Gen 1 - Chapter Five: A Reocurring Dream and A Romantic Interest

I just keep getting caught in elevators.. on my way out of the apartment a while after I got back from France to go to AJV Wellness Center and work out for four hours like my agent told me to, I ended up face-planting. Lovely, right? I already didn't like my nose enough, didn't need to smash it too. Haha. I grumbled a little as I laid there, before crawling the rest of the way out of the elevator, and then heading outside. I could really do without being clumsy.


When I got to the wellness center, I nearly had a heart attack. Sitting outside was Renee Littler! I covered my mouth and squealed into it from excitement, having one of those excitement-episodes I've mentioned before, What should I do? It took me only a moment before I decided that I wanted to impress her, see if I could get into her inner circle. So I approached her, and put on my most charming, sociable persona. I tried everything I could think of to impress her, even told her I was great friends with Lola Belle and Aria Trill, but it really didn't seem to be working and eventually she just told me that I was irritating, so I quickly scurried off before she would call security and have them escort me off the premises. She was famous enough that she could do that, you know.



I realized almost as soon as I scurried away just how hungry I was. Wow.. maybe I would have to postpone exercising until my next day off, I was way too hungry to focus. And, wouldn't you know it? Just as I was about to leave for a diner, the food truck pulled up! What luck! I suspected it had something to do with that wish-granting thing of mine. Smiling widely, I went around to the window, waiting quite a while for the guy in front of me to decide exactly what he wanted - I'm a patient person, but not the most patient, so I was beginning to get a little irritated by the time he finally slowly said he wanted a hot dog - before going up and happily ordering a burrito. I love burritos. The best part about this whole meal situation? I was at a gym and just about to work out for quite a while, so I'd probably work my burrito off.


I learned quickly why I never got an interest in anything athletic. I just wasn't made for it - I nearly fell off the treadmill an umpteenth amount of times. And I kept founding myself moaning from exertion, but you know.. it was better than I imagined. I almost enjoyed myself, and kind of wanted to go for a jog. Not after this, I would be far too exhausted, but at some point.


Was it just me, or were those results immediate? After I got to my breaking point and got off the treadmill, I looked at myself in the mirror and gasped in shock. I.. hadn't been this thin since I was ten or eleven years old. I looked good, but for some reason it didn't quite feel right. If the weight came back, okay. If it didn't and I stayed this size, that was okay too. For now I'd still admire my new figure, though. Maybe a guy would notice me? I blushed lightly at that thought, and smiled goofily to myself. I certainly wouldn't have minded being noticed for something other than my celebrity friends.


This is going to seem random.. but I just had to share.
Ever since I was really young, maybe twelve or thirteen or maybe even younger, I've had this series of dreams. I think my family-oriented mind brought them on, because that's the only possible explanation. Well.. and being an only child. The first few I had, my Mom was pregnant, or had adopted another baby. The gender always varied, but most of the time the baby had very dark, beautiful skin for some odd reason. Both of my parents are as fair as I am, but do dreams have to make sense? But then, after about a year, the dream changed, and my Mom and I would both be pregnant. Really weird, right? Especially since I didn't even know about woohoo back then.
Then, after a while in the dreams, I had a baby and one of my cousins I was really close to was pregnant. Lala, it went on, and then it was my best friend, Emma that was pregnant, and my baby, Rhett, was a toddler. The years went on and I didn't have the dreams for a while, then they came back and it was another of my cousins. Years went on again, and the dream came back, and my baby boy was ten years old. They were.. strange. But after eighteen, they vanished again.
That night, after exercising, it came back again, but I had more than one. My Rhett was a baby again, and there were three before him, but when I woke up, I couldn't seem to recall anything about them. Sorry about this randomness, but I thought I would share a tidbit of my strange dreams with you.



