The days following the finality of my high school experience were solemn and full of anxiety bouncing from one extreme to the next. I spent those quiet hours fishing, deep within my thoughts which lead to those moments of anxiety that had me pacing around the lake and back and forth on the dock. In my mind was a large red circle around a date that would define my life forever. The D.N.A test that would once and for all allow my return to the island or keep me away from Sun forever.
That gave me about eight days to pace and worry. It was going to be a long eight days!
Not long after than Caeruleus dropped in, cautiously walking towards me.
“I know you don’t want to see anyone right now, but I wanted to come anyway to see how you were,” he said to me.
“Better, I think. Not all right, but I’m doing okay.”
“Okay if I came then? I can leave if you want.”
“Actually, I think a bit of company might do me good.”
“Oh good. I, ah, have things to talk to you about and I didn’t want to wait any longer.”
Caeruleus looked incredibly uncomfortable and I patiently waited for what he had to say.
“Oh! I needed to tell you that there is an awards ceremony two nights from now. You have been invited which means you are on the list to win an award.”
I couldn’t help it, but I just stared at him with this blank stare. “I know you will understand when I say this, but I really don’t care.”
“I know, and I kind of told them that already, but they really want you to come.”
“I will think about it. Tell them that.”
“K, I will. I was wondering how long you were planning on staying out here?”
“I don’t know what else to do. I can’t go back to the Monty’s. I won’t.”
“Yes, I completely understand that, so I have an idea. I found myself a house. The owner wasn’t quite ready to sell, but she said I could do a rent to own thing. It has two bedrooms and I thought perhaps you would want to move it with me. At least, till you know what is going on.”
“Caerul, there is a chance that I won’t be here much longer. Are you sure you want to choose me to move in?”
“You’re my best bud! Of course I want you to move in. Besides, you can’t stay here, not when I have a house with a perfectly good bedroom!”
“Can I think about it maybe?” I asked.
“Sure. Okay if I stay here while you think about it?”
Caeruleus and I sat on the bench for some time chatting about things I had missed at school, news of our friends and good will messages passed on through him to me. Knowing him as I did, I could tell that he was trying to find a way to talk to me about something he was sure I wasn’t going to like.
“Caerul, I know you are sitting on something you want to talk about, so could you just spit it out and get it over with already!”
Caeruleus sighed, “I do have something, but I’m not sure how you are going to take it. Umm, okay I did something that I didn’t tell you about because first off I didn’t know if it was going to work and secondly I was a little embarrassed about it.”
“Uh huh.” I replied.
“No, I’m serious Jin. It took a lot of courage for me to do this but it actually turned out in my favour in the end. I’ve kinda had my eye on this girl for a while now, but for obvious reasons I did nothing about it. She is really the only girl I’ve ever been truly attracted to. You have to understand, it’s harder for me Jin, being a fairy and all. Most girls won’t even consider me because of all the stuff that comes along with being a fairy. It’s one of the reasons why fairies generally end up with other fairies, but as you can see, with the lack of fairy population in this town, it’s not really an option for me.”
“I always wondered about that actually. How your mom ended up here.”
“Well, that’s a fairly simple answer. My dad met my mom while he was away at school and still married to his first wife, I might add. He left and my mom found out she was pregnant with me. He went home and became a foster parent to a little girl with hopes of adopting her.”
“Right, I think you mentioned this already,” I said to him.
“Anyway I got off track in my story. I couldn’t approach this girl and with no other options I decided to obtain the services of a match maker.”
“Wow,” I said a little stunned. “Sooo, how did that go?”
“It was terrible! I kept getting matched up with women old enough to be my mother!”
I couldn’t help but laugh then! The look on his face with simply priceless.
“Yeah, you laugh but it was not at all funny. I didn’t know what I was going to do and then there she was-that girl I had been thinking about all along. She joined the service as well and there she was. I was thrilled and disappointed all at the same time.”
“I don’t understand. What is so wrong with this girl that you can’t date her?”
“It’s Cameron,” he told me with closed eyes and I could hear the dread in his voice.
I stopped to think about that as a hundred thoughts began to whirl around in my head.
“My Cameron? Wait, hold up a minute. You can’t mean my Cameron! Isn’t she your dad’s 
adopted daughter? Isn’t that like….dating your sister?”
“No. See, I knew you were going to react like this. This is why I didn’t want to tell you before. Especially with what you have going-“
Caeruleus had a look of shock on his face, like he had forgotten some sort of unspoken rule he had just broken or a line he crossed. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” I said to him.
“She isn’t my dad’s daughter. At least not by blood. She doesn’t even have his last name.”
