Chapter 42 - Botanical Boss My new building, "K's Criminal Operations," was looking a little bare--so I added a koi pond, so to speak. It really adds an aura of calm terror to the place--
Please Don't Feed The Fish, Or We Will Destroy You.
Grandma and Rosa are having a great time bonding! Rose is very busy maxing out painting, but they still find time to pillow-fight for hours!
I'm pretty rebellious nowadays--I stay out all night, come home, gulp down an Invigorating Elixir, and am late for the bus. I wouldn't care much about grades, except I want to get a University degree and I hear they pay attention to that sort of thing.
Daddy insists that grades are super important, and said that Mum didn't like school at all until college. I know I'm good at school, and could get good grades, I just don't like it! Homework is a total drag when I could be out decorating the city!
Rosalia, on the other hand, is super into
everything. She
loves school, she
loves painting, unicorns, and all her classmates and world peace! It's not exactly hard to tell where she gets it from.
It seemed like everything was going perfectly. I was doing well in school, making a few friends--Rosa was quickly becoming the most popular girl in fourth grade. Then, Grandma died as she left her concert. She was only 92 at the time.
She plead with Grim for a little more time to say goodbye to her husband of over sixty years. But of course, her cries were in vain.
Grandpa knew right away, somehow. Maybe he had a premonition, or his heart suddenly shattered in half. Either way, he ran all the way to the theater and found her tombstone there, where she had last stood.
Rest in peace, Lolita Elysi. Wife of Nicholas, Mother of Bree, and Rock Star. You were a beacon to everyone in this house, and we miss you every day. It seems fitting that your sculpture was done in your genie outfit and cat slippers.
Grandpa can't go into his room any more. He says everything there reminds him of her.
I can't blame him, really. There are so many pictures of them, together . . . living their lives. Even the Festival Egg was found by her, and the flowers on the nightstand were ones she had picked. Y'know what I mean? This is why I'm never getting married--it would hurt too much, in the end.
After that, I spent most of my afternoons down at the Roasted Toasted Beans Coffee Shop. It's the coolest hangout in Sunset Valley, the sort of place my parents don't even know exists! A little tea--or something stronger, if I know the barista--helps take the edge off my grief.
I ended up getting a job there, just wiping down tables and cleaning windows, but it was something to keep me busy. That's how I met this guy--I can't even remember his name, but he's a young adult who had a few tattoos and, apparently, didn't mind hanging out with high school girls. We spent most afternoons talking or dancing, and generally annoying customers until they left.
My parents had no idea. As I mentioned before, they've probably never heard of the coffee shop, and are all too eager to believe that I go to the library every day for a study group. They have . . .
different ways of coping with pain.
I still feel sorry for the little kids from the daycare who wandered into the bathroom at the wrong time!
Great-Grandma Serena, on the other hand, expanded her herb garden by a lot! She spent pretty much every day, dusk 'til dawn, watering and weeding and harvesting and fertilizing.
I don't think Grandpa ever really got over it.
Rosa and I have been drifting apart ever since my birthday--we just weren't in the same age group any more! She was a little kid, and I was practically an adult. Still, I was surprised that I had to cheer her up, and not the other way around: she's usually such a stoic little kid. Anyway, we're back to being best friends.
I still haven't convinced her to leave off the scarf when going to school, though. I guess it's normal for kids to be a little insecure about themselves, but the gloves, tights, and scarf seem a little overkill!
I almost didn't want to go to Prom without her, but Mom pointed out that she hadn't wanted to go to her Prom and ended up having a great time, so . . . yeah. Luckily I went stag, so I didn't have to fake cheeriness.
Believe it or not, I won Prom Queen! I wouldn't have accepted the crown, since it's really a practically medieval labeling of which girl is the prettiest, but the Prom
King was kind of cute--see where I'm going with this? As it turns out, I didn't even get to dance with him because I was too busy flirting with this girl, Sheryl! I don't like her that much, but I was a little dizzy from the punch my friends and I spiked, then we started making out and it all went a little bit blurry . . .
The next morning, once I had (pretty much) recovered, I invited Sheryl over to explain that I really didn't want to be more than friends--or even friends, really!--but she was totally in denial! She wouldn't let me talk to her or anything, but just ran around turning on all the stereos and watching TV. I kicked her out after a few hours.
I would have asked Mom for advice, but she was dealing with her own crisis at the time.
"
Grandma? This is Code Scarlet--repeat, Code Scarlet."
"
Okay, sweetheart, let me have a chat with the Watcher."
"
The Watcher? I thought we were going to handle this ourselves, forget the Watcher!"
"
Now, dearie, the Watcher is an incompetent, meddling micro-manager, but she is quite manipulative and an extreme pack-rat, which is in our favor in this situation."
"
She? I thought the Watcher was a man--since the guy Watchers are meaner, and everything!"
"
Oh, no, Bree. You're thinking of sumo wrestlers."
"
. . . I am?"
"
Now, the important thing is not to panic. Take the class and enroll at City Hall. I'll meet you in front of the grocery store with the trunk in an hour."
Within the space of a few hours, my mom had gone from being league MVP to Sunset Valley's newest Botanical Boss. She immediately quit and rejoined the sports career, since she couldn't stand having people "constantly asking for fertilizer" any more.
Maybe this is an example of how all earth-shattering problems are fixable, after all! Oh, and Rosa painted this gorgeous piece. I can't wait until I'm allowed to paint!
