taken seriously

April 2083 - (2082/83 school year update)

*** as usual, I can't feasibly link to the family updates of each kid, so use the database and school enrollment if you need to ***
Bluewater Township: where Fiona McCullough shall rule the world!

As the school day begins in Bluewater Township, Robbie greets his best friend Liza with warm and questionably friendly hug. She looked a little cold, and she probably would be since it's only early April still. You know how these teenagers refuse to be bothered with jackets when they should.

But that's okay, Robbie insists, his arms will warm her just fine.

Fiona is thinking, Well isn't he a charming little booger?

His mother is thinking, Oh hell, already? At twelve?

Fiona says, "Oooh, look, a new girl!"

Melody says, "Hey look, a new girl!"

"I know," Fiona says, "That's what I said too."

Because of Bluewater's light student population, they fill their remaining spaces with most the area's visiting transfer students.

Unfortunately for Robbie, some transfer students give noogies rather than get them.

Around noon, the preschoolers start to fill in. Liza gets a hug from her baby brother, Shaun.

Felicity joins Connor and Shaun in the preschool room this year. Felicity looks up at Connor like she's seen an angel. Connor says, very much unlike an angel, "What are you looking at?"

Maybe Felicity might eventually have a flirty streak like her mother? But at least for now, we think she has quite a few years to go before she loses her girl-cooties.

We'll let Fiona take care of the flirting this year. Fiona has been happy enough to have her traveling boyfriend, Eli back in town again this year. To be honest though, she kind of likes the arrangement of having a new boyfriend come in each year. But he'll do, for now. In fact, he's almost enough to make her forget Charlie Roseland... almost.

In Fiona's first year of high school, she and the other freshman are taking culinary arts - which really just means they're in charge of making lunch for everyone.

But otherwise, Fiona spends a lot of time in the bathroom. Not because she's on her period, or having issues with her bowels, but Fiona is simply entranced by her own reflection. If you ever wonder where Fiona is, she's in the bathroom, looking at her exquisite form in the mirror. Her delicate cheekbones, full lips, even fuller breasts, and who must she have bribed to get this dainty little nose in the Deppiesse family?

She swears she's getting more and more beautiful by the minute!

And besides an ego the size of this planet, she's got brains to boot! Don't let her beauty deceive you though, Fiona's brain is a machine. Fiona's brain will eat you alive!

Or well, yes, let her beauty deceive you. That is her plan, after all. All this beauty is just a cover, a lure, and the most important key to enchanting the Earth's people to fall in love with her.

First they'll be mesmerized - she'll be able to say anything she wants and they'll agree. They'll agree with her because she's right, but it wouldn't even matter if she was wrong, they would still follow her lead. They'll bring her gifts, they'll wait in lines to see her wave a delicate hand, they'll name holidays after the day she was born. They'll devote their life's work to praising her glory. They'll bow down to touch her feet and Fiona McCullough will RULE THE WORLD!!!

She says to Eli, "What's another word for the slow and calculated seduction of the entire human population?"

Eli says, "I don't know, my paper is on ants."

Sometimes the little kids don't make it through the day. It's okay though, this schooling business is hard work!

***

Lakeside Heights: where their hearts shall flutter...

The seniors are finishing up the final year of their childhood studies, and all three are headed to college next year. Vicky and Summer will be studying at LCU in Lake City, and Dallas will head off across the world to study at Takemizu Academy.

Summer likes to pick on Vicky a little sometimes, all in light-hearted fun, and unfortunately for Vicky, they've been assigned to the same dorm next fall.

Summer has always had many admirers, male and female alike. She hardly notices them anymore. Though if she did notice, it certainly wouldn't surprise her that her best friend's little sister is included among them.

Sam is the much ignored youngest Harris child, overshadowed by his big sisters, the ever-adored Lucy, and the brash and angsty Sarah. Not only is he ignored at home, but he's struggling to get some attention around here as well. He's been placed in AP classes this year, joining the sixth graders not so much because he's brilliant as just because there's a huge gap in the elementary crowd.

"You probably didn't even know I existed," he tells his classmates. "But let me tell you a story. I almost died when I was six. It was a dark and stormy night..."

It was neither dark nor stormy, but he did become gravely ill of pneumonia when he was six, so there is some truth to this story.

Ryanne is not impressed. "Do you believe this kid?"

