Vol. I - When we were Kids - Track 05
The sky is full of clouds and my world's full of people
All different kinds with different ways
It would take a lifetime to explain, no one's exactly the same
Are all the different people and all their different minds
And different ways, It would take a lifetime to explain
So many different people, so many different kinds…
'Different People' - No Doubt
"So, do you know him?" Jill asked curiously to Lucy.
They were at the Burb's backyard with Beau Broke, who Jill barely knew from school. He was younger and had only started elementary short ago, but lived right around the corner, and seemed to spend a lot of time at Lucy's home, playing on the sandbox that Lucy's dad, who was always working on the garden, had built for them recently.
Both kids liked to spend hours every day playing on it, and though Jill couldn't find sand has dazzling as her friends did, she certainly enjoyed the fresh weather and could see why everyone in Lucy's family, and probably all Pleasantview, liked to spend so much time outdoors.
Her own hood, instead, was too hot most of the time, and neighbors simply staid indoors, but they certainly had plenty of sun, dry sand and dirt. Plenty of it.
Jill wished they could to be in a park with a pond, or hanging out under the shadow of a big tree... or at least, that her friend would get bored of her new toy soon.
"Well? Do you know him or not?" Jill asked again getting impatience.
"Who?" Lucy finally asked back, but didn't appear to be very interested in her questions.
"That boy Goth. The one who lives in the old house." Jill explained, referring to the old mansion that was so well known in the neighborhood.
"Ew, that house is creepy" Lucy exclaimed loudly, but her attention quickly returned to the sand.
"And that boy is weird." Beau added right along.
"So, you do know him." Jill insisted.
"Why do you want to know? He's not even in our school." Lucy asked back.
"Yeh, he goes to private school." Beau added with a mocking tone "With all the fancy kids. He's too cool to hang out with us, lame kids, right, Lucy?" He said finally looking for his friend's approval, who simply nodded in return.
"But he's Buck's friend." Jill commented thoughtful, remembering everything what Buck had already told her about his new friend, which were only good things.
"Really?" Lucy exclaimed surprised "Buck Grunt's?"
"Yes, and Buck's not rich and doesn't go to private school either!"
"Maybe, but his father is like the general of everything and..." Beau was explaining, but Lucy interrupted snorting, before he could finish his sentence.
"You foul! No one can be the general of every-thing."
"Whatever!" He said bothered and walking away from the sandbox "But Grunt's dad is all important too, and they're probably all weird and have a huge house, just like everyone in Strangetown. That's why Goths like it there."
Beau turned around and went to play with th Burb's dog. Jill stood up to follow him, annoyed by his comments, but Lucy stopped her before she could go too far, and whispered to her ear.
"Don't listen to him. He gets mad because the Goths are rich, but Beau's mom never has money to buy him anything he wants."
Jill nodded understanding, but wondered even more about the weird, rich boy who had quickly become close friends with Buck, but seemed to be so loathed by every one else.
"Do you wanna see it?" Lucy asked noticing how Jill was staring at the old house "We can go if you want. You could see the house closer, it's really creepy!!"
"I don't know" Jill hesitated, curious as she was, but apprehensive "What if someone sees us?"
"Nothing." Lucy shrugged causally and remarked" We just walk by, we can do that. They don't own the street. My mom told me that, and she's a lawyer. She knows these things."
"I...ehm..." Jill stuttered concerned "Maybe we should just stay here. It's getting late anyways."
"We'll be right back, Jill! You could see that mysterious boy. Sometimes we see him looking out the window and..."
"He's not mysterious, he just a boy!" Jill interrupted annoyed.
"Then why do you want to know about him?"
"Because..." She sighed frustrated. Lucy had been her friend almost all through elementary, but she was too noisy and always getting them in trouble. "Buck's taking him to my house tomorrow, but I don't even know how he looks like."
"He dresses like an old man and has stupid round glasses." Beau commented, apparently interested in the girls' conversation once again.
"If we go, maybe you can see him." Lucy insisted, visibly anxious to leave.
"Yeah c'mon, follow us!" Beau uttered, and they both ran towards the back.