Oh, I forgot to mention that I started a band with Aria Trill a little while back, called 'Somebody, Get The Cat!'. It's named after a little club me, Emma, and the two cousins I mentioned before (Tabitha and Raquel) started. Well, a few days after the dream about babies, I suddenly had the desire to get a new bandmate. Specifically, someone I had jammed with while he was still a teenager - Jett Atkins. He would definitely attracted the female populace, he was cute and if I wasn't too old for him - cougar-esque, you know - I would definitely want to flirt. As it was, though, I only had band ideas in my head for him. I hadn't had breakfast yet that morning, so I called him up and asked him if he would like to go to breakfast. He was surprised that a celebrity wanted to have breakfast with him, but then agreed rather eagerly.
Hanging up, I got dressed in my usual attire and headed to Hogan's Deep Fried Diner. I didn't have to wait for him long, and he approached me with a grin. I grinned right back, and we started right into conversation. Before we even went inside, I decided to 'pop the question'. "Hey, Jett. You seem musically inclined - or at least, you did a few weeks ago. Am I right?"
He blushed, and shrugged. "I don't know if I'd call myself 'musically inclined', but I can play, yeah."
I smiled sweetly, and would have turned on the charm but.. my feminine wiles have never worked, so I didn't bother. "Aria Trill and I have a band, 'Somebody, Get The Cat!', or SGTC, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to be a part of it."
He just stared at me, and reeled back slightly, mouth dropped open. "Are you serious!?"
I blinked. "Um.. yes..."
"That would be so awesome!! In a band with two celebrities? That.. oh wow, that's... heck yes!" He was practically hopping.
I grinned. "Great! Ready for breakfast?"
"Can.. can I have a moment first? I need to freak out a little, maybe call someone."
I understood that completely. "Oh, yeah. Sure." With that, he turned his back to me and had a little spazz attack.


As he freaked out and spazzed, I decided to not eavesdrop and instead just get lost in my own thoughts for a moment. Before I knew it, my mind had wandered back to the dream. Four children.. I had always wanted four children. Ever since I was little, that was my idea of the perfect amount of children. I got to wondering, though.. I was getting pretty old. I was true adulthood, where everyone stopped thinking of you as having barely lived. I didn't have any romantic prospects. Apollo.. I hadn't thought of him for a long time. Last I'd heard from him, he'd moved out of town. Jett was too young, he only turned eighteen a few weeks ago, plus I barely knew him. Buster was my best friend, and was now.. how old was he, even? I think he was in his sixties, now. Tom was too gangster. Thinking about it.. I nearly started to cry, but thankfully just as I started tearing up Jett interrupted me and tugged me into the diner.


I would tell about the breakfast, but nothing interesting happened. After we were done, we practiced our music a little in front of the diner, but then I had to head off for work. Work was also pretty uninteresting. After work, though, I finally decided to fulfill my desire of a nice, brisk jog - I was still mostly awake, and home wasn't that terribly far away. It was a little creepy that a teenager, Dorin Greaves, was staring at my back as I jogged away from the theater. But.. it was flattering, I guess.



The next little while, life went at about the same sort of pace. Eat, sleep, go to work, play guitar, eat, sleep, eat, read, go to work, play keyboard..


But then my mysterious-agent-that-I-didn't-hire called me up and told me that I'd been asked to get a drink at Plasma 501 again. It was a pretty snazzy place, so I agreed, and then hung up. I didn't want to go alone this time. Maybe I'd take someone? I'd been wanting to befriend another celebrity recently, so I decided immediately on Tom Wordy - a good pick, he was my boss, too, after all. I gave him a call and asked if he'd like to meet me at the club, and he agreed.






I got there shortly after Tom did, and the first thing he did? Talk to me about how he was glad I never arrived late for work. I hoped silently that that statement wouldn't set the mood for the rest of the outing, but I had a feeling that it would.
And you know what? It did. I went to get the drink they'd asked me to get, and downed it, before heading back to Tom and asking him if I could buy him a drink. He agreed, and so I got us both one, then took his back to him. Sipping our drinks, we said nothing. After we'd finished them, I tried striking up a conversation, but he kept glancing at the expensive looking watch on his wrist and sighing, then replying. Unenthusiastically. I always knew I was boring, even after I'd been given this 'gift'..


