Chapter 2.15 - Irresponsible

   Arienne sighed and stared at her watch for what felt like the hundredth time as she waited for her friend to arrive. Why had she agreed to the outing again? It was Love Day. The day wasn’t to be spent with friends. It was supposed to be spent with loved ones, like a boyfriend or at the very least, a crush. She conveniently decided to ignore the fact that she didn’t have a boyfriend (and that her crush only saw her as a friend). The point was, she didn’t want to spend Love Day with Rose. But Rose had pleaded and cajoled and begged until Arienne had finally given in.

   Which was why Arienne was waiting for her in the park, looking impatiently at her watch every thirty seconds and generally looking like she was being stood up by her date.

   Arienne sighed again. Why had she given in again?

   Her phone ringing in her pocket startled her from her thoughts. She scowled slightly when she read the caller ID. Rose better had a good reason for being late.

   “Hey Ari, it’s me, girl,” Rose’s voice came from the handset when Arienne answered. “Listen, something came up, so I’m not coming,” she announced. “I’ve arranged company for you though, so you won’t be alone. Okay bye,” she stated nonchalantly and hung up the phone before Arienne could get a chance to respond, causing her to stand bewilderedly with the phone at her ear.

   Had Rose really just done what Arienne thought she had?

   She had.

   Arienne was going to kill her.

   “Hey Arienne,” a very familiar voice she had absolutely not been expecting sounded from behind her, causing her to squeak embarrassingly and spin around. Max looked back at her, poorly disguised amusement lighting his overly-bright eyes.

   Had she mentioned she was going to kill Rose yet?

   Max suddenly smiled at her and those familiar butterflies woke up in her stomach and she couldn’t stop the answering smile on her own face.

   Or maybe she wouldn’t kill her. Not yet, at least. No matter which unconventional or unorthodox methods she had used, the fact remained that Rose had indirectly gotten her a date on Love Day. With Max. Even if she was the only one to consider it as a date.

   Max suddenly laughed, startling her out of her thoughts. “Do I even want to ask what’s causing you to make that expression?” he asked teasingly, causing a light flush to rise in her cheeks.

   “Not really,” she admitted, embarrassed at being caught. “It does contain Rose and thoughts of killing her though.” And plumbob, why did she say that? Now he was going to think she didn’t want to spend time with him.

   To her relief, her answer provoked a laugh out of him. “I understand exactly what you mean,” he agreed. “That girl is way too manipulative for her own good. Let me guess, she changed plans on you at the last second?” At Arienne’s hesitant nod, he grinned. “She did the same to me,” he admitted. “Not that I mind, of course. I’d much rather spend time with you than her.”

   The butterflies in her stomach surged forward. He preferred spending time with her? Did that mean that he might actually like her?

   “Oh?” she enquired, inviting him to elaborate on his statement.

   To her delight, he actually blushed a bit. He hadn’t meant to say that.

   “A-Anyway,” he said, avoiding the implied question, “since we’re both here and all, you want to try out the activities?”

   Arienne smiled. The day was looking up more and more.

   “Sure,” she agreed amiably. He grinned at her and took her hand to lead her to the activities presented by the fair. She was unable to prevent the flush in her cheeks or the way her heartbeat fastened at the feel of his warm hand in hers. Why did he provoke such strong feelings in her?

   For some reason though, he didn’t let go of her hand when they reached the horseshoe court. He continued holding on to it and although Arienne didn’t mind in the slightest, she couldn’t help but to give him a questioning glance.

   “Sorry,” he apologized and released her hand. He wouldn’t meet her eye either. Arienne glanced suspiciously at him, but decided to push it to the back of her mind. It didn’t mean anything, did it?

   “So, tonight is prom, right?” he stated conversationally when she took her turn at the horseshoes. Arienne glanced at him, wondering what his point was.

   “Yes…” she agreed. She carefully lined up the shoe in her hand with the pole in the middle of the court. Maybe if she flicked her hand a bit to the right –

   “Do you really want to go as friends? Or…more, maybe?”

   The horseshoe missed the pole by a mile. Arienne didn’t really care. Her attention was fixed on the question Max had posed.

   “I…” She blushed and looked away embarrassedly. “I wouldn’t mind…going as more,” she confessed shyly.

   His smile was like the sun coming up and Arienne couldn’t stop the answering smile on her own face. Maybe he really did feel the same way she did!

   “I wouldn’t mind either,” he admitted as well, causing the smile on Arienne's face to grow even larger. He did feel the same way she did!

   “Great!” she enthused, grinning like an idiot, just like he was. The euphoric feeling of knowing he liked her caused her to do something utterly impulsive and in hindsight, probably really idiotic too.

   Or rather, it could’ve been really disastrous; if he hadn’t liked her as much as she liked him. Luckily though, he responded quite positively. When they broke apart, they both grinned stupidly at each other.

   “So, are we dating now?” Max asked her slightly anxiously. Her answering grin was all the answer he needed, but she confirmed it vocally at well.

   Then she kissed him again; just because she could.

   Before long, the time to prepare for prom arrived. Arienne completed her preparations for the evening with a large smile on her face and an excited bounce in her step. She didn’t really know what she expected for the evening, but she knew it would be fun.

   She was a bit unprepared for Max’s arrival at the front door.

   “Why is he so early?” she fretted. “I’m not done yet!” She wanted to look her best for him, but she still needed to do her makeup! She couldn’t let him see her like that!

   Her dad sighed and shooed her off, promising that he’d distract her date until she was ready. Arienne was glad for the chance to complete her preparations, but she had a suspicion that her dad only agreed because he wanted to question her boyfriend. She smiled involuntarily at the thought. She loved being able to call Max her boyfriend.

