wonderpetals

[wonderpetals]

Hugo and Stella tromped through the snow toward the Caraways’ backyard, hand in hand to balance each other as their boots sank into the drifts. Hugo dusted the snow off the swings so they could sit and catch up.

“What’s it like in Starlight Shores?” he asked.

“It’s… different,” Stella said. “It’s really warm most of the time, which is kind of nice. And I’m really close to the beach. I like it there, I guess. It just isn’t home.”

“Have you made any friends?”

“A few,” she said. “My dad is pretty strict, though. A lot more than Mom. He doesn’t really let us have friends over much. Says we need to focus on schoolwork.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay, though,” she added quickly. “At least I get to be here with you for Christmas!”

“How long are you here for?”

“Just four days. I go back Sunday.”

“That’s so short,” Hugo complained, kicking a clump of snow.

“Way too short,” she agreed. “But don’t worry. Dad said if everything goes okay with Mom, I can come back for the summer when school gets out!”

“The whole summer?” he gasped. “That would be amazing!”

“I know! I told Mom she has to be on her best behavior so I can come back,” Estella said with a light laugh. "She's been doing really well though. And she has a new job! That's part of why we were allowed to come for Christmas."

“I hope she keeps it up,” Hugo said softly.

“Me too.”

[wonderpetals]

“STELLA!!” Hugo yelled down the street, his too-big boots nearly tripping him. The pre-teen girl turned at the sound of her name, strawberry-blonde hair catching in the sunlight. Her face broke into a huge smile.

Hugo watched as she said something inaudible to her mom and brother, then took off running in his direction. The pair collided in a tangle of arms and snow boots, squeezing each other so tight that Hugo lifted her clean off the sidewalk.

“I’ve missed you so much!!” Stella said, cheeks pink from the cold.

“I missed you too!” Hugo replied breathlessly. “Your dad let you come for Christmas??”

“Yes!! I got here last night,” she said. “It’s so good to be back. It feels like I’m home again.”

[wonderpetals]

“Look at that! A white Christmas!” Casper said, peering out the window. “Those are so rare these days.”

“It’s so nice,” Roxy agreed. “It really makes it feel festive.”

Hugo, who had turned thirteen just a few days ago, was a huge snow enthusiast. Upon his parents’ mention of the snowfall they had gotten, he wandered over to the window to see if there was enough to play in.

Suddenly, he gasped, leaping away from the glass and dashing toward the front hall. He practically jumped into his winter boots and yanked his coat from the rack, throwing it on as he flew out the door.

Roxy and Casper exchanged knowing smiles as they watched their son run down the snow-covered path to the sidewalk.

[wonderpetals]

“I can’t believe you’re not heeereee,” Maggie whined at her phone, which was propped up on its side on the kitchen island.

Amadeus’s face grinned back from the screen. “I know. It feels so weird not being home with you guys for Christmas,” he said. “But it’s really nice getting to be here with May and her folks.”

“Was everyone nice to you?” Maggie asked, with a vaguely threatening tone.

Amadeus laughed. “Yes! Everyone’s super chill. I think her parents like me. I hope.”

“How could they not?”

“You make a good point.” He grinned. “How’s everything there? Did the twins like their Legos?”

“What do you think?” Maggie flipped the screen to show her current point of view: her younger siblings running through the house, throwing their newly-received Legos at each other.

Amadeus burst out laughing. “I’m glad they’re enjoying them.” He paused. “Hey– are you finally bringing Eddie to dinner?”

Maggie tapped the screen to flip it back to herself, exhaling an exaggerated breath. “I’m hoping I don’t regret it.”

Amadeus laughed again. “It’ll be fine! Trust me. That was me at Thanksgiving, remember? Mom and Dad will love him.”

“I wish you were here to meet him too,” Maggie pouted. “I care about your opinion the most.”

Not that it even really mattered, she reminded herself. None of it was real– and Amadeus definitely wouldn’t like the situation she actually had going on.

Still, Eddie had become an important person in her life, and Maggie really wanted her big brother to like him.

