A/N: Hey guys! Long century no see! I haven’t updated this ol’ story in a millennium! So if we went by my track record… I’ll finish this blog when I’m in my… 40’s? We’ll see.
I was really into writing for Fading Quickly for a while, so all of my writing and play time was dedicated to that blog. But then the worst thing that I have ever experienced happened. My wife had a miscarriage. It was really hard on the both of us, and I tried to be as loving and supportive as I could, because while we both lost the baby, it was her body that had to go through it. 😦
At that point, I lost all desire to write for anything really. I kinda bowed out of the simming community, sorta hoveringly reading people’s chapters.
That was last October, and in that time we both went through a lot (which included job loss, another miscarriage, and moving from one end of the US to the other).
Anyway! I’m back, and hopefully, I will post more often.
I’m actually really happy with this chapter because it flowed onto the word document exactly as I saw it in my head (as opposed to plopping onto the word document in an adequate fashion, as per usual). I really hope that you enjoy it.
PS. The title comes from Sarah McLaughlin’s song ‘Fallen’, which seemed to fit the theme of this chapter pretty well!
Anyway! Enjoy! As usual, likes and comments are much appreciated!
——————–
With my heart beating in my chest, I opened the door to the student lounge. Inside the room, the party was in full swing. EDM music vibrated through my whole body as I looked around. I hadn’t been to too many unsupervised parties back home due to the tight leash of my parents, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Most of the other kids were on the very packed dance floor, grinding their butts and crotches against each other, but there did seem to be a ton of other things to do. There was a makeshift bar behind the dance floor, and Jan Sentry (the girl who sits next to me in my English class) was standing behind it, mixing drinks. To the right was a bunch of lounge chairs where a couple of people thought was the perfect place to make out; and to the left was what appeared to be a blank canvas covered with balloons. When my classmates would throw the darts that were in their hands at the balloons, paint would explode out of the balloon. I guess it’s supposed to be art.
I stood at the entrance like a deer in headlights, not really knowing what to do. I took a couple of steps into the room, when someone shoved me from behind.
“Move, twerp!” Seriously???
“Nice to see you too, Cameron.” I said dryly. Who thought it was a good idea to invite Cameron to a party like this?
“So now we’re letting any loser in?” Cam asked his buddies. “Well that freakin’ sucks balls.”
“Well you would know plenty about sucking balls, wouldn’t you?” I asked. I was getting tired of his crap. It took all my will to not deck him in the face. I stood there staring at him with my fists clenched so tightly that I could feel my nails digging into my palms.
“Why you-“ Cameron began to raise his fist as if he was gonna punch me, when a drunk girl ran over and threw herself at him, almost spilling her drink on his shirt.
“C’mon Cammy, dance with me!” Still staring daggers in my direction, Cameron shoved the girl off with a grunt.
“Not now, Bianca.”
"But Cammy-poo." She begged, moving close to his ear. “If you dance with me I’ll…” Her voice got too low for me to hear, but I could imagine what she was saying because Cameron’s face perked up.
He poked me in the chest as Bianca pulled him to the dance floor. “This isn’t over.”
This isn’t over? What is this, some teen drama? I rolled my eyes, and walked over to the bar.
“Hey…” Jan said. Did she really forget my name? I could have swore that I talked to her plenty of times. She looked at me trying to remember. I thought about giving her a hand, but screw that. “…Brad?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Yup. That’s my name.”
“So, Brad. What can I get you?”
“I dunno. I’ve never drank before. What do you suggest?” Before she could answer, some guy bummed into me from behind.
“Oop! Sorry.” He leaned against me, using my shoulder as support. His breath smelled like straight up alcohol. “Janny, baby! Gimme an Aunt Roberta!” He then seemed to actually notice me, even though he was still using my shoulder as support. “Hey! It’s… gah! Wait! Don’t tell me.”
“It’s Brad.” Jan piped up. She seemed more annoyed than I was. I still didn’t have the heart to correct her.
