6.46 Deep Water

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

It just wasn't Victoria's day, and she could tell from the first thing in the morning.



She woke up to Winston's dolls having an argument about skydiving.

"Do you mind?" she demanded. "This is my room, and I'm trying to sleep here."



"I'm trying to manage my stress," Winston retorted. "This is my big performance. You shouldn't have so many toys in your room."

Next door, Gamora shared a scheme she'd come up with to use software calculations to embezzle from the hospital.



Sawyer was horrified. "We'll talk about this when you get home from school, young lady!"

"Sure, Dad," Gamora said with a shrug. "You'll have forgotten about it by then anyway."



The school bus pulled up in front of Chivalrous Preparatory, and by that time Victoria was sure she was just not going to play the game today.



She stepped off the bus and turned in the opposite direction of the school.



"Wait. Victoria, where are you going?" Edmund asked.

"I'll see you after school," Victoria said. "And don't you dare tell Mom and Dad, or you'll regret it.



She took a bit of time to collect gear and ran to Morgana Beach.



It was a cold day in late Autumn. Winter was days away, and you could feel the first snow coming on the icy breeze. The beach was beautifully desolate.



Victoria locked eyes with a wild stallion who was wandering through the empty beach. He was so beautiful that she couldn't move until he had moved on.



Then the sky opened up, and icy rain began to fall.



Victoria almost laughed out loud. Well, at least nobody else would be crazy enough to come to the seaside in this weather.



Or, well, that should have been true. She ran into townie Mickie Jameson, who was hiding out under the pavilion. She had no idea what he was doing there. He seemed to be dressed too well to be homeless.

"Hey! Girl!" he called out. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"



Victoria's blood was pounding. She'd never done anything as wild as skipping school, and she was both terrified and exhilarated. "That's none of your business!" she shouted back too loudly.



"You get away and leave me alone!"

"OK! OK!" he said. "Don't be so crazy."

"I'm not the one who's crazy," Victoria retorted.



She was more serious than she knew. He walked away from her, pulled on an overcoat, and began splashing in the cold surf.

She got as far away from him as she could.

Now was the time. She pulled out the wetsuit and snorkeling gear she'd brought with her and waded into the water herself.

The wetsuit kept the cold out even better than she'd hoped. The ocean was silent and peaceful.

The world under the water was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Without splashing kids, surfers, and waterskis, the usually empty water was filled with wildlife going about their normal everyday lives. It took Victoria's breath away.



The rain stopped, and the sun came out. Victoria was surrounded by the colors and sounds of the sea.

I wish there were a better way to do this, she thought to herself longingly. It wasn't like she could skip school all the time.



Back at school, Judith and Edmund were in art club together.

"Have you seen Vickie?" Judith asked.

Edmund tried to focus on his clay sculpture. "What? I usually don't keep track of her."



The sun began to sink behind Camelot.



This was Winston's big moment. He cut out of homework club early so get in a last bit of practice.

He wanted everything to be just right.

Then it was time for Winston's ballet recital.

Family and friends arrived at the school, chatting with each other about Winston's dancing.



"Where is Victoria?" Andria asked, looking worried.

"Wait a minute," Edmund said. "Where's Dad? Didn't he come with you?"



"The principal called me when you were absent by the start of second period," Dylan said. "Did you really think nobody would notice when you didn't show up to class?" His voice was perfectly level, calmer than Victoria had ever heard. She was terrified.

"I-I don't know, Dad," she stammered. "I was just having a bad day, and I thought...." she trailed off.

"You thought what?" Dylan prompted coldly.

"I don't know," Victoria said.

"I see," Dylan said. "You didn't think at all. I thought I was raising my daughter to be thoughtful and responsible. Apparently I failed on both counts."

"Dad! I--"

Dylan stared at her with icy expectancy.

Tears welled up in Victoria's eyes. "I'm sorry," she said.

"I hope you are sorry," Dylan said. "You will have plenty of time to think about how sorry you are. You are grounded until your mother or I say otherwise. You may go to school and come straight home, and otherwise you are confined to the house."

"Yes, Dad," Victoria said meekly.

"Winston's recital is starting now," Dylan said. "Your punishment starts when we get home." He turned and headed into the school. Victoria followed.

Winston began with some fast-paced modern dance.



"He's like a little jitterbug!" Andria whispered to Edmund.

"I think I'm getting motion sickness," Sawyer said.



Then he moved on to some more classical selections.

"That's my boy!" Andria cheered when he finished.



Afterward, there was a reception with featuring chocolate-chip cookies.

Then everyone headed home. Dylan quietly apprised Andria of the situation, and they kept a sharp eye on Victoria on the way. 

Humiliated and ashamed, Victoria headed up to her room to sulk.

She looked a the cute, girl-next-door face in the mirror, and it suddenly felt alien. She grabbed a pair of scissors and viciously cut off her braids.



If her parents thought she was a bad girl, maybe she'd be one.



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Three more to go!

After the last two posts took a lot of work, this one practically wrote itself.

I'm not sure if it's possible to skip school without being caught. Vickie actually wasn't grounded for skipping school. She was grounded for fighting in public -- a mood swing wish I decided to fulfill that was so out-of-character that I didn't even try to make it part of the story.

I guess if you fight in PRIVATE, you don't get grounded?

Shannon Simsfan really inspired me to have more fun with my children. The store items also help :). There's a rabbithole opportunity for a dance recital, so I decided to play it out for Winston.