Then he told me he had to leave, and without a goodbye, walked right past me, leaving me standing in the spotlight, alone with my disappointment and rejection. It wouldn't have felt so bad if that stupid light hadn't decided to focus on me, but that just.. enhanced my humiliation. As soon as I was sure he was gone, I debated getting myself another few drinks, but I hated the idea of getting drunk and losing control of my senses. It was one of my biggest fears, to be honest. So instead, I just hurried and left. I had work tomorrow, anyway.


I woke up the next morning with a new outlook on my relationships - who cared about Tom Wordy anyway? I had plenty of good friends who did like me, so I should just pay attention to them. Especially the males, because the first thing I wanted when I woke up that morning? My first kiss. I was nearly a full-out adult, and I had yet to have my first kiss. I just.. the thing I'd wanted longer than to master every instrument, was to get married and have kids. But I hadn't thought about it for a while, so I guess that's why I hadn't gotten it yet. Now all I could concentrate on was that first kiss. The dream about me having children had gotten me thinking about it, now I just couldn't get romance and children out of my mind! At the moment, though, I was focused on the romance aspect. Children came later.
I got up and went to work ridiculously cheerfully, and because I was so cheery everyone made me work on everything, so even though Lola invited me to one of her famous parties that night, I was too tuckered to go. Plus, the next day was my day off, so I wanted it to come sooner, rather than later.



The next morning, I decided to start getting closer to one of my male friends. Even though he was too young for me, the first person I thought of was Jett. I felt a little shallow for it later, because we only had a little in common, but at the time it seemed like a good idea. He was a vegetarian, though, and I wasn't a big fan of veggies. He also was a technophobe, and I was a computer-addict when I didn't have a life. But we still were having a great time talking, until he had to go. I pouted a little, but then we hung up and I stood there, thinking about what to do for a little bit; until..


I got a phone call. I blinked a little, then grabbed it and checked the caller ID. Buster Round. I smiled, then answered, "Hey, Buster."
"Hi, Sean. I want to talk to you about something. I'm in the lobby, can you buzz me in?"
"Oh, sure! Come on up." I buzzed him in, before saying, "See you shortly." And then I hung up and waited for him to come up.


When he came in, my heart started beating a little faster. I brought my hand up to my chest for a moment, and placed it over my heart, glancing down. Are you alright? I mentally asked it, before feeling silly. I'd felt this feeling a few times before, mostly when I would think about John. Suddenly, I felt extremely stupid. And shocked. Had I fallen for my second male best friend, too? And why hadn't I noticed it before? There was a simple answer to the second question - I'd been too focused on.. everything else to notice things like that. Thinking back on it, I may have liked him for quite a while.
"Hi again," his voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I looked at him, eyes a little wide, but I quickly took my hand off my chest before he noticed it there.
"Hi.." I breathed, and then blushed. He was bound to think something was wrong with me at this rate.
Instead of mentioning anything, he just took a deep breath, and walked straight up to me. "Sean, there's something I've been meaning to tell you since.. well, since my mother died. You'll probably not want to me my friend after thing, but I had to get it off my chest."
I just stared at him, my heart beating a little quicker again. Was he going to say what I thought he was going to say? Knowing my wish-granting ability, he definitely was.


Then he grabbed my hands, watching our hands as he did so, and then his gaze slowly raised to meet mine. "Sean.. I think I've fallen for you. I'm not sure it's all the way to love, because I've never been in love, but I'm beginning to think that it is. I can't stop thinking of you. I never said anything before, because you never showed any interest in me as anything but a best friend and I didn't want to ruin a good thing, but.. I'm old. I don't have that much time left-"
"Don't say that."
"Okay, but you know it's true. I couldn't die without telling you.. I think I love you."
Tears. I've never cried from happiness. Not in my life. I'm not the most.. expressive girl, unless something makes me upset. But this time, for the first time, there they were. I couldn't see past the joy in my eyes. I beamed, despite my lack of sight. I didn't know I wanted it, but now that I knew, it was.. all I wanted. He had to be my first kiss.


