18: The Rebellion of Sierra MoraeThings were rather monotonous around the house, falling into that usual manner of everyday ordinary while each of the house members pursued different things and tried their best to stay out from underneath Isabelle's foot. Paolo developed the wish to become a Master Acrobat after working out in front of the t.v.
Regina developed her own wish to become a Hit Movie Composer, while Sierra developed the desire to become a Rockstar after watching her big sister playing the violin. Rufus started taking a few steps towards his goal of being a Blog Artist, creating a Review blog called 'The Impressions of a Genie'.
Cipriana and Isabelle both require logic for work, Isabelle managed to get promoted to Empress of Evil without it, but her work performance has been lagging to the point where it needed to be addressed. But the monotony died down the day Sierra met a young girl named Peggy at school and invited her over to the house.
"Hurry up, Pegs, you're such a slow poke!" She called back to her. Peggy and Sierra were fast friends, calling each other 'Best Friend' by the end of two consecutive school days. One day, Sierra brought Peggy back to the house, without permission, but no one seemed to mind that she was there.
Most of the evening was them talking and eating, and then Sierra settled down on the ground, "We should do our homework now."
Peggy had a disgusted look on her face at the though, "Says who? Homework's just a waste of time. Just another way for the Man to keep us down! To force us into normal societal roles of submissive elementary kids."
"Societal what...? And who's the Man? You mean the Watcher?"
"No! THE MAN. Ugh...you're to young to understand. Point is, homework really is a waste of our personal time. They give us so much to do and we're supposed to finish it in one night! Let's do something else."
Sierra looked at her notebook for a minute and nodded, not sure who the 'Man' was, but convinced nonetheless, "You're right. Maybe if we stop doing it, stop assigning it all. Let's play tag!"
The two of them chased each other around the courtyard for a while before Sierra finally caught Peggy and the two of them fell over each other in a fit of giggles. After brushing themselves off, Sierra spoke again.
"You know, I really hate our Math teacher. She's so mean! Just because I can't do my multiplication sheets fast, she gives me 0s. And Mrs. Klawoski, our English teacher? She's even worse!"
Peggy nodded in agreement, "And the field trips are boring too. Remember the movie we went to? I mean, who wants to see Yoya the Dragon's Mystical Adventure?! Just because we're kids, we don't have to watch baby movies. I wanted to see Death Mountain."
"Tell me about it!"
Over near the table, Rufus and Paolo were watching the two interact. Rufus turned to his nephew and asked who the little girl was that was protesting the school system so loudly, "That's Peggy...uhh....Peggy Taylor-Modena, I think. Her older sister Josephine and I are attracted to each other. I was thinking of asking her to prom but---"
Rufus cut him short, "Taylor-Modena? As it Giacomo's daughter?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
Isabelle is not going to like this...
Peggy went home, Sierra went to bed with her homework undone. It was left abandoned on the ground when the girls jogged off to play tag, and was noticed by Regina when she got home from fixing the boiler at school. The night drifted by quietly, one by one everyone went to bed, and then early the next morning, Regina began to crawl out of her bed.
"Sierra, you up?"
"Fshhambvlumnuf...." Came a sleepy mumble before she rolled onto her back, eyes still closed, "Sort of, yeah."
Regina smiled a little, "Wake up, girlie, we need to talk."
Sierra reluctantly rolled out of the bed and stood in front of her sister. Regina sat upright in the bed and leaned forward, looking right into the brown eyes of her little sister, "Listen, sis...There's something off about Peggy. I don't know. I just don't like her. I feel like if you keep hanging out with her---!"
"Don't tell me who to hang out with!" Sierra snapped loudly, "Peggy's my best friend. How would you like it if I told you not to hang out with YOUR best friend?"
Regina had to bite back her desire to yell at her. Sierra was her baby sister, she was naive and impressionable, "Well, you'd be out of luck then because you are my best friend. I'm not telling you who to hang out with, CiCi, I'm just saying...be careful around her. She's got a very strong opinion about things and I don't want her to make you into something you're not. You're young and figuring things out, but I don't want you to get a wrong idea of how the world works."
"I'll be fine, Gigi. Peggy's just different, but I know right from wrong."
The next few days (3 to be exact) all consisted of similar conversations: Regina attempting to talk sense into her little sister. But Sierra was growing more and more rebellious with every passing day, sleeping in class and calling out teachers for being servants of 'The Man'. She skipped her homework, or was to tired to do it and left it alone while she slept. The only time Sierra ever finished an assignment was when Regina sat at the table with her and watched her. She was becoming more of a babysitter than an older sister. Soon it was Sierra and Paolo's (and according to Story Progression, Peggy) birthdays.
(*The picture of Paolo's makeover got deleted somehow...)
Sierra aged up, no surprise, with the Rebellious trait. The party brought with it a call out from a now teenage Sierra to her older sister.
"Regina, I've had it with you! You've spent so much time trying to dictate what my choices should be! I'm my own Sim, I can take care of myself and I can chose my own friends. I don't need big sister Gigi breathing down my back! I get enough oppression at school, I don't need it at home!"
Regina groaned and shouted back, "Do you hear yourself? You don't even sound like you anymore. 'Opression', I remember when you didn't even know what that word meant!"