“So what’s your fancy, Brad-o?” Strange guy asked me. I tapped my fingers against the counter.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ve never drank before.”
“Never? Dude, you’re not living, man! You gotta let loose, go crazy.”
“I don’t know. I should probably take it slow since it’s my first time.” I said.
“Oh my gosh, dude! Screw takin it slow! Ya gotta stop bein’ so uptight.”
I had never been called uptight before. I almost laughed that he even suggested that I needed to loosen up. Maybe that’s why I didn’t have any friends here. I was taking this school more seriously than anything else in my life. I was surprised at how good my grades were.
Oh my God! Did I turn into my sister? Thinking back on the whole time that I’ve been here, I’ve been a boring nerd. I felt myself cringe at my constant studying and straight up nerdisms.
“Give me whatever he’s having.” I told Jan. She looked shocked for a second, which ticked me off. I didn’t wanna be the antisocial art school reject, so if this is what’s gonna give me an “in”, then there was no way that I wasn’t gonna do it.
“You sure? It’s strong. Maybe you should start off slow.”
“C’mon, Janny!” The dude said. “The guy wants to let loose! Giv’m the drink!” He put his arm over my shoulder and leaned into me. With a sigh, Jan began to make the drink that I asked for.
When she slid the drink across the counter, I didn’t hesitate. I picked up the glass, and I downed it in one shot.
When the liquid hit my throat, it felt like I swallowed fire. But I didn’t want to seem like a wimp, so I continued drinking, clenching my fist to prevent myself from reacting.
“Dude!” The weird guy next to me practically yelled when I slammed the glass down on the counter. “You’ve got some hardcore BALLS! Get this guy another one!”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Jan said, reaching for my glass. Before she could grab it, I snatched it away.
“I want another one.” I really didn’t. But I was done with being a social outcast. If this is what it took, then I was doing it. Jan shrugged, pretty much saying that she wasn’t going to try to control me anymore. Good. She wasn’t my mom, so she couldn’t tell me what to do anyway.
Clumsily put the glass down on the counter for her to give me another drink. As she began to pour, this strange feeling came over me. I stared at the weird liquid as it fell into the glass. As soon as it hit the counter, I scooped it up, and started to drink it.
“Chug! Chug! Chug!” The weird guy beside me chanted. Other voices started joining in. A shudder went up and down my spine when I finished the nasty drink. But I wasn’t about to quit now! “Another!”
I was going to do whatever it took to finally get some friends. What was the worst that could happen?
——————–
I woke up the next morning with the worst headache that I’ve ever had. I tried to open my eyes, but the pressure on my eyelids was so overwhelming, that my eyes might have opened only a tiny bit before shutting again. My arms felt like limp noodles, and my feet felt like they were covered in cement that was weighing me down.
I groaned.
“Good morning.” I heard a familiar voice say. I was about to jump up in shock, but my limbs weren’t doing what I wanted them to. I used all the strength that I thought I had to open my eye so that I could see whoever was talking. All I could see was a blur of black, white, and green, and I realized that I didn’t have my glasses.
“How are you feeling?” The person asked me. I knew that they weren’t speaking loudly. But it felt as if they were screaming in my ear. I covered them with both of my hands and groaned again. “My guess is that you feel about the same as you look.”
“Kait?” I asked. I was finally able to recognize my favorite teacher’s voice. But I wasn’t sure why she was even in my room.
“You got it.” I could hear the slight creaking of wood, so I guess she was moving in her seat. “Do you remember anything that happened last night?”
I scratched my head, still totally confused about what was even happening. And where the heck were my glasses?
“Last night?”
“Yes, last night.” She said. While I couldn’t see her face, I could tell that she wasn’t happy with me. “I found you this morning passed out in front of my office. Do you want to explain to me what happened?”
It was then that I remembered the party last night. The music; Cameron being… Well, Cameron; sitting at the bar with that weird guy convincing me to drink whatever it was that I drank. Then… I couldn’t remember. I sat up and put my head in my hands.
