Chapter 18.6 - April 2024 - No class, no principles, no innocence.. (continued)

Go back to read the first half

Lise Veronicas notes (continued):

I didn't want to spend the afternoon at home, especially not when dad came home, so I called Margrethe and Karoline from school to go hang out somewhere, but they were both busy at work... or so they said, so we couldn't.. so.. it's not that I don't have friends, they're just sometimes occupied with other things.. which meant that I got to spend the time playing video games with mom. From this I learnt that having tv priveleges removed by my dad meant that I could still play video games as long as he wasn't there.. and I also learnt from what Thomas told mom that I wasn't the only one having issues with going to school..

 

..and that mom would probably be just as relentless with him as dad was with me.. still happy dad was at work and not at home! Yeah, that school bus.. it's such a wonderful thing, taking these kids to school making sure that they learn the most important things in life.. oh no, I'm not being sarcastic at all, don't you worry...

 

Just to keep my mom happy, because it might come in handy, I let her do one of those dorky trivia tests on me.... and believe it or not, I actually nailed it and got it right on every question, though I'll admit she almost had me when she started talking about those bugs.. anyway, since I did so great, I think this just proves that I don't really need to go to school every day, because I'll be just fine.. or maybe it means I'm just another dork like mom and dad.. well, I hope not!

Then dad came home from work... well, I wasn't watching tv, so he couldn't say anything about that, and I was lucky he didn't bring up how I skipped school earlier today, but I could tell he was still grumpy about it as he told me to take out the trash.. it's not like dad to be this commanding, usually that would be moms job...

 

Though I didn't like having to take out the trash, this was the perfect time to just.. get out of there.. so I called a taxi to head up to Kristinas house. I wasn't sure if she was home, but her parents were always so nice, though sometimes a little weird, so I was sure they would let me stay for a while. Well, I forgive them, they're parents. It's to be expected.. I suppose... I really look forward to the day when I can move out and live with my pets... and Kristina.. and no parents...

 

Kristina warned me about her little sister Emmy, that I might find her near constant crying for everything annoying, but come on.. it's not like I have a younger brother, and besides Emmy is just the cutest. How can you not love her? Kristina didn't need to worry, I know how to handle toddlers, no problem!

Monicas notes:

 

After I had helped him with his homework, Thomas had gone upstairs to use the shower before bedtime. When he was finished I heard him calling for me, saying it broke so I went up there to check it out. Now, I know that Ivar has already had a conversation with Lise Veronica about this floor and how he had told her it was mostly hers. I'm not to sure if I would agree with that, but I let it slide. However, I'm not quite buying into her explanation about moving her furniture out in the hallway to make room for her friends having a sleepover in her room, so I thought I would check it out a little further. You know, now that I was up here in the first place.

I just had to help Thomas fix the shower first.

 

Well, she had even placed the reward she got for her class's field trip to the science centre out there.. along with the stereo she got for her birthday and her prom queen crown.. well, I gotta check this out..

That was what I was thinking, but of course.. she had locked the door to her room so there was no getting in there. Where was she, by the way? She went out to throw the trash, and she's been out for several hours.. She never said she was going anywhere and its almost time for supper, she should be home by now.. I think I'll have Ivar send her a message while I prepare the food.. just to be on the safe side...

Ivars notes:

Lise Veronica wasn't grounded, and when she took the trash out I watched her get into a taxi I saw which way the taxi was heading, so I assumed she was going up the hill to her girlfriend. That being said, Monica was right. She didn't let us know where she was going, and it was time for supper, so it was probably for the better I sent her a message asking where she is, and that its probably time to go home. And for good measure, I also threw in a few words saying I wasn't mad, just to make sure. The removal of her tv privileges would not be revoked, though.

Lise Veronicas notes:

I was napping on the couch when I woke up from my dad sending me a message saying he wanted me to come home for supper and insisting he wasn't mad at me. I didn't really feel like going home though, and told him that I was gonna spend the night sleeping over at Kristinas house. He had probably figured out I was here, I saw the curtains move when I left.

Ivars notes:

I should have known she would say something like that. Of course she would, so maybe if she wouldn't listen to me she would listen to Kristinas mom.. or get furious with me. Either way, it was time to go home and we had not said she could sleep over.. Now she might have, if she had asked.. and gone to school right away in the morning, like she should...

Well, actually.. the 'giving Kristinas mother a call part' was Monicas idea, but I thought it was a good one.. or worth a shot. Supper was already finished and we were about to eat..