“You can call me later when he gets there! And when I come back, we’ll have to do a weekend thing,” Amadeus agreed. “I really want to meet him."

A wooden clatter echoed through the phone from Ami’s end. “Hey,” he said to someone offscreen.

“Is that Maggie?” a female voice asked.

“Yeah, c’mere!”

After some shuffling, Maylee appeared next to him on screen.

“Maylee!” Maggie grinned.

“Hi Maggie! How’s your Christmas going?”

“It’s good! I’m just about to start helping Mom with dinner.”

“Oh man,” Maylee said. “Don’t tell me what she’s making, I’ll be so jealous. My dad’s a decent cook, but he’s no Roxy.”

“I’ll tell her you said that. She’ll be so happy.”

“As if she doesn’t know it,” Amadeus added, laughing.

[wonderpetals]

[wonderpetals]

[wonderpetals]

[wonderpetals]

"Mom! Dad! Father Winter came!!"

[wonderpetals]

hey besties!! i've been wanting to find other simmers who like to write or tell stories with their sims like i do. i noticed there wasn't a community for sims storytellers, so i thought i would make one!

if you're a sims storyteller, you're welcome to join and tell us all about your favorite moments, your latest update, your characters, your summaries, or anything else you're excited to tell us! i'm dying to read some simblr stories again!! :')

i don't have a fancy header or avatar yet, but if this starts to pick up i'll definitely make them!

[wonderpetals]

That night, Maggie sat at her laptop, pretending to herself that she was scrolling. In reality, though, she had spent most of the evening looking out the window every few minutes at the school building across the way, willing that little row of dance room lights to flicker on. 

She hadn’t seen Calvin since her Friday morning dance class, and, truly,  they hadn’t gotten the chance to be alone together since Wednesday’s solo practice. After everything that had happened with Eddie that weekend– the truth or dare kiss that had kept her up into the night, the flirty texting that followed, the awkward butterflies she got whenever Eddie entered the room now– Maggie really felt like seeing Calvin would help to press the reset button on her heart. She just knew that being in the dancer’s arms again would remind her of everything that was waiting for her. Her grand prize for making it through this agonizing school year.

When the lights didn’t come on at ten, eleven, or even twelve thirty, Maggie frowned. She’d thought, surely, he’d want to see her on the last day before Christmas break? Biting her lip, she finally picked up her phone that was sitting on the desk beside her and opened her text message thread with Calvin.

She tapped send, then waited, watching the screen. When he didn’t respond right away, she added a second message.

The message thread remained unanswered, taunting her. She let out a heavy sigh and let her phone fall back down onto the desk with a thomp. For someone who so rarely went even a few hours without checking up on her, he had sure picked an annoying time to suddenly ignore her.

A few minutes passed, though they felt like hours, and Maggie’s screen finally lit up with a response. There you are, she thought, unlocking her screen again.

Maggie’s heart sunk as she read the short sentence a few times, a small frown forming on her lips. She clicked the text box to start typing again, maybe oh ok, is everything alright? when another message popped into the thread.

Her brows furrowed as she set her phone down again. Was something wrong? Were he and Holly having problems again? Or, had Maggie done something to upset him? She fiddled with a ring she was wearing on her finger, absently, wondering what she could have done wrong, this time.

She supposed she would have to wait until January to find out.

[wonderpetals]

“Okay, there,” Maggie said, tapping the send button with a finger. “I texted the address.”

Eddie pulled his phone from his pocket, walking over to her as he looked down at it. After a second, his phone chirped. “There it is! Got it.”

“Great!” She said, then glanced over at Lola, who was moving towards the door. “Are you finally going to pack?” Don’t leave me, she added mentally.

“Gross, no. I just have to pee,” Lola said, sticking her tongue out as she walked backwards, leaving the room. 

And then it was just Maggie and Eddie. Exactly the situation she had been trying to avoid all day. And the worst part was, she’d missed him. She just wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened between them last night– not now, and not ever. Maggie moved back to the backpack she’d been packing, zipping up the pockets, not making eye contact.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, and she could feel his searching eyes on her again without even having to look at him. “I feel like I haven’t seen you all day.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I’ve just been packing. Getting ready for break.”

