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.