   “Don’t scare him off!” she warned her dad before disappearing into the bathroom.

   Sam was determined to dislike Max, but the boy was too courteous and respectful towards him.

   “It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Max stated pleasantly.

   “Likewise,” Sam replied. “Take care of my daughter, alright?” He didn’t really want to hand his baby over to someone else, but Arienne was old enough to make her own choices. If the boy in front of him made his daughter happy, Sam would not prevent their fledgling relationship from developing further. Even if his daughter was still too young to have a boyfriend, in Sam’s opinion.

   Arienne finally emerged from the bathroom, looking far too mature to Sam. When had his baby girl become a woman?

   “Max!” she exclaimed happily and bounced over to her boyfriend, drawing him into a hug. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting!”

   Sam averted his eyes from the scene the two teenagers were making. He might not have a problem with their relationship, but he still didn’t want to be confronted with the reality of his daughter dating someone. She would always be his little princess to him.

   Prom was everything Arienne had been expecting, causing her to walk on clouds of happiness for days afterwards, to the great annoyance of her siblings. Even Renard with his usual pranks and antics was unable to bring Arienne back to reality.

   “Plumbob, she’s annoying,” Lyra complained to Renard after several days of being exposed to Arienne’s giddiness. “Doesn’t she ever shut up? It’s always just ‘Max this’ or ‘Max that’ and I swear if I hear the name ‘Max’ one more time I’m gonna – ”

   Renard snorted with amusement, preventing her from completing her threat. “Wanna prank her?” he suggested mischievously.

   Lyra looked contemplatively at her brother. She didn’t usually agree with Renard’s pranking tendencies, but if it could make Arienne just shut up, she was all for it.

   “What did you have in mind?” she replied, that same hint of anticipation and mischief in her voice. Renard’s eyes twinkled eagerly and he leaned forward to discuss his plan with his accomplice.

   And thus started the ‘gang-up on Arienne’ day.

   Unfortunately, it only lasted until their parents got sick and tired of the never-ending pranks and firmly put a stop to it. The two of them were punished by having their privileges revoked (the TV and gaming console), but in truth Lyra didn’t really mind that much. They had succeeded in their goal of getting Arienne to talk about something else than her ‘dear precious Max’.

   Renard didn’t mind much either. It was an inconvenience, but he quickly found something else to keep him entertained.

   Chantia tried to remain firm, but in the end she agreed to allow Renard to keep the snake. It might do her irresponsible son some good to keep a pet. It might even teach him some responsibility.

   On the surface, it looked like it did. Renard dutifully fed his new snake and kept its cage clean.

   However, it was not the only thing he did. If Chantia had had any idea how close her son had come to being bitten by the snake (several times, in fact), she would never have allowed the thing into her house. Her only consolation was that the snake wasn’t venomous, nor large enough to do serious harm to her son.

   Unfortunately, taking care of the snake did not curb Renard’s irresponsible behaviour as much as Chantia had hoped. It definitely helped a bit, as Renard decreased the amount of pranks he played on his siblings, but to his parents’ dismay, he turned his attention to other activities. When the call came requesting his parents’ presence at school, neither Sam nor Chantia was really surprised.

   They were extremely disappointed though, when they heard what Renard had done. He had been caught stealing another child’s lunch money and when pressed, he admitted it wasn’t the first time he had done so.

   The drive home was extremely still and uncomfortable. Renard shifted uncomfortably, unsettled by the atmosphere. He had expected his mother to yell at him, so her continued silence really disturbed him.

   “I’m sorry,” he mumbled when the silence grew too uncomfortable, hanging his head. And he was. He had known it was wrong to take the money, but he hadn’t really cared too much. Besides, he had only taken the money as a joke. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t planned on giving it back eventually.

   To his surprise, it wasn’t his mother that replied.

   “Are you?” Sam asked in a quiet voice, his gaze pinning Renard through the rear-view mirror. “Or are you just saying that to get out of trouble?”

   Renard hung his head again. He could hear his dad’s intense disappointment in his voice. He hated it. His mother’s anger he could handle, but he couldn’t, couldn’t handle his dad’s disappointment. It felt as if everything in the world was wrong when his dad was disappointed.

   “I really am,” he mumbled. “Honestly, I didn’t mean anything by it. It was just a joke.”

   For the first time he could remember, his dad raised his voice.

   “Stealing is never a joke, Renard!” Sam reprimanded harshly. “Never. It’s a horrible thing to do. I’m really disappointed in you.”

   Renard flinched. He had known his dad was disappointed, but to have in confirmed in such a strong manner actually hurt. He felt tears prick in his eyes, but he tried his best to hold it back. Boys didn’t cry.

   “I’m sorry,” he promised tearfully. “I promise, I won’t do it again. Ever.” It was probably the single most honest thing he had ever said. He would do anything if it meant getting rid of his dad’s disappointment.

   There was a long silence before his dad responded.

   “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, Renard,” Sam relented. “But please, don’t disappoint me on this.” There was something in his voice that caused Renard to look down, feeling lower than dirt. He never wanted to hear his dad plead like that again.

_~…~_

I’m not a terribly big fan of the teen stage, but wow, Arienne has some pretty amazing facial expressions. She’s my first teen sim I’d actually call cute. <3

Shooting in a car is really terrible. Why did EA decide that sims have to disappear when you get too close to them? I know there’s a cheat that stops objects from disappearing, but that apparently doesn’t include sims themselves. -_-

On an unrelated note, SP cracks me up. Mia had another child, a boy. Guess what SP named him? Sammy. I thought it was pretty funny, considering the amount of times she teased Chantia by calling Sam ‘Sammy’. It isn’t a name Mia would choose though, so I changed his name to Dominic.