“I… I don’t know.” I said. Why couldn’t I remember?
“My guess is that what you’re feeling is a hangover. It sucks, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. It really does. I am never doing that again.”
“That’s what everyone says.” She chuckled. She moved closer. “Do you want to tell me why you were drinking?”
I was a bit torn. On the one hand, what if last night got really out of control, or someone was seriously hurt? But on the other hand, I didn’t want to be the tattletale. If it got out that I was the one who spilled the beans, then I would forever be known as the party pooper. I gently shook my head.
“Fine.” She said with a sigh. “I probably should tell Mr. Harvey about what happened.” I felt my stomach drop. “But I won’t this time. I know you’re a good kid, Brian. I’m just going to chalk this up to a stupid teenage mistake, and give you a sick pass for today.”
Her heels clicked against the tile floor as she walked over to her desk. Each noise vibrated in my skull. Hangovers suck! When the noise stopped, I finally noticed what I was wearing.
“Uhh… where are my clothes?” The sound of heels on tile started up again as Kait walked closer. I felt my face heat up because I knew for a fact that this was not what I was wearing when I went to the party.
“Unfortunately, when I found you on my doorstep, you were completely naked.” All I could feel was dread. Why the heck was I naked? Why didn’t Kait tell me before? I had so many questions, but zero answers. I stood up, but Kait had to catch my as I lost my balance.
“Will you be okay to get back to your room?” I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to see okay. I knew that I had my stupid contacts back in my room. I just needed to be able to make it to my room.
“I will let your other teachers know that you will be out for the day. If you need anything else, Brian, don’t hesitate to ask. I nodded, and made my way to the door to the hallway.
——————–
The rest of the day was… weird. I did make it back to my room safely, and I was able to find my contacts okay (mom and dad are gonna kill me when they find out I lost my glasses). But whenever I passed by someone, I would hear them begin to laugh. I wanted to know what they were laughing about, but I was too hungover, and sick to do anything about it. I spent the whole day between the bed, and the bathroom, praying to God that this crap would end. I don’t think I’ve ever hugged a toilet bowl so much.
Luckily by the next day, I felt a heck of a lot better. Though things still felt a little… weird. When I would pass by other kids, they would either start laughing under their breath, or they would stare at me like I did something weird. I tried to shake it off, but the whole day I felt people’s eyes on me.
——————–
At the end of the following day, my math teacher told me that Headmaster Harvey wanted to see me in his office. When I got there, I knocked on the door and waited until I heard him say that I could come in.
“Mom? Dad?” I was shocked to see my parents sitting across from Mr. Harvey. My parents looked as confused as I felt, but Harvey pointed to a chair near my mom and told me to sit down.
“Here at LeFromage, we take pride in our school, teachers, and our students. Thus far, your son has been an outstanding individual. His grades have been impeccable, and his attendance extraordinary.” Both my mom and dad looked at me with pride, and my mom grabbed my dad’s hand, squeezing it gently.
“That’s great to hear.” My dad said. “But is that why you called us here? It seems rather pointless to travel all this way just to hear about how great he was doing.”
Mr. Harvey shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I wish it was that way. But I’ve actually called you here to discuss Brian’s future at LeFromage.”
“What do you mean?” Mom asked him. “I thought you said he was doing great.”
“Perhaps it is better that I show you.” Harvey grabbed the edges of his computer screen, and rotated it so that we could all see.
All three of our jaws dropped when we saw what was on the screen. It was a picture of me, standing on a table butt naked, some type of bottle in hand. My face began to heat up as I saw the look of horror on my parents’ faces.
“This has been circulating through the student and faculty forums for the past couple of days. It is a clear image of your son violating multiple rules that we have set here.” Hot tears burned in my eyes as he went down the list of rules I’d broken. I knew that both of my parents had to be angry. But especially my dad. I could only imagine the talk that we would have later. All of the previous pride on his face, completely gone. I had wanted him to be proud to call me his son, but I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes after this.
