Thanks everyone!
Holly Alto couldn’t really remember a time when her and her parents had got on. She had hazy memories of happy days spent on Sunset’s beaches in the months after they’d moved there, of a time when she wasn’t expected to be a certain way. Now, she felt she spent most of her life either trying to stay away from them and what they did or trying to get them to appreciate her for who she was. And it wasn’t easy. So, she found herself once again sitting in her classroom half an hour early, reading a book just to avoid them that morning. Little did she know that her world was about to change forever.
“Is this Room B?”
She glanced up, to see a girl she’d never met standing in the doorway.
“Er, yeah. Why?”
“Awesome.” She walked into the classroom and glanced around, taking it all in. “I’m Lara. I’m supposed to be starting here today?”
“Oh! Right. You’re one of the Riverview students?”
“That’s it. Dallas and Mary are probably just coming.” She made a face. “I’d hoped they’d changed their minds about coming here but no such luck. Oh well.” She dropped her bag onto Holly’s desk. “Mind if I sit here?”
“Sure. Well, that’s kinda someone else’s seat, but I’m sure it's fine.”
“Sounds good. What’s your name, then?”
“Me? I’m Holly.”
“You live round here?”
“Yeah. Most of us do, but...”
“This place is so small! Like, OMG. It’s so weird.”
The voice came from the corridor outside. The door swung open and two people, who Holly assumed were Dallas and Mary, sauntered in. Mary looked at Lara and sneered.
“What’re you doing here, farm girl?”
“Farm girl? Wow Mary, great imagination you’ve got there. And I moved, like you. Remember?”
“Urgh. So I’ve still got to deal with you?”
“Don’t worry. The feeling’s mutual.”
Mary turned to Holly. “I’m MaryKay Shallow. But you can call me Mary. Or MK. Who’re you?”
“I’m Holly.”
“No way. Holly Alto?”
Holly gulped. “Err, well, y’know...”
“Oh my gosh! This is so cool! So, you’re like, super rich, right?”
“Well, um...”
“We are going to be such good friends! So how big is your house?”
“Leave her alone, Mary,” said Lara. “She obviously doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, you’re obviously trying to be nice to her because you want some of her money! Where on earth did you get that uniform? Looks like it’s from a bin or something.”
“Mary, shut up,” Dallas drawled. He stuck his hand out to Holly. “Dallas Shallow. Pleasure to meet you.” Holly shook it gingerly.
“You too.”
“Don’t trust either of them,” Lara said over lunch. “They’re both awful. Tom’s a right suck-up and Mary... well, you saw her this morning, Holly.” She paused. “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but are you actually really rich?”
“Yeah. Dad made a fortune from property development and Mum’s the mayor. I couldn’t care less about it all, though.” Her tone was fairly light but there was an edge to it.
Bebe chewed her sandwich thoughtfully. “So, Lara, what about you? Everyone knows each other round here. What’s your life like?”
“Me? There’s not much to say. I live on a farm, but Mary’s inspired nickname could have told you that, with my parents, Gran, Granddad, my brother Ron and my aunt Rosie. Huge family, right? I like horse riding. I’m like, one eighth Italian or something? That’s me, pretty much.”
There was something strange about Lara, but Holly couldn’t think what it was.
“Horse riding? That’s so cool. Do you like, compete?”
“Yeah! I won a trophy back in July.”
“Wow.”
“Have you met the Lobos twins yet? They’re from my old school too. They’re adorable, but don’t tell them I said that. Anita and Carlotta, their names are.”
Where did Holly know her from?
Bebe looked over at her. “You okay? You don't look that great.”
Holly shook her head. “Fine. It’s nothing.”
When Geoff went down to the kitchen that Saturday morning, he found Nancy, staring at the newspaper and gripping her mug of coffee so hard it was a miracle it didn’t shatter.
“Nancy? What’s wrong?”
She just nudged the newspaper towards him slightly. Geoff sat down next to her and read the article covering the front page.
IS IT ALL CHANGE FOR SUNSET?
Following a speech made to local reporters yesterday, the Sunset Valley Times can reveal that Mayor Alto has unveiled plans for a town consultation to be held on long-standing plans for a mass-modernisation project. The consultation, ending with a vote all residents of the town would be invited to participate in, marks a bold shift in policy towards the idea of development in Sunset...The article then went on to elaborate on how he whole process would be fair and transparent, giving people the change to have their say in the future of Sunset. Nancy seemed to be in complete disbelief. Geoff put an arm around her shoulders gently.
