how long Abbey had been going to school. She seemed a lot more rebellious lately.

“You know, Abbey said that when she got enough money, and when she grew up, that I could live with her if I wanted,” Anisia said cheerfully.

“What?” said Mick, startled.

“Yup,” she replied, “she said I wouldn’t have to stay ‘cooped up in the house’ anymore.”

“Huh,” Mick muttered resentfully. He hadn’t heard of this. Why hadn’t she asked if he wanted to come?

Maybe Anisia really is her favorite sibling, he fumed silently.

***

Abbey biked around town until she found the old plaza she had heard about. There was a park nearby, though the slides and swing-sets were decaying from the rust. Maybe she’d play with Anisia there if she ever brought her to work.

She didn’t bother trying the bistro – like Mick said, they probably wouldn’t be interested in hiring someone as unskilled as her (she made a dirty look intended for Mick).

“Uh oh,” muttered Paula. She hadn’t been back in Emerald Harbor long, but she already knew about the McGruber’s reputation, and their rivalry with the McGormicks. And one of them was standing nearby.

Abbey caught sight of her and immediately panicked. She didn’t want word about her being out to travel to her father, so she tried to run past before she could catch anyone’s attention.

Abbey wasn’t scared of the McGormicks, and she didn’t hate them as much as the rest of her family did – with the exception of Anisia of course. However they’d all been raised to dislike them, and grew up with stories of how the McGormicks had somehow ruined their lives. As a result, Anisia was somewhat frightened of the McGormicks, and would avoid them. Mick, as usual, would intentionally cause trouble, and attack them on sight, especially if a family member was near. Abbey felt she had no choice but to see them as an enemy, who meant harm to her family. If they caused trouble, she saw herself as playing defense.

She breathed again when Melanie was out of sight. However, there was another surprise when she turned the corner.

There were people everywhere! The sight of them startled her. What were all these strangers doing here? When had Emerald Harbor become so crowded?

Come to think of it, the buildings looked like much cleaner than before. A lot of businesses had been opening up. And at school, new students seemed to be coming in everyday, though she tried not to socialize with them too much. She wondered what was going on in Emerald Harbor that was attracting so many people….

Back at the park, Mick was wondering the same thing.

Something Abbey had said was echoing in his head.

“There are STRANGERS around!”

There were a lot of strangers around. He’d seen two or three people at the park today, and a couple of others walking in the distance. It seemed a lot noisier these days too. Before he had thought people were driving through the town because something exciting was happening nearby, but the faces he’d seen would reappear, along with new ones.

The thought that the town was no longer empty was somewhat unnerving.

Anisia slid down the pole, and Mick woke up from his reverie.

“Nisi?” he called out, looking around.

“Down here,” she called back.

“It’s getting dark, isn’t it?” said Anisia.

“Yep. We should probably go home,” sighed Mick.

“Aww, can’t we stay a little longer?” Anisia pouted.

“I didn’t even get to go on the slides,” she added.

“Is this you being persuasive? Fine, one time, then we go,” he said.

“Don’t get scared,” he warned.

“Why would I get scared?” she retorted indignantly.

“Yeah, well….” his voice trailed off. He had caught sight of the Diner.

“What’re you looking at, Micky?” Anisia wondered absent-mindedly.

“Mm…nothing. I’m kind of hungry,” he replied.

“Well,” she said as she reached the top of the slide, “why don’t we eat over there? The open sign lights are on!” she marveled at the last realization.

“…Eat over there?” he frowned. He remembered Abbey saying that there were some new people who were re-opening the diner. That’d have to mean they were moving into the neighborhood!

In any case, he’d find out if he went inside.

“Good idea Nisi. Lets go,” he took off.

“Wait Micky!” Anisia called after him.

A mysterious woman had come to the McGrubers’ home today.

“I need to speak to your husband,” she said to Danielle McGruber.

It was obvious she wasn’t pleased with the strange woman’s sudden appearance in front of their house, but she reluctantly let her in.

Mick had grown up since Diamanda had last come requesting to speak to Skeezix, but his regard of her hadn’t changed. She had become a frequent visitor, and he was getting rather bored of seeing her.

His expression was mirrored on Danielle’s face. Though she hadn’t seen this woman before, she had had to deal with suspicious people coming to her home asking for her husband…when he wasn’t home. She couldn’t help but feel irked that her husband was seeing strange women in their house in secret. How many times had she come here? The woman didn’t seem surprised when she took her downstairs and into their real home.

“My husband isn’t home,” she said resentfully. “He’s at…work, and he hadn’t told me if he was going to work late or not.”

Diamanda chuckled. “Look lady, if you think that’s gonna work on me…”

Suddenly Mick rose up from his chair. Diamanda looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. Something had changed about him since she’d seen him last, and it wasn’t just his age. He gave her a warning stare back.