Iselins notes:

Huh, and here I was thinking she had already cleared everything with her parents and then I get a phone call from her dad saying she should be home for supper. I'll be darned.. well, I suppose they're not teenagers for nothin', so I guess I just had to get on with it and tell her.

Lise Veronicas notes:

I heard Iselin talking on the phone in the hallway, and I knew excactly what that meant. She would come over and tell me my parents were on the phone and that I should go home.. and just when I thought my plan had worked... Typical. This also meant I owed Kristina an apology now that I had made her look forward to our sleepover.. I don't think I should ask mom and dad about it for a while, but I'm hoping she can instead come sleep over at my place.. some other time..

Atleast Iselin was nice and told me I would be welcome at any time even for a sleep over, but that I should probably also let my parents know next time.

Well, anyway.. I had only one choice now and that was to leave and go back home to mom and dad.. this was such a let down.. it didn't help to much that Iselin told me dad didn't sound to mad about it, and that he was mostly concerned and just wanted me home for supper.. I believed her, but still.. there would probably be some concequence for this one way or another..

I'm surprised my dad actually didn't say a word, but mom appeared to be a little disappointed.. She didn't say to much either, but I could tell she wasn't happy about it as she strictly told me that after I had finished eating, and brushing my teeth, it was straight to bed. Treating me like a child... I almost asked her if she wasn't gonna read me a bedtime story too, but it was probably best not to... besides, I saw the book she picked to read for Thomas.. even if I was a child, I would not be happy about a bedtime story being read from "Odes to science". Give me a break..

 

-----

..and then came the punishment. When dad finally said something, it wasn't a good night, sleep well message.. I was told to clean up the entire room before going to bed. Neat freak.. but well, there was only one thing to do.. and of course, 'don't forget to brush your teeth'.... ugh...

 

I even had to pick up Thomas' toys that he had left all over the place, mommas little golden boy... don't make me sick..

Monicas notes:

After I was done reading a little for Thomas from my favourite poetry book, Ivar came in to his room to give me a warm hug. He seemed surprised about how I had kept my cool about Lise Veronica not saying she went out and for not wanting to come home right away, but honestly we've all been there.. being young that is, I know I have, so I just didn't think yelling at her right away would be the best idea...
    It would probably just do more harm than good. I'm willing to let her be a teenage girl for a while – as long as she doesn't get into any trouble. Visiting her girlfriend – even if she didn't tell us and even if she refused to come home for supper – it's not the worst thing she could do... I told him she was gonna be just fine and there was no need for him to worry.

Ivars notes:

I'm just that obvious aren't I? Even if I said nothing about her skipping school earlier, Monica clearly understood I was concerned for our daughter. I think my reasoning for not informing her about the truancy is well justified – I know what her reaction would have been. With the emphasis that she puts on education and science – and I do not necessarily disagree – she would throw a fit, even if she just told me otherwise; that shouting and yelling would do more harm than good.. sometimes that probably is the case, and I do feel ever so slightly ridden by guilt for shouting at her outside the school earlier.. Lise Veronica already got her punishment once, there's no need to let her have it twice...

They say raising a child is hard work – and perhaps in particular once that child begins to come of age and enter their teenage years – and yet here I was, contemplating the thought of having another.. Not a thought I was willing to share right away, I can assure you, it wasn't that urgent, and maybe this is a little devious of me, but to achieve said goal I would first need to get my wife in the mood bit by bit, before seemingly casually circling in on the topic.. With todays happenings, I concluded that tonight was not the night for the latter, and I would be better off just trying to set the mood...

So naturally I was completely on board with her suggesting that we go out and watch the stars – and that would most certainly have been an absolutely splendid idea – if it hadn't been for the fact that it pretty much immediately starting raining. Well, that certainly dampened the mood, I'm afraid...

 

Which strangely enough reminded me that I should run downstairs to check if Lise Veronica had left everything squeaky clean – which of course she hadn't – and I was left to finish the job...

Well, maybe another time we can work some science in the bedroom... good night.

Previous | Next

Chapter 18.6 - April 2024 - No class, no principles, no innocence..

Monicas notes:

I woke up early this morning to the sound of the garbage truck outside, and figured it was no point going back to sleep, so I wanted to walk downstairs to prepare breakfast for the kids, but as usual before walking down the stairs, I forgot for a while what I was about to do.
    Sometimes I just get lost in thought, I have always been like that for as far back as I can remember. I thought the medication would take it away, as it did with the other things, but clearly this part of my thought pattern was something it couldn't erase. I guess its just a part of me then...

