Rose 17: Everyone knows

Fiona

     The next day after school, I ride the bus home to the Monty house. I've done this before, but it was always to play/visit with Allen. Today, Allen has to work or something, and anyway, I'm visiting with Antonio obviously.
      I bravely lean in to kiss him before walking into the house because I think it will be weird with his mother watching us. Tony acts a little surprised I kissed him, and I also can't help but think that he didn't really want me to do that. Huh? I pull back and look at him with a confused expression.
     "I'm sorry, Fiona. I just have a lot on my mind today." he says in way of explanation.
    "Okay." I say, trying to hide my hurt feelings. I don't want to whine or be clingy, but I didn't see the harm in just a quick kiss.
    He lifts his head up and takes in my expression. "Hey," he says, brushing my cheek with the backs of his fingers, "it's not you. I'm stressing over this crazy paper I have due on Friday."
    "Oh. Okay. Well, we can just go work on homework and stuff if that's what you want." I offer as a consolation. He nods, and we go sit at the table on his porch -- outside. I get the feeling he really doesn't want me to go into the house for some reason.

    We each pull out our various class notebooks. Tony acts grumpy about the whole thing. I hope he can finish that paper and get back to the Tony that I know -- with whom I agreed to go to prom and go steady. This is the 'Allen's-older-brother-so-leave-him-alone' Tony. I hope yesterday wasn't a fluke. It's got to be that he's just stressed out.

     "And then Mr. Sparks has to go and make my life more of a living hell. As if I don't have enough with this paper due, he has to load us down with extra homework in calculus." he complains. I don't really know how to answer, so I say nothing and just try to be a sympathetic ear, trying not to take his behavior personally.

    Eventually, his mood starts to lift, and by the time we get finished with our homework, the full moon is on the rise.
     He quietly swears under his breath. "I thought time was only supposed to fly when you're having fun. This hasn't been very fun, has it?"
      I look up and see that he's waiting for my response as he folds up and puts away his notebook. "Oh, well. It's homework. I don't think it's supposed to be fun, is it?"
     One corner of his mouth goes up in a half-smile before he says, "Sorry for being such a drag today." I start to contradict him, but he holds up his hand and stops me before he says, "Maybe tomorrow will be better. At any rate, you need to head home before curfew."
      "Okay." I stand up and put away my notebook as well.

    The temperature drops like a stone, so we both spin into our outerwear.
    He pulls me to him and cradles the back of my head in a small hug as he tells me, "I forgot. I have to work tomorrow and the next day and probably the next day as well. But I'll see you at school and then don't forget prom is later this week."
     I smile. "I haven't forgotten." Like I could forget that!
    "Good." he says simply, pulls back, and kisses me. I'm happy that, at least for a few minutes, I get to see the Tony I like to have as my boyfriend.
     I rush home in time to see Skye age up.

     Can't really tell from the weird lighting we get on a full moon night, but Skye has brown hair just like my dad and sky-blue eyes like my mom. That's good -- he should have sky blue eyes with a name like his.

    The next morning, I wake up and head to the bathroom to take a shower. I can hear Dad in the boys' room quitting his job. I remember him and Mom talking about how the loan is almost paid off, and they want to go back to their original plan of being self-employed.
     I think Beppe is mad at me. He glares at me in school today. I thought I told him the news that I was going to prom with Antonio in a pretty good way, but he's still upset. Then... get this... he asks Tony's ex-girlfriend Marta to prom, and they start going steady. He has this 'so there' look on his face when he sees me in the hallway again. I get the feeling he's trying to make me jealous, and I actually feel sorry for Marta to some extent.
     Incidentally, couples really are starting to pair up. Kermit and Angela are the next ones to do so. Then it's like I just turn around and Allen and Crystal start going steady. I don't know how Allen can stand to be around her. He's so sweet and she's so... not. I guess opposites attract in this case. Our already-strained friendship takes another hit since I don't really like her.

    My little brother Don grows up to child and really takes a serious interest in art just like Mom.
  Oh Em Gee! Remember Camillo Mancini? Yeah him. He got some woman named Lashanda pregnant! I heard Mom talking about it to Giovanna. I mean, I guess that's not awful. His wife died, so why should he go celibate just because she's dead? Well, they're planning a quick wedding. It's all hush-hush which of course means everyone knows.

       My dad ages up as well, and he doesn't act very happy about it at all. He's grumpy for ages.

     Mom is happy we got enough money to piece together a small study for her easels and Dad's evil computer.

     Prom day finally arrives, and I wait for Antonio to come and pick me up. He shows up and then leaves, so I decide to shrug it off and just get my butt over to the school on my own anyway. 

     It's the 'in' thing not to dress up for prom, so I just go in my plain old outfit.
     I'm crowned queen. ??? !!! I think it's mostly because I'm Tony's date and they wanted him as the prom king or something. That has to be it.