“It just– it feels like something changed since last night.”

Maggie was quiet for a few seconds, moving her backpack down onto the floor next to her suitcase, arranging them neatly next to each other.

“I just don’t want it to make things weird,” he continued, filling her silence. “I like what we have, you know?”

At this, she finally looked at him, relief washing over her. “I do too,” she said, touching his arm gently. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ve been in my head today. But I don’t want it to be weird either.”

“So, we’re good?”

Her wall of ice finally melted, and she turned and slid her arms around his waist, endlessly grateful once again that Eddie always somehow knew exactly what she needed. He put his arms around her in return, squeezing her close to him, his embrace like a warm blanket. Maggie knew she had to be more careful– no matter how good it felt, she couldn’t let things with Eddie get out of hand again the way it had last night. She had to stay focused, keep her eyes forward, and her heart loyal to Calvin. Still, that didn’t mean she had to completely shut him out. Especially not when he was the only thing keeping her sane most days.

“We’re good,” she said into his chest.

“Will I ever know peace again?” Lola asked with smiling exasperation as she reentered the room to the sight of them, and Maggie and Eddie both collapsed into each other with giggles.

[wonderpetals]

“Anyway, Mags,” Eddie continued, ignoring his sister, “before I forget, I need your address for the GPS. It’s been a minute and I don’t quite remember how to get there.”

Roxy had all but demanded Eddie’s presence at Christmas dinner weeks ago, and she’d promised he’d be there. At the time, she’d been frustrated that Roxy wouldn’t take no for an answer, but over the last few weeks she’d found that she was genuinely looking forward to it. Now, though, she felt conflicted.

“Oh yeah, I’ll text it to you,” Maggie replied, moving to grab her phone off her desk.

Lola sighed. “I can’t believe you guys are gonna hang out on Christmas without me.”

“I told you, you’re welcome to come too!” Maggie said, a little too eagerly. “Mom loves cooking for people. She’d be thrilled to have you!”

“Ugh, as much as I live for Roxy’s cooking, I can’t. Our mom would literally cry if we were both gone for Christmas.”

“It was hard enough getting her to let me go alone,” Eddie agreed. “She’s only okay with it because I promised her I’d bring you to the next holiday. Oh yeah– Mags, you’re coming to Easter. Hope that’s okay.”

Maggie wasn’t sure she could keep up all of this emotional juggling until Easter, but she smiled at him.

“I’ll mark it on my calendar.”

[wonderpetals]

“If it isn’t Beauty and the Beast.”

Maggie felt her own body betray her at the sound of Eddie’s voice, her lips curling into an involuntary smile. She hated how happy she was to see him, leaning lazily against her open doorframe, even after she’d spent the entire day trying to avoid him.

“Hi Eddie,” she said, trying to keep her tone light. She could see him eying her, trying to read her, and she found herself suddenly feeling shy under the softness of his gaze. She quickly returned her eyes to the water bottle in her hands, stuffing it into her backpack busily.

Lola groaned. “What do you want?”

Eddie stuck his tongue out. “Am I not allowed to visit my own girlfriend?”

“Ugh, I guess,” she conceded. “Just don’t start making out again, okay? I already had to bleach my eyeballs once.”

Maggie felt her cheeks grow hot at the mention, and she turned away so her company couldn’t see, pretending she needed something from her bookshelf. She had to get ahold of herself, now, before she ruined everything.

“If you don’t want to see us kiss, you shouldn’t literally dare us to kiss,” Eddie argued.

She hadn’t been thinking clearly last night, too high on the intoxicating romance of the off-limits pool, an entire birthday cake in her dorm room, the late night truth or dare, the sticky kiss of new lips. It was only when she’d awoken, sobered by the streaming sunlight of a morning that had come too soon, that she realized how stupid she’d been. She’d deleted all of the flirty texts between her and Eddie, showered his touch off of her skin, brushed his taste from her teeth and tongue.

