Gen 2 - Chapter 3: A Romantic Interest and City Life

Writing a book sure took a lot longer than I had expected it to. I had thought for sure I'd get it written before I became a young adult, but nope. That didn't happen, so I made sure as soon as I was a young adult to hop on that computer (figuratively speaking, probably would have broken it if I literally hopped on it) and told myself to write, write, write! Now I actually had time to do it, of course, since I didn't have to worry about school or homework. Which, I forgot to mention, I had gotten an A, but then it dropped back to a B before my birthday. Feh. So I guess I'm no genius.

Only a few days before Rhett's birthday, he came home stinking like he'd been rolling around at the dump, looking exhausted and down in the dumps. I looked at him from the computer room, since I had the door open to let in music from the stereo, and frowned in concern. "Hey Rhetty-boy, you okay? You're kinda.. just staring off into the distance like a statue, there."

"I was fired."

Oooooh. Well, that explained a lot. It also wasn't a bit of a shock to me, all of my siblings had chosen stupid jobs that started immediately after school, and so they never got to have a break between stressers. "Aw, I'm sorry. Need a hug from your big sister?" I was mainly joking. Mainly, because I knew that if he needed a hug I'd give it to him.

"Nah.. I kind of have mixed emotions on it. I'm going to be growing up soon, and as soon as I do, I'm gonna be getting a job at the stadium. So really, they did me a favor. This way I don't have to quit.."

Smart boy. "Good thinking. Now go take a shower, I can smell you from here."

I forgot to mention that the same day Rhett got fired, I'd gotten a call from our agent earlier that day, telling me to go dance at The Grind for a long time. I had absolutely no complaints, in fact, I had the time of my life (I went there almost right after Rhett and my conversation)! I wanted to do this some more! Since The Grind was a hot spot that night, I decided that I wanted to visit five more hot spots. I danced, and danced, until finally the bartender came over and gave me $1000 and told me they were closing so I needed to leave.

When I left, it was awful timing. Standing outside was town thug Arran Gai, along with some other guy with brown hair who I'd seen around town. I tried to blend into the wall when I saw them look at me, then turn their heads to each other to converse about something. Oh please, oh please don't hurt me. I mean, I could probably take you, but I'm exhausted and just want to get home to my brother's birthday party..

They stood there whispering for several moments, before Arran gave me a bit of a smirk, then they turned and left. Creepers. I shuddered, before quickly heading home. Though I was a little bit fascinated by that Arran, I gotta admit.

As soon as they left, I headed home, knowing that I was nearly late for Rhett's mini birthday party. When I got home, I stopped in the middle of the living room, and looked around, realizing.. I really liked going to the dance club. And really liked the look of those high-rise apartment buildings. This house was great for raising children, but I was definitely not ready for that. I wanted to move into a high-rise apartment building, but.. the problem was I didn't want to leave my boys without a woman's touch. If Mom was still around, I'd have left in a heartbeat, but as it was.. I just couldn't do it to them. Yet.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw that I was only a little late, and managed to get in a cheer right before Rhett spun into a young adult.

As soon as he grew up, he declared that he was going to be a vegetarian like Dad. Blech. I don't understand it, but I'm not a big veggie fan so I guess it's understandable that I don't understand. Looking at my brother, I officially decided that Katina was an extremely lucky girl. My brother had somehow grown into a bit of a sexy heart-throb, despite his personality. Well, except for that whole.. being a huge romantic thing. Girls were still going to be falling all over him wherever he went. And here I thought he'd grow up to be a girly-boy.

After he'd grown, I walked over to him to congratulate him. "Hey, Rhett! Congratulations, you grew up hot."

"Uh.. thanks. I think. I don't know if I want my sister calling me hot.."

"Oh don't worry, I don't think of you like that. Ew. I was just being silly, you know?" I grinned at him, then gave him a birthday hug. "Now I need to go to bed, I'm exhausted. Again, congratulations."

"Thanks, Lyric." he said, hugging me back, then watching me as I headed to bed.

Days went by as they do, and Tony and Feliks often found themselves passing out at school from exhaustion. Of course, they were even doing that when Rhett and I were in school. Not that that was too terribly long ago. Speaking of Rhett, he got a job at the stadium. As naught but a rabid fan, but hey, gotta start somewhere right? He started working out as soon as they gave him the job, since they told him his physical has to be up to par to get promotions. See, this is why I'm just sticking with my mausoleum job, it doesn't require anything of me except not being afraid of a dark, creepy place with dead people.

