Day Seventeen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Nineteen

Jaz woke up and got ready for school, and headed out the door. She was feeling terribly sad after the day before, and would have FAR preferred not going to school today at all, but that, of course, wasn’t an option. Miserably, she walked to school, hoping the mean kids weren’t going to start in on her again.. and wondering which class to ask for a hall pass in… since the one after lunch certainly wasn’t going to allow it anymore.

Marnie’s day started off on a shocking front.. the TV was broken, and while trying to fix it, she must have crossed the wrong wires.

With a plume of smoke following behind her, she went to change the thermostat to warm, since fall was definitely in the air. Good thing she’d already pulled out the kids’ winter clothes.

Bennie, after several attempts to be the man of the house and fix the TV (while I kept cancelling the action so he wouldn’t DIE!) – headed downstairs to open the store for the day.

Marnie fixed the twins some lunch, then tried the TV again. This time, it worked.. but it had taken ages to fix, and by then the kids were home. Before long, the keyboard was also broken, but Marnie wasn’t going to press her luck again today.

Jaz took the first shower for a change (apparently everyone was feeling sorry for her after the day before!) and sat down to do her homework. The game playing in the next room definitely made getting it done harder, and so did the growly tummy she was nursing. Out of fear of asking for a hall pass in a different class, she had skipped lunch to go to the bathroom while everyone else was in line. With nothing in the fridge when she got home, she was going to have to wait for Marnie to make dinner…. and who knows when that would be. Clearly skipping lunch wasn’t an option, either. She was going to have to go back to the “drawing board” for new ideas.

After dinner, and some close calls with nearly stepping on a mouse, she spent some time working on her Mental skill, then called it a night. Luckily, the twins were doing well with their skills (largely on their own), and sleeping through the night was a “thing” in the Malone household again, so she fully expected to sleep until daylight the next morning.

Day Seventeen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Nineteen

Day Sixteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Eighteen

Jaz’s day started out perfect – too bad It didn’t end that way. But I digress. One thing at a time. She woke up early to do her homework, and breezed through it in plenty of time before school.

Elsewhere in the apartment, Myles was letting out some inner rage on Blarffy… (Who knew he had an inner rage?! .. perhaps he’s more like Dad than he’s let on….)

Braydon heads off to the kitchen to get something to eat.. and of course, the stove is broken.

Marnie is johnny-on-the-spot, though, and gets to work fixing it right away.

All the kids are off to school, and Bennie is “watching” the twins while Marnie fixes the stove. He’s doing a bang-up job, though, isn’t he? (And.. who’s behind the dust cloud??)

… Turns out it was Braydon yet again. Bennie goes to dump his dirty plate on the table, then go watch some sports TV.

The stove is fixed, but the kitchen still needs cleaning, when all of a sudden Marnie’s phone rings. Putting on her “everything is awesome” face and voice, she answers it.

“Hello?”

“Is this Marnie Malone, mother of Jazmyn Malone?” a gravelly voice says on the other end of the line.

Marnie pauses a moment to compose herself again, and responds, “Yes?”

“Jazmyn is being sent home early from school. She carries a note to explain everything, but suffice it to say, she barely avoided suspension today. She will need to be checked by a doctor as soon as possible, and to stop using so many hall passes to go to the bathroom. We have breaks between classes for a reason.”

Stunned, Marnie doesn’t know what to say. Of all the kids she has, getting a call from the principal about JAZ had never, ever crossed her mind.

“Jaz should be arriving home any moment now, I suggest you take some time to talk some sense into her. Also, I expect her to have seen a doctor by this time next week. Otherwise we may have to proceed with the suspension, after all. Meanwhile, I need to get back to work. Goodbye, Mrs. Malone.”

The other end of the line goes dead.. and Marnie literally just stares at her phone for a moment, fuming.

Then, from outside, she hears soft footfalls on the stairs to the apartment. Jaz is home. Marnie goes to sit in the living room (where Bennie is) and calls Jaz in.