"Listen, CiCi...at the end of the day, only you can make your own choices. You decide what you're going to do, who you're going to hang out with and how you'll let those people influence you. I can't make those choices for you, but I can try to sway you. That's all I was doing. All I want is for the two of us to go to Dragon Valley and start our band and live in peace away from rebels like Peggy and...evil sims like Grandma Izzy and Grandpa Walter."
Sierra's angry expression fell, "Evil...?"
"Yes, evil. Ever since you were a kid, CiCi, you've never really liked Grandma have you? You always said 'She's wierd.' but you didnt' know what it was or why...she's evil. She's hurt people, she uses people and I want to keep her away from us. But I can't do that if you don't listen to me. You can be friends with Peggy, just please don't let her get into your head. If you start thinking to much like that, you're going to end up just like Grandma!"
"I'm sorry, Gigi..." Sierra said in a small voice adn hugged her sister so tight she might've broken her in half, "I forgot. Our band! Dragon Gals, I forgot. I trust you, okay? Peggy is still my friend, but you're my best friend. I'll be careful. And we'll get to Dragon Valley whether mom and dad pick one of us as heir or not."
Except I'm not going to Dragon Valley...Elswhere in the city, Edwin and Cipriana were celebrating, hand in hand on the beach. As luck would have it, Sierra's birthday was also their wedding anniversary. And so they left the hustle and bustle of their daughter's birthday and escaped like a couple of teens.
Cipriana giggled, "We came here when we were kids, remember? It was our first real date if I remember correctly."
"Yeah..." Edwin laughed nervously, "I tried to kiss you, but you rejected me the first time."
"Only because I wanted our kiss to be romantic. You lunged at me again like you did when you asked me to be your girlfriend. All those 'Heat of the Moment' kisses..."
"I didn't know any better!"
"I taught you."
Edwin sighed and looked up at the sky, "Sierra's a teenager now, Paolo's a young adult...I think our lifespans are a bit off, we should've had our adult birthdays by now."
"I'm sure Watcher will fix that." Cipriana linked their arms together, "Probably settings from an old save file---now come on. What did we come out here to talk about? More than just birthdays and first dates."
"Yeah. The heir...it's funny, I feel like I didn't do a whole lot while I was 'reigning' heir. I still don't understand much what it's all about..."
"You gave SimNation three beautiful children and made more inventions than
Watcher your mom can think to do with. The quiet heir...silently working in the background. But we've got three very vocal kids, so let's get down to it."
Edwin let out a breath, "Paolo's a Young Adult now, so he's got himself all figured out.
Insane,
Dramatic,
Heavy Sleeper,
Grumpy, &
Socially Awkward. He's an odd bird...a really odd bird. But he told me that he wants to be a
Master Acrobat, and to do that he needs to go to
Starlight Shores. I'm not sure what it is about Paolo, but he always sort of just lingers in the background talking to himself and saying 'Soon Soon' to his sisters. I think for everyone's safety he shouldn't have any reign in the family. That's not to say I don't love my son...he's just off."
"Way to be subtle, Edwin. He's clearly not your favorite."
"Here me out!" Edwin continued, "He's off, but he's also got a good sense of family and commitment. He loves his siblings, he loves my mom and dad, he loves you. I honestly think he'll be a great father in between gigs in town, and if nothing else he'll be great entertainment to children."
Cipriana smiled a bit at the thought of her eldest daughter, "Let's see. Regina's still got some things to figure out.
Virtuoso, Good, Family-Oriented, & Light Sleeper, and who knows what she'll end up with when she gets older. Sweet, caring, and care-free Regina. Regina who also refuses to wear shoes. If I had to put a word to describe Regina, I'd probably say 'Hippie'. It's not just her attire, but her overall attitude. If she's not feeling overly obligated to take care of Sierra, she's very relaxed and just appreciates the world around her. She's very mild-mannered. Though...she seems to have something against your mom. And I overheard her saying something about keeping Sierra away from her? I don't know....sounds posessive. Almost obsessive to me. She told me she wants to be a
Hit Movie Composer and is going to move to
Dragon Valley to start a band with Sierra, though I'm not sure how she can do that and have a band and a family."
"And now my little girl." Edwin said with a sigh, rubbing his eyes, "I can't even imagine her any older.
Rebellious, Artisitc, Virtuoso, and Friendly. She's apparently going against what Regina wants and says she wants to go to
Bridgeport to become a
Rockstar. Apparently Dragon Valley looks to much like Monte Vista?"
Cipriana shrugged, "Never been. Maybe the colors, I don't know. I think she wants to get out of the country. And I don't blame her. Monte Vista is very boring."
"Hmm. Here's the thing about Sierra...she's so independent and so strong willed, and she's been that way even without suddenly becoming rebellious. She has an ability to see people for what they really are make up her own mind about things, and once she's there she's not swaying from it. She dislikes my mother, and I feel like she can see right into her mind. She knows what's going on in there. And while I don't think there's anything to stop, if anyone's going to figure out how to work around Isabelle, it'll be Sierra. She has something Regina doesn't have...perseverance. Regina can fold, Sierra wont."
The parents sat and thought for a long while on each of their children.
"So it's settled then?"
Cipriana nodded, "Yes. I think it is."
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