One day, Tony came up to me looking a little.. well, almost shy. I just raised an eyebrow at him as he came up to me, not saying anything. "Uh, Lyric.. I know we haven't ever really gotten along, but... I need help with my homework, and Rhett's at work and Dad's.. to be honest I don't really know where he is. Please? I want to get an A.."

I stared at him in shock, eyebrows raised. He came to me for help. I beamed - sure, we'd never gotten along, but it was mostly him. I wanted to be friend with him. I wanted five friends period. "Sure, Tony. I'll help. I don't guarantee I'll be much of a help, but I can try."

So I did try, and helped him do his homework for the first day in ages.

So, I think I had a weird fascination with scary situations. Judging by where I work, and my fascination with Arran Gai ever since I saw him at The Grind. I hadn't really had any specific wishes about him, but one day I got on the computer, and funnily enough.. I managed to find him on a random-chat website. We got started chatting, and I found myself wanting to ask him his sign. Unfortunately, he got offline before I could ask.

A few days later, I got a brilliant idea. It was lunch time, and I was hungry, so I called him up. "Hello?" I heard on the other end, and I grinned.

"Hey, Arran! It's Lyric Parodi, from online the other day. I was wondering if you'd want to go out to eat at Hogan's Deep Fried Diner with me in a few minutes?"

"Eh.. I have to go to work soon, but I can meet you for a bit I guess."

"Great! See you there!"

When he met me at the diner, I kind of stared in shock at him. He'd gotten old since the last time I saw him. (The situation was kind of funny, though, as I stared at him, he stared at a Chinese tourist, who was staring at me.. it was a circle of stares.) But, that didn't deter me, and I started chatting with him for a bit, before getting to the point, asking him what his sign was. When he told me he was a cancer, and we realized that our signs were compatible, I squealed a little and grinned, wanting to kiss him immediately.

And so I did! It was my first kiss, and it was way more amazing than I thought it would be. And I was sure it would be. That's how good it was; it might just be because he's had quite a bit of practice over the years and it had a little bit of a dangerous hint to it, and it was my first kiss. I would have stayed outside with him and flirted some more, maybe even asked him to be my boyfriend - or would that be manfriend, since he's not exactly a 'boy' anymore? - but my stomach was seriously trying to eat me from the inside out.

"Want to get a quick bite before you head to work?"

"Nah, I don't have time. But.. we'll have to do something else soon, okay?" he said, winking at me.

I smirked slightly back. "Of course. Well, see you later then, Arran." I purred, before heading inside. Okay, maybe not really purred, I haven't mastered seduction yet, but I kind of purred.

Later that day, Rhett and I both had the same sort of idea. He decided to visit Bridgeport Sports Zone, to get himself a drink and a bite to eat after work. While he was there, I was getting a call from our agent, telling me to get a certain drink at the Banzai Lounge. I was perfectly okay with that.

When I got to the Banzai Lounge, I immediately knew that I adored it. It was so beautiful - so was the mixologist, but of course, they'd have to hire the most beautiful people for a place as high-class as this. As I sat there, I decided that I needed, needed to move into a high-rise apartment, to be closer to town. Right in the middle of everything! It was so much more my style than living at home, even if I did love my Dad and brothers. I felt a nagging guilt in the back of my mind, but I ignored it, and as soon as I got home I searched online for a cheap apartment.

As I searched, Rhett suddenly came in, and burst into the computer room. "Lyric, I'm going to move out. I love the city! Plus, that way I can live closer to work.."

I stared at him as he spoke, before grinning slowly. I didn't want to leave family.. and we both wanted to move into an apartment. "Want to move in with me? I was just searching for an apartment myself."

He stared at me for a moment, and I thought he was going to say no. "Really? I thought you wanted to take care of Dad, Tony, and Feliks."

I bit my lip. "I planned on it, but I feel like I need to move into an apartment, like if I don't something in me will burst." I knew exactly what it was, and it was my wish-granting thing. It wanted to grant my wish or else.

"I understand that. I'll go tell the others." Then he left the room, and I continued searching, until I found an apartment that actually fit our budget.

