2.25 I was angry

"How about this?" Only weeks before their submission is due, Tiffanie and Elias still haven't come up with anything. 

"I don't know," Elias's sighs have become the bane of Tiffanie's existence, "Looks too...cartoonish." 

"Whatever!" she snaps, "It's the best we have." 

And that is the thrilling story of how she ended up in the park completing their project...alone. 

I should've done this weeks ago. Now I won't have much time to redo this if it comes out wrong, she thinks with regret. She'll have to make do with the time she has. 

***

Kaira and Janell have found that "ruling the school" was a lofty goal and abandoned it shortly after starting classes together. 

"I'm so bored," Kaira complains, "We spend every lunch period like this. We eat, then we just...sit around and wait until class starts again." 

"Yeah, it is pretty boring," Janell agrees easily, "Maybe the playground would be better?" 

Kaira makes a face, "That spit covered place? Pass." 

Kaira sighs. "It would just be nice to have something to do." 

"Maybe I can help with that?" Jenelle Curious-Prudence smiles awkwardly and sits down. 

Kaira and Janell exchange glances. Not what I had in mind is practically written on both of their faces. 

Jenelle doesn't notice, "So...what are you guys doing after this?" her smile is very forced. 

Kaira raises an eyebrow, "We have class..." 

"Riiiight.... because we're in school...yeah..." Jenelle trails off into silence. 

The air becomes heavy and stifling. "Is there....something you wanted?" Kaira asks hesitantly. She's heard stories from Tatum about Jenelle, Elias's mean girlfriend, but so far she just seems really awkward. 

"Yeah, I was wondering where your sister is. You know, short hair, ugly sweater-," 

Kaira rolls her eyes, "I know what my own sister looks like." Janell frowns next to her. 

Jenelle drops her forced smile, "Right. Good. Where is she?" 

Kaira shrugs, "I really don't know." 

Janell leans in to whisper, "Isn't she sculpting?" 

Kaira gives her friend an expression that she hopes conveys let's talk about this later! 

She isn't sure why, but she has a feeling she should not tell Jenelle where her sister is. 

Janell and Kaira are saved from further conversation when Elias walks in. 

"Hey everyone, what's shakin'?" 

Ugh, Kaira thinks with disdain. 

"I was just asking where Tatum is. I wanted to talk to her about something important." 

"Oh, she's in the sculpting room, the one behind the art room." 

Jenelle smiles, "Great! I'll go see her right now." 

Kaira's stomach lurches. That can't be good. 

Things now incredibly uncomfortable between her and Lester, Tatum has taken to spending her lunches in the sculpting room when she knows Lester won't be around. Their sculpture is now complete. 

Too bad we don't have enough time to stick the trash around it, Tatum thinks with a sigh. Sculpting took much longer than she expected. She'll be happy to finally have this statue out of her life. She looks down at her clay-covered hands and decides to go clean herself up. 

Kaira waits a few moments until Jenelle has left the cafeteria to make a beeline for the art room. Maybe it's nothing, but she has a bad feeling. 

It doesn't take long for Jenelle to find Tatum in the bathroom in the back of the art class. 

"Oh, Jenelle...hi," Tatum greets quietly. 

She quickly dries her hands and tries to walk out when Jenelle blocks her. 

"Hey-," 

"I just want to talk," Jenelle pushes Tatum lightly back in front of her. 

"Why?" 

"It's about you and Lester. And Elias. I don't know why they're both so worked up about you," she gives Tatum a critical up and down glance, "But they are. Elias is all butt-hurt about you hanging out with Lester and all. Brings it up constantly. It's super annoying." 

"He does?" Tatum can only be confused. Elias has stopped talking to her ever since she partnered up with Lester for their art project. What a mess this has turned out to be! 

"Yeah. Who knows why. So I wanted to ask..." she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "If you could stop hanging out with them."

"What? You can't tell me who I can hang out with." 

Jenelle laughs, "I'm just saying, it's better for you and for me."

"I don't see how." 

Jenelle's temper flares. Why can't she understand how much easier this would be? "Because! Because if you don't-," 

Before Jenelle can continue, Kaira emerges from the bathroom stall. Good thing I have a better idea of my sister's whereabouts than Jenelle does, Kaira thinks with some relief. She came only moments before her sister.

"Leave her alone." 

Jenelle looks between the two, suddenly looking cornered, "D-Do what I say, or else I tell everyone about how you've been flirting with my boyfriend." The words are out with a nervous stutter, but it gets Tatum to stop trying to leave.

"I haven't!" Tatum protests. 

Jenelle smiles, an easy out having presented itself. "I know you like him. I've seen the way you look at him. I'm sure other people have too. Think it over." 

Jenelle saunters off. Seeing the red blush on Tatum's face, Kaira impulsively chases after Jenelle. 

"Hey! What the hell!? You can't just threaten people like that." 

"It wasn't a threat. Now go away, you can't scare me." 

Kaira rolls her eyes, "It sure sounded like one. And you don't scare me either!"

Tatum runs after her sister. 

"Kaira! Don't do this! I don't care what she says about me. We'll graduate soon, anyways." 

