Simon Paterson's Story

Essentially a nocturnal creature, Simon had gone to bed for the night only a few hours before most of the other Patersons left for the day. When he finally awoke some time in the afternoon the rat briefly left his nest to use the restroom down the hall, but immediately returned to his bedroom and locked the door. Sliding into his well-worn rolling chair he quickly turned on his Xbox, his computer and the tv. With the afternoon lineup of sitcoms playing quietly on the 32-inch flat screen to his right, he logged in to briefly check any change in notifications, texts or updates from his friends -- all of whom he'd met through gaming, as he had none from school.

He played Black Ops II for a few hours before the need for breakfast finally registered. Where most of the Patersons' slender builds came from regular exercise and activity, Simon was one of those people who only ever seemed to feel the need to eat at a muted, almost second-hand level. He could note his hunger but not be compelled to satisfy it for hours on end, most of them spent in his room on his computer. This 'morning' breakfast consisted of two Hot Pockets and a Dr. Pepper, which he took back to his room after making a furtive appearance in the kitchen. This time he hadn't shaded himself, although more often than not he did when venturing from his room. Not that he disliked any of his family members particularly; he just didn't want to have to bump into any and be drawn into even the most cursory of conversations. Sometimes he went days without speaking to any of them.

Despite being only fifteen Simon no longer attended high school, which meant he virtually never had anything to draw him from his room. Citing an inability to cope with the pressures of school and socialization, he'd been able to enroll in an at-home schooling program that consisted of little more than reading and submitting papers to an instructor via e-mail, once a week. Almost all of the rest of his time was spent in his nest except for the rare occasions that he was pulled from his room.

Some hours after his breakfast, in the early evening, Simon finished a match and spent the brief moment of downtime to grab one of his phones from the nightstand. "Yeah one second," he replied over the headset while composing a quick message.

[kim pulled out. can u cover tonight 8p-1a $100?]

The new match started, and after a few kills and respawns his phone chimed with the response.

[where?]

He gave the address, a hip new club a few towns over. He didn't know much about it except that it was becoming quite popular with Sunny Haven residents, even rivaling the Patersons' Pawprint Cafe. The perfect place for two to 'accidentally' run into each other. He composed another text, this one to be sent to Val.

[hey Sean's planning on going to the Escape tonight] he began. He dropped the phone to quickly pick up his controller when he saw someone pass where he was camping. No one could find the rat when he wanted to remain hidden, and when the threat passed he turned back to his text. [drinks @ 8?] He sent the message to James' old ex-, and with a small smile, the rat returned to his game.

Simon cursed and threw the controller down in disgust. Someone had found his camping spot. He'd killed them, of course; but it was the fact that they'd found him that infuriated the rat. Muttering to himself, he bent to pick up the controller when his phone buzzed once. A call that had been automatically sent straight to message, as he hated having his phone ring almost as much as he hated having to answer it. He glanced at the notification before the screen went to black. [1 x Missed Call: Luke Galvan]

Slipping his headset off of one ear, he grabbed the phone and with a few touches called back, where it rang once before being picked up.

"What the f*ck, dude!?" the older boy yelled, and Simon pulled the phone back from his ear.

"Yes?" he answered coyly. He knew why Luke was calling, but he wanted to hear the whole story.

"You told me your sister was chill!" Luke continued to rant. Simon had indeed told the boy that Ramona was interested, but would only respond if he proved himself to be a man. That the Paterson girl's fierce and determined nature was merely a front until someone put her in her place. Luke, insecure and mean-spirited, had eaten the words up.

"I said she would play hard to get, sure," he replied, cradling the slim smart phone awkwardly between shoulder and ear while he continued playing. "How hard, out of curiosity?" That earned him a string of curses as the boy shouted about how Ramona had beaten him and tied him in a tree with fishing line. Apparently he had red welts all over from where the thin cord pulled against his weight.

