2.8 Building is Condemned

Spencer makes her first real friend in high school, a girl named Ladonna Bedlington.

"I don't know why you let those morons get to you, Spence. You're pure and beautiful and if they can't see that, you have nothing to prove to them." Ladonna always gets a little worked up when Spencer is sad about how their classmates exclude them.

Spencer wishes she could be like her friend, who doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks about her. Ladonna, in Spencer's mind, oozes natural confidence and coolness.

Ladonna's favorite thing to do is sit around in ruined places nobody else goes to, contemplating entropy and decay. It's easy to see why so few people want to put in the effort to hang out with Ladonna.

This building is condemned. Spencer wonders if it's even safe to look at it.

 

 

When it's past time for your lunch break, but you have to deal with a very difficult client first.

 

Despite his terrible behavior, Crane Fox gets the new outfits and haircut he paid for.

 

"Dad... why are you painting in my room?" Spencer hasn't used her easel in ages, but it's still hers, and she'd like a little privacy to compose her music here.

"Well, the easels in the barn already have half-finished paintings on them, and this one was open," Myles explains.

"A blue barn? Do you think we should repaint our barn to blue? Do you like blue barns?" Glycerine searches for meaning in her husband's painting.

Spencer frowns. Parents are so weird.

Grim is getting quite old. He hasn't won a race in a long time. Tilde decides to retire him, spending the rest of her career training horses for others to compete with instead of competing herself.

So instead of riding off to the stadium today, these two head to the beach.

 

"Do you think my guitar playing is good enough for me to have a music career?" Spencer asks her uncle, the down-to-Earth, responsible one in the family.

"Depends on the career. Elementary school music teacher? Yes. Becoming rich and famous? No. You need connections for that."

"Mom says I have talent," Spencer protests.

"You practiced and you have skill, which is more important than talent," Jym corrects her. "But the number of people who want to get noticed is a lot bigger than the number that will."

"I guess..."

"Make an effort if you want a chance at success, but have a backup plan in case of failure."

"Okay," Spencer agrees, though she isn't sure what her backup plan could be. It can be hard to decide what to do with one's life.

She thought her chances at a high school romance were slim to none, just like her chances at fame and fortune, but as it turns out she and Wyatt Fox here have some stuff in common. They like the same kinds of music and both have aspirations to turn that passion into a career.

They agree to go steady, then make out under the bleachers, where nobody can see.

 

 Wyatt would like to go a bit further than that, but Spencer is not that kind of girl.

"But Wyatt's going steady with Selina Chandra." Ladonna seems to know a lot about their classmates' personal business, despite not really being friends with any of them.

Spencer hums, too excited to see any red flags, "He's not. He's just keeping his promise to go to prom with her. So she isn't too embarrassed."

"Does Selina know that?"

"Of course..."

"Did you ask her?"

"Umm... no... pretty sure she'd just call me a loser and try to start a fight."

Ladonna sighs. "Fox is a creeper. I wouldn't trust him."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just how he talks to girls. And I caught him looking up skirts before. Filthy perv."

"That was a long time ago. He's grown up since then. Probably."

"Hey Spence... you ever just look at the water and... want to like, jump in? See where you float off to?"

"Can't say that I have, bestie."

"My mom would probably kill herself if I left so I guess I'll stay. It's fun to dream though."

"I'd miss this place's natural beauty, of course!" Ladonna continues. "It's just the people I don't like."

"I bet people suck everywhere," Spencer theorizes.

"Preach, sister."

If only things could stay like this. Endless uncertainty and possibilities ahead of them, major failures and disappointments not yet behind them.

Spencer cries for days when she figures out Wyatt Fox is not leaving Selina Chandra for her. Wyatt was able to string her along for a few weeks, but his interest waned as she kept denying him pants access.

Her mother is honestly happy things did not work out with this boy. He sounds awful. Consoling Spencer is difficult these days though, more difficult than it ever was when she was a child and easily distracted with new toys.

Spencer retreats into her music to cheer up. She writes a bunch of cringe songs about no-good heartbreakers. These amateur works will never see the light of day, but they're good practice for the career she wants someday.

"What's got you down, kid?" Tilde tries to understand her niece's pain. "Are you just embarrassed you believed this guy's lies, or do you actually miss him?"

"I feel like you'll criticize me no matter how I answer," Spencer mumbles.