“Unfortunately, due to the list of rules that he violated, I have no other option but to expel him from LeFromage.”
“You what?” My dad asked. His already pale knuckles turned white due to him gripping the chair.
“Here at LeFromage, we value hard work and talent. But there are rules that need to be followed. If proper action is not put into place, then we could lose funding.”
“So because of one stupid mistake, you’re just gonna kick him out?” My dad began to slowly raise his voice. My mom put her hand on his arm, reminding him to reel his temper in.
“I apologize, but my hands are tied. The only thing that I can do for Brian now is help in any way that I can so that he can finish out his junior year somewhere else.”
My dad stood up. “Get your things, Brian.” He grit his teeth, and extended his hand to the headmaster. “Thank you for giving my son this opportunity.” Then, he walked out.
——————–
When mom and I walked out of the office, my dad was nowhere to be found.
“You’re father is probably waiting in the car.” Mom said. I looked at her, and I could see the disappointment in her eyes.
“He hates me.” I said.
“He doesn’t hate you Brian. Are we disappointed? Yes. But your dad loves you so much. I think your father is more angry about the fact that even though you were an excellent student, they won’t give you a second chance.”
She gave me a hug. “Go pack up your stuff, I’ll go help your father cool off.” She kissed me on the forehead, and walked outside.
——————–
I knocked on the office door, hoping that she hadn’t left for home yet.
“Come in.” Her voice filtered through the cracks of the door. I opened the door to find Kait sitting at her desk. “Oh, Brian. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I’m guessing you heard about what happened?” I asked. She nodded, seeming slightly preoccupied. “Well, I just wanted to thank you for not ratting me out. And I wanted to thank you for being an awesome teacher.”
She stood up from her seat, and extended her arms to hug me. “I wish you the best, Brian. I’m sorry that your time here had to end this way.”
“I’ll survive.” I said, even though at this point, I felt like there was no way I’d be able to go anywhere with my music. As I hugged her, I couldn’t help but notice the website she was on. “What’s that?”
(A/N: Please excuse my crap editing.)
“Oh, this? It’s nothing really. I’m just trying to find my birth family.”
“You’re adopted?”
“Yeah. I was adopted when I was three. I never really thought about finding my birth parents until a couple of months ago, when my husband suggested it. Unfortunately I’m not having any luck finding anything about closed adoptions in Riverview.”
“Well maybe I can help!” I said. “My family knows some people in Riverview. Also my brother’s best friend is training to be a cop, and my dad has a lot of connections with famous people in Bridgeport. So we could probably help!”
She thought about it for a minute. “Alright. But I would personally need to clear it with your parents. I want to make sure that they are okay with this.” She wrote down a number on a sheet of paper, and handed it to me. “Give this to your dad, and have him call me. I don’t think it would be appropriate for a teenager to be spending alone time with his middle aged teacher.”
I grabbed the paper and put it in my pocket. I thought about what she meant, and I almost laughed. Sure, my teacher was definitely hot, but there was no way I’d do something like that. Kait held out her hand for me to shake.
“I wish you the best in wherever life takes you. I know you’ll do great with whatever you decide to pursue.”
——————–
After the bellboy dudes loaded my stuff into our car, I climbed into the front passenger seat. My dad looked less angry, but I knew that he still wasn’t happy with me. But what could I expect? I was the Lee family screw up. I just hoped that I could make it up to them when we got back home.
Home. I was actually very excited to see it again. I couldn’t wait to see my old friends, Vissa, and Skylar. I also couldn’t wait to see Lance again, not that I would tell him that.
I turned my head to look back at LeFromage. I probably should have felt disappointed that I was booted, but I surprisingly felt okay. Screw the dumb school. The other kids there sucked anyway.
I buckled my seatbelt as we pulled onto the road, and prepared for the worst lecture of my life.