It Doesn’t Matter How Big The House Is, As Long As There Is Love In It…
Autumn, Year 5
Magnus is 52, Marie is 49, Romina is 46, Anna is 19, Saffron is 17, Christopher is 17, Emilio is 17, Luca & Matteo are 16, Elena is 15 and Indigo is 15
Villa Bella looked deceptively serene from the outside. Parched Prospect was a quiet neighbourhood in the heart of Oasis Springs and the residents were largely of Italian or Spanish descent. The Moretti family were no exception.
Having recently moved to the villa, they were slowly adjusting to their new home.
Romina Moretti and her husband Angelo had known Magnus and Marie for years. The four had grown up in the same town of Monte Vista many years before but had largely lost touch when the De Luca family had moved to Oasis Springs when Jared was a baby. Romina was delighted when Magnus and Marie were their first visitors.
“It’s so lovely to see you again,” Romina gushed. “I’m sorry Angelo isn’t here; he had to be in work today. It’s a nuisance; we only moved in a few days ago.”
“What’s he doing these days?” Magnus asked. “I always had him down as a lawyer.”
Romina rolled her eyes. “Juice fizzing. It’s been more of a hobby for years but he’s decided to make it permanent. He’s leaving his old job in business; that’s where he is now.”
“Juice fizzing?” Magnus laughed. “Is that lucrative?”
“Not really but he’s certain it will be now we’ve moved.” Romina shrugged and shook her head. “At least our Anna’s got sense. She’s at University,” she added, proudly.
Magnus smirked slightly. “Well our Jared’s graduated and he’s a successful computer engineer. Riccardo’s in his last year and studying Biology at Foxbury and Zoe’s at UBrite on a drama degree.”
Marie hated it when Magnus was in a boasting mood.
“You excited for the new school?” Luca was in Elena and Anna’s bedroom. He’d hated his old school and he and his twin brother, Matteo, were excited for a fresh start at a brand new school.
Elena shrugged. “Not really.”
Luca frowned. Elena was usually reserved but not usually this much. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged again.
“Wanna see something funny? I’ve got this video of Cat on our last day at the old school?”
“Our sister?” Elena frowned. Catarina was their other sister and she might not be too pleased with Luca sharing stupid videos. Again.
“Duh, who else?” Luca grinned. “C’mon, don’t be a baby.”
Matteo, meanwhile, was in the boys’ bedroom, filming a new video for his Simstube channel. It was fairly new but he was planning to document his journey into fitness and wellness on his channel so he was looking forward to learning more about the video editing game!
Luca’s main passion is music. He practices at every available opportunity of a variety of instruments. One of his biggest hopes at his new school is that he’ll meet more musically minded teenagers.
The twins might not have much in common but they were incredibly close and told each other everything. They loved nothing better than a good gossip about their classmates and they couldn’t wait to get stuck in on the gossip ring at their new school.
It didn’t take long for Luca to make a friend. Indigo had been looking for more music enthusiasts for ages to form a band and Luca fit the bill. He invited the new boy over to his house in Windenburg to go over some chords and was very impressed by Luca’s natural talent!
Matteo was surprised by how many people were texting him from the new school, asking him about his Simstube channel. He started sending links out and was surprised by the number of new subscribers he had on his channel. Eagerly, he started editing his latest video and tactfully ignoring the homework he had in his bag.
The following evening after school, Luca, Matteo and Elena had been invited to join some of their classmates at the Sport Court in the city. The group caught the train to San Myshuno and gathered at the centre, full of excited chatter. Matteo was particularly excited; he was trying out for the Qualisim basketball team and was meeting the team captain, Emilio and his best friend and vice-captain, Christopher at the indoor court.
Indigo’s sister, Saffron, was watching the tryouts and supporting Christopher in particular.
She agreed to help out and test the boys’ skills with the hoop. Both Christopher and Emilio were impressed with Matteo’s skills and agreed to accept him into the team.
Elena sat by herself outside the sports centre. She’d grabbed a snack from the vending machine and taken the opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle inside.
Making friends had always been hard for her and starting a new school was even harder; she felt that all the friendship groups were established and she didn’t fit in. Her brothers didn’t ever seem to notice she was unhappy, nor did her sister Catarina, who was spending most of her time obsessing over her University applications. Only Anna noticed how miserable the youngest member of the family was.
Elena hoped this wasn’t setting a precedent for this new school; but she feared it was.
The Daily Plumbob 