Sighing deeply, Jaz gulps nervously, clutching the offensive note in her hand. For a moment, she wonders if she can somehow play this off as some other type of offense, and just not give her parents the note. “Probably not.” she thinks morosely, and goes to face the music.

Walking into the living room, Jaz hands her mother the note, and goes to sit down next to Bennie angrily. She wonders exactly what will happen to her now, because she’s never really gotten in trouble before.

Marnie takes a moment to read the short note, and absolutely loses her hold on her temper.

“WHAT IS THIS??” she yells. “Why are you trying to skip class every single day, and using the bathroom as your excuse???”

“Mom… I’m not skipping class! And I DO need to go to the bathroom each day.” Jaz protests.

“Of COURSE you need to go to the bathroom!” Bennie joins in, having now read the offending note for himself. “But that’s what lunch and breaks between classes are for. Classes are for learning!”

“But I CAN’T go then!” Jaz wails. “There’s too many people in the bathroom then!”

“WHAT ON EARTH SORT OF EXCUSE IS THAT?” Bennie yells, flabbergasted.

Sheepishly, Jaz hides her face and replies, “I can’t pee with everyone else in there. I feel like they’re watching me.”

“Why in the world can’t you?” Marnie interjects. “Don’t you know how to close a bathroom stall door?”

Jaz looks confused, and replies miserably, “Of course, I can close the door. But there’s still PEOPLE outside the door so I can’t go.”

Marnie and Bennie glace at each other, trying to figure out exactly how to handle this. Marnie finally says. “The school thinks there’s something wrong with your bladder, because you go at the same time every day, in the same class. Apparently you’ve done this for more than two weeks straight. Either there’s something wrong, or you’re just skipping class, which would mean a suspension.”

“I told you, I’m not skipping. I have to pee! I can’t hold it all day!!” Jaz, fighting tears, gets up and storms out of the room, knowing she hasn’t heard the last of this argument – but truly needing some time on her own to think things through.

“Now what??” Bennie asks Marnie.

“I guess we call the pediatrician. I don’t think she’s skipping on purpose. I mean, her grades are fine…” Marnie replies.

“How are we supposed to pay for this?!” roars Bennie, causing Jaz in the other room to cringe.

“I mean, there’s obviously something wrong with her, so we should be able to find some welfare funding for it. I hope so, at least. I can ask at the doctor’s office when I call.”

“You’d better. Because I certainly can’t afford it!” Bennie looks at his watch. “I have to go to work.” he says, and stands up abruptly, leaving the apartment past a miserable Jaz.

Jaz checks in the fridge, and finds she is stuck with water and cereal yet again. Sighing, she gets her snack and sits at the table to eat it.

Marnie, still unsure what exactly is going on, picks up her phone again, and looks up the pediatrician’s number. She then spends nearly two hours on the phone, trying to arrange welfare coverage for the necessary doctor visit for Jaz. Finally, she gets an appointment with both the county people and the doctor (for Jaz). She’ll be able to find out more about how they’ll manage to pay for it tomorrow. Exhausted, she puts down the phone, looks miserably at the still-dirty kitchen, and pulls down the murphy bed instead – the kids will just have to cope. She needs sleep.

By the time Benji arrives home, Jaz is engrossed in experimenting on the science table.

“Benji…” Jaz starts hesitantly. “Your hall pass idea didn’t work. I almost got suspended today.”

“What?” Benji queries, confused.

“I got sent to the office for using the hall pass to go to the bathroom every day.” Jaz explains.

“Why? Did you do it all in the same class or something?” Benji asks again, still confused.

“Well, of course. Because it’s right after lunch and that’s when I need to pee!” Jaz replies indignantly.

Benji bursts into laughter, tries to say something, then breaks into more laughter. Finally, he manages to say, “Oh my God, Jaz. Never use hall passes in the same class every day. That’s how you get suspended!!”