"Sorry to hear that, Luke -- you know I'd never meaningly lead you astray. Here's what you do," he added, before telling Luke how to go about 'winning over his sister.' He smiled as he ended the call. Despite not being in the perfect Paterson mold for physical appearance, Simon was reasonably good-looking, although a little gawky like any tall, thin fifteen-year-old. When he smiled, however -- as he did with his renewed joke on Ramona -- he was not attractive at all, for the smile couldn't hide the sheer malicious glee that glittered in his watery blue eyes.

Curious, but not particularly patient, Miles opened his eyes to a crack, peeking through blond lashes. There was reluctance, not necessarily in her voice, but merely in the way she agreed. The two were acting out of their element, he serious, she honest (to him at least); it all felt so out of place. Had they ever spoken like this before? He was almost certain that the answer was no, and in that moment, felt oddly alone in the realization. The monkey was never without friends, but did he even have his family?

As he humored the thought, Miles watched as the chains creaked against the bar, metal on metal, the pale silhouette of Ramona's body as she swung, her hair streaming across the darkening background. He watched with silent appreciation, enjoying the tranquility of the moment, at least, until he felt the blood rush to his head. The monkey took one last look at the picturesque scene before pulling himself up, legs dangling from the bars as he sat. Miles found himself glancing over either way, just to see if there was anything left for him, but the moment had passed.

Ramona spoke, but not to him. An annoying, sinking feeling rushed to his head, though it might as well been the blood flow again. He was somewhat disappointed, after all, all his prodding and poking did not bear fruit, but this wasn't exactly uncommon. Miles was a talker sure, a charmer, but nothing like James. What he would do with his brother's gift....especially since he didn't seem to even use it. A waste, in his opinion. Even so, that wasn't all he felt, and if it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, he might have pursued the thought.

"I don't think Alex has any other emotion besides pissed and worried." He quipped, a small smile on his lips. Setting himself on the playground sand, Miles headed toward their things, noting a rather high jump in the corner of his eye. He turned to see Ramona in a state of disbelief, her eyes reflecting only indifference; his own.

"Jeez, what are they feeding you."

Miles grabbed his phone from the side of his bag, noting a few text messages and one missed call, probably from Alex. As he unlocked the screen, a free hand weaved through the strap, slinging the bag on. The two then walked on, Ramona leading, as it was difficult to move at her speed when multitasking.

[Wesley (SC): where are you? leaving soon.]
[Wesley (SC): left. see you monday.]
[Me: sorry! couldn't reply till now. make it up to you monday.]

Wesley wasn't exactly one to hold grudges, but Miles avoided disappointing others when he could. And when he had to, well, the monkey didn't exactly shed tears over it.

[Nicole Janice: ur sis is crazy! she beat up luke!!!]

Well, this was interesting. It certainly served good reason to have connections.

[Me: wtf?]
[Nicole Janice: that bitch was hittin on him and he rejected her, so she tied him up in a tree!]
[Me: sh*t. how bad is it?]

His eyes brightened once the image loaded, lightly scoffing at Luke's buffoonery. Nicole and Luke were dating, last he heard, so he supposed that much was true. But Ramona, interested in him? Hilarious. If anything, the moron probably attacked her and got his ass handed to him, naturally. Even so, Luke wasn't that brave, after all, he couldn't even stand up to Nicole. There had to be outside influence, and usually, that meant only one person.

[Me: nice.]

With the text, Miles attached the picture of Luke hanging from the tree, red welts and darkening bruises, to Simon. Not surprisingly, once he finished going his messages and moved on to Facebook and Twitter, Luke's image had already been uploaded. Expectedly, to defend her pride, Nicole began slut-shaming Ramona, diverting the attention from her pathetic boyfriend. Miles ignored the posts, staying far away from them. His audience was university now, high school drama didn't benefit him in any way.

Tucking his phone back in his pocket, he caught up to Ramona, suggesting that they quickly stop by the general store to grab a few things, if only to appease Alex. Shortly after, they had arrived home, after hiking up path known as their driveway. Dropping his bag at the door, Miles headed straight for the kitchen to unload the small bag of supplies.