"Buster.. I didn't realize it until today, but I think I might love you, too."
And it would have been the perfect moment.. if only we hadn't heard our carpool honking downstairs. I came so close to just going downstairs and telling the carpool driver that we were sick and couldn't go to work, but decided to be a good girl and just sighed/whined a little.
Buster sighed a little as well, but then smiled at me. "It's okay. We can talk at work. C'mon, let's go."
And with that, we rode off towards the theater to work, without a first kiss. Not the most romantic confession of love, but my heart was still soaring.

(A/N: This was going to go a ways further, to at least their first kiss, but I just got back from a mini-vacation so I'm tired. Next update coming soon hopefully! Random notes about this one, though: I didn't want her to end up with Buster, because he had a weird nose. He was cute, but just.. not what I wanted for her. I was gonna have her have her first kiss with Jett, but then as she was calling him to get closer, Buster just.. came over! So I figured that I'd just give up and go with the guy she was already best friends with, haha. But then their carpool had to interrupt.)

Gen 1 - Chapter Four: Vacation

You're probably wondering why I seem so excited, right? Weeeeell, practically since I got to Bridgeport I'd been wanting to go to Champs Le Sims, France. It was always lingering at the back of my mind. Even though I wanted it, I didn't think I'd be getting it. It just seemed too impossible too me, because I just wasn't getting very many promotions. Without a promotion, money would be too tight for something as frivolous as a vacation to another country.
But then it happened. I was promoted to a stagehand, and got a generous bonus with it. Could it be true? I think I may have had enough to go to France, or at least I would soon. Upon stepping out of work, I pumped my fist into the sky and shouted, "YESS!" Around me, people were cheering, but I think that's because of my promotion. How would they know what I was really excited about?



When I got home, instead of going to bed I decided to play some music on my bass (did I mention that I got one? Well, if I didn't before, then I'm mentioning now that I got a new bass now!). I think I might've looked a little deranged, because I know I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face, and my eyes were bugging out like a maniac. Could you blame me? I'd never been out of the country before, and I could finally afford it. I'd always been wanting to go out of country, and nearly got to several times when I was a teenager, but we never had the money. Something was always more important.
Eventually, I was nearly falling asleep playing the bass, so I crawled into bed. The next morning I still couldn't get the grin off my face, because I couldn't stop thinking about my future trip.


But, then the grin got wiped off my face for a little while when my sink broke. "AAAGH!" I growled, turning away from the sink so I couldn't see the source of my anger. "I finally get the money to go on a trip, and what happens?! Something breaks! You know what, sink? I have another one, I don't need you! You'll just stay broken until after I'm back from France! I can't afford a repairman and I am no repairwoman."


I think I forgot to mention that my agent, who is actually completely legit, got me an opportunity to film a commercial. Is there any way I can explain how excited I was about this? If you thought I was excited about France, I was even more excited about this. This is exactly how famous I wanted to be - doing small famous-person things like filming commercials. I wasn't a great actress, so it was perfect for what little acting ability I did possess.
After we were done filming, I nearly hyperventilated at how much money they gave me. "Five.. five... thousand?" I stuttered, staring at the money in my hands. Now my trip was more than definitely in the near future. Except I had to go to work right after the commercial was done, so I couldn't think about it for too long.


When I was home from work, I played on my bass for a little bit to get a little more skill at it, but I couldn't help it any longer. I whipped out my cell and dialed the number for the travel agency, setting up a trip to Champs Le Sims. I was to leave pretty much as soon as I hung up, and I hopped as I hung up. "Oh wow!" I quickly packed some of my things, before quickly running down stairs and getting a cab, telling him to take me to the airport.


There it was. Champs Le Sims, France, and right there is my hotel.. I was so ridiculously excited. I practically floated out of the airplane when it touched down.


Except.. now that I was here, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I don't even know how long I stood outside my hotel, staring around at my surrounding, not quite comprehending it all yet.


I think I must have stood out there long enough for the people inside to wonder about me, because soon a fellow traveler, Bo On from China, invited me inside to play chess with him. I smiled, and agreed happily, before heading inside. I found myself really enjoying chatting with this man and playing chess, and soon found myself wanting to play chess even after he'd decided to stop. I wondered if all I was going to do while I was there would be to play chess, and it didn't sound like an awful idea to me.


