Gen. 2 Chap. 4: No good deed goes unpunished.

I overslept the next morning and had to drive myself to school.

When I got home, I was so exhausted that I collapsed on my bed and fell straight to sleep.

I was awoken by the sound of Velvet’s voice.

‘Viola, wake up.’

I blinked and looked up at her groggily. ‘What?’

‘The Symphony’s on tonight! Remember, we’ve been wanting to go for ages? Come on.’

I was glad Velvet had woken me. The Symphony was fantastic! We’d learnt our lesson from the night before though, and headed straight home after. 

Velvet told me on the way home in the car that she wanted to be a hit movie composer someday.

*****

I hung out with dad on Saturday, and got him to help me with my homework. 

I didn’t really need help - Velvet and I had done a test at school recently and discovered we were both geniuses! No, I got him to help me with my homework because I wanted to spend time with him. 

He was normally out doing a show when I got home from work on weekdays, and I felt like I hardly got to see him anymore.

I took my guitar to work that afternoon and tried my luck playing for tips after my shift - it went pretty well! 

I was starting to get used to this public exposure thing.

I started to spend less time at home. 

The tension between me and mom was unbearable. Sean was worried about me.

‘Tell me why we’re doing our homework out the front of the day spa and not at home?’

‘Because I don’t want to go home.’ I mumbled.

‘You have to go home at some point.’

‘No, I don’t.’ I insisted. ‘I only have to go home in time for curfew, and that’s when I go to sleep. I don’t see any point in being there outside of that time.’

Sean dropped it, but I had a sense he wasn’t done.

I had just stepped out of work the next day when Sean called me.

‘Hey,’

‘I’m sitting in your living room getting pretty bored playing Halo. You should come entertain me.’

‘Come meet me at the diner,’ I said.

‘No way. You’re coming here. C’mon, Viola, this is ridiculous.’

I sighed. ‘Fine. But only because you’re there.’

When I got home, they were all sitting at the table like one big happy family. I couldn’t bring  myself to join them.

‘Viola, we need to talk.’

I sighed. ‘I know, Sean.’

‘I hate seeing you like this. I don’t understand how you’re willing to throw away your relationship with your mom over one thing. I never knew my mother - you don't know how lucky you are, Viola.’

I bit my lip. ‘I know Sean, I know. I don’t want to fight with her. But - she’s doing the wrong thing! This isn’t what she should be doing with her life!’

‘But it’s her life,’ he said quietly. ‘Maybe it’s the right thing for her.’

Mom and I talked for a long time the following night. I told her I missed her and I wanted to get back what we had. I explained that if she was happy, I was willing to overlook her job, as long as it was what she really wanted to do. 

I’d done a lot of thinking since my conversation with Sean, and I’d realised that mom and I were going to have to put our differences aside if we were ever going to make this work. It was the only way.

________________________________________________________________________

Dear Diary,

Obviously, when everything is finally going well, something has to go wrong again. Can I not have a boring life for two seconds? I can’t even - no, I can’t even write it.

________________________________________________________________________

I was reveling so much in having a peaceful home again that it took me a while to notice that dad was almost never home. 

At first I wasn’t too perturbed, seeing as he normally performed concerts every night. We were probably just missing each other, our times at home not matching up. But one Saturday, I found out the truth.

My day started out great. I had a nice sleep in, then played my guitar for a bit until I had to get ready for work.

I don’t think dad heard us coming down the stairs to meet the carpool. 

All I know is that he was there, kissing another woman. And I saw him.

________________________________________________________________________

Author's Notes:

The chapter title is from the musical Wicked. Actually, the quote may have originated somewhere else first, but I can't be bothered to research it properly. I'm pretty sure it's in Wicked though. At least I didn't go to iTunes this time, haha.

I did promise drama, did I not? Hadley and Emma (Hatch) have been dating for a while, but this is just the first time Viola saw it. He wishes for romantic interactions with Kate and Emma pretty evenly, and Kate has no idea. Next chapter though, he’s gonna choose one. I think (I haven't played that far ahead cos I need to do the housemate vote first). Oh, and Emma is also in a relationship with Cycl0n3. Yeah. I find it so amusing Hadley finally gets all these romantic wishes when he had hardly any as a young adult (a lot of the romance in Gen 1 was initiated by the girls).

Next post will be the housemate vote. I’m automatically adding Velvet to the house, so you just have to vote for the two guys.

Oh! And did you notice I finally worked out how to add tabs and blog links and stuff to the blog? Took me long enough, haha.

Also, did you know it's really hard to upload a blog when the hotel internet keeps cutting out? Well, it is, haha! I'm in Bundaberg for my cousin's wedding. You know, where they make Bundaberg Rum? Maybe you guys don't have Bundaberg Rum where you live. You're missing out :)

Until next time,

xx Courtney.