It.. to say it was disappointing was an understatement. Nowhere did they say that it was actually a garage turned into a small little studio. It wasn't even connected to the apartment building! I almost went to complain, but decided not to bother. We were famous, we were bound to get money soon, and it was better than nothing. It seemed to satisfy my desire. Rhett's as well. And after we spruced it up in our favorite colors, a computer, and the martial arts equipment that Dad let me keep, it was actually pretty nice. Roomier than our old house, despite it's small size. 

After we both had a good night.. well, it wasn't night. A good day's sleep? Whatever you'd call it, we had a good sleep, and afterward Rhett got a call from our agent to befriend Estiu. He'd wanted to a while ago, so he eagerly accepted, then jogged to her apartment. He never could have done that from our old house! Another perk about living in the city, we could walk/jog almost anywhere.

After work one day, I wasn't tired, so I decided to meander around town. While I was doing so, I happened to see Tony standing outside the stadium, so I hurried up to him and greeted him. We started into a conversation about the family, asking each other how we and the others were doing. Found out that Tony was now the town bully - was I surprised? - Feliks was doing fine, and so was Dad. I told Tony that Rhett was fine, doing pretty well as a rabid fan, though still was no where near a promotion. I also mentioned Arran, and we had a good giggle over some gossip about some locals. Basically, it was the best conversation I'd ever had with him - maybe I'd needed to move out sooner than I thought?

Rhett, the same day, was having quite a bit different socialization than I was. He had been wanting to get a couple more drinks at a couple different bars, so he decided to invite Katina to Waylon's Haunt for her birthday to young adulthood. If I'd have been there, I would have told him that a dive bar wasn't exactly the most romantic place to take a girl for her birthday, but I'm glad I wasn't. From what little he told me, she enjoyed herself quite a bit. So much, in fact..

.. she followed him home..

.. and decided not to leave.

(A/N: Yeah so, Katina is homeless, so after she followed Rhett home, she didn't leave for like.. three days, and never went inside. In order to keep her from starving, since she's a slob I'd put cleaned off plates outside for her. XD There's going to be more Katina-the-homeless next chapter, but I just wanted to get it started this time. I love her, and really hope that Rhett gets some marriage wishes for her soon. Or at least woohoo. Or, Lyric flirts with her. That would be cool too, I just want her in the family. Yeah, most of this happened the day before yesterday and yesterday, so I'm really caught up to myself.) 

Gen 2 - Chapter 2: Time

This is about how the first few days after Mom's death went: I tried to hold it together for everyone else, while they couldn't even perform everyday functions without breaking down. I wanted to do the same, but someone had to at least appear strong, right? I nearly broke down, myself, though when I saw Feliks and Dad try to play catch, and then stop in the middle and have a synchronized breakdown. Everything reminded everyone of Mom, I guess.. I know everything reminded me of Mom.

I tried to hold it in. I tried my hardest to stay strong for everyone else, but after only a little while I just couldn't, and when I woke up, starving, I found myself having my own breakdown. If it felt like this for me, how was Dad even still going to work?! It had to be even worse for him, he was in love with her!

I don't know how long I stood there, crying my eyes out, but eventually I couldn't handle the hunger anymore, and pulled myself together. "Get yourself together, Lyric.." I mumbled to myself, before heading to the kitchen.

Turns out I'm not a chef. Who'da thunk? As I was making the macaroni and cheese, macaroni flew everywhere, including onto the stove. Maybe it was just because I couldn't quite concentrate on cooking - how could I? After having that breakdown, all I wanted to do was lay around and mope.

After a few more failed attempts at making the mac 'n cheese, I got frustrated and just left it there, grabbing some cereal. I was too hungry and upset to do something I'd never done before. Rhett, however, came to the rescue and made sure the mac 'n cheese I'd already prepared didn't go to waste. He was much better at it than I was..

After my cereal, I watched Rhett cook for a bit, before deciding that I needed to call Dominick. He was quite a bit younger than me, but he was my best friend. I went upstairs, and called him. We couldn't talk very long, because it was late, but I did get to tell him about Mom.

"You'll be okay, Lyr! You're always okay, you're a fighter! And if you aren't okay I'll grow up and protect you from ever being not-okay again."

I laughed. "Thanks, Dom. Speaking of growing up, you are going to soon, aren't you?"