"I just want to help you get over it faster."

"Why can't you just let me mourn?"

"He doesn't deserve it! You barely knew him! You're mourning a fictional person."

"Yeah," Spencer agrees. "It wasn't real but it was real to me. I thought I had something. Now I'm back to thinking I'll never have it. Sorry I don't want to get married to horses until a mid-life crisis compels me to make out with some loser in leopard print boxers."

Tilde's eyebrows raise. "Okay. You want to be a teenager today. Fine. But that kind of sass won't fly with anyone who's not me."

At least Pepper doesn't have any words of wisdom to share.

_____________________________________

Etc.: Tilde and Mike are getting along great. Tilde rolled a wish to move in with him. Now that Spencer is halfway into the teen stage I can move Mike into the household if I want, but... ugh, my four adults and their micro-managed careers are already kind of a headache, and Tilde's room isn't big enough for a double bed, so I dunno.

2.7 Cannot Appreciate Fashion

"Business formal and wedding formal are not the same," Glycerine tries to explain her client's errors.

 

 

 She's finally at level 10 in her career, but these yokels cannot appreciate fashion.

 

 Life is great. Myles isn't sure why he's feeling so restless, why he feels like life is slipping away.

He rolls a mid life crisis wish to get a tattoo. There's a tattoo parlor right next to the salon where his wife is working, and as he sneaks inside he thinks about her, wondering if he should be asking her for her opinion before he makes changes to his body. What if she's not attracted to men with tattoos?

 

He chooses a simple design for his wrist. It's a smiling crescent moon. The selection was impulsive and meaningless, but tats are hella cool, right?

Immediately after getting inked he drops in on his wife to tell her about the experience.

Happily, she agrees tats are hella cool.

Her customers could have done without the interruption, though.

Another afternoon spent doing silly things with Mike.

Tilde thought she never had what her sister had. That instant connection, the infatuation that blossomed into love and lasting marriage. What Tilde discovers as she dates Mike Midden is that infatuation was not the key that unlocked the other achievements. As the saying goes: relationships are built, not found.

Glycerine and Myles worked up to what they have, by daring to give their time and energy, and Tilde will have to do the same.

 

Mike already had one miserable failure of a romance. That resulted in little Darrick here. 

Darrick resents being told to play with Spencer while his father is off rolling in the hay with Tilde.

Spencer, however, is delighted to have company. "The other girls in class are calling you my boyfriend now. Is that going to be gross if your dad and my aunt get married? Will we be cousins?"

"I'm NOT your boyfriend, and your aunt is stupid."

 

Darrick's disposition softens a bit when he's introduced to Spencer's video game collection.

Despite the boy's frequent verbal abuse, and his refusal to speak to her at school, Spencer treats him kindly and hopes for the best. She has had trouble making friends.

Her classmates play lots of pranks on her, and call her gullible and stupid and ugly. Perhaps she can convince Darrick to stop joining them.

A roll in the hay.

Darrick "Da Rick" may be her stepson someday, so Tilde does her best to be a polite, positive person around the child. Though it's more than a bit challenging when he says things like "my mother says your brother is disgusting and bad luck because two men shouldn't kiss".

"My brother is just a normal person, Ricky. He's not bad luck. I think there should be more people in the world who love each other, not less."

"And his mom apparently said I tried to change Mike, because I suggested the makeover?" Tilde vents to her sister.

"Well, you did," Glycerine points out.

"It was an act of love! Don't you know he gets more tips now that he wears pants?"

Glycerine beams proudly. "I am the absolute greatest."

 

 Awwws.

 

Awwwws.

 

 

A loving family keeps Spencer from feeling too isolated, but being rejected by one's classmates takes a psychological toll. Spencer is polite, excitable, and eager to please... desperate for acceptance, and ever hopeful it will come.

She loves music. Her dream is to become a country music singer. She receives a guitar as an early birthday gift the day before her teen age-up.

She goes to bed that night dreaming of a big birthday party the next day. Everyone will be there. She'll be beautiful and popular, and high school will be a brand new start.

She invited her whole class to her birthday party... but none of them show up.

Spencer ages up to teen with minimal fanfare.

"Thanks for the support, Uncle J... but you can stop cheering."

_______________________________

Etc.: Double spacing issue fixed. Thanks!