“You could have told me that before now.” Jaz replied miserably.

Still laughing, Benji blurts out, “I never thought you’d be THAT stupid!” and leaves the room, chuckling to himself.

Jaz’s eyes well up with tears again, and she tries hard to compose herself again. “I’m NOT stupid.” she mutters to herself, dashing the tears away and going back to her experiments.

Just before bedtime, the doorbell rings. Okay, so they don’t exactly have a doorbell. The door is so thin they don’t need one, they can hear whenever anyone walks up the steps. To Jaz’s surprise, it’s Elsa, and Marnie allows her to greet her friend for a short while before bed.

(Apologies, these photos have been lightened, so if they look washed out, that’s why. It was nearly impossible to see them without the adjustment, though.)

Elsa greets her, asking about why she got kicked out of school, and trying to find out if everything is okay. (It never occurs to Elsa that Jaz could have actually done anything wrong.)

Leaning forward. Jaz whispers the whole story to her new friend. She ends it with, “All I wanted to do was go pee! I didn’t know this would happen!”

“Oh, Jaz! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know. Don’t be ashamed of having to pee, we all have to pee sometimes! When are they taking you to the doctor?”

“Next week.” Jaz mumbles miserably. “I’m scared. I don’t remember ever going to the doctor. At least, not since I was a baby.. but I definitely don’t remember those visits…”

“Oh, it’ll be okay,” Elsa replies cheerfully, “Doctors aren’t scary. Just tell them what’s going on honestly, and they’ll get you fixed up in no time!”

“You think so?” Jaz replies dubiously.

“Of course!!” Elsa replies, and wraps her new friend in a big hug.

Jaz looks back towards the apartment… “I better go. I don’t need to be in more trouble.”

“See you tomorrow in school, then, Jaz!” Elsa replies, and waves jauntily. “I’m sure everything will be okay, don’t you worry!”

Jaz tries to smile back to her friend, and heads inside to go to bed. How could such a good day have gone so wrong??

Day Sixteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Eighteen

Day Fifteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Seventeen

Since Bennie hadn’t told anyone about the looming financial crisis, life in the Malone household continued as normal.

Jazmyn woke up early the next morning, and quickly realized she hadn’t finished her homework. Searching for some peace and quiet so she could study, she ended up sitting with the twins, who were sound asleep still (by some miracle).

Benji was having a “distant” phase and wanted to be ANYWHERE but near his family. Which, let’s be honest, wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. So he ate breakfast across from Myles while making faces at the ceiling.

Jaz finished her homework in plenty of time, and strutted confidently off to school. In her mind, things were going perfectly. She was even finding friends, so all the bullies could be ignored in her opinion.

After school, everyone queued up for the bathroom as usual, and played while waiting, or worked on their skills. Jazmyn finally had enough Mental skill to make the Emotion potions she needed for her aspiration, so she stayed up a bit late to finish those, and happily crawled into bed, looking forward to seeing her friends at school the next day.

Day Fifteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Seventeen

Day Fourteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Sixteen

Jaz heads off to school Monday morning, furious because the mice woke her (and the rest of the family) up.

Bennie wakes up in a foul mood, but it’s not the mice, and he’s not telling anyone why. Yesterday the bills came due.. and there is no way he can pay them. He’s short nearly 2 grand. So, he opens to store, and hopes that will generate some income before the power goes out and the whole family knows what a failure he’s been lately. He knows he’s supposed to be the opening act at work tonight, but he doubts he’ll be able to get away from the store to go.

Thoroughly frustrated, he walks past the overfilled dumpster.. and an idea occurs to him. He is going to end up filthy, but there has to be some things he could sell in there, right? People throw away all kinds of weird things….

After an exhausting day, I find poor filthy Bennie sound asleep in the dumpster, but at least there’s finally room in the dumpster.