“I was expecting a peck, not a whole PG-13 romance scene. Like, calm down.”

It was just a meaningless little teenage crush, and she was getting too distracted. She couldn’t let herself get caught up in her fake romance when she had her true, destined, grown-up love story waiting for her, on the precipice of becoming real.

[wonderpetals]

Lola sat on Maggie’s bed the next day, watching as Maggie ran back and forth around her room collecting last-minute toiletries and essentials to fill her pink travel backpack. It was common for them to hang out in each other’s rooms while doing mundane tasks, but today especially, Maggie was grateful for the company so she wouldn’t have to be alone again with her ever-racing thoughts. She’d already spent most of her Sunday holed up in her room trying to keep busy— working on her routine, going over a test from earlier in the month, cleaning up her room from the previous night’s activities— to avoid having to face her problems head-on.

“I can’t believe you’re already packed,” Lola said.

“What do you mean already? Christmas break is tomorrow!”

“Yeah, and you started packing two weeks ago.”

“Well, yeah,” Maggie said. “That way I know what I’m bringing and I won’t have to worry about it later.”

“Sometimes I swear you’re a robot.”

“Want me to come help you pack yours?”

“Naaah. I’ll just throw a mountain of stuff in my bag an hour before I leave, like always.” Lola flopped backward onto the bed, dismissing her responsibilities with the soft phoof of the pillows.

“How do you live like that?”

[wonderpetals]

also i want u guys to know that while i was writing the eddie kiss scene i was in my office at work while my coworkers hovered directly outside my door having a conversation. with me just there on my google doc like "the soft flutter of his hands on her skin, the gentle pressure of his lips on hers" lmao

i love being back on simblr again

[wonderpetals]

After a few unsuccessful minutes of squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to force her body to sleep, Maggie gave up, and picked the phone back up, reading and rereading the text on her lock screen. Finally, she unlocked her phone and typed a reply.

Despite herself, Maggie felt a hint of validation that Eddie was still up thinking about it too. At least she had company while she was spiraling into the void.

Trust me, you don’t want to know, Maggie thought.

She smirked to herself as she typed, but after pressing send, Maggie hesitated. Had that been too much? Their usual back-and-forth banter had always sort of leaned flirtatious, but today it felt more… charged. Maybe she was just overthinking it, though. It was only texting, after all.

Maggie glanced at the time in the upper right corner of her phone. 1:29 am. At this rate, she wasn't sure she’d get any sleep tonight.

[wonderpetals]

Later that evening, Maggie found herself lying in bed, wide awake and staring at the ceiling. She could hear her two best friends snoring softly around her, Lola to her left and Reagan on the little couch by the door. It wasn’t their presence making it hard to sleep, though, but her own brain that refused to turn off. 

Of course, that wasn’t anything new. Between her late night trips to the dance room and all of the everything she was always worrying about, it was rare that Maggie ever felt well-rested. There was a general fog of unease that had seemed to settle over her life as a whole these days, and the kiss she’d shared with Eddie earlier had only turned up the volume on the television static filling up her mind.

After Eddie left to go to bed, Maggie and her friends had stayed up well into the night chattering about dance, families, classmates, and whatever juicy gossip was circulating the school that week, and Maggie had participated as best she could. At least, enough that she didn’t think they had noticed that her mind was somewhere else entirely.

Try as she might, she couldn’t stop thinking about that stupid kiss.

Maggie told herself it was just the adrenaline rush of the day heightening her emotions. The thrill of kissing someone new. Surely every kiss came with butterflies, no matter who it was with, right? It didn’t mean she had feelings for Eddie. She couldn’t– she was fully, completely, 100% devoted to Calvin.

Maggie’s phone vibrated in her hand, and her heart thudded involuntarily when she saw what had popped up, which she mentally scolded herself for. She put her phone down next to her again, determined to ignore it. She had her whole future planned with Calvin. How had one kiss suddenly destabilized everything?