Generation 5: Part 4. Thank you for the music

I’m back from the cake! It was just as delicious as it looked and I enjoyed every bite of it. Unfortunately I couldn’t save you any, because – as I predicted – Henner was too fast for me. Within seconds he had eaten three pieces! I’ve never seen anyone eating this fast. Well, actually I did – when Flip was still alive, he ate a lot and really fast. This is what Henner reminded me of, but when I told him, he just laughed and went back to the counter to get another piece. If he didn’t start exercising soon, he would be as round as a melon one day! Not that I wouldn’t love him anymore then, but he would look funny in family portraits. A couple of people, possibly one or two dogs and a melon. Huh.

Life as a teenager started out the exact way childhood ended. I had to do my homework we were assigned to do for the first day in high school. It was nothing big, just writing a report about ourselves, mentioning our hobbies, family and wishes for the future. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do in the future, so I wrote not much about that. The rest was really easy, but still it took a lot of time. When I looked up from the three pages I had written, everybody else had already gone to bed. Sadly I scraped the last pieces of cake together and went to my room, where a huge surprise was waiting for me! I had totally forgotten that my siblings had promised me something, so the surprise was even bigger. They had taken out all of my childish furniture and had replaced it with more mature things. I have to say, the best part was that they left my favorite chair in its place – it was yellow and had a big smiley face on it. It was so comfortable and I would have hated it if it had been gone.

The next afternoon Ivy had a friend over. His name was Eric and he seemed like a pretty nice guy. Apparently Ivy thought so, too, because she didn’t stop talking to him for a second. This way she couldn’t find out much about him, but he learned a lot about her. How she always stood up for her siblings (true), how she always tried to be nice and courteous (honestly? Not so much true) and how friends were the most important thing to her (I guess that’s at least partly true). The poor guy barely managed to say a sentence or two in between, but maybe he didn’t want to, either. If he was a shy guy, maybe the right person for him actually was Ivy. We would see how that would go.

Even if he was not right for her, he got along great with our entire family. When mum started a spontaneous jam session, he listened and afterwards admired her guitar skills. You could tell that he knew what he was talking about. It was so nice to have another sim around who loved music as much as our family did! Even if their conversations distracted me from doing my homework. After all, I wanted to be a good student with straight As!

My parents approved of my decision, obviously. Still they made sure I didn’t work too much and relaxed every once in a while. Pillow fights were a great way of forgetting all the trouble in school. And since I found out pillows CANNOT feel any pain, something I actually believed when I was a kid (how embarrassing! Everybody knows that their organism is too primitive for that, while blankets are very well aware of what is happening around them), they became a daily routine. Teenage hood was so much fun.

Not only because I could eat anything I wanted without gaining any weight. Apparently, this was something my sisters were jealous of, but it’s not like I did something to make this happen! I swear! No matter how much cake I ate, my clothes still fitted perfectly. Well, there is no better excuse to eat cake than saying that my body stays slim because of it! And there was no way to prove the opposite. Mhmm, cake…

Unfortunately, this was not a happy time for everybody. Henner and Grace still didn’t get along at all and had fights all the time. And I mean ALL the time. Sometimes it seemed like Henner’s hand felt a magnetic attraction towards Grace’s face or something. It was still sad to see, but something we eventually had to get used to.

Our parents never stopped getting mad at them for acting this way. More than one time they were grounded and had to stay inside the house for a few days. Henner used that spare time to work on his guitar skills, while Grace just stomped around, “accidentally” breaking this and that and shouting at everybody coming in her way. I couldn’t wait to get rid of her.

All of those fights and discussion inspired me a lot. I started writing my first own songs, mostly on the piano, although I wasn’t that good yet. It felt so good to write about everything that was happening and I could practically feel the tension disappearing. Sometimes, when the piano didn’t really help me, I switched to my guitar or tried some new rhythms on my drums. One of those instruments was always perfect for my mood and for what I wanted to say. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be like a One Sim Band sometime and be perfect in playing the drums, the guitar, the piano and the bass? Yes, this was what I wanted to do with my life.

Finally the big day was here! Grace had finished high school and was about to age up into a young adult. Finally she would be able to move out of the house, something she had promised to do a long time ago. I think the main reason for us celebrating was this one, not the fact that it was her special day. And I’m sorry for saying this. But try and live with her for more than a week, then you will know what I mean!

What can I say. Of course I wished her luck for her life outside our family, but it was not like I wanted her to call every day or anything.

Bye, Grace.

Author's notes: ..and once again, we're back! Sorry it took me so long, but the last weeks were full with stuff. I continued being in elementary school two days a week, in the meantime decided to drop out because the combination of the kids and the situation with my colleagues was a little too much for me, but then decided to stay there. In addition, I started working at my old high school three afternoons a week, supervising the fifth- and sixth-graders while doing their homework (and helping out when necessary). That job came pretty unexpectedly, as I only wanted to do an internship at the school But the new headmaster asked me to do this, and as I am getting paid reeeally well and am able to learn so much about pupils in that age, I accepted right away.It's a lot of fun and since I already know some of the fifth-graders from last year when they were in "my" elementary school, I felt home from day 1. By the way, it's really fun to walk through the staff room as if I belong there, especially when some of my old teachers are in it. (Not to mention one very nasty situation with my former music teacher, who used to be my idol for years. Most of the time it's fun to be in there.)

Starting my three-day weekend, my body decided to be funny and gave me a pretty bad cold, which means I've been in my bed for the past 48 hours. Since I need to get back to school tomorrow I just hope I will be better by then. At least I had some time for posting ! :)

Chapter title: An old, yet amazing song by ABBA.