 

We had a nice breakfast where I talked to Lise Veronica about some of our most research on how radioactivity affects plants. I would so like for her to become a scientist one day, like me, but there's no pressure, of course. She is a strong willed young woman sometimes, and I don't want to push it to hard, but I do hope to plant the seeds of interest in her for one day to perform something great.. pun intended...

I wanted to go out and tend to my plants, but it was raining pretty heavily, so I sat and watched tv while the kids went to school .Well, Thomas did, though he said it was unfair how I go to just sit there and watch tv while he had to get on the school bus...I didn't know what to say to him other than that we've all be there, and that one day it would be his turn to watch tv while his kids went to school. I don't think it helped...

Lise Veronica went up to her room to get ready, and got a little late for the school bus, so she had to get a taxi, but it's her allowance... It's clear my daughter has become a teenage girl, she spends much more time getting ready now then she used to..

Lise Veronicas notes:

 

My morning started as usual, by making sure that all my beloved animals were fed. David, Petrucci and Kuoppala. I wanted to clean their terrariums too, but then mom called us down for breakfast to talk about her boring science stuff. Something about plants and radioactivity, give me a break. I'm only in 9^th grade, I don't know anything about that.. we learnt something about it just last month, but it was about fusion and that other thing... I think it was called fission. They are ways to create electricity in nuclear power plants, but it had nothing to do with actual plants.. I don't know what she's talking about, maybe she's starting to get confused again. We both took our medication before breakfast, so she shouldn't be, but I don't know...

I don't like this radioactivity, it sounds dangerous and hurtful to both the plants and the animals.. especially the animals.. I told mom I would get ready to go soon, I just had to play with my snakes a little before going.. Obviously I didn't tell her about the last part..

 

I love my snakes, they're fascinating animals, but they're not always to happy about being held and snuggled.. Kuoppala sure told me this morning by giving me a bite on the fingers. I guess that means play time is over..

 

I must have forgotten about time I was upstairs as the school bus had already left, but I didn't want to go to school anyway, so I told mom I'd get a taxi and walked out the back door to run across the grass to the bowling alley..

She said it was my allowance money, so of course I didn't want to spend them on a taxi to go to school...

If I were to do that, I don't think I would've afforded to go to the bowling alley.. they're not giving me that much, so obviously that was a bad idea!

 One simoleon, two simeolons, three simoleons... 

********

 

[Song: Esmee Denters - Outta Here - Pop music playing over the speakers inside the bowling alley]

 

Well.. after I had counted my money and walked up to the lane to play, I couldn't remember if I actually paid for it or not.. I must have paid, because the screen was on and the lane was activated, but I found myself second guessing it anyway..
        It's kinda like all those times where I get up because I want to do something.. but then I have no idea why I just got up in the first place. Half the time I just can't remember it at all, the other half it comes back to me after a few seconds.. Everyone at school always calls me an airhead, but I swear I'm not! I just sometimes.. forget about things...

Anyway, the place wasn't to crowded since everyone else would be at work or school.. so I figured I would risk it, and if I really hadn't paid, the clerk probably would have said something.. or maybe he had forgotten about it, too..

 

Well, pretty much nobody was there until this old lady came along, said her name was Iliana and asked me why I wasn't in school.. So I told her we had the day off because the teachers had another planning day where they were uh.. planning stuff, or something, so nobody was in school anyway..

I had to tell her another lie when she asked why I was there alone and where my friends were. I told her animals were my best friends, which is only partially true.. of course I have friends, I'm not a dork like mom, but it was the best thing I could think of and I had to say something. I don't know, maybe I am a dork, but I still have friends..

Ivars notes:

One of the benefits of working late is that I get to opportunity to sleep in, and sure, sometimes its also nice to get the house to myself, but then again... sometimes it does feel a little empty. Also, I'm just really disappointed in all of them for still leaving their dirty dishes out.. the least thing they could've done would be to clean it up before leaving the house.. I'm not saying I want it to be impeccable at all times, but a certain standard of cleanliness should be expected, and this I find to be quite unacceptable..

Either way, after making sure everything was neat and tidy, I didn't want to stay at home today doing nothing, so I went to to the bookstore to buy another set of notes to practice some guitar. Now, if it wasn't for this darn rain I would have gone to the park, but I don't want my guitar strings to get all wet and slippery...

