Woods Random Legacy: Chapter 14 - Preparations

James was making rapid progress in learning his life skills.

Not only was he a master of the peg box, and knew the logic concept books cover to cover, but he also learned to walk, use the potty, and talk in record time - even if some of the conversations he had were a bit odd.
Eliza: "Do not touch fire, James.  Fire is hot.  Fire burns things."
James: "Burn things?  Burn house?  Fire burn James house?"
Eliza: "Oh no, definitely not!  We have a fire alarm, so the firemen at the fire department will come in their shiny red truck and put out the fire right away.  So you don't have to worry about that at all, okay?"

That must just be part of raising a genius; after all, it's said that they look at the world a bit differently than other sims do.

Lane had tracked down the formula VJ mentioned during their meeting.  Two of the ingredients - silver ore, wolfsbane flowers - could be purchased from the alchemy shop in town.  The final ingredient, a moonstone gem, was the most difficult, but with the help of a mail-order gem detector Lane managed to locate a sample in the hills surrounding town.  Now only one task remained - mixing the potion.

After over an hour of bending over the hot cauldron, Lane straightened up in relief, ladling the steaming amber solution into a potion bottle.  He'd done it.  He couldn't take the potion yet, as it had to be taken on the night of the full moon.  That was just as well, since he wasn't ready yet.  He had to figure out what to do about telling Locke.  Locke meant a lot to him, even though Lane had been distant in their relationship lately, and, as tempting as it was to take the formula and tell the other boy to deal with it, Lane knew that he owed Locke more than that.  They needed to talk, now.

Lane picked up his phone and dialed.  Locke answered, sounding surprised to hear Lane's voice, and they arranged to meet just out of town, at Stoney Falls.  Lane hung up and exchanged his pajamas for proper clothes, glancing one last time at the potion he'd created on his way out of the room.

He would make this work.  He had to.

Locke was already at the remote fishing lake when Lane arrived.  As Lane jogged up from where the taxi had let him out, he wondered what Locke was thinking about.

Lane: "Hey, Locke."
Locke: "Hey yourself.  Where've you been hiding for the past forever?  You never want to hang out anymore.  I checked the library and everything."

Lane: "Yeah, it's a long story.  That's what I want to talk about."
Locke: "Look, did you meet someone else?  If you did, that's okay, really, I just want to know."
Lane: "No, it's nothing like that!  I still like you, a lot, and I want to be with you.  That's why I'm going to tell you everything, right now."
Locke slowly nodded, and let Lane take his hands.  And so, Lane told him everything - how he was born, his meetings with Gobias and VJ, his research, and the potion.

When he was finished, Locke was silent, just looking at the other boy.
Lane: "So that's what I've been doing.  And I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you, it was really stupid and I should have made time for you.  For us."
Locke nodded.
Locke: "Why didn't you tell me about any of this before?"
Lane: "I was afraid you'd try to stop me."
Locke: "That's stupid.  You know me better than that."
Lane: "I know.  I was still worried though, I couldn't help it."
Locke: "So when are you going to...you know, do it?"
Lane: "The next full moon.  It's the night before Spooky Day.  I was hoping you'd be there with me, when I took the potion."
Locke: "Aren't werewolves supposed to attack people when they're transformed?"
Lane: "I'd never attack you.  Ever.  Even during the transformation, the human mind is still there.  It's just instincts you have to deal with.  I can understand if you don't want to be there, though."
Locke shook his head.
Locke: "No, I'll be there, unless I have to work.  I'll have graduated by then, you know."
Lane: "Yeah, it's right before my graduation.  Better that way, really, in case other people around town don't accept me."
Locke nodded, then reached forward and hugged Lane tightly.

Locke: "Call me when you're getting ready to do it, alright?  If I can, I'll be there for you.  I promise."

While Lane was finalizing the details of his transformation, his younger sisters were enjoying the summer in their own way.  Faye was enjoying the great outdoors, spending most of her days off school swimming in the ocean.  She spent so much of her time outdoors that she even managed to cultivate a tan!

Crystal, on the other hand, thought that it was much too hot outside, and favored heading to the art gallery after school.  One day, she picked up a pamphlet advertising the LeFromage Art School in France - a boarding school for students of the arts.  It sounded perfect.  She had never really enjoyed the community school here, and high school sounded even worse, so the chance to attend a school with a focused curriculum that interested her sounded amazing.

But it was a boarding school, so attending there would mean leaving her family.  Including her sister.  They argued all the time, but Crystal knew that she'd miss Faye if she had to spend four years apart from  her.  It was a difficult decision, and one that she spent many a long afternoon pondering.

 At dinner one night, Crystal had finally made up her mind.  She would ask her parents if she could attend, but only if Faye was okay with it.  Even the slightest hesitation on her sister's part would be cause for Crystal to drop the idea immediately.
Crystal: "Hey, Faye, did you get a tan or what?"
Faye: "Yeah, I guess I did.  Swimming is so fun!  I don't know why you don't like it, it would cool you off."
Crystal: "The beach is always so crowded.  I need to talk to you about something after dinner, mind sticking around?"
Faye: "Sure, but can I go put my normal clothes on first?  The AC in here is giving me goosebumps."
Crystal nodded and Faye ran off to dress a bit more warmly.  While she waited, Crystal turned her attention to Lane.
Crystal: "Hey, nerdboy, do your homework somewhere else, alright?  I need to talk to my sister."
Lane rolled his eyes and took his homework into the living room, not willing to have an argument with his younger sister tonight.

Faye trotted back down the stairs soon enough, looking a bit concerned.
Faye: "What's up?"
Crystal: "I've been thinking about applying to a special art school for high school.  I read about it in the art gallery, and it seems perfect for me."
Faye: "Ohmygod, that's great!  You should definitely apply!"
Crystal: "Well, there's one thing that's not so great.  It's in France, a boarding school."
Faye's face fell a bit as the significance of that sank in.
Faye: "Oh.  Who would I bake things for then, if you were gone?"
Crystal: "Lane.  I think he's the one who's been eating all the ones you keep saving for breakfast, anyway."
Faye: "Seriously?  I'm going to kill him!  Those were NOT for him!"
Crystal: "But anyway.  I'd miss you so much, but I really want to go.  It's up to you, Faye.  If you want me to stay, I will, and I won't regret it at all."
Faye: "What?  Of course you should go!  I'd miss you, but it sounds like you'd love it there, so much more than the high school here."
Crystal: "Are you sure?"
Faye: "Positive!"
Crystal grinned, an infectious grin that soon spread to her twin's lips, and the sisters hugged.

The next step was to convince her parents, but that part was easy.  The money that Greg made from work easily covered the private school tuition, and Eliza was okay with Crystal living away from home as long as Faye was.

The final and most difficult step was to prepare a portfolio and apply.  The school didn't take just anybody, after all.  Crystal abandoned the art gallery, choosing instead to spend her time painting in her room, producing works of art that could be photographed and e-mailed to the school as evidence of her artistic abilities.

She just barely made the priority application deadline.

Once her application was in, all she could do was wait for the letter, whether it was acceptance or denial.

~ * ~

Too many people in a house with one toilet!  Can you blame me for wanting to ship one of them off to boarding school?

I hope this chapter sheds a bit more light on the Crystal-Faye relationship.  They fight, but like kittens more than anything else.  They don't hate each other at all, they actually really like each other.  They just tend to express their sisterly love in a somewhat antagonistic manner.  And they think Lane is super-lame.

That's the last serious Lane drama for at least another chapter.  The boy's pretty and all, but I swear he's a drama magnet.