But Sam is okay by Delphie and Dakota - they adore Lucy, as does everyone, and any little brother of Lucy's is fine in their books. Delphie says to Ryanne, "We don't believe you."

"Yeah," Dakota echoes. "We don't believe you."

Natty and Charlie, making up just a small portion of the middle school art class.

Meadow thinks she's getting far too old for this job! She's considering handing over the reins in the next election. She'd like to finally settle down in her retirement.

Especially since her grandchildren are growing up so fast. Bianca is the only preschooler in the Lakeside Heights district, and another of her grandchildren, Zach is in Lake City. She knows this job is wearing on her when she finds herself increasingly escaping to the preschool room, to hang out and watch Bianca build her block houses.

We don't blame her though, it's a zoo out there!

Dallas and Lucy are on lunch duty this year. But making cold ham sandwiches isn't as boring for Lucy as it might seem. It only fills her head with daydreams...

Someday, in a couple years, they'll have an apartment together. They'll sleep in late and walk each other to their classes. They'll have a cat, no dog - her family always had dogs, and she always secretly hated them. Does he hate dogs? Is he allergic to cats? He's allergic to ragweed, and dust, but he never mentioned cats.

They'll host dinner parties on the weekends, and she'll make sandwiches, and he'll make the salad. She'll greet their guests and do most of the entertaining, so he doesn't feel overwhelmed, so he can just sit back and be quietly funny like he is. She'll let him pick the music, since it doesn't matter - they like all of the same songs.

When the party is over, he'll ask her to sit down, and he'll tidy up, because he can't go to bed with their apartment a mess. But she'll help a little anyway, so discretely he doesn't even notice, because if he did notice he would ask her to sit back down and put her feet up, since she's been such a wonderful hostess. And when the apartment is tidy, then they'll climb into bed together, they'll make love, like they do now, and they'll fall asleep together.

Lucy sighs. Flutters in her heart!

Sarah has it bad! She's in love! Summer is beautiful and she kicks ass!

But it's okay, Sarah, you wouldn't be the first person hopelessly and pointlessly in love with Summer Phoenix.

Everybody loves Summer Phoenix.

The Lakeside Heights school is heavy on the secondary crowd this year, as is evident at lunchtime. But with the three seniors graduating, and two new preschoolers coming in next year, things should balance out just a bit.

Natty says, "Could you like, not stare while I'm eating?"

"Sorry," Charlie says.

There's no question who the "it" girls are in this school. Not just because they're pretty, popular, charismatic, older, having sex with real actual boys (or at least have been for four weeks now)... nobody can ever really define popularity, or why popular people are. They just know Lucy and Summer are IT!

"They're so pretty," Isaiah says.

"I think she's looking at me," Charlie says.

"No way, dude," Isaiah says. "No way she looked at you."

The boys stand in awe. It's not that their little junior high school girlfriends aren't pretty, but Lucy and Summer are just something else entirely. They aren't sure which, if either, of them Summer is looking at as they approach. But as they walk by, slow and easy as silk, Lucy only smiles a sweet smile, but Summer actually speaks, and to them!

"Hi, boys," she says.

Charlie says, "She definitely, definitely looked at me!"

"At us," Isaiah says. "She said boys. That's plural, man."

Sarah is beefcake!

Hazel says, "What are you looking at?"

Natty sighs. "Oh, nothing," she says. "Just thinking."

Hazel is wondering how it's possible one single girl could be so cheesy???

Hazel climbs up the play fort first, and Natty climbs after her, looking up at the clouds as she does.

Hazel says, "Ugh, is it summer yet?"

"Not yet," Natty says.

"How about now?"

"Nope, not now either."

Natty asks her, "Have you ever been in love?"

"No," Hazel says. "I doubt it. I've been in hate. I hate Angelo! That loser never even called me back."

Natty nods. "He doesn't even go to our school though."

Hazel says, "My dad says boys are creeps."

"All of them?"

"What, you mean Charlie?"

"I don't know," Natty says. "Maybe."

"I don't like him," Hazel says. "He's a creep."

"Why does everybody say that?" Natty says.

Hazel shrugs. "Because he is?"

Lucy says, "Do you think people can tell when you're doing it?"

Summer pictures nakedness. "Well I would hope, or else it couldn't be any good, huh?" She laughs boldly and it echoes off the tiles.

"I mean, after the first time," Lucy says. "Do you think I look different?"

"No," Summer says. "You're not any different, not from that."