Simon looked at the text Miles had sent him, and pleasure and anxiety warred within him. He was glad that his machinations were succeeding -- first with Ramona, then soon with James he was sure -- but it alarmed the secretive rat that one of his siblings had sensed his hand. Still, of all of the Patersons to discover -- or at least suspect -- his activity, it was best that it had been the monkey. Sure, Miles seemed to many to be the friendly life of the party, almost a mirror image of Sean, but where the dog was genuinely carefree and guileless, the monkey had a sinister streak hiding behind his roguish grins. Simon was fairly sure that Miles wouldn't spoil his efforts prematurely -- the curious monkey liked to understand puzzles first before he smashed them.

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Simon stood from his chair and moved to the door. He heard all of the activity down below, and although he truly felt uncomfortable in any situation like this -- a lot of activity, conversations, group interactions -- he knew how important the New Year preparations were, and knew that he had to help. Still, it took him a moment to steel himself before opening his door, like any mouse about to venture out into the open.

"Hey guys," he muttered in his quiet way, out of the side of his mouth without making eye contact. He wore slim-fitting black Levis and a zipped-up gray hoodie that covered his plain tee, a yellow that had faded from sunshine to straw. With the hood down his lank brown hair stood in stark contrast to the familiar Paterson blonde rainbow.

"How can I help?" he asked Alex, knowing it was best to assert your willingness before the rooster commanded it from you. More than anything the rat wanted to simply be back in his room, but with the choice between some simple chores and getting an earful from his pushy older brother, Simon would take the former. Still, if Alex wanted any real productivity he'd have to do a little encouragement, as Simon moved like any ennui-ridden teen.

Kenneth simply stared at Alex as his older brother went on a tirade. "KENNETH!!!! Finally someone is home. Where the heck has everyone been all day? Why does nobody care about tomorrow? Why am I the one to do all the chores?? I really need the others, do you know where they are? Oh god look at the time, Kenny have you SEEN THE TIME???" Alex ranted. Kenneth felt his eyes glaze over a little. He had expected this, for it was one of Alex's usual reactions to such a situation. "KENNETH!" Alex exclaimed, stepping back a few steps and startling the Dragon out of his fog. "IS THAT BLOOD? WHAT HAPPENED.."

Kenneth started to explain when Alex attacked him with a washcloth and peroxide. "Where is this coming from?? I don't even see a wound.." After some more scrubbing Alex finally seemed to settle down some. "Oh.... How did you manage this? Nevermind. Listen I really need you guys down here helping me, the house is an absolute mess."

Kenneth nodded. Eli and Aiden came in and the Sheep voiced his opinion that the house was not a mess. This temped Kenneth to laugh but he didn't want to chance aggravating the Rooster even more than he already was.

"HOLY SHIT! KENNY MURDERED SOMEONE!" a loud voice screamed. Kenneth looked over and saw Benji, who had an expression of horror on his face. Kenneth couldn't help but laugh this time. Do I really look that bad? Alex, still wiping Kenneth down, explained and repeated his mantra about cleaning and mom and dad coming home. Everyone was home now it seemed so the Rooster dished out orders, his eyes turning a threatening blue.

"Yes, sir," Kenneth said to his older brother when he received his duties. He hurried off to his room and quickly changed clothes, throwing the bloody ones in a laundry hamper. After putting on a t-shirt and sweat pants he hurried back downstairs to roll the eggrolls. Why didn't Mom and Dad give us some more time to prepare? Or did they just tell Alex and he didn't tell everyone else until now? Kenneth didn't suspect the latter was the case. If Alex had known ahead of time then they would have been working far ahead of time to keep everything in constant pristine shape.

Kenneth yawned tiredly. It was late out and he wanted to get some sleep so he could function in front of his parents. I just have to finish these egg roles and then I'll be done. Hopefully there won't be much else Alex'll want me to do. He had gotten up early in the morning since he was jolted from sleep from a nightmare of being chased. Since then he had been out in about, working at the Pawprint, going for a walk in the woods, archery, then coming home. It had been a busy day and now he wanted to sleep.

When he was done with the egg rolls he put them in the fridge. Thinking of his stomach he pulled out an apple and ate it, careful to put the core in the garbage can. Finished with that Kenneth found Alex. "Is there anything else you want me to do?" he asked, smothering a yawn with a heroic effort.