"Prob'ly. I dunno. When I do, I'll give you flowers though!"

"Aw, thanks. Well, I should go, you gotta get to bed soon."

"You do too." I heard him blow a raspberry, and laughed at that. "'Night 'night!" Click.

As soon as he hung up, the unwanted grieving came back, and I stared out the window at our martial arts equipment and nectar maker, gripping at my heart. "Mommy, why did Vladimir have to take your urn? If he hadn't, you could be down there right now, practicing your martial arts.."

 

 

Feliks birthday came up eventually, and none of us really wanted to have a party, so he just invited a girl from school over. I don't think I ever got her name. But I didn't like her much anyway, because all she did before Feliks aged up was talk about how cool Rhett was. "Oh my gosh, Felikssss, your brother is SO COOL! I wonder if when I grow up he'll wanna be my boyfriend?" 

Then it was time for Feliks to actually age up, and when he did, he immediately went to change into his favorite color again. Why on Earth does he insist on wearing brown? He's just one big blob of brown, even his eyes are brown! I tried to convince him to dye his hair, but he refused, because.. you guessed it, it's his favorite color. And he also mentioned that it's the same color as mine, and that was rather flattering. So I didn't insist too long.

Days keep coming, and eventually time heals. It took a while for all of us, but we did all get.. mostly over Mom's death. A good thing, too, homework was never easy for me, but when I was grieving it was nearly impossible. I was determined to get an A, though. It would've made Mom proud!

But it sure is easier said than done. I looked so forward to becoming a young adult, no more homework! Or school!

"Brain.. mushifying..." But I wasn't going to let Rhett help me again, that just made me feel pathetic.

Rhett was also getting over his 'heartbreak' that Mildred had caused him. By taking my advice and turning his attentions to Katina! He called her up one day, when we were all feeling better, and chatted with her for.. who knows how long. I know he didn't come out of his and Dad's room for ages. Jeeeee, I think it went well, don't you?

Since Mom and Dad's band had been sort of.. perma-disbanded, because of Mom's death, Dad just decided to occasionally take our keyboard down to the park occasionally and play for tips. He never got any, but since it seemed to make him feel good, we encouraged it. I mean, I never saw Mom do it while I was alive, but she told me that she'd taken it to the park to play a few times when she was new to town. If I didn't have to worry about homework and plain ol' work, I would have gone with him to watch him. Alas, he usually did it on a school/work night..

I finally started working on my book again. While I was grieving, I couldn't concentrate on it at all, so I just put it off and put it off. So, with trying to get an A in school, work, and writing, I was a busy, busy bee. I didn't really pay much attention to my family, I'm afraid. Pff, and I said I was family oriented.. but it was just that that's what I wanted, to write a book, and I knew that I should get to writing as soon as possible if I wanted to master writing. And painting. I didn't even think about painting, while I was focusing on my book and my grades.

One night when I got home from work, the strangest scene awaited me. Estiu Calent - still almost as young as me, creepy - and Deon Quirke were standing outside.. just chatting, and peering in our windows occasionally. They did that until morning, too. It wasn't so weird about Estiu, I think she thinks of us as her pets, but Deon? I thought he was regular, normal sort of guy. Guess I was wrong about that.. oh, and Estiu is a ghostbuster. Every time I meet her or hear about her, she just gets weirder and weirder.

Then the day came! Rhett got up the nerve to ask Katina out, though he only invited her to the park, rather than the stadium. That way she wouldn't concentrate on other guys, hopefully only on him - I might have given him the idea that the park was romantic, too. Heheh. And here I thought he was the hopelessly romantic one!

I just had to watch him as he asked her out, and it was too cute.

"Um, hi Katina. It's Rhett.. ... yeah, I know I just called yesterday, but I wanted to see if you'd wanna go to the park with me. I mean, unless you're busy or something, we could do it another-... really?! You want to? ... great! Meet you there in a few minutes!" he practically squealed - he may be Mr. Perfect but he had his moments of Mr. Girly - and hung up the phone, before hurrying over to me and hugging me. "She said yes and we're meeting there in about ten minutes!"

"I told you she was interested!" I laughed, hugging my silly brother back, before whapping him in the back of the head lightly. "Now you should get dressed."

"Oh, right.."