Jill didn't wish to go at all. Try to peak in someone else's house through the widows wasn't right,
but with the other two kids already walking away, she didn't have much alternative than to follow them reluctantly.
Less than a block ahead, the three kids stood in front of the wooden mansion.
It didn't look as creepy as Lucy warned, after all, or at least, not to Jill. It was just tall, dark, and old.
"Someone's up there. In the third floor." She mentioned noticing some movement through one of the windows.
"How can you know? It's too hight up to see anything from here." Beau replied skeptic.
"Jill can. She can hear really well too." Lucy assured grinning, already aware of her friend's exceptional sight and earing.
"How!?" Beau asked baffled.
"Well, because I'm weird like everyone in Strangetown. Don't you know?" Jill answered sarcastically, but strangely proud of her own weirdness, specially after seeing the boy's expression "It's an old man working on something... and he talking to someone else too..."
***************
"There're three kids in the street, Alex" Mortimer mentioned to his son, who was helping around while he worked on the servo station "Maybe they are looking for you."
"I don't think so. No one ever comes looking for me, they just look. People says the house is haunted."
"Well, it is." Mortimer said wisely with a short laughter.
"Who are they? Can you tell? I can't see anything from here!" He asked trying to look out the window, but his vision was blocked by furniture and his father's tools.
"I don't know them, Alex..." The old man answered distracted.
"I'll go downstairs. I'll be right back."
Alexander rushed down the stairs,
and into his father room,
where he climbed on the side table to watch from the window,
but as soon as he picked out, the kids could also see him, and immediately turned around on their feet to walk away.
Or at least, two of them did. Lucy Burb and Beau Broke, who Alex could recognize from the neighborhood, but the third staid behind waving goodbye.
Alex had never seen her before, but somehow she was familiar. Blond hair, pigtails, pink shirt and a denim skirt. She looked just like Buck used to describe his friend from Strangetown.
*******
"Dad, they are here!" Buck screamed at the sight of Alex and Bella walking to his house "They are here!"
He greeted his guests from inside, and continued calling out for his father who was in the second floor.
"Hurry up, dad, they are here!"
"I know, son, I heard you the first time." Buzz lectured lightly walking down the stairs.
"I'm sorry, but ... they are here, dad!" Buck said anxiously and ran out the house, shortly followed by his father.
Bella and Alexander hadn't even reached the front door, when the Grunts were outside welcoming them enthusiastically.
...Too enthusiastically for Buck, though.
"EEWW! Why do they have to do that in public!?" He complaint at the sight of their parents' displays of affection.
"You're funny" Alex chuckled "You have never seen grown ups kiss?"
"Yes, but it's still gross! Let's get out of here!" He said loudly and both ran away from the enthralled couple,
who didn't seem to notice the boys disappearing from their side.
"I think your friend was at my house yesterday" Alex commented, as they sat on the swings.
"At your house!?" Buck asked confused.
"Outside, in the street. She was with Lucy Burb."
"Oh yes, they are friends from school. Lucy's in our class." The blond boy replied "What were they doing there?"
"Dunno. I just saw her passing by." It wasn't entirely true, but Alex didn't want to explain how often people would just stare at his house, like Lucy and Beau used to do. "She seemed nice, though."
"OH yes, she is!" Buck smiled "You'll meet after lunch, when we go there."
Alex nodded cheerfully and started swinging higher. Buck joined, but kept his swing closer to the floor.
Do you know someone called Curious?" Alex asked after a while.
"I know many Curious, why?"
"My sister's dating him. He has a funny name."
"All Curious have funny names." Buck chuckled.
"And he has a baby."
"Yeah, they all have a babies too, except for Lazlo, but he'll have one soon."
"... a green baby."
"Yep. All the Curious got abducted by aliens and had green skinned babies." There was a short silence in which Alex stared at Buck puzzled, until he continued explaining "But your sister is dating Vidcund. Jill told me. She said her mother is very happy for him."
"Why her mother? Do they know him?"
"Well, of course!" Buck giggled "Vidcund is Jill's uncle. Mrs. Smith is his sister, but she doesn't like that all her siblings are still single. Now Lazlo and Vidcund have a girlfriends, so she is happy."