“Can I speak to you somewhere a little more private?” Diamanda muttered to Danielle.

“Fine,” she replied, “Mick, we’ll be in your room, ok? Don’t interrupt.” She put emphasis on the warning with a glare. Mick had a habit of eavesdropping.

When they had left, Mick sighed. Anisia continued absent-mindedly playing with her rocket-ship. The man Diamanda had brought with him was somewhere on the grounds. Mick had nothing to do, so he figured he’d go out and cause a little mischief.

“pchoooooo…. Vwooosh!” Anisia was engrossed with her new toy. It was rare that Skeezix would bring anything new for them, even as kids. Anisia had been playing with the rocket-ship all day. Had she even noticed Diamanda come in?

Mick recalled someone recently calling him ‘irresponsible.’ He grimaced as he realized he’d nearly left Anisia alone with two probable criminals in the house, and he wasn’t exactly sure where one of them was.

“Hey Nisi, come sit with me for a sec and watch TV.” Mick tried to sound casual.

“K,” she said cheerfully.

Before Anisia had made it to the couch however, Diamanda had slammed open the door. Apparently the private discussion hadn’t gone well.

Mick grinned. He knew what was coming. Diamanda shot him a suspicious look.

“Just wait a minute, lady!” Danielle’s furious voice yelled out from Mick’s room.

“How dare you, an obviously suspicious STRANGER, come into my house and demand to see my husband, when I’d already told you he wasn’t here?”

“I’ve already told you, we’re acquaintances and have business together,” Diamanda yelled back. “Is it my fault if your husband didn’t tell you he was expecting a guest?! Besides, I didn’t ask to come in, I asked to see him!” She couldn’t understand what this lady’s problem was.

“As if I’m going to allow the neighbors to see me conversing with a suspicious woman like you! And if you think I’m going to allow you to stay in my house until my husband comes home, then you’re crazy!”

“Well, I’m staying,” – Diamanda was notorious for her stubbornness – “and I don’t think your husband would be pleased if he was told you kicked me out.”

Anisia was getting scared. She hated watching fights, and the atmosphere in the room was getting more volatile by the second.

Mick saw her expression and sighed. Good sims could be such killjoys.

“Anisia, lets go to the park.”

“Ok!” Anisia let out a relieved breath and hurried towards the stairs. She hoped her mother and ‘Daddy’s friend’ would stop fighting soon.

“Do you think Daddy will be mad if we go outside?” Anisia worried out loud.

“Nah,” Mick lied. “Mom heard us, and besides we’ll be back before he comes home.”

However when they reached the front door, they were greeted with a surprise.

Dad was home!

“Ohhh boy,” Mick was too shocked to lower his voice. “Don’t go downstairs.”

“Why?” Skeezix blinked.

“DAAAADYY!!!!” Anisia ran over to him and gave him a big hug.

“No reason,” Mick replied quickly. His shock that Dad was home early – or rather, on time – was confusing his speech.

“Aaw, hi Nisi. How was…home?” he smiled as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. The McGruber kids didn’t go to school.

“Good!” Anisia was more overjoyed that her father was home than shocked, and didn’t bother to wonder at his being early.

Skeezix looked directly at Mick, indicating that he still wanted an explanation.

“Heh,” was all that Mick said.

“Daddy,” – Anisia brought his attention back, giving Mick more time regain his composure and figure out a plan. If he told them that they’d made a mess, he’d still want to go downstairs to grab some lunch, and the house had already been cleaned. They could tell him there was a surprise – but he’d ask them to take him to his room with his eyes closed – and the hysterical women downstairs would immediately catch his attention, not to mention drag him into the argument.

“Can we go to the park?” Anisia asked.

“The park?” Skeezix feigned an overexaggerated shock at her words.

Ah, thought Mick, it’s pretty obvious that he’s going to find out. He could hear the yelling downstairs getting louder now. And when he does find out, we’re going to be stuck upstairs with nothing to do.

“You want to go to the park?” gasped Skeezix, “Outside? But the outside is so dangerous!”

This really isn’t my problem either. And she did tell me I had to keep Anisia’s best interest as my top priority, and this would be the responsible thing to do, in a way.

“Why, when you’re outside there’s so many ways you can get hurt! It’s so unsanitary, and there are strangers…”

“Micky will be there to watch me!” Anisia said hopefully.

“Oh yes, but accidents happen all the time when you’re outside.” Skeezix replied quickly.

“And I wouldn’t want my little Nisi to get hurt. Besides, wouldn’t you rather play with that shiny new rocket I bought you?”

“There’s a woman downstairs asking for you,” Mick said abruptly. “She’s talking to Mom.”

“Have fun,” said Skeezix.

“Really?!” Anisia was amazed. It’d been so long since she’d left the house.

