Chapter 1.26-Thursday afternoon

Chapter 1.26-Embarassing

            The moment the Sixkillers had arrived at the Festival Grounds they had scattered to their own pursuits. Galen to skate, Phedra to play skeeball. Layla had went to have her face painted, and Cyrus made himself a grape-flavored snowcone. Most embarrassing to the teens, Helen had immediately grabbed Buck by the arm and had dragged him into the photobooth. Unfortunately, the suddenly wobbly booth had alerted everyone there of what was going on inside.

            Much later, as Phedra wandered around looking for Cyrus to join her playing a table arcade game she saw something that caught her eye. It was no more than a flash, but she would have recognized it anywhere. Especially since she saw it every day looking right back at her in the mirror. It was her eye. And it was on a man she didn’t recognize.

            Marching up to him boldly she stared. Just stood there and stared making the stranger so uncomfortable that he finally looked away.

            After a solid five minutes of waiting for Phedra to do anything other than her wide-eyed rarely blinking stare the man spoke.

            “I’m sorry, is there something I can help you with?” Trenton had caught the eye color as well. And though he couldn’t figure out how this girl could possibly be related to him it irritated him to no end. Somehow, somehow, the girl looked familiar.

            “Where did you get your eye color? Does it run in your family?” Phedra was startled by how bold she was, too. But her mother wouldn’t answer her questions, maybe this person would.

            Staring at her for a second, Trenton finally found his voice.

            “Well, there are rumors of a radioactive batch of dye made hundreds of years ago, and people who used it noticed that their eye color sometimes matched their hair color which now never washed out-” he droned on and on and on.

            Phedra listened with increasing concern for the man’s sanity. The cockamamie story he came up with didn’t match her question at all. Worse, this guy seemed to genuinely believe that he was answering her in a superior fashion.

            

            At last, the man gave her a patronizing look which signaled he might be ending his lecture soon.

            “-So you see, of course this eye color runs in my family. But it could just as easily run in yours young lady, if your forebears bought the same dye and used it!”

            Phedra was still frowning. She had been cramming biology and anatomy for weeks now. This guy was full of $#!*. Wanting instead to find Helen, Phedra, not saying another word to the odd man, turned and walked away.

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            Phedra had finally managed to find her parents with Galen who was begging for food. Her competitive side flaring up she suggested they all join the hot god eating contest in order to get free meals for all four of them.

            Buck had only agreed reluctantly, knowing that he’d lose and make himself look like an idiot in the process. Standing at the table loaded with water and wieners made him feel even more ridiculous, and before the buzzer could even signal for the contestants to get ready he walked away to order a plate of nachos from one of the vendors present.

            The three remaining contestants took their marks, ready to dive in.

            The moment the buzzer sounded the three left dove into their trays of hot dogs. At the first bite, Helen regretted letting Phedra talk them into such a ridiculous thing as this contest. She hadn’t eaten a hot dog in years on principle alone. People said they were gross. Who was she to question people?

            Phedra was getting closer and closer to seeing the plate on which her hot dogs had been heaped. Glowing, just knowing that she was winning, she took a moment to gloat, cheeks full, and nearly choked. It wouldn’t do to have a lapse like that again. Swigging a sip of water to clear her airway of bun she dove back in to the fray.

            As Phedra was stuffing the last weiner into her mouth Buck wandered back over. Layla was playing one of the arcade games and wanted him to watch how well she did.

            Poor Galen had been struggling throughout the contest. His little stomach just could not handle him shoving hot dog after hot dog down. Even worse, this was the moment Phedra stood up and began to cheer.

            She couldn’t help it, really she couldn’t. She hadn’t meant to upset her brother with her gloating, but her competitive side came out in full force in everything she did, and this was no exception.

            The contest over, the family stayed just a little longer watching Buck launch fireworks high into the sky before heading home and to bed.

           So much lately, Cyrus had been missing at home that no one noticed he was not in the cab chattering excitedly at the end of the day. When they arrived at the house, Galen was so tired he took it for granted that no one was sleeping in the other bed in the room.  In fact, if it hadn't been for the phone's shrill ring at 1 o’clock in the morning no one would have known that Cyrus wasn’t where he should have been at all.

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I know, I’m sorry it’s so short. But next one will be a long one to make up for this.

The fourth picture from the top. I LOVE THAT LOOK! I don’t think I’ve ever have a sim give such a good WTF? face as Phedra did there. Also, I’ve been dying to tell Trenton that he’s full of it for a long time now.