Skylar's party (Part 3)

I waited on my sister Skylar to come into the kitchen.  If there was anything I knew, it was that this party was not an accident, it was thrown for a reason. "So, tomorrow you start a new school," I began, trying to break the ice.  "You nervous?"
"No, not really," she scoffed. I swear, she sounded just like Mom there.

 "Come on, Skylar, there's something you're not telling me.  Something you're not telling us.  What's going on?"  I took a deep breath.  "I barely recognize you, Sky.  I mean, all the makeup, I understand you want to be a pop star, but still, it's a little much.  I can't get used to it.  My baby sister wearing more makeup than I do, takes a little getting used to."

 Indeed, my memories of my kid sister were of taking her trick-or-treating, of reading bedtime stories, of her showing off her ballet moves, and of teaching her how to swim.

This new Skylar,  this aspiring diva pop singer, a hundred some odd pounds dripping wet of attitudinal boy magnet, took some getting used to, even for me.

 

 

"I need to know what's going on," I said calmly but firmly, again without raising my voice.  "Something's wrong, and I need to know what that is.  You're doing what you're doing because you want something."
Skylar continued to eat her chicken.  She wouldn't budge.  Man, you are stubborn, I thought to myself.

 

 The evening in Sunset Valley had turned to night, and outside of the window of the mansion, there was a faint view of the famed lighthouse, a town landmark, in the distance. 

My persistence paid off as Skylar finally spilled her guts.

"Kaydence," Skylar muttered, staring at her half-eaten chicken leg.  There was so much bile in the way she said her name.  "Ever since she showed up here my life has been a living nightmare."  Skylar began to detail how Kaydence began dating Terry, her then-friend from school, and then spending a lot of time with both Sierra and Mom.
"When Terry and Kaydence started seeing each other," Skylar admitted, "it was like I'd been punched in the gut.  I mean, I knew from school that they were talking, and finally the prom happened, and all of a sudden, they're walking around school like they're married, I mean, it was just a bit much.  He never expressly told me that he was attracted to her, it just sorta happened."

Kaydence, as most of you guys know, is my cousin.  She's Uncle Bassy's daughter by Madison Avenue, a vocal legend.  But she wasn't that at the time of Kaydence's birth.  According to Mom, she shot to fame on Uncle Bassy's back.  But anyway.  Mom got custody of Kaydence last year.  I suspect Skylar is sore about that, too.  Especially since they're only two simdays apart in age.
"So you were upset that your friend started dating Kaydence and you believe mom favors Kaydence over you?"
Skylar didn't say anything, which meant to me that she believed it to be the case.

"You're blaming your problems on Kaydence?" I asked in disbelief.  Again, she didn't raise her voice, but frustration started to crease her face.  In a way, I could see her predicament, but it didn't excuse her behavior.  Then, I gently reminded my sister, "The police weren't here for Kaydence."

Slowly, but surely, Skylar began to detail her predicament for me: She'd broken up with her now ex-boyfriend, Mark McCann, because he'd failed to show at her gig and failed to contact her afterwards; Mark's girlfriend's brother, Malcolm Landgraab Jr., was now sending love notes to her in her school locker; another boy, Roscoe Gaston, was also hotly pursuing her; and her two best friends, Heather and Kayla, were actively plotting against her.  On top of that, Mark admitted at the party that he still had feelings for her.
  "You have to be really careful with these boys," I gently warned.  "They'll say exactly what they know you want to hear.  And what you're doing, dating someone else's boyfriend and dating two guys at a time, is just asking for trouble."

Skylar's party (Part 2)

After I had cleared the house of teenagers, I had to deal with the one teenager who mattered.  Something was up, and I needed to know what.

My baby sister walked into the art room, just as I'd planned.  I saw her out of the corner of my eye, and I didn't even recognize her.  She was made up from head to toe.  She looked thirty. 

"What's going on with you, Skylar?" I asked as our brushes glid across our easels.  "I'm your big sis. You can talk to me. Everything you're going through now, has already happened to me."

 

"Look at you, all this makeup, these hair extensions, these wild parties - I barely recognize you anymore. I know you're still there somewhere underneath all this."

I left her with one last warning:  with one last warning: that I was going to stay in the guest room until our parents got back. "And I expect you to be back home in time for curfew every evening, and do your homework every night."

Skylar's party (Part 1)

Just before I got married, my baby sister, Skylar, got into a bit of a row with the Sunset Valley police.  Let me try to tell you guys how it happened.

Apparently Mom and Dad went out of town, because Mom was going to speak at some conference I think it was.

Anyway, my little sister, who is the 'queen bee' at her high school, decides that she is going to throw a party while Mom and Dad are gone.

So Skylar, she's a Plumb, she goes all out, too. She fixes drinks, she hires a DJ...

...she invites all her friends...

A few hours later, the police show up.  She's completely cornered. 

I happened to get over there the same time the cops did.  Just a routine thing, just to check on Mom and Dad and everybody.  I see cop cars there and wonder if something happened.

I asked my baby brother Sawyer what was going on, and you know little kids, they don't keep quiet - even if told to.  "I saw all these big kids walking in here -"
"Hold on," I told him, "I'll handle this."

I look around, and they've completely trashed the house.

They failed to flush the toilet,

 

broke the bathtub,

 

and left the counter a mess.

When I walked into the kitchen, one of the teens was apparently doing his homework.

Another girl gave me some serious attitude.

 

One of the teens did take it upon herself to help clean up, though. 

Skylar herself was eating hot fries with her ex? - boyfriend. 

Honeymoon in France (Part 6)

Kyle was first to get up from the tent the next morning. 

I joined him a few minutes later, after eating a morsel of dried food.  Mom talked about this too.  I had also packed a few fruits from the garden to eat on the trip. 

Kyle and I went to work clearing rubble and moving statues around. 

Finally, I found what Berthe had been looking for.  A golden baseball?  Seriously?   I chuckled to myself. 

Kyle and I decided to head back to the general store and report back.

I handed Berthe her golden ball and the whole sordid adventure was over.  Then she said, "Say, you look sort of familiar."

Honeymoon in France (Part 5)

The minute I walked into the tomb I knew I was really in for it.  Thankfully I had Kyle beside me.

 

"Don't be afraid," he whispered, "we're going to get through this."

We had just gotten married a few days earlier and were still in newlywed bliss (minus that little hiccup with Riley Woods)

He was my biggest cheerleader as I reluctantly pounded through rubble.

He eventually joined in on the puzzle pieces.  The sooner we got out of there with whatever Berthe was looking for, the better.

I had to fit a heart-shaped keystone through a marble hole to get into a door.  Mom told me about these, but I wasn't sure I believed her.

Then, I had to stick my hand through another hole.

That hole led to another door.  I decided the room was big enough that we could set up camp for the night.

We were both sleepy and hungry, so we decided to take the makeshift tent we were given at the general store and set up camp for the night.  I had never slept in a tomb before, and to be honest, I was scared.  But I had Kyle with me, and that was enough.