So I went with the second best thing and ran across the parking lot behind the store to the Hermansen lot to practice in the little café there.

Not among the people playing on the arcade machines of course, that would be to noisy, and I would need to hear if my playing came out good if I were to learn this new tune to absolute perfection. Not that it took me long anyway. It never does.

This, of course, gave me plenty of time to relax and have some fun playing on the arcade machines before heading to work. I had to perfect my playing there too, no one should have a higher score on these machines than me.

Lise Veronicas notes:

 

I took the opportunity to run out of there when that old lady was asked to dance by some man once the place started to get a little more crowded. I didn't want to have any more people asking questions and I didn't want anyone to think I didn't have any friends.

 

I couldn't go back home because dad would probably be there, and going to school now was not an option. I would probably get detention and extra homework for skipping class. I didn't want that, so the only alternative was to head over to the Hermansen lot to spend the rest of the day on an arcade machine, trying to beat my own score.. It wasn't far away, just opposite from the bowling alley across that little park there.

That would have been a good idea, if it hadn't been for dad being there.. and of course he spotted me immediately after I had walked in through the front door! How is that even possible!?

 

Of course he wasn't very happy to se me there.. it was the usual, "What are you doing here!? Why aren't you in school!?" and yada yada yada... he certainly wasn't as gullible as the old lady, he wasn't buying my story of the teachers having a planning day, because that he would have known..

Well, what was he gonna do? He couldn't make me go to school, because I do what I want.. I was just happy to have pissed the old man off.. well, that's where I was wrong, because he did make me go back to school....


Ivars notes:

 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm typically a pretty cool headed guy, and I certainly do not want to yell and get mad at my daughter in public. It would not make our family look good, like we didn't have things in order, but right then and there I had no choice. I had to tell her where it's at, and how disappointed I was with her not being in school. I just couldn't have her skipping school like that, and her cheering and laughing at me was the final drop. She was coming with me, and we were going to school. No questions, no buts, no ifs. She was coming with me, and that was it.

I don't want to see this happening again. Next time she gets on the school bus with her brother and the other kids, and she goes to school or I might have to remove some priveleges. I cannot accept this under any circumstance, and she will go to her classes.

Now would you believe, she talked back to me! Right there, in front of the school entrance, and said she refused to go in there! Now, don't get me wrong, I love my daughter very much, but now she had crossed the line for the third time today! So I had to do what I had to do, and told her no tv for the next 24 hours! And that I wouldn't leave until I saw her walk in through that door! She wasn't going to get away with this one!

 

Sure enough she is my little diamond, but she was one step – ONE STEP – from being grounded! No tv, and she was going to walk in through that door, and she was going to sit at her desk for the rest of the day, be a good student and LEARN! I wasn't going ANYWHERE until I saw that happening! Now I didn't care if I was making a scene, she was going to do it!

Lise Veronicas notes:

Wow! Just wow! I didn't dad had it in him, he was mad furious! Well... so I had no choice then, but to walk through those doors to make him happy... parents! They're so easily fooled...

Did he think I was going to class? Of course not! I walked inside, sure, but then I stopped as soon as I had gone around the corner and peaked out at him through the front door to make sure that he turned around to get back to his car.. and then I just snuck out the back door, you know, just in case...

 

..and since the gym was right across the street from school, why not go for a swim.. It was much better than class anyway, and I was doing myself a favour, by practicing my athletic abilities... Dad always talks about how its important to have a perfect mind and a perfect body, so I don't see the problem.. sometimes I go to school, and sometimes I go for a swim... if he really wants the best for me, he should be happy...

 

I know I was... no problem! Then as soon as school was over, I got out of the pool to go home and pretend like nothing, like everything was normal.

Luckily dad was at work and mom was playing some video game, so that was an easy task. When she asked me how school was, all I needed to say was that it was fine and that I would be upstairs in my room doing my home work.. like I said, parents are stupid...

 

Since I actually didn't have any homework, or I probably did, but since I wasn't in class, I don't know what it was, I decided to clean up my room and do some laundry.. that was my responsibility now anyway, especially since I always kept the door locked because of the... you know, the snakes...

..but it wasn't just the snakes and David (he is my rat, I found him behind the Corsican Bistro, remember?) that I care about. It's also my little furball Pelsdott.. I was lucky that mom and dad at the very least had agreed to take care of her, as her food bowl was full and her litter box was clean and empty when I came home, so I didn't have to do that.. they maybe dumb, but they're also good to have sometimes..
 

Continue reading...