Chapter 2.52- I Still Have Hope

            “Geez, Rog,” whined Mariah, still rather breathless from shock. “You startled me! Slam the door or something next time so I don’t nearly jump out of my skin when you sneak up like that. PlumbBob.”

            Spring was here, though it was still chilly enough for winter clothing to still be used by those venturing out. Mariah had been scratching designs in the frost flowers on the window when Roger had startled her.

            “I’m sorry,” Roger said. “I didn’t mean to.”

            “It’s alright. What’s up?”

            “You haven’t been around much the last few weeks,” Roger answered softly. “I wanted to know how you were doing.”

            Slightly abashed, Mariah ducked her head. She hadn’t meant for her disappearances to be noticed.

            “I’ve missed you, ‘Riah.”

           “Aw, buddy,” answered Mariah. “I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot of homework to do, and mom’s been extra crazy recently. Like really really bad. I’m kind of wondering if her time might be coming.”

            “I figured things must have been kind of tough,” said Roger. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the cabin to see if you’d come here. When I saw the smoke from the chimney I knew you would be.”

            Mariah nodded, unsure of what to say next, thankful this was the first time she'd lit a fire recently.

            “You know if things get too tough I’m always here to help,” Roger offered with a blush. “I know it’s been a while since your mom has seen me, but surely we can get her used to having someone extra around.”

            Noticing his blush, Mariah saw something else. His skin finally seemed to have lost the blotchiness he’d had since becoming a teen. It had cleared up and was glowing. It looked good on him. And it made her stomach flip, just a little, which confused and embarrassed her.

            “I just don’t know, Rog’,” she sighed. “She leaves pee puddles on the floor and blames them on my dad. The other day? I caught her climbing out of one of the holes she’d dug in the front yard dressed in animal skins and saying she’d been exploring a cave system that included giant mushroom filled grottos, lake systems, and trolls and troglodytes that she scared off with her ‘magic lighter.’”

            Roger snorted, then quickly tried to stifle it when he caught Mariah’s eye.

            “Sorry,” he said somberly. “I know that’s tough for you to have to control and keep quiet. But you’ve got to admit her imagination has grown by leaps and bounds.”

            Catching his eye and soft smile at her, Mariah chuckled a little to herself. Maybe, looking back at it, it was kind of funny.

            “Are you still freaking out about what you’re going to do once school ends?”

            She looked back up quickly, snapped out of the pleasantness she’d felt laughing at her mother with her best friend, instead of being horrified by it and all it meant.

            “You know,” she smiled. “You know I think I might have a few ideas about things I could do. Obviously, Mom will still have to pass first. And so it’s terrible, and makes me feel awful, but I kind of hope she does go soon so I can kind of move on with my life.”

            “It’s not terrible,” Roger nearly interrupted. “And you shouldn’t feel awful for it.”

            Mariah beamed at him, making him blush. Which made her blush. Geez, this was her best friend! Had they not seen each other that much lately? What was up with this?

            “You’re not terrible,” he repeated. “And the person at your house isn’t your mother. She’s been gone a long time now. So wanting to move on after taking care of her all these years? It’s probably pretty normal.”

            “Thanks.”

            “Nothing to thank me for,” answered Roger. “Just keep your chin up.”

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            “Her dad? He really likes you that much?”

            “I think it’s mostly that Kelci is determined that I be well equipped when I pursue my career of choice,” Andre answered her, his thumb caressing hers.

            “She’s certainly got a lot of drive when it comes to getting her way,” Mariah said with a roll of her eyes.

            Andre laughed at her. “You have no idea.”

            For a while now, Mariah thought she’d been comfortable with the status quo between herself and Andre. But having Kelci suddenly spring up on her at Pop! made her realize that she kind of hated the girl and was even a little, dare she say it, jealous?

            When the pair would talk about her, Andre was always emphasizing how her empty headedness bothered him. How it bugged him that he could barely hold an intelligent conversation with her.

            “You’re so amazing,” Andre whispered to her, making her smile. He was trying to change the subject.

            “I know,” Mariah answered carelessly. “But still. So her father pulled strings and you’ve now got a full ride to the prestigious Simvard University. You’ve got it. Drop her.”

            “He could also pull all those strings again and I’m out,” he returned smoothly. “I can’t risk that right now.”

            “Why can’t you risk it? Wouldn’t another college do you just as well?”

            “No,” he shook his head at her. “Not if I intend to reach the heights I expect to reach in my career.”

            “How did he even manage to get her in?”

            “Money makes the world go ‘round darlin’. Schools need money, too.”

            “But there is no way she could keep up with the course work, surely.”

            Andre sighed, giving her a penetrating look.

