Hypnotize

Round 32: July 2036 (Winter)

last update/next update

Gordon Nott is 40, Lia is 39, Annabel and Georgina are both 12 and Gabriel is 9.
(Jace is 79, Magdalena is 72, Mitchell is 17 and Brendan and Caitlin are both 13)

Narrated by Georgina Nott

High school has been harder for me than primary school ever was and my grades have dropped a little as a result. My teachers have told me that it’s my oral work that’s letting me down.

Whenever I have to do a talk, I get too nervous and I end up fumbling my words too much. So I’ve been practising in front of the mirror whenever I have a presentation or something for class. Hopefully, that will help.

Annabel has no such concerns.

The only thing she practises in front of the mirror is kissing and flirting.

Mum is always trying to encourage Annabel to take school a bit more seriously. She’s very set on all three of us going to college and Annabel won’t get in unless she has the skills and grades they’re looking for.

Annabel isn’t worried, because she figures she has five years before she even has to think about university.

Annabel and I are 12 now and she’s been trying to convince our parents that we’re old enough to be left at home alone for the night.

It’s not like we’re going to throw a wild party or burn the house down or anything like that. When we get home after school and we’re by ourselves, we usually just do our homework and watch TV.

Gabriel’s not really any trouble either. It’s too cold for him to go out bug hunting right now but he’s happy inside reading. We would be fine at home for a few hours at night.

Our parents, especially Mum, don’t see it that way. They said there needs to be someone older around in case of emergencies.

Dad has promised that in a couple of years, we can stay home on our own on a trial basis.

I still think it’s fun when Mum and Dad go out for the evening though.

They go out on their date nights a few times a month, whenever they can fit it in around Dad’s work.

When they’re out, Grandma and Grandpa come over to watch us. Which is not all bad, I have to admit.

Our grandparents are really cool, for old people.

Mum and Dad always leave us dinner but Grandma always bakes something extra for dessert.

Mum doesn’t make too many cakes and things and Grandma is a great baker, so it’s nice to have a treat when she’s here.

Annabel doesn’t really mind hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa; she just likes seeing how much Mum and Dad will let her do.

We’re not really allowed out much at night but lately, that really hasn’t been a problem. We’ve had some really heavy snow and school hasn’t even been on a lot of the time.

That leaves us plenty of time to hang out with our friends during the day.

I love school but even I have to admit that there’s something special about being out having fun when we’d normally be in class.

We’ve spent many a morning at the playground near our house, with Brendan and Caitlin.

Lunch is always at Cluckin’ Bell, because it’s the only place we can afford.

Even if we could afford some place fancier though, we’d still be eating there. Caitlin and Annabel are both obsessed with Mitchell Carmody, who works there.

Mitchell is cute and everything but he’s also 17. That’s pretty much a guarantee he’s not interested in Caitlin or Annabel.

Annabel thinks she’s in with a chance because he talks to her but I think he’s just a nice guy. Or maybe he just likes the attention. Either way, Mitchell will be away at college by the time Annabel and I are even allowed to date.

Brendan hates it when Annabel gets all swoony over Mitchell. He says it’s because it’s so pointless, because Mitchell’s not into her anyway.

It’s so obvious that he has a crush on Annabel though and he’d rather see her getting all swoony over him.

I know how he feels, because it’s probably the same way I feel when I’m trying to talk to him and he’s too busy looking at Annabel to hear me.

I don’t know Brendan as well as Caitlin and Annabel do but I really like him. He’s cute, of course, but he’s also funny and sweet and smart.

When he can drag his eyes away from Annabel, he's actually a pretty good listener as well.

Usually, I tell Annabel everything but I haven’t told her how I feel about Brendan and I’m not sure if I should.

We worked out months ago that Brendan was pretty into Annabel, so he has definitely come up as a topic of conversation when we’re hanging out without him.

But in all the times we’ve talked about Brendan, Annabel has never said one way or the other whether she’d actually want to date Brendan or not.

I guess it’s selfish of me but I hope she doesn’t. Annabel and I are so close and I don't want a boy to come between us.

Notes:

• Title is from Hypnotize by the White Stripes.
• So this is the other side of the Brendan thing I was referring to in his update. Georgina likes Brendan, Brendan still likes Annabel and Annabel isn't rolling wants for anyone. There's a lot of heart-farting over Mitchell though. ;) I don't know what will happen with this gang but they're young and have plenty of time to figure it out.
• There was so much snow in this play session! I have never had such heavy snowfall in the game - it was insane. I played this family for four days, two of them being school days and both those school days were declared snow days. Which was nice in a way, because it gave me plenty of time to have the twins hang out with Brendan and Caitlin but I also didn't get to improve Georgina's grades at all, which she really wants to do.