“She thinks of him as her father. Not a well liked father but still her father. Doesn’t that matter at all?”
“According to my dad, he never signed the adoption papers. He left when she was a toddler to be with us, and the adoption didn’t become finalized till about three months after. He did help Honor raise Cameron but he is not legally bound to her.” He sighed, “look I know this all looks weird, but we have been open with the parents and they don’t have any objections to it. What I need to know, if how do you feel about it?”
“Me? Why do I matter?”
“Why wouldn’t you matter? You and Cameron were very close at one time. She thought and a lot of others thought you were more than just friends. Plus if you move in with me, it means you will be spending a lot of time with her and I need to know if that is going to cause any issues. Cameron said she is fine with it. What do you say?”
To be fair I did take the time to think about it. I didn’t think of Cameron in that way so I didn’t feel any need to say no to him. He was incredibly grateful, calling me his best bud and letting me know “I’m going to marry this girl” in a very excited tone.
It was then I decided moving in with Caerul would do me some good and get me back into the world, with hopes it would help me to move on from my mother’s death. We headed back to the Monty household to pick up my things. I wasn’t three feet in the door when I was attacked by Mr. Monty.
“It’s about time you got back here you ungrateful, selfish boy! You have a job to do here, one you were hired to do. Get to work!” By the time he finished his statement his tone had become louder and his face had gotten somewhat red. Who knew a ghost could get red faced.
“Look it old man. I know very well you are being paid good money by my parents for me to stay here. Since you aren’t paying me a dime for all the work I have been doing, why don’t you just go and hire yourself a maid and leave me out of it!”
“Paid? Paid! We haven’t received a red simoleon from your parents for a good two months now. You owe us boy and I intend to get it out of your back side with honest hard work!”
“Good luck with that! I’m moving out!” and I stormed out of the house leaving all my clothing behind. Mrs Monty had been standing on the porch and I emerged to see her fretting.
“I’m sorry Mrs Monty, but I just can’t stay here anymore. I will keep in touch as often as I can.”
“No, I’m so sorry Jin. I want you to understand, this wasn’t the man he was when he was alive. I don’t know what has gotten into him since death. I shall miss you.”
“Perhaps it is time to let him go and move on yourself!” Then I stormed off the porch and left for good.
Across town, Caeruleus and I entered his new home, which was much smaller than the Monty house, and just guess what he wanted to do first?
If this doesn’t tell you how boring this town is, I dunno what will. When christening a new home meant a full on pillow fight, I have no idea what else to say!
That night lying in bed, I couldn’t sleep and played one thing over and over in my mind. I couldn’t figure out why the Monty’s wouldn’t have been paid for the last two months of my being there. Was Mr. Monty lying? Or if not, why would payment have been with held for such a long time. I had no answer and the dreams that followed were uneasy leaving me with a very restless night.
The following afternoon, I threw together a party at the beach to celebrate getting away from the Monty’s, the end of school and the beginning of our lives.
There, Jessa found a new boyfriend,
and I reconnected with Katie. That night in bed I made a mental X in my head. Seven more days to go.
The next night on the full moon, I took great pleasure introducing Caerul to the graveyard and oh yes, those catacombs! hehehehehe
Katie and I spent much of the day together doing whatever we could to pass the time.
Five, four, three….
Caeruleus and I spent some time fishing, correction I fished, he read most of the time.
We spent the day at the pool. I beat him at every pool game there was to play.
and at night we played a bunch of pranks on people. Phone calls, toilet papered the school and left this little doozy for Katie on her doorstep.
Nothing like a flaming bag of poo to say I like you! However her mother was not too impressed!
It was a good couple of days I have to say. Caerul and I certainly enjoyed ourselves!
Two, one….
The following night, we had a huge birthday party for myself and Caeruleus. We held it at the teen hangout so we would have enough room to fit everyone there. Some of our friends had recently had their young adult birthday transitions but still made it to the party to celebrate ours. We had everything there we wanted, courtesy of Caerul’s parents who wanted to make the day special for both of us. They even dropped in, before the party got wild and everyone dipped into the juice.
The plasma punch gyroscope was a particular favourite all night long. 
Caerul was determined to master it before he aged up.
He never quite did, but it was sure funny to watch. Before I knew it, my time had come.
Then it was Caeruleus’s turn!
We partied till about three in the morning when friends started dropping to the ground and others decided to head home. But I wanted to remember this night and everything I had experienced in the last six months with all my friends. For tomorrow was a new day, and who knew what that would bring.
Zero.
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CC Used In This Chapter
Sims Used In This Chapter found HERE
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Stories By Bee 