    Antonio acts a little goofy when they go to take the picture of us. He distracts me. Oh well, it's stuff like this that makes it more real.
     All during prom, Tony acts like the 'Tony' that asked me to prom, not the 'Allen's-older-brother-so-leave-him-alone' Tony. I love all the attention from him.
     Something else really interesting happens at prom: Allen and Crystal break up. I couldn't figure out what the fight was about on my own. I had to hear it through the grapevine that it had something to do with something he said, but no one will tell me exactly what it was he said.

     When I walk in the back door, I see Dad sitting at the evil computer, happy. He'd just read an email that said that the book he'd finished called Double Buns will earn us $703 a week, and he's become a small celebrity once again. Apparently, he'd been a celebrity for a while before I was born.
     I ask Donovan what he's painting, and he tells me it's a white cat in a snowstorm. ??? Ooooh-kay.

     Saturday arrives again, and it's Link's birthday. I invite Antonio and Allen to come over. Link says he really doesn't care to have a party, so Mom and Dad just decide to let him age up quietly later this afternoon.
     Allen arrives without Tony. He says he doesn't know where his brother is, that they'd both come from different locations.
      I pull out my phone and call Tony. He apologizes and says he has to work again today, that the station had called him after I called him, and he doesn't want to lose his job. I'm bummed out. Today was supposed to be our day together. He's had to work almost every day this week. I guess I should count my lucky stars that he didn't have to work the night of prom.

      Still, I can't shake the feeling that he's blowing me off. I wish I could shake it off. It hurts.

     I can feel Allen looking at me. I don't want to talk about it, so I go escape to Mom and Dad's bathroom for a few minutes. Thankfully Donovan, in his pjs no less, distracts him enough for me to make my temporary disappearance.

     When I come out, I see that Link is ready to age up and Allen is acting weird.

    Link ages to teen.
    My family all goes in different directions, and before I even realize it, I'm alone in the living room with Allen. I just know he's going to try to get out of me why I'm acting bummed.
    He turns to me and says it, "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or am I just going to have make stabs in the dark until I get it right?"
     I just can't talk about Allen's brother with him. Allen is my best friend, yes, but when your boyfriend is your best friend's older brother, things get weird.
      "I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to go and work on mixing potions." I say in a huff. I hope he goes and just finds Link to go play something boyish ... maybe the goal outside or something.

    He surprises me when he takes my hand and spins me around.

    I can't help but smile sheepishly at him before he says, "Talk to me." Then he starts dancing with me. He doesn't mean anything romantic about it. I think it's just a way to keep me from running off. "What did my brother do?" he guesses, and my mouth drops.
    "Nothing." I say. Well, it's not exactly a lie. The problem is that he did nothing. He didn't even sound that apologetic when he blew me off.
     Allen looks off into the distance for a minute before he asks, "Okay, so what was he supposed to do and didn't do?"
     "Allen, I just can't talk to you about your brother. I'm sorry." I apologize. It's just too strange. Instead, I change the subject, "So, what happened with you and Crystal?" I've never gotten around to asking him because we've always been surrounded by the rest of the group.
      "I told her to lighten up. Imagine that, and she got pissed off."
      "Huh?"
      He smiles. "She was harping on and on about how she's convinced I have a thing for you and how she can't stand you. She didn't want to believe me when I told her we're just friends. So, I told her to lighten up." He shrugs and continues, "So, she broke up with me. I saw her eating lunch with Glen yesterday. I forgot to tell you about that. Glen looked at me kind of guilty-like, and I still haven't figured out why really. He just did."
     I smile a little and say reassuringly, "Well, her loss then."
     He barks out a small laugh and says, "Yeah. Right."
     I deliberately step on his toe and say, "Don't do that to yourself."

    "Don't do what exactly?" he asks. "Sell myself short? So you can do it and I can't, is that it?" His voice has a teasing edge to it.
     I can't look him in the eye as I argue quietly, "I don't do that."
     "I am not going to argue with you except to say that yes you do."
     I start laughing. "So you're not arguing with me?"
     He grins back, and I see the child still in him as he says, "Nope."