By the time he closes the store, goes to the local thrift store to sell what he found in the dumpster, and heads upstairs to clean up, he is gratified to find out he has made enough to pay the bills. Barely, but at least the power will stay on and his kids can be fed.

Exhausted, he doesn’t even try interacting with anyone from his family, and just pulls the Murphy bed down, crawls in, and passes out. Even the mice aren’t enough to wake him up.

PS: Jaz spent her day either working on Mental skill or at school, I just somehow missed taking any shots of the rest of the family. Getting the money to pay bills was stressful!

Day Fourteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Sixteen

Day Thirteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Fifteen

Breakfast with the family. Dirty dishes everywhere, mice running past your feet, cranky toddlers yelling in the next room, and cold, gummy pancakes. Just another day in the Malone apartment.

Jaz finished as quickly as she could, and headed back to the room to do some experimenting. She still needed Mental skill for her aspiration.

Downstairs, Myles was finally getting started on his reading for his aspiration.. and of course, it was his mother doing the reading.

Upstairs again, Benji had another “important” phone call, and spent a few minutes on the phone. After spending some time with the twins (since nobody else was)… he suddenly left the apartment.

Those who were watching would notice that he just went across the street to the Teen Hangout. He met up with a young lady named Londyn. There was, after all, an opening in the club. After making sure she actually did meet the club qualifications, she became the eighth member of the club… and at about that time, the rest of the members all showed up in a tense group.

Londyn spent some time getting to know other club members as the rain started pouring, but it didn’t dampen the club’s plans for the evening.

Benji spent some time getting to know a pretty girl who happened to be hanging around the café area, letting the other members mill about and chat as though nothing was wrong.

Jay finally decided it was time to face the “music”.. and came to sit with Benji.

Benji cursed at his best friend, angry, and having a good reason to be. Jay’s betrayal was clear in Benji’s mind.

Somehow, Jay managed to talk Benji into believing it was all his girlfriend’s fault. He said she was the only person he had told. They bantered a bit, then Shaylee walked by, and waved Benji over to her.

Of course, he followed curiously, like a moth to the flame. She smiled coyly, and invited Benji to bowl. He was more than game for that, and as they bowled, they joked around. Benji felt a bit awkward, because he knew that Shaylee also knew about his crush on her, but before long, they were chatting like old friends.

“Oh, Benji, just wanted to let you know Cade and I broke up.” she mentioned slyly, watching for his reaction.

“Really?” Benji tried not to let his voice crack or anything like that, but he was genuinely surprised. “I thought you guys were tight?”

“Apparently not as tight as I had thought.” Shaylee said dryly, and related the rude and all-out nasty way Cade had broken up with her.

“Aw, I’m sorry, Shay. You have always deserved better than him, you know?” Benji said, smiling at her, and trying desperately to to look confident.

After another couple of frames of bowling, (Benji won), he dared something he’d never tried before. He blew her a kiss and let his flirting become more overt. She didn’t shoot him down, and Benji, encouraged…

Surprised her with a first kiss.

She giggled awkwardly afterwards, and they played a second game of bowling, but she hadn’t shot him down!

By the end of the night, Benji had a new girlfriend.. and they had snuck around to a dark corner to make out.

She didn’t want to say goodbye, but there was no way he could stay out any later. It was nearly 4 am as it was, and he had school at eight. Assuring her he’d see her at school, he gave her one last lingering kiss and headed home.

Day Thirteen < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Fifteen

Day Twelve < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Fourteen

Marnie is cooking breakfast for the whole family. French toast… but somehow she almost explodes the entire kitchen. Good job, girl. Luckily, all is eventually well, and the food even is warm for everyone this time.

Outside, Myles and Phoenix are trying to socialize with their Dad.. but ending up getting grumpy one-word responses – he’s upset about standing in the rain.

After breakfast, Jaz gets a phone call. Colin wants Jaz to come to his house to hang out. She needs to take a shower, but Colin assures her she can take one at his house – and it’ll even be warm. With this in mind, she agrees.