Skeezix went downstairs and was greeted by an irritated “hmmpf!” from his wife, who walked past him, into their room, and slammed the door. He wondered if she’d found anything out.

Sanya was about to bake herself waffles for breakfast, when she noticed that someone just recently had made waffles! She decided to grab a plate of those instead, ’cause she was already getting in a hurry to go to school.

The one who must have made the waffles was Dennis, since Dennis just finished eating when Sanya started.

Sanya had hardly started on her portion, when she heard the honking of the schoolbus. Maybe she shoudln’t have wasted her morning on horror movies…

Sanya’s household literally lived far away from everything – before getting to the bus stop Sanya had to run a long way on a path through the woods. That was definitely a downside of  living in the middle of nowhere – running through a forest was highly unpleasant for Sanya, who hated outdoors.

Even if Sanya ran as fast as she could, leaving the breakfast and catching the bus took her an HOUR. Still, the bus was patiently waiting for her. It seemed that she was the only one that this particular bus should pick up…

Of course Sanya wasn’t registered to her school with her real name – she and the Sastiras had all fake ID:s. But they thought that it might draw too much attention if the neighbours noticed a teenager who didn’t go to school, so Sanya should study even if she didn’t see any real point in it. Well, at least she could just slack out at school.

The schoolyard looked pretty worn out – probably the whole school was from the times before the destruction in Emerald Harbour. It looked empty too – Sanya almost got a creepy feeling that she’s the only student in this school, until she remembered how late she was.

Meanwhile the Sastira siblings decided to visit Skeezix McGruber. Diamanda was the first one to go, as usually, and the others followed far behind.

Finally even Dave reached the taxi.

Diamanda rang the doorbell at the Mcgrubers’ house, and a pale little boy called Mick came to open the door. He seemingly didn’t care much about school…

After waving to Diamanda Mick gave the guests a hateful glare. Considering Diamandas later actions, she didn’t leave it un-noticed.

The Sastiras entered the house… or rather so called “house” – it seemed to be just an empty little booth!

But as they followed Mick they realized, that the actual house was deep down under the ground!

Besides Mick there was only a girl named Anisia at home. For some reason, seeing those two kids skipping school in a weedfilled cellar made Dave feel heartbroken.

They decided to wait a while for Skeezix to come home. Anisia started to chat with Dave about flowers and houses (this house was one with loads of flowers indeed!) and they came along quite well.

Diamanda for one spent her time picking a fight with Mick. She started by scaring him, and then they argued about the right way to make sushi.

Dave chose to watch TV, and Dennis joined him when Anisia needed to go to the bathroom.

Diamanda didn’t quit arguing and insulting each other with Mick until she got so hungry that she had to snatch an instant meal from the fridge.

Mick went over to the sofa where the guys sat and complained, that he didn’t have enough space for himself (even if there was a free seat left). Dave gave up and rose from the couch, but he felt like he could flip any moment.

Apparently the toilet was out of order, ’cause Anisia decided to go and pee in the bushes instead.

Diamanda’s and Mick’s fight kept going on…

Sanya had decided to jump off the bus and hang around on a random neighbour’s yard. She called her schoolmate Meezletoe and told her excitingly about her new home. She wished that she and Meezletoe could be best friends forever.

Dave and Dennis had become tired of waiting and were heading home in separate taxis – well, why not enjoy it when cabs were free in Emerald Harbour?

Diamanda still insisted to stay on McGrubers’ yard, waiting for Skeezix to show up.

And soon someone DID show up – but it was ms Hannigan, the leader of the orphanage, who came to talk with Anisa. She pointed out that it’s already sleeping time for little girls, and maybe considered calling the social workers to get that little rascal into her orphanage.

Then she got into an argument with Diamanda about their remarkably different ideas of how to raise kids.

Eventually all Diamanda’s waiting was rewarded – Skeezix arrived!

Diamanda was already badly in need of a shover, but when Skeezix finally was there, she insisted to get to know him first.

Right from the moment when they shook hands Diamanda could see in Skeezixes eyes, that he was rich. When they got inside, Diamanda started to tell him about her skills with computers, and he seemed interested.

When Diamanda asked him about his job, he answered vaguely, that he ran businesses. Diamanda persistently started to discuss business closer, and finally got what she  wanted – a hint about a building on the edge of the town, that should look kind of like an abandoned warehouse.

When Diamanda got home, both of her brothers had decently gone to sleep in good time. The only one who was still up was Sanya – she had been watching horror TV (again…) and then eating some waffle leftovers.

Diamanda decided to take waffles too, and while she ate even Sanya finally went to bed.

When Diamanda had taken a shower and eventually had time to go to sleep, it was almost 5 AM already.

Diamanda noticed, that her roommate Sanya was sleeping peacefully, for once. Hopefully Sanya would soon get over her constant nightmares.