When The Bell Rings, Part 2, 2010

Hapar, spring, 2010

Principal: Johan Shazad; Secondary Teacher: Simlish & History: Jesse Kent; Secondary Teacher: Math & Science: Krissy Thorn

Secondary Students: Wendy Keller, Si'Enya Warwick and Rojo Herendez are in 12th grade; Elphy Mendenhall is in the 11th grade; Myra Shazad, Naraj Shazad, Grace Elise Dawson, Bryant Grey, and Annie Grey are in 9th grade; Rex Mendenhall, Abel Wilsonoff, Amanda Wilsonoff and Serendipity Herendez are in 8th grade; Ashlee Dawson, Veronika Kent and Laci McMillian are in the 7th grade

Optional soundtrack: How Will I Know-Keke Palmer

"Hey little sister," S'Ahmisa said hugging the young woman. "I come with drinks and food for tonight."

"Good, all I have is a sleepy cat," she said pointing to R2D2 on the floor.

"Are you ready for graduation?"

Si'Enya nodded. "I am, but I'm nervous as well. What if I trip while accepting my diploma, or fall off the stage, or trip over my dress?"

"You're so insecure," S'Ahmisa giggled. "You won't trip or fall and your dress is too short to trip over. You'll be fine."

"You're right..."she said sighing.

"But what?"

"I wonder if Trevor will come."

"Did you invite him?"

"No...but I bet mom and dad did."

"He might come...he's on tour, so who knows...you still have a crush on Trevor, huh?"

Still had a crush? Si'Enya honestly wondered if she was in love with the man. She would lie awake at night thinking about him and whenever they talked on the phone she felt hoards of butterflies in her belly and her words would escape her. She would often make excuses to call him just to tell him about the simple mundane aspects of her day. They had even fell into a comfortable habit that he would call her in the morning, greeting her with wishes of a wonderful day and then she would call in the evenings and his voice would be the last thing she would hear at night.

She wondered if she were in love. She was having all sorts of feelings that she never felt before, not with Erricson or any other fleeting crush. She couldn't help but hope that he felt it too, even though in her heart she knew that he probably didn't. He was a grown man, what would he want with her. She wondered if she was too young to even experience such feelings, such emotions. So instead she debated if she loved him or not while staring at the walls at night and simultaneously berated herself for entertaining such thoughts.

"Maybe," she answered biting her lip. "It doesn't matter, besides, who doesn't have a crush on Trevor? He's a singer and his hips do amazing things on stage."

"You're right about that...does he know that you have a crush on him?"

"I don't think so, I kept it pretty hidden. I'm not dumb, I know that as a rock star he has his pick of groupies."

"You're being silly, Si'Enya. You know the real Trevor, the one that crawls in the dirt with you looking for insects. I highly doubt that he's partaking in his fair share of groupies. He's probably reading some nature magazine about the sleeping habits of wombats or cataloging his bug collection, just like you do."

"Maybe...besides it doesn't matter, tomorrow I'll graduate and then start university. I'm so nervous! What if I chose the wrong major and then flunk out of school or end up in a career that I'll hate."

"You won't and even if you do, you can switch majors or go back to school. Your life isn't set in stone based on what box you check at the register's office."

"But you knew what you wanted to do once you started university and you graduated with a triple major and with honors! What if I flunk out?"

"You won't flunk out, you're way too smart to flunk out."

"You're probably right,"

"I am, now drink up. You're stressing me out with all your doom and gloom."

"Whatever, I'm just being realistic. Hey, what's with you and Rashid? Krissy just got married, when are you guys getting married?"

"I don't think we'll get married anytime soon, I'm still pretty young and I still have a lot that I want to do."

"Like what? You're the hood council president and you're not even 25 simyears old yet. You have a master's degree already and you're representing Apple Valley in the assembly. What else do you want to do, take over the world?"

"No, I wouldn't mind being the leader of the free world though...that would be cool. But first step is becoming mayor."

"Which you'll easily do, everything you do comes easy for you." Si'Enya rolled her eyes and tried to hide the sarcasm in her voice. "Don't you want to get married?"

S'Ahmisa did want to get married, but she didn't see what the big rush was. She had her career to focus on at the moment, not what wedding dress she wanted to wear.

"Eventually, not right now. I assume that you want to get married pretty soon?"

"Ha! I'll probably be an old maid or a spinster, no sim wants to marry me...except Rojo, but that's cause he's a horny man with little control and is attracted to anything that jiggles and giggles."

S'Ahmisa laughed, "You might be right about Rojo, but not about you. There are plenty of sims that would want to marry you."

"Perhaps," she said yawning.

S'Ahmisa yawned, "come on, let's get some sleep, you have a big night tomorrow."

---

Si'Enya was nervous as she waited behind the stage for the ceremony to begin, she snuck a peek from behind the curtain and caught her breath.

He had made it. But how? She didn't tell him about the graduation, but she knew that her parents probably sent him an invitation.

She was surprised that he made it considering that he was in the middle of a big tour. Her heart skipped a beat as he glanced towards the stage and she ducked back behind the curtain before he saw her. She could hardly breathe knowing that he was in the audience waiting for her.

"Welcome to tonight's graduation ceremony honoring the graduates from Apple Valley Academy," Johan Shazad started the event.

"I'm sure that you are very proud of the sims that are graduating tonight..."