"Ohhh.... And do you know him?"
"I know everyone in town." Buck nodded "The Curious live over up there by the telescopes. They are all scientist and work on a lab, but Vidcund quit and now he's the replacement teacher at my school. Pascal was the first one getting abducted and has a daughter called Cameron;
Vidcund's baby is Tyler;
and now Lazlo's pregnant too,
but they say he's gonna live with Mrs. Delarosa, who moved from Bluewater to a house by your mom's"
"Oh yes, she told someone new moved next door." Alex commented lightly, but his mind only accumulated more questions "So how many green skinned neighbors do you have?"
Buck try to count mentally, but Alex didn't give him time to answer, before continuing with even more questions.
"Do you think there is more like them in other towns too?"
"Maybe. My brother met a girl in college, but I don't know where she's from." Buck mentioned, and then added enthusiastically "Tank's coming home for the weekend, maybe we can ask him about her at lunch. He always talking about her anyways. I think he likes her..."
Buck continued talking about his brother for a while more, while Alex tried to organize all the information. He loved all about aliens, monsters and mysteries; and enjoyed books because they allowed him to travel to different worlds, full of new characters to meet and unknown places to explore, but in that neighborhood the strange and unusual was simply a matter of everyday life.
Not long after, the kids heard a car horn calling from the road.
"Did you hear that?" Buck asked excited, jumping off his swing "That's Tank! Come with me!"
Tank was just coming out of a taxi, when Buck ran to greet him enthusiastically,
but stopped abruptly just a couple of feet away.
The brothers didn't hug or kiss, as anyone would expect, but Tank simply patted his younger sibling in the head with a smile.
"Hey, sport."
"Hi, Tank."
"Who's your friend?"
"Alexander Goth."
"Oh, Bella's son then, right?" Tank replied, acknowledging the black haired boy with a friendly nod.
At that moment the rest of the household was coming to greet him,
and didn't take long before they were all sitting at the table having lunch.
Just as Buck had said earlier, Tank mentioned the girl from college a few times, and Alexander took the opportunity to ask several questions about her.
Her name was Stella and was studying Psychics, but Tank didn't seem to know much else, and started getting slightly uncomfortable with the kid's interrogation, until Bella promptly interrupted changing the topic to Tank's classes and major.
He had decided to major in Politics to follow the Military career, but from there the conversation quickly turned to Ripp and the fact that he hadn't decided what to study yet even though he should be heading for college soon, which caused the teen to stand up infuriated and walk out of the room.
There's was s tense silence after Ripp left the room, but once again, Bella quickly stepped forward breaking the tension by casually offering some desert, while cleaning up the table.
It was only after Bella came back with three full plates of cake, and sat down to join the calmer chat, when Buck dared to stand up and ask
"Can we go to Jill's now, dad?"
Buzz hesitated shortly. It wasn't a secret how he really felt about Jill's father in particular. He had known Jenny almost all his life, and would trust her with the care of his sons any day, but it was a complete different story with her husband, and though he had learned not to let his own personal problems affect his younger son, the idea of Buck under the same roof with PT9 made Buzz more than reluctant.
"Please, Buzz" Bella adventured "I spoke with Jenny this morning and she's looking forward to meet Alexander."
"Fine, but I want you back before it gets dark!" Buzz grunted finally, and the kids headed out quickly, before he could change his mind.
*******
Alexander continued asking to his friend all sort of things, as they walked to the Smith's, but Buck didn't mind. He was used to people making strange, awkward questions about his town and neighbors, but it wasn't often to find someone genuinely interested, instead of just afraid or plainly skeptic.
"Why you dad doesn't like Jill's father? Because he's an alien and has green skin?"
"Yes, and no ... but he only hates Mr. Smith. He doesn't mind his family."
"I don't understand...." Alex commented puzzled.
"Ripp says adults are complicated like that..." Buck shrugged lightly and pointed at the big yellow house by their side"This is it. Jill's house."
Opening the small gate, Buck entered the grassy lot, followed by Alex, and the front door was opened by a tall blond woman, before they could even knock.