“The thing is,” she said quietly, “They can’t do this unless I agree to it. I’ve got the deeds to almost half the land round here. Vita can’t force me to sell.”
Geoff almost laughed with relief. “Thank goodness for that. So, it's all fine then?”
“It’s not that simple. Vita’s already done a pretty good job of painting me as manipulative and controlling. If I don’t agree to go ahead with this I’ll never be able to show my face in public again.” She pushed Geoff’s arm away, gritting her teeth.
“But... what if the Altos win?”
“Then that’s what people want. And if I try and stop it they’ll just hate me for it.”
“We can’t just do nothing!”
“I never said that. We just have to stop them winning the vote. Somehow.”She stood up, and suddenly seemed full of determination. “A full on campaign is what needs to happen. The Altos and their minions have a head start, but I’m sure I can sort something out. Posters, flyers, and I’ll see if I can’t get something in the paper. Let me know if you think of anything else. I’ll be in my study.” She pulled her phone out, dialled a number and strode off. Geoff picked up the paper again, frowning.
Thornton was properly panicking about this dinner party. Morgana wasn’t sure what he had to worry about – after all, he knew the Altos quite well – but evidently there was a lot resting on this event in regards to his career that she was unaware off. When the doorbell rang he almost jumped out of his chair.
“Right. Remember what I said. Laugh even if it’s not funny, smile, don’t say anything unless it’s intelligent or complimentary.” Morgana wasn’t quite sure if he was talking to her or himself. She went over to the door and opened it slowly.
“Thornton!” Vita walked right past her and shook Thornton’s hand. “How nice to see you! It’s been far too long. Holly, dear, come say hello.”
Holly, who had been half hiding behind Nick, nodded her head awkwardly. “Hi Mr Wolff.” Vita nudged her and she attempted a smile. “Err, how are you?”
“Maybe we could leave the small talk,” Nick said, pushing past the three of them into the house. “We are here for business, after all.”
“But dinner as well, of course,” Vita cut in smoothly. The two of them strode over to the sofas at the far off the room, Thornton hurrying to catch up with them.
Dinner was an unpleasant affair, to say the least. Vita dominated the conversation, with Thornton offering the occasional “oh yes” and “you’re quite right”. Morgana looked over at Holly, who was picking at her meal and avoiding making eye contact with any of them. She wondered what was wrong. Vita glanced over at Holly and rolled her eyes.
“Oh for goodness sake, would you stop being so silly? It’s already a steak, isn’t it? So you won’t go saving any cows by not eating it.
You’re embarrassing us.”
“It doesn’t really work like that,” Holly mumbled. Vita gave her a pointed look.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Morgana cut in, only just restraining herself from glaring at Vita. “I had no idea you were a vegetarian, Holly, I’m so sorry. Is there anything else I could get you? Here, have some more salad.”
“Oh, don’t worry. It doesn’t matter,” said Holly, apologetically. She cut off a bit of her steak and chewed it, but she couldn’t quite hide the grimace that crossed her face.
“There, see?” Vita said sweetly. “It’s not so bad.”
“She is evil, that woman. If she’d spoken to Holly like that again that night I would have done something very stupid, I can tell you. And I wouldn’t have regretted it, either.” The two of them were sat in the hospital cafeteria after an un-eventful night shift, drinking coffee as Morgana related the events of the previous night to Geoff. He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Poor Holly. I’ve never seen her relax when she’s near her parents. As for Vita, she’s possibly the most ambitious person I’ve ever met, and will relentlessly destroy anything that stands in her way. What her end goal is, I don’t know.”
“World domination?” Morgana said it with a smirk, but Geoff just stared into his coffee cup.
“You know what? I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Tell him, a small voice in her head said, but she pushed it away.
“What’s Nancy plan to do about all this then?”
“Run a campaign. Don’t get me wrong, her dedication is... admirable, but she’s become absolutely obsessed with the whole thing. If I didn’t know her better I’d say she was scared.”
“Of the Altos?”
“More of what they represent. Change.”
Not the most exciting chapter, I know, but I needed to write it. The action should pick up a bit now. For anyone who doesn't know much about Riverview townies, MaryKay, Dallas and the Lobos twins are all EA Sims but I've invented Lara. Her and her family will be quite important later on 
Since it's Easter this weekend I'm not sure how much writing I'll be able to do, so bear with me. Thanks for reading! 