Summer's thoughts drift from nakedness, to Tyler naked, specifically. Maybe because he's the only guy she's ever seen naked, if you don't count movies. In fact, while naked men might be appealing in theory, the thought of actually being with any other guy, naked, kind of gives her the ickies. No matter how much space she thinks she needs, or gets, there's something underneath that doesn't change.

She steps away from the sink. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," Lucy says, not yet moving from the mirror.

Lucy is different, she thinks, but she knows it's not from that. It's like she already grew up a little when she wasn't even paying attention, and it took her until now to actually notice.

Vicky can tell they did it. Everybody can tell.

And no, she's not over it, not ever! If it weren't for Lucy, she'd still have him, and he'd love her. She misses having a boyfriend, but she doesn't know if she'll ever trust one again. And though she might hate Lucy, for being as perfect as she is, she'll never forgive Dallas. Because he told her he loved her too, and it turned out it didn't mean a damn thing.

***

Lake City: where they shall wonder what buttered lips taste like...

Angelo won't say he has a favorite girlfriend, except a favorite in each moment, and this moment's favorite has silky black hair and legs up to heaven!

"Girl, I can show you the world," he says.

"You're kind of short," she says. "What, are you one of those sixth graders?"

"No, baby- I mean, yeah I'm in sixth grade. I just got some growing to do. I'm all man where it counts."

"Oh, honey," he says. "Get mad if you want. You look divine with a flush on your cheeks."

But still, the most consistently divine creature on this planet has to be sweet Melissa Fortney. Her lips are like butter, or what he imagines buttered lips would taste like. And her voice is soft as a whisper when she says, "Oh hi, Angelo, you wanna help?"

"I would help you do anything," Angelo says.

She laughs. "You're such a funny kid."

Anything apparently includes fertilizing the courtyard.

"This is the natural kind of fertilizer," she says. "Do you know what it's made of?"

He says, "What?"

"Well, if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you," she says.

But it doesn't matter, because Melissa is in high school this year, and with high school comes certain changes, different social circles, and the attention of a certain junior, Elijah Roberts. Unlike Angelo, Elijah's humor and charms actually work... and he's tall.

But it's okay. Angelo knew she'd get a boyfriend eventually. She's just fine like that.

Melissa met Elijah in shop class, or he tells her they actually met ages and ages ago at her twelfth birthday party. She does remember him, but she pretends that she doesn't, and says, "But you do look kind of familiar," because she doesn't want to look dorky and desperate.

But they met again this year when she was assigned to be his shop partner. He has a gold certification in shop studies, but he wants to teach her rather than just do their projects himself. He actually does this for a job, he says. He works at Summer's Place, making toys.

Her father is a teacher here. Elijah is always startled by that fact, or how suddenly he comes up from behind him and hugs her. "Good morning, Mel," Sheldon says.

Sheldon didn't like the idea of her taking shop class - there are too many boys in shop class! He knows how boys think, and what they think about, and he doesn't like it! So he decided to teach shop class this year. He can't even believe she's in high school now.

But Elijah wipes the shock off his face and says, "Good morning, Mr. Fortney." He has something in the works here. "I was kind of wondering if I could ask Melissa to the prom next month?"

Melissa is just as shocked as Sheldon is. But prom seems like a nicely chaperoned event, that she can attend and be home before midnight. As much as he'd prefer she didn't date until she was thirty-five, that isn't very realistic, is it?

"Okay," Sheldon says. "Well ask her then."

"So, what do you say?" he asks, coming closer. "Prom?"

As he eases himself into her rarely visited personal space, she notices he smells like sawdust, and whatever product he uses on that curly hair. She hopes she doesn't smell like that fertilizer she was using earlier. If she does, he doesn't seem to notice.

"Oh my god," she says. "I can't believe you just asked my dad if I could go to prom."

What she means is she can't believe he's touching her forearm right now!

"Are you saying no?"

"No," she says. "I'm saying yes."

Meadow wonders if there is possibly any worse sound than preschoolers on violin, even if one of them is her own dear grandchild. Zach, Raine, and Elliot have been best friends pretty much since they were born. They're inseparable.

The sound of Raine Nova chirping away at the microphone isn't much better. She seems to have inherited all of her father's star power and none of his talent.

As usual, Elliot is hard at work, while Zach and Raine are not.

Well, it's preschool, Eliott, don't take it too seriously.

*******

notes: whoa, that's a lot of kids! And still I left out poor Devon Shaw, lol! :)