I played chess for at least a half hour after Bo On left before I remembered that I had brought my keyboard with me! It wasn't the smartest idea, what if I'd lost it? But that meant it would provide some extra entertainment. So I got it out and set it up in the largest room - the one I would likely be staying in - and set to relearning my piano skill.




Evidently, I am even famous in France, because as I was playing on my keyboard, before I knew what was happening, there was a paparazzo going crazy over me. It distracted me a little at first, and I started to stop, but he quickly held a hand up. "Non! S'il vous plaît continuer, Mme. Parodi!"
I paused, and stared at him for a moment. S'il vous plaît.. that was please, wasn't it? It sounded like he was asking me to continue. "Oh, um.. okay, Mr. Paparazzo."
He smiled widely and continued taking pictures of me, writing about me.. everything. I really don't know what he found so interesting about me playing on my keyboard..


.. but really, really couldn't figure out what he saw as interesting about me eating ice cream. Maybe he'd write something about how that's why Sean Parodi stays so chubby, blah, blah. I was beginning to get annoyed at him as he continued taking pictures of me from the other side of the room, almost like as if I couldn't see him over there. The camera flashes are a dead giveaway, sorry.



The rest of my evening was pretty calm, though. I took a nice, warm bath - it was heavenly - and then read on the book that they'd asked me to read for work. It was a little hard to concentrate at one point, though, because Bo On came in and just stared at me for a while. I looked up at him after a little bit, and asked him if there was something he needed, and he just smiled and shook his head, telling me that he'd never met a celebrity before. I thought I was only a two-star celebrity? Why was I famous enough that people in different countries spazzed over me? I had no idea.


I went to bed after I finished the book, and then towards morning - was it even light out yet? - I was awoken by the sound of my cell phone. "Who could it be at this hour?" I mumbled to myself, not even glancing at the caller ID before answering.
I listened to my instructions, and then accepted. Someone wanted me to explore the Celtic ruins a little ways away and find something they lost there. I could do that. But first, I needed to buy some supplies. This was going to be so much fun! As long as I didn't die along the way.



I got dressed, then visited the general store - I spent more time than I should have there, I think, looking at all the things they had - and bought three high quality dried food, three shower in a can, and one tent. Also a incense holder. Finally though, I told myself I should get going, and headed out towards the burial mound, grinning ear to ear. This was so exciting! When I was little, I wouldn't have liked this. I hated adventure when I was a kid, but.. I don't know, after so many camping adventures, I grew to love adventures. They scared me half to death most of the time, and I knew this one would be no different, but they were still fun.






I got to the mound, and it didn't take very long for me to find the stairs leading down into it. I stopped in my tracks at first, seeing a dead end. How could anyone lose anything in this tiny room, though? There had to be something more to this. Taking a few more steps inside, I noticed some treasure sitting to the side and grabbed it, then went to the wall at the back of the room. "Open says me!" .. it didn't work, so I used all of my strength to push on it. It took a bit, but it did work. I already knew I would be sore tomorrow.
In the next room, there was a different colored floor panel, with footprints on it. It seemed a little suspicious, but I still approached it, and hopped onto it. I heard something somewhere make a large THUD noise, and the chains on the door in front of me fell off. "Thank you!"
In the next room, there were lots of things for me to do. There was a pile of rocks on the floor, a hole in the wall, a pedestal with a heart shaped rock on it, something in front of a wall that made me think it must be another hidden door.. the first thing I went for was the rock pile. There was a bag of money under it! Wow, who left that there? Then I went for the hole in the wall. I stood in front of it for several moments, debating putting my hand in there. I have never, ever ever liked putting my hands in holes. Who knows what could be in a hole like that? I assured myself there wasn't anything in it, before whimpering slightly and sticking my hand in. There was something in there, but I don't remember what, I was too relieved there wasn't a spider or something like that in it.
When I brought my hand back out of the hole, I heard my phone ring, and answered it. It was my agent again, telling me to exercise for four hours. Wow.. guess I was going to get thin, then.