    He playfully stops our little discussion/argument by twirling me, only this time keeping me facing away. If anyone were to walk in on us, this would look really romantic, but we know better. It's just not like that with him. Things have gotten a tad stranger now that we've gotten older, however, and I hate that. Before I started dating Antonio, everyone thought me and Allen would become a couple. Shows what they know.
    Why did Tony blow me off? Could it be he's with someone else right now? And he's using his brother to keep me occupied? No, Allen wouldn't do that. He'd rat out his brother to me before he'd do something like that. Wouldn't he?
    I hear Allen sigh behind me, and I wonder if Crystal breaking up with him hurt him. Just another reason not to like her.
    He puts his chin on my shoulder and mumbles in an understanding voice, "You're sad because he's not here, am I right?"
    I look down at the floor and answer quietly, "Yes." I take a deep breath and say, "It's just -- he's had to work so much this week, and he kept saying 'Saturday, Saturday'. Well, it's Saturday and he's working again. I thought they didn't schedule him for Saturday for some crazy reason."
    "Well, he is in the training program. Maybe he's doing something extra for that. He is really loving that job. He must, he spends every available second at that fire station." His head turns in my direction. "And he's ignoring my best friend in the process. I guess I'll talk to him about it."
     I gasp. "No! Don't do that!" If my best friend were a girl, she'd understand. Geez, Allen, you don't have to fix this!

    He lets out a huff and turns me back around. Now it feels like we're actually slow dancing dancing.
    "He's being stupid." Allen says. "He doesn't even know what he's got, and that just makes me mad."
     Oh..... oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, I think as the atmosphere around us changes instantly. Maybe everyone thought me and Allen would end up as a couple for a reason. Uh oh, what now?!
 

    "Allen..." I start to tell him that he's just a friend or something along those lines, but he interrupts me.
     "I know." he says, and I have to close my eyes. "Please don't get weirded out on me, Fiona. Nothing's changed."
      Nothing's changed?! What does he mean by that? And how the heck am I not supposed to get weirded out? No, Allen. Don't you know this changes everything?!
       Nothing's changed for him more like is what it is.
      "How long?" I whisper.
      "Not very. Since we started high school." He pauses for a second before he gets this pleading tone to his voice, "It's fine! Please don't let this ruin our friendship."
      "But, you told Crystal - "
      "That we're just friends." he finishes for me. "Which that's all we are." He sounds aggravated, and I finally open my eyes to read his expression. He looks like he's fighting himself. "Tony knew." he says harshly, and I'm floored.

    I have to take a step back when he slowly leans in like he's about to kiss me. "Allen?" I ask, wondering what's come over him.
     His eyes open wide in surprised horror.

     "I'm sorry!" he gasps, and I watch him cautiously.

    He looks defeated. "I feel lower than dirt right now. I stopped thinking there for just a few seconds. Today... it's just been harder for some reason."
      I wonder what it would've been like to kiss him, I think uncontrollably. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's every bit as attractive as his brother, but I've just never thought about it. It's always been that Tony was the dreamy older brother while Allen was the cute friend.
      "Please say something, Fiona. I feel like such a loser, and I don't want to have just ruined our friendship." he says, looking down.
       What on earth do I say? "Um, we're still friends. I just... had no idea. How come you never told me?"
 

     The front door opens, and Mom walks in as Allen says, "I never got a chance to."
     I give Mom a pointed look, and she smiles a little and walks into her room.
     "Come on, Fiona. Other than my almost-slip-up just now, this changes nothing. Just... ignore it! It's worked for me so far! Other than today, but ... Well, it would've been better for everyone if he'd have come over with me because then you wouldn't have been sad and stuff. Can we just ... pretend ... like it never happened?" he asks with a tiny grin at how he stressed the word 'pretend' like we were a couple of kids again.
      The main thing is -- I want my best friend back. So, I agree to pretend. "Okay." I say with a small smile.

    We hug in a friendly way, and I think we're both trying really hard to keep it that way.
    Why did Antonio have to blow me off like that?!
    "I'll just ... go home now." Allen says a little sheepishly, and we agree to just see each other at school on Monday. Nobody needs to know what almost just happened... which nothing happened.
     If nothing happened, then why do I feel so rotten?

----------------------------------------------------

Most of that drama was done autonomously. I was doing something with Link when I suddenly noticed that Allen had tried to kiss Fiona. Naturally, I snapped away at that! I was curious to see if they were compatible, so I had Fiona ask him his sign. Then I made the mistake of ignoring them for a few minutes.... and the rest, as they say, is history. (I couldn't help but say that last bit LOL!)

Okay, gossip:
Fiona got the want to go skinny dipping with HER FATHER?!?!?!?! I did a screenshot of it and put it in the Random Stuff tab. *says in a scolding tone* Fiona! We do not roll wants to go skinny dipping with our fathers!
Rose and Pedro tried for baby and for the first time when I'd tried it, nothing happened. O.O So, I still have that last kid to bring in.
I'm really starting to think that Link will be the 2nd gen heir. His neurotic trait will make it more interesting. Oh, and when he aged to teen I chose (since I could and I have other reasons) the perceptive trait for him.
Oh, when that whole bit with Fiona and Allen happened, the game gave Fiona the naughty rep. Great. So now I'm running the risk that Antonio will hear about her asking his brother for his sign and then that his brother tried to kiss her when she stopped him. That won't matter though, will it? grrr he'll still blame her. Nuts.