Si'Enya could hardly focus during the event. All she could think of was Trevor sitting there, waiting to see her walk across the stage. She was thankful that Rojo nudged her on his way to accept his diploma.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she missed the crowds laughter as Rojo sauntered off the stage.

"Miss Si'Enya Warwick,"

"Congratulations!" S'Ahmisa said squeezing her sister in a big hug. "Did you see who's here?" she whispered.

"Yea, I didn't know that he was coming here."

"Well, he did and he's coming this way."

"Well, congrats again. Here's my gift to you." She said louder, handing the younger woman a wrapped box.

Si'Enya opened it to find a set of keys, a deed and several photos of a beautiful cabin.

"What...S'Ahmisa?"

"It's a cabin! I got you a cabin in Big Yellow Lake. You'll love it, there's plenty of insects and the mountains are right outside your door."

"Wow...thank you."

"Congratulations, Si'Enya," Trevor said grinning at the radiant young woman.

"Thank you, thanks for coming." Si'Enya said shyly, hoping that she wouldn't appear like an idiot or that her words would fail her. "I know that you're busy with the tour-"

"Not too busy to miss your graduation," he said grabbing her in a big hug.

Si'Enya thought that she would burst into sprinkles at that very moment. There wasn't any other way to describe the tingles that traveled through her body or the heat that pooled in her belly. She thought her body would explode with pieces falling as far as the double moons.

Si'Enya tried not to blush as he released her. "Thank you for coming," she mumbled, her lips shaking, her hands quivering and her legs feeling like gelatin.

"I have something for you, it's not quite as nice as a cabin, though." He handed her a small gift. "Careful, it's fragile."

"You didn't have to get me anything," Si'Enya replied politely as she carefully unwrapped the box.

Her breath caught in her throat and and tears came to her eyes when she saw what was inside. She struggled to catch her breath as she stared at the object.

"I found it for you," he whispered.

Si'Enya still couldn't find the words as her emotions crashed all around her. If she wasn't sure that she loved him, now she was sure.

"If you don't like it, I can get you something better, maybe something that sparkles?" Trevor offered, interpreting her silence as displeasure.

"No...this sparkles," she whispered.

Si'Enya carefully lifted the perfectly preserved spider and held it to the light. The glass display box sparkling in the florescent light of the auditorium. The bright blue stripes were displayed proudly on it's thorax and she could even see the tiny fine hairs on the legs. It was the same spider that they spent hours and years looking for, the missing piece to her collection.

"I...oh...it's perfect, Trevor."

"Did he just give her a bug?" Rashid whispered to S'Ahmisa.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Do you want a bug? Is this the next big thing in gift giving?"

"No," she hissed, playfully smacking him on the arm. "Don't you dare give me a bug."

"Thank you for the gift, it was perfect." Si'Enya whispered sitting on the stairs of the playground slide outside.

"I'm glad that you liked it."

She could see his grin in the moonlight and wondered what it would be like to finally kiss him and give into her feelings.

Before she knew it, her lips were on his and he wasn't pushing her away. In fact she imagined that his hands had reached up to caress her waist and back, softly stroking the exposed skin of her arm. He smelled like whiskey which meant that he was nervous, as he only drunk whiskey before performances. He said that it gave him enough courage to overcome his shyness and perform as the sexy rock god that the audience paid to see.

When she pulled back, she felt a little dizzy and there were significantly more stars in the sky than before. She looked down into his eyes and he seemed to be staring at her in shock and awe. Her body went cold suddenly as she fully realized what she had done.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She jumped off the slide and tried to run back inside, she didn't make it very far, before Trevor pulled her back into his arms.

She wished that one of those rumored alien abductions would occur right now and take her away. She did not want to hear his pity and have him explain how he appreciated their friendship, or that she was too young, or that he had fallen in love on tour with some groupie. She rather be burned alive while rats nibbled her toes than to hear his pity.

"Why...why are you apologizing?" He asked, his voice much deeper than before.

"I...I shouldn't have done that..." she tried to explain. How could she explain the bold rush of courage that swept over her and caused her to seek out his lips.

"Did you not like it?"

She glanced up into his eyes, surprised. Was he trying to taunt her, to make her admit that she was hopelessly infatuated with him and then deny her. She lowered her head and focused on the dirt under her toes.

Trevor lifted her chin with his fingers, stroking her face softly. "Did you like it?"

"I...I did like it." She admitted, trying not to cry. "I'm-I'm sorry-"

"I liked it too," he whispered, his fingers still stroking her face. "In fact, I would like another...if that's ok with you?"

Si'Enya could hardly breathe as he twirled her hair around his finger. She looked up at him and into his deep grey eyes and he smiled a slow smile at her. He brought his face closer to hers until his nose was touching hers and his lips were about the span of a pencil away from hers.

"Would that be ok?" He asked again, his breath warming her lips and causing her to dart her tongue out in an effort to taste his words.

"It's...it's ok."
---

Rojo Herendez graduated with a C+ average and will attend Pierce University. He has not chosen a major yet.

Si'Enya Warwick graduated with an A+ average. She will attend Pierce University and major in natural science, or biology, or anthropology or environmental science or botony or.... She received four scholarships.



Si'Enya also received a cabin as a graduation gift from her big sister

---

Sorry for the length! I thought breaking it into two entries would make it easier to read.