After my phonecall, I found a use for that heart shaped rock, because there was a heart shaped hole on the wall next to the door with chains. "Why not." I shoved the rock into the hole, and gasped as blue light shot out around the rock, nearly falling onto my backside from shock. That light.. where did it come from? I shuddered slightly, and shook my head. Mummies, vampires, and ghosts were real. Why shouldn't things like this be real as well. It was beautiful, I wasn't going to question. And it had opened the door beside me, too.
I was really beginning to get tired, so things after that got a little blurry, except that there were some statues that I could move in the next room, and then I went down some stairs and found a huge maze with a grave in the middle. Why was there a grave? I walked up to it, and stood in front of it for a few moments, before the tiredness and where I was caught up with me, and I started to crying at the grave. I was enjoying myself, but the situation was making me overemotional. Good thing, too, because as I cried, suddenly there was a loud noise, and a hole appeared in the ground next to the grave. "Oh." I stared at it, before wiping at my tears and going over, reaching in without thinking. There was a jewel of some sort. "Pretty!"
I decided after that, though, I'd put my tent up. I left the maze and went back to the stairs and was going to set my tent up at the base of them when I saw an area to my left. "What..?" It was an alcove of some sort. A tent was already set up in it. A skeleton was there, too, and I got a chill from that, but at the moment, the already set up tent looked promising, so I crawled in and moaned at the comfort of the roll-out floor cot. Before I knew it, I was completely asleep.




The next morning - actually, was it the next morning? I wondered to myself as I got out of the tent, and glanced up the staircase. I had no idea what time it was down here. I didn't wear a watch, and my cell had died since the call from my agent. It was chilling, not knowing what time it was. I wanted to finish up this dungeon real quick, so I could get back outside. With my new resolve, I headed back into the maze and did literally everything I could in it, getting all the available treasure, before heading into the next room. Oh, wow..
There was a chilling amount of graves. I shivered, and decided to ignore them and just grab all the loot I could. I found the thing I was supposed to, and just stared at it for a moment. It was a baseball. Not exactly what I was thinking, but whatever. I headed to the other side of the room, and found a pile of ancient coins that entranced me a little bit. "Shiny.."
When I picked the coins up, that activated a door next to me, and I stared at it a moment. Neat, another hidden door. But there was also a hole in the floor from when I cried at another grave - I had decided to cry at all of the graves, to see if any more opened holes in the ground - so I checked in it first. No bugs still, thank goodness!
After I got all of the treasure in that room, I went into the other room that had opened up and found a treasure chest in there.
After the treasure chest, there wasn't much that happened in the place, except I found my way out and returned the baseball to the person who had lost it. Then I wanted to go to a cafe, so I headed off to the Catania Cafe.



When I got there, I decided to get something to eat before I had to head home. It was nearing midnight, so I would have to leave soon. Stepping foot inside the cafe, before I even had time to think I heard a squeal and a pretty French woman had approached me, babbling something that I couldn't really understand. I got the gist though. I nodded slightly and smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm Sean Parodi.."
Squeeeeeal. She grabbed out her cell phone and took a few steps back, pointing it at me. I posed in my typical pose, and she snapped a picture. "Sank you so much, Sean Parodi! Now, please, what eez eet you wanted? I shall give you a discount!" Oh. She did speak English. I smiled widely and then followed her over to the register. "Um. How about a cheese plate?"
I bought the cheese plate, and ate it, but by the time I shoved the last piece of cheese in my mouth it was time for me to be going. I was disappointed, 'cause I wanted to stay a little longer, but I decided I'd just come another time.


As soon as I was home, the first thing I did was crawl into my own bed and pass out from exhaustion. It was a great trip, but it's always good to be home again.

(A/N: I wanted so bad for her to wish for a romance while she was in France, haha. It would have been cool to have French babies, but all she ever wanted to do is play chess or go home, 'til she got the opportunity. But, if it weren't for this trip to France I woulda never started this blog at all! So glad I got a picture of her putting the heart in. I'm finally almost to where she wished for a romance, so I'm going to be trying to pop out more of these this week!)