"I think Lester will care," Jenelle interrupts, "He doesn't like...dishonest people," She grimaces.  "How do you think he'll take it when he finds out you like someone in a relationship?" 

"You're just jealous your boyfriend likes my sister!" Kaira shoots back. 

Jenelle looks like she's been slapped in the face, "Like? Please. I think he feels bad for her, but likes? No way!" 

"Kaira, drop it!" Tatum pleads, "'I don't care if Elias likes me or not." 

"What!? How can you just let this go!?" Kaira is seeing red, "She said she's going to spread rumors about you!" 

"And I said I don't care about them. Let's just go, please."

Kaira glares at Jenelle for a long moment, but sighs. "You're lucky my sister is nice." 

Jenelle's reply is immediate, "Oh she's nice alright... I'm sure Elias will agree." 

Tatum isn't able to stop what happens next.

Janell tries to think of a way to get out of this uncomfortable conversation. Elias has been mumbling his way through small talk about the weather for several minutes now. 

"Listen, I'm going to go find Kaira. We'll be late for class." 

"Oh, I'll come with you!" 

Of course he will. 

This is how Janell and Elias walk in just as Kaira's fist is connecting with Jenell's jaw. 

The yelling and screaming attracted Lester's attention as he was passing by. He blanches when he sees the fight unfolding in front of him. "I'll go get a teacher," and just like that, he's out the door.

Lester is back less than two minutes later, but the tables have already turned. 

"Girls! Stop this at once!" their principal says, horrified. 

"Let her go!" Tatum yells, trying to get between them. 

There are no sassy retorts or witty comebacks, just angry yelling and clumsy strikes and blocks. 

It takes Tatum, Lester, and the principal's combined efforts to physically separate the two. 

A few hours later after school has ended, principal Towers has called an emergency meeting with Dot, Jenelle's parents Bunny and Parker Curious-Prudence, Jenelle, Kaira, and Tatum. 

"I'm relieved you could all make it on such short notice," Ms. Towers says once she enters her office.

"Of course. It sounded serious," Bunny is the first one to reply. 

"Whatever it was, honey, I'm sure it was a misunderstanding," Parker reassures his daughter. 

Jenelle rolls her eyes, "Not now dad." 

"Some misunderstanding, you both have bruised knuckles," Bunny mutters to her daughter. 

"Mom," Jenelle hisses behind clenched teeth. 

"I'm still confused," Dot admits, "What happened exactly? Why were they fighting?" 

"Ahem! Yes... why was that?" Ms. Towers asks. 

"You mean you don't know?" Dot is surprised. 

Ms. Towers smiles apologetically, "There were more pressing matters to deal with at the time." 

"Well it was Jenelle that started it," Kaira starts to explain, "She followed my sister to the bathroom-," 

Tatum covers her face with her hands, dying of embarrassment, "Please, I don't want to talk about this."

"What? It's true! She started threatening my sister-," 

"Threaten? Jenelle, what did you do?" Bunny looks apprehensively at her daughter. 

Jenelle's face hardens, "Nothing." 

"You see, she did nothing! A misunderstanding, as I said," Parker interjects quickly. 

Jenelle's expression becomes sulky, "Yeah..." 

"Hold on. I want Kaira to finish what she was saying," Dot interrupts, "It sounds like there's something more to all of this." 

Kaira clears her throat, "So she was upset about..." 

She looks at her sister's pleading expression, and frowns.

"...she was angry about something that happened at lunch yesterday. I wasn't there when it happened," Kaira shrugs. 

Tatum looks relieved, but Kaira shoots her a glare. 

"What happened?" Bunny asks. 

"None of your business." She can't really explain to her mother that her boyfriend, whom Bunny already doesn't like, was at all involved in this whole mess. 

"It is my business when it pulls me out of work early." 

Jenelle looks away from her mother. She can't get out of giving some sort of answer. "She..." she looks at Kaira's glaring face and Tatum's burning one, "Tatum spilled something on my shirt. I was...angry." 

"And that's when her sister punched you?" Bunny asks incredulously.

Jenelle feels everyone's eyes on her and her cheeks burn with a blush. "I, um...asked for her to get it cleaned. I might have not...asked nicely. Kaira overheard me and...yeah..." 

"What do you mean, might not have asked nicely?" Dot probes. 

"I said I'd tell people she peed her pants on the last field trip," she comes up with a lie on the spot. 

"That was not me!" Tatum can't help but interject. It's true that someone peed in the bus on the way back, but the culprit was never found. 

Bunny sighs. "I can't believe this." 

Jenelle snaps. "I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand!" at least that part is true, "And Kaira hit me first!" 

"Jenelle, this isn't the first altercation you've had at school," Ms. Towers cuts in, "Unless you've forgotten about what happened at the play last semester." 

Jenelle's blush deepens, "All I said was that Tiffanie was well cast." 

"She was playing a whale, Jenelle." 

"Like I said, well cast..."

Parker interrupts before anyone can react to Jenelle's comment, "Look, we can all see both of them are in the wrong here. But my daughter was still punched in the face." 

Ms. Towers sighs, "I know. Because of that, she's not getting expelled. Both Kaira and Jenelle are suspended for a week. Kaira will