He didn't give me any details about what happened while they were at the park, except that they found out that their signs are compatible and she's single, and then one of our stalker-paps thought it must have been his birthday for such a wonderful gift. Then, they said that they went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner.

Meanwhile, I wanted socialization. Focusing only on schoolwork, work and writing really made me feel lonely. Especially since, not only was Rhett on a date with Katina, but Tony was stalking a girl, Neenah Yllam, he'd had his eye on since she started going to our school, Dad was soaking in the hot tub, and Feliks was working for a day at Steve's Business Complex and Restaurant (also, funnily enough, that was where Rhett had taken Katina) as an assignment for school.

Recently, we had a major influx of people moving to our city, and so there were a lot of new kids at school. One family that had moved here was the Harden family, and one of their daughters had interested me, and I wanted to be friends with her. So I called Kayleigh Harden up, to ask her if she wanted to do something. "Hello?" I heard her voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hi! It's Lyric Parodi, want to hang out?" Straightforward was often the best course of action.

"Uh.. I don't even know you."

Hm. Normally with my two-star celebrity status, people would agree. It was refreshing to be rejected. "Okay, I understand that. Where are you then? I might be casually going for a drive then a walk soon, and want to know where might be the best place to go for a stroll."

".. are you flirting with me?"

"No! I just want to be your friend, you look awesome!"

"Fine. My family and I are at the beach."

"Great! See you soon!"

And so I headed off to the beach, where I saw her and literally her entire family. After I greeted her, we started into a conversation that started with her asking me where I got her phone number. We chatted there for several hours, and she realized that I really wasn't some sort of creepy stalker, I just wanted to be friends.

 

Poor Tony wasn't have nearly as good of luck as Rhett and I seemed to be (not that I was having a romantic escapade, but you know what I mean, right?). All he wanted to do was find out Neenah's sign, to see if they were compatible, but she had seen him standing creepily outside her apartment building. He told me that he didn't do anything wrong, but knowing him, he probably said something that insulted her. He couldn't help himself, he just enjoyed being a jerk sometimes. Eventually though, she did forgive him, and told him her sign. Turns out they're compatible. Wonder if he'll get over himself enough to be a romantic and woo her? Kinda doubt it.

Rhett's date this time got better and better instead of worse and worse. After their dinner, he and Katina stood outside the business building and chatted for a little bit. I don't know any of the juicy details, unfortunately, but I do know that he finally got his first kiss. Squee! How cute. He came home practically floating, and had a bit of a giggles-and-clapping fit in the living room, before telling me a few details and going to bed. Oh, yeah, by that time I'd gone home because it was almost past curfew and our stalker-paps had found me and Kayleigh, and if we stuck around to chat too long there'd probably be a rumor spread about me being a lesbian. That's how being a celeb goes.. dramatic sigh.

 

A few days later, it was my birthday, and I didn't want a party, but I decided to invite Kayleigh over. I still wanted to be friends with her, and we hadn't chatted long enough the night we were at the beach to consider each other friends yet. When she got there, we launched into a conversation, and.. then Rhett came out and sat behind Kayleigh to do his homework.

"Ignore my brother; he just likes to be near pretty girls, even though he has a girlfriend."

"We're not technically together, Lyric, and anyway, I always do my homework outside. You go inside if it bothers you that much."

Kayleigh looked back at Rhett, then at me and shrugged. "Whatever works for me, really.."

"Alright, cool. Let's go inside and watch TV until my birthday hits me."

Except my birthday had other plans, and decided that since I mentioned it, it should get me right then.

I grew up very pretty, if I do say so myself. I'm certainly the most like Mom out of us kids, though.. I'm sure I probably have bits of my Dad in me too. If I'd known him before he died, I'd be able to tell more, but anyway, I'm still very pretty. Decided to keep my hairstyle, since it was just.. part of me. But I lightened my make-up up, and added a little more purple to my outfit, since out of my siblings I was the closest to Rhett and he loved purple. Just like he added black to his clothes to honor me.

After aging up, suddenly I felt like reading a book. Or writing on my book. Hm, maybe growing up had made me a bit of a bookworm..

(A/N: So, now I'm gonna go upload Lyric to the exchange. Where I am, Rhett is also a YA, so hopefully next chapter he will be too and I can upload him as well. I know there's stuff I wanna comment on about this chapter but.. I can't remember them, so, I'll just go publish this so everyone can read it, haha.)