            “Money buys admission. Money buys favors. Money buys tutors and open doors and football tickets and legs up and friends,” he told her as a mischievous grin flitted across his features. “It also buys favorable readings from pretty fortune tellers regarding who will be prom queen and what color dress the prom queen ought to wear.”

            “I saved your neck with that one,” Mariah retorted, the corners of her mouth curling.

            “You worried me sick with that one,” Andre frowned again. “When I saw you after that you looked really drained. I felt really bad recommending you to her. I hope it wasn’t too much effort to see if she’d be queen or not. “

            “So you’re the one who sent her my way?”

            “She’d been so antsy about it; just being in the same room with her was nearly impossible. I remembered you doing it as kids and assumed you must still have that gift. I assumed right. She got to wear that Queen’s Crown last week.”

            “You assumed a lot.”

            “What do you See about me?”

            Turning her head away from him, Mariah determinedly put on an unreadable smile.

            “I control myself around you,” she said with the slightest hint of ice in her voice. “And so I See nothing when we are together. I far prefer being in the moment at those times.”

            Slightly ashamed, Andre looked down. “Sorry.”

            Feeling as if was ruining the moment, Mariah reached over, forcing him to look at her again.

            “I’ve Seen things at other times,” she reassured him. “You’re going to go far. But that still doesn’t mean you need Kelci’s dad to get you there.”

            For a moment, they just laid there gazing at each other. The only sound the logs popping in the fire.

            “Come on,” Mariah jerked her head toward the black skies outside the window. “It’s getting late.”

            Mariah had already finished dressing while Andre continued to fiddle with the buttons on his vest.

            “Here, you’re crooked,” she chuckled. “You missed this one entirely.”

            But her hands betrayed the hurt she was feeling that he wouldn’t drop Kelci for her, shaking so badly she could barely manage the buttons.

            “Mariah,” Andre said, grabbing her wrists the moment she’d corrected the one missing button. “Mariah, you knew this wouldn’t last. We’d talked about this a long time ago.”

            Bowing her head, she took a deep breath.

            “I know,” she admitted. “I know and I feel stupid for it, but I just hoped-”

            “-I hoped too,” he interrupted her. “I had hoped I wouldn’t need Mr.Jenner’s help and would get in on my own merit and pay for my schooling myself so I could leave Kelci behind. But I can’t right now.”

            Still refusing to look at him, Mariah was surprised when she felt his hands on her hips, pulling her nearer to him.

            “I hoped too,” Andre told her firmly. “Okay? Do you get that? And I still have hope. I hope that once I have my degree I can climb the ladder without his assistance. Without his daughter.”

            Lips trembling, Mariah nodded slowly.

            “It’s not like we won’t see each other ever again,” he said. “And there’s still a whole month before graduation where we can see each other before I go.”

            At last, Mariah could hold back her tears no longer.

            “Aw,” Andre pulled her nearer, kissing her forehead. “Tell you what. Save graduation night. Save it for me. We’ll have that one night to remember us always.”

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Originally, my intention had been to end each generation with a Fin to close it out, to move the story on completely anew. But I really feel as though Layla’s story ended when she pulled the trigger on the pistol she held. So there is no Fin for Generation 2. Instead, we will move on to Generation 3 as quietly as possible so as not to interrupt Mariah’s story.

At the time of writing, I have to admit that I have no idea what exactly will happen next excepting a handful of events since I haven’t rolled for Generation 4 yet. This is both thrilling and daunting but I wanted Mariah’s story to be as unhindered by the future as possible. So at this point, I see many paths and an infinite number of endings. Hopefully, you’ll stick around to see just where Mariah takes us.

Also at the time of writing Ignacio has only 4 days left on his age bar and I don’t expect him to live to see Mariah as a YA. Layla has one day further than Mariah has before she is a YA. I’m crossing my fingers that she’ll survive at least until then since I can’t break a rule to save my life at this rate and I’m afraid I’d be crushed if she died before Mariah took over (because I’d FAIL! WAAAAAAAH!) If you’d like to see some of Ignacio and Layla’s adventures as Elders, check out my Tumblr as there are some funnies of the two of them being crazy old coots together. They’re really a lot of fun and I’m all sad that their adventures haven’t fit into Mariah’s story or roll.

            Finally, I want to leave you with this- In a different Game/challenge I play one of my sims’ favorite station was Geek Rock, which led me to some new music. In particular, one song stood out. Roger’s role in the story has long been established, as has Andre’s. And when I heard this song in English I realized that Roger had a theme song. So listen to it and enjoy (don’t watch if you don’t like clowns or mimes) and think of Roger. 

 

End Generation 2