Colin’s mother just got home from work…. and seems to be in a good mood. At least until she gets inside and finds her soon to be ex-husband sitting on the couch watching TV.

With an eye to getting Colin out of the house ASAP, Jaz takes a quick shower, luxuriating in the hot water, and the fuzzy towels… then they head to the park for today’s club meeting.

The first person she meets is Miki, who welcomes her with a happy smile and a few jokes.

The club is not the only kids in the park, however, but Jaz elects to ignore the others, because several are friends with Billie, and haven’t been nice to her in the past.

Elsa agrees to push Jaz on the swings, while Phoenix swings by himself and Max (another club member) makes a mess.

The day, quite honestly, couldn’t be going any better for Jaz.

Most of the other kids start to leave with their parents or older siblings, so soon it’s just the Adventurers that are still at the park.

Jaz plays some soccer with Max, who, while reminding her of her troublemaker siblings, still seems nice. Miki cheers them on.

As the night ends, They all play a round of basketball (except for their leader, Elsa, who had to use the restroom). The rest of the club pictured (from the left) are: Colin, Miki, Lucas, Max, Phoenix, and Jaz.

At home, it turns out all she missed was a nasty thunderstorm… so she grabs some cold leftovers, then heads to bed. What a perfect day. She can only hope the next day will be anywhere close to as good.

---

Bonus picture:

… No way, Jaz, I’m NOT fitting that into the story.

Day Twelve < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Fourteen

Day Eleven < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Thirteen

The morning started out with a cry. Brett’s cry, to be specific.

“Oh god. GO AWAY, Brett!” Phoenix yelled (which woke everyone else in the house up, of course).

Jaz climbed out of bed miserably, and went to get ready for school.

Marnie was washing dishes, leaving the kids to eat cold, gummy pancakes from the day before. I’m not sure whether this is what annoyed Jaz, or whether she was mad at the mice, or Brett.. or.. well, she was just mad.

School still was required, though, so she finished her food, went to the bathroom and ran off to school.

After school, Phoenix was suspiciously friendly. Jaz had him help with her homework a little bit, and in no time, she was done. Only to get a surprise. She had a visitor.

When she got upstairs, Elsa Bjergson was there, waiting on her.

“Umm…. hi??” Jaz tried.

“I wanted to stop by for two reasons. One, Colin told me how much you helped him when he needed a friend. I really appreciate it and I wanted to let you know in person.” Elsa began.

“Really, it wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have done for anyone who needs someone to listen.” Jaz tried to play it off, feeling very awkward. She’d never been thanked for anything before.

Inside, I caught a shot of Bennie playing with his little brother all of his own accord. Then, Marnie forced him to finish him homework. Again. Bennie grumbled, but sat down at the table anyway to get to work.

“Oh, and the second reason?” Elsa started, smiling slyly. “A new position has opened up in the League of Adventurers. I would like to know if you would like to join. Phoenix has approved – which is important, because he was here first – and we all decided you would be the best choice.”

“WHAT?” Jazmyn exclaimed. “Are you SERIOUS?”

“Of course!” Elsa smiled back.

“Well, yea! I mean.. yes. I would like to join.” Jaz stammered her reply.

Elsa wrapped Jaz in a big hug and gave her a squeeze. “Great! Our next meeting is tomorrow at the park, if you would like to come?”

A bit later, Elsa and Jaz spent some time working on Jaz’s science project.

Bennie finished his homework, took an important call.. and came out to help.

In no time, it was done. With a cheer, they packed it up and all headed to bed. Tomorrow was a new day.. and Jaz was finally finding friends!

Day Eleven < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Thirteen

Day Ten < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Twelve

The Twins were on the warpath. They were the first of the family to wake for the day, and were hungry – so some poor soul was about to get a rude awakening.