"Hi, sweety, we were waiting for you" Jenny welcomed them with a smile and faced Alexander grinning even wider "And you must be Bella's son. I'm very happy to meet you. Please come in"
Inside Jill was playing a board game with his father,
but jumped out of the table cheerfully, at the sight of the two kids stepping in the hall.
Immediate the two blond friends started chatting and making plans for the afternoon, but Alex couldn't take his eyes off the old man still at the table. Of course he knew at hand what to expect, but no amount of information could had prepared him for the peculiar appearance of the alien man. It wasn't only his skin, but his pitch black eyes and strange face shape. Undoubtedly, not from anywhere around.
To the boy's surprise, the man suddenly stood up and walked toward to shake his hand grinning. He looked like coming out form a science fiction novel, and yet, he lived in the most traditional household and wore a sweater with jeans like any other man would.
"Mr. Alexander Goth, from Pleasantview, I presume."
"Yes, sir"
"We've heard much about you, young man ..."
Alexander didn't know how to respond, or what else to say. There's so many things he wished to asked, but his father always reminded him that it wasn't polite to make too many questions to some one you just met, and at the end he was just pleased to have a excuse to leave, when Buck and Jill called him over.
He followed the other kids to a room that obviously belonged to Jill's parents,
and just like the rest of the house, it looks pretty ordinary,
expect for the peculiar appearance of the family members in the portraits,
and, of course... the two green skinned infants laying in babies mats.
They looked just like his father
and yet the blond kid with light skin, who was babbling words to them, was their full sibling.
The more time he spend in Strangetown, and the more he knew about its inhabitants, the more Alexander liked the desert hood. Nothing was strange in Strangetown, not for those who lived there anyways. Not at all like in Pleasantview, where even the slightest difference was reason enough to be stared and pointed at while walking in the streets.
And just like kids from all places do, Jill, Buck and Alex spend the rest of the day playing in the pool,
and hanging out in the yard, having snacks and chatting about their schools, friends and families,
until right before sunset, when Bella came to pick the boys up.
She was smiling more than usual, and Jenny, who had known her for long, noticed immediately.
"What is it?" Jenny asked curiously "Did something happen?"
"Have you spoken with Vidcund today?"
"No, why ... What happened!?" Jenny insisted.
"Maybe he should tell you..." Bella hesitated, but was visibly excited.
"Oh, Come on! You have to tell me now! I'm sure Vid won't mind if it's good news... What is it!?"
"They are engaged!" Bella exclaimed grinning widely "Cassie just told me! They are getting married!"
"Awww That's marvelous news!" Jenny responded cheerfully, and hugged her friend happily. "We are having a wedding!"
(Continues soon)
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In this part, I was trying to keep the perspective of the kids most of the time, but using a more general pov than usual, so it'd be very informative, but still light and fluid to read.
I also wanted to show a bit of the kid's daily lifes and families, and telling a bit about what's going on the town, but above all, I wanted to focus this part in Alex, Buck and Jill's distinct personalities and interests, because they're older kids already, and about to become teens pretty soon.
Jill is intrinsically good, nice and caring (a lot like her mother); but also very friendly, and loves meeting people from other places (it must be very boring for a girl to live in a town where pretty much everyone is your relative!!); She is also, like we all know, even tho you can't see it, half alien, which in this sim-universe may grant you certain specials abilities. (it varies from sim to sim)
Alex loves to know everything, about everything, but he has also received a very strict and old-fashioned education on his household, so he's always well-behaved... Or mostly, many times his adventurous spirit and insatiable curiosity overcome his manners :P
Buck likes to spend time with his family at home, even though there's always some kind of conflict between his father and brothers. He doesn't have much friends, but treasures the ones he does have greatly. He also loves painting, as it has been shown in previous parts (and loves babies too! <3)
And, finally, for those who haven't read it, but might be interested, Tank and Stella are only background characters here, but their story is told in "Who's Terrano?". It also includes more info on my take on aliens, specials abilities, and such that are used here (jic, all of the characters here are only very lightly mentioned in Terrano's story, so it's not really spoilery; or at least, nothing really important, imo)
Cheers and thanks for reading!! :)