Woods Random Legacy: Chapter 19 - Actions Have Consequences

From: woodsc2@lefromage.fr
To: naturegrrl415@smail.com
Subject: Re:A confession
Body:
Oh my god, Faye.  I told you not to do it!  And she's right, you know, you did steal him from her.  If you hadn't asked him to break up with her, they'd still be together.  There's only one thing you can do to fix this.   You have to break it off with him, which should be easy since you're not even officially dating.  RIGHT?
Tell me as soon as you've done it.  I'll be waiting.  And you know I'll know if you're lying.
Crystal

The season's snowfall was reaching record levels, bringing the entire town to a standstill.  While Faye was happy to study at home - at least she wouldn't have to deal with all the drama in her class! - James was frustrated by the lack of education available to him.

He braved the snow to reach the library, where he downloaded assignments and research projects that his teachers, appreciative of a student who was interested in learning, had uploaded for him.  He repeated this routine most days, only returning home for dinner.

The snow let up just enough for the roads to be cleared in time for the town's prom.  Despite her sister's urgings, Faye hadn't broken things off with Tyrone yet, though she would.  Soon.

Prom was awful.  All the girls were staring at her, and halfway through Tyrone asked her to go steady.  She almost had the conversation with him right then and there, but a part of her knew that it would be a terrible idea, so she just said that she would have to think about it.  And then she hid in the bathroom for the rest of the night.  It was while she was hiding in the bathroom that she ran into Cheryl Andrews, and the only good thing of the entire night occurred.  Faye hadn't been able to properly apologize to Cheryl due to the snow, but she had her chance now.
Faye: "I'm sorry for what I did, to you and Tyrone."
Cheryl: "You're sorry.  Wow.  It's not like that actually fixes anything."
Faye: "I know.  I wasn't thinking everything through entirely.  I just kept thinking, you know, that if he wasn't dating you then it was okay.  I didn't think about how it would make you feel."
Cheryl: "Yeah, well, if he moved on to you so quickly then he must not be worth it, anyway.  Best of luck, really.  You'll need it."
Much to her confusion, at the end of the night she was crowned prom queen.  She heard that Cheryl had gone around after their conversation in the bathroom and told all the students to vote for her.  What kind of a sick joke was that?  Faye took the crown, but refused to stay for the ceremony.

After the prom let out, Faye, who was still avoiding her date, shivered outside on a park bench while she waited for her ride home to arrive.  Worst prom ever, in the history of Sunset Valley.  No, in the history of the entire world.

It was soon time for James to start high school.  Despite the snow, he'd achieved top grades in elementary school.  While he had the test scores to attend an exclusive academy such as Smuggsworth Prep School, he chose to stay at home.  He preferred to direct his own studies, after all, and that was much easier when dealing with the less rigorous curriculum of the community high school.

In contrast to his previous attitude, he joined two extracurricular activities.  First, he joined Debate Club, which came as a bit of a surprise to his parents.  His reasoning was simple, actually, as he merely wanted to understand how other people thought, and practice forming logical arguments against their positions.  His parents were still a bit confused, even after his explanation, as they hadn't realized that their son had such a political side to him.  He also chose to join Sports Club - track team, in particular - which confused his parents even more, but they didn't even ask at that point.

He continued playing chess as a hobby, and felt confident that he would perform well in Debate Club.  Sports Club, on the other hand, was definitely unfamiliar territory for him.  He hit the gym, knowing that if he had any hope of success running track, he'd need practice.

A lot of practice.

~ * ~

The chapter in which James almost aged up badly due to only being able to attend school once during his childhood.  Thankfully, an extra credit mod came out just in time.

I hate high school drama.  Faye, go graduate already, will you?  And James?  Don't do this.  Or I will smite you.  Just so we're all clear.

James has very good reasons for all the choices he makes, even if they might seem very weird now.