Turns out it was Dad. Who was NOT happy with it. But for once, he went with it and got the twins fed, the kids up and off to school, and then went to wash one of the twins. (Braydon) The bath was far from successful, but since he did it of his own accord, we’ll have to forgive him.

By the time Marnie woke up, even the trash had been taken out. So she had time to play with Brett. At least for a short while.

Once Marnie got back to taking care of the house, Brett decided he hadn’t had enough fun, and with Braydon’s help, they pretty much trashed the living room.

Marnie, on the other hand, was obliviously restocking the fridge for the stampede of kids after school. She was not happy when she found the twins.

After school, Benji got a call from the principal of the high school. “Son, you’re nearly failing. If you don’t do something, you won’t graduate. I’m going to have to call your parents and let them know.”

Incensed, Benji stomped upstairs and decided to watch the new TV premiere instead of dealing with what the man had said.

By this time, the skies had really opened up, so playing outside was completely out of the picture. (And I managed to pause at the EXACT right time.)

Then, the phone rang. To Jazmyn’s shock, it was for her. Colin was saying he’d had a rotten day and wanted to come over to hang out for a while.

She agreed, and even more surprising – his greeting was a hug. Dismally, he recounted his day. His mom and dad had announced they were getting divorced. Poor Colin didn’t know what to feel, but right now he was just mad.

Jaz and he made some small talk after that big announcement, and Jaz racked her brain trying to come up with something to say to console her new friend. Finally, she gave up. Maybe just chatting would help Colin.

When it didn’t seem to be helping much, Jaz tried her best to calm Colin down. It worked… mostly. Then he was just sad, and seemed to be fighting tears. Jazmyn, quite frankly, didn’t know how to handle it, so she tried joking around with him.

… Which went about as well as you can imagine. Embarrassed, Jaz sheepishly apologized. Colin accepted the apology, then his phone rang. His parents demanded he get home because it was getting late. Jazmyn said goodbye, then went to take a cold shower. (Since she was the last one to the shower for the evening..)

While she was showering, the phone rang again. Marnie answered, and as she chatted, her face showed more and more anger. Apparently the storm wasn’t just outside.

Marnie interrupted Myles actually talking to his older brother for a change, and poor Benji got a huge piece of Marnie’s mind. So much for watching the premiere. She drug him to the table and demanded that he do his homework. She didn’t care whether he did it well, just that he actually did it, because she swore she wanted nothing more to do with him after this year, so he “Had better graduate!” (OR ELSE). Luckily, Bennie had actually gone to his work gig for the evening, so he missed this entire tirade, and Marnie’s mind was on other things by the time Bennie came home, so she completely forgot to tell him.

Bennie, on the other hand, came home sporting a nasty temper, and a promotion. He kicked the kids off the TV, yelled until they were all in bed.. and pulled the bed down so he could get some sleep. He, of course, had to bait a few mouse traps before he could do that, but at least the kids were all taken care of.

---

Bonus: Out-take: THIS is what I often see after school. This family is NUTS.. and taking care of them with just the one bathroom is almost akin to torture. Sigh. What I’ll do for a story, I tell you. Jaz.. you better appreciate this! :smiley:

Day Ten < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Twelve

Day Nine < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Eleven

Morning comes, as it always does… and Phoenix is up first. He goes to find something in the fridge, only to find some empty leftovers plates and .. nothing else. Luckily, he finds cereal in the cupboard.. and decides maybe water will work? (Also: the fridge is broken. Again. Poor Marnie.)

Soon, everyone else starts filtering out of the bedroom, with everyone finding the food situation pretty much the same. Phoenix finishes his “breakfast”, and tries to help out Marnie by mopping (however, with a broken fridge.. I’m afraid it’s really just good intentions.)

After everyone has left the building, the twins wake up, hungry, and end up eating some microwaved frozen veggies for breakfast while Marnie tries to get the kitchen back under control. Bennie puts the bed back up and heads downstairs to open the store again, to Marnie’s bemusement. His attempt at having a work ethic has not been missed by her, and she wonders why. (Although he has yet to go back to his entertainment job.. or even call in.)

After school, the kids come home to find the fridge fully stocked with leftovers again – a thing they mostly take for granted (to Marnie’s dismay). Everyone heads off to do their own thing, and Jaz is just taking her cold BLT out to the chess table when she notices Colin, the boy from Phoenix’s club hanging around the store and very obviously watching her.

He wanders over to say “Hey”… and even seems to smile, to Jaz’s complete surprise.

“Um. Hi.” Jaz looks around, and there are no other kids around. “What’cha doin’?”

“Mom sent me to check out the sale, my little sister has a birthday coming up. I heard about your fight with Billie. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Not everyone hates you, you know.” Colin replied.

Flabbergasted, Jaz just looked at him with her jaw dropped, speechless.

“Hey, I had fun playing chess with you at the park. You wanna try another game? I see you guys have an outdoor table over there…?” he tried again, awkwardly, starting to feel like he’d made a mistake by trying to be friendly to the school outcast.

“Uhh.. Sure, Colin. But won’t your friends pick on you for playing with me?” Jaz asked, looking around like she was afraid they’d get caught, and un-ceremonially stuffing the rest of her BLT in her mouth.

“I don’t really care what they think.” Colin replied. “It’s just a club. Plus, Elsa runs the show in the club, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard her spreading nasty rumours. About you or anyone else. She’s nice, actually. You might like her.”

Mostly speechless again… Jaz awkwardly mumbled an “Oh. Okay.” and nodded towards the chess board. “Let me rinse off my plate and I’ll be right out, alright?”

Colin’s face broke into a smile, and headed out to set up the board for play. Jaz, completely at a loss for words, put away her after school snack dish and went out to play chess with Colin, still unsure whether this was just a cruel joke or not. They played happily for a while, until the sun started going down, and they both noticed the “Open” sign on the store go out.

“I better go help close” Jaz mumbled.. and Colin nodded, then said goodbye and headed home, waving jauntily as he walked away.

Back inside the store, With a morose face, Benji was cleaning up the store at the end of day, after having spent the rest of his afternoon helping with the twins and cleaning the apartment.

Bennie had already headed back upstairs, having no interest in cleaning the store… and completely ignoring Benji’s obvious efforts to “get out of the dog house” as it were.

But apparently, Marnie HAD noticed, and caught Benji at the apartment door. “I just want to say, I appreciate your help. You friend, Cade called and invited you to the Bluffs. I’m over-riding your father on this and letting you off your grounding early. Go – have a good time – but no drinking, okay?”

Benji wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and immediately headed to Windenburg. He didn’t even bother taking a shower first. It didn’t occur to him to wonder why it was Cade who had invited him out.

“So, friend. I heard you’re lusting after MY girl, huh?” Cade started with, and Benji looked at him in shock.

“Where’d you hear that?” he answered, a bit confused, trying to remember exactly who all he’d told.

“EVERYONE knows, Benji. I thought we were FRIENDS. Friends don’t try to break up their friends’ relationships!” Cade said, clearly already worked up.

Benji growled, having pretty much had enough of this.

“Have I ever tried you break you two up? NO. I think she’s pretty, but that much is obvious. You’re the one attacking me, here, buddy. I tried to get to know her a little bit better, true, but I wasn’t trying to get in your way. I ain’t like THAT.” Benji said.

“Oh, really?? What was that business at the club the other day? I saw you off with Shaylee all alone in the bowling alley!” Cade yelled back.

“Seriously. Did you not hear what I JUST said?? I was trying to get to know her better. NOT break you two up! She’s a club member, too!” Benji retorted.

That, was apparently all Cade needed to hear. He roared and rushed Benji, fists already at the ready. For a brief moment, Benji thought about the fact that it was just the two of them, all by themselves out in the wilderness, basically…. then he shrugged mentally and went all-in.

He wasn’t a stranger to fighting, obviously, and Cade clearly was. It didn’t take long for Benji to get the upper hand, and from there it was all downhill for poor Cade.

Cade held his hands up, and literally cried “Uncle! Alright, you. I give! Sorry. You win. But she’s still MINE!”

“We’ll see how long that lasts, Cade.” Benji said, barely out of breath, and without a scratch on him. Cade had not been so lucky, and was going to be sporting a couple of black eyes to school the next day. (Provided he didn’t chicken out of going, that is….) “FRIENDS don’t attack friends. You’re out. Shaylee deserves so much better than you. Find another club to hang with. That is, if you can, once the school finds out about this….”

Cade held his spinning head. “Wait.. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just defending Shay’s honor!”

“No, I don’t think that’s what that was. You’re not changing my mind, Cade. Good bye. And good riddance.” Benji sneered, and walked away, dusting off already dirty hands. He headed home, his head spinning. How had Cade found out, anyway? The only person other than himself that he’d told was Jay. But Jay wouldn’t rat him out…. would he?? … Someone had some explaining to do.

Benji barely noticed his little brother playing with a soccer ball he’d clearly swiped from the park last weekend… and headed straight for the shower. (A much-needed shower, no less.)

By the time he was done, the water was cold, and everyone except for Marnie was in bed. He didn’t bother saying anything to her, just went straight to bed, still reeling. He’d been best friends with Jay since preschool. He never would have guessed Jay would betray him… but clearly Jay had changed. There was no other explanation.

Marnie finally finished fixing everything that needed it at the moment, and stuffed yet another block of cheese into a trap for the mouse hole. Would those little pests ever go away?! Sighing in frustration, she stumbled off to bed, barely avoiding passing out on the floor before she got there.

Day Nine < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Eleven

Day Eight < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Ten

The peace of night didn’t last forever, though. Especially in this house. Marnie was rudely awakened by a twin, and Bennie was also rather rudely made aware of something he’d forgotten in the chaos of the day before.

As Marnie went to get the twins some food, the power suddenly cut out. “Oops” thought Bennie.. and quickly pulled out his phone to transfer some funds from the store after the sale last night so he could pay the bills. He looked up to find a still-blackened Marnie glaring at him with a twin on her hip.

“I just forgot to pay it!” Bennie said sheepishly, purposely forgetting to mention how very close he’d come to not being able to pay the bills at all.

Sighing, Marnie headed back towards the kitchen.

After getting the twins some food, Marnie discovered another problem in the bathroom. She had to fix the bathtub before she could even clean up from the night before.

(And, I assure you, she needed it..)

It was finally sunny again by the time the kids got home from school, and Jaz immediately set out to get herself focused so she could do her homework for her aspiration. She’d raised her overall grade to a B today, but she still had a ways to go to get an A. Maybe Marnie might notice her then?

Bennie spent the day running the store, since the sale ad was still running for a while… and he hoped to get enough money to cover groceries and get closer to being able to pay next week’s bills. So far, the store was packed, but it didn’t seem to be making a whole lot of cash.

By evening, Benji (who was still grounded) was so bored he was cleaning out the toddler potty on his own initiative. (While Marnie bathed a twin in lukewarm water.)

Jaz tried getting her homework done while being focused, as well, but the mess that was the kitchen and the mice running over her feet distracted her. She did manage to raise her Mental skill a good bit, though, so the afternoon wasn’t a complete waste.

Marnie’s day was still a ways from “over” in the fix-it department. First it was the sink in the bathroom – then it was the fridge.

… Then it was her own bed. Apparently Bennie was so tired he hadn’t bothered to even try to fix it before going to sleep. Marnie was a bit more cautious, however, and decided that no way was she getting into a bed that was sending out sparks from somewhere near her pillow. So she fixed it. Eventually. It wasn’t like the place had come with a manual on how to fix a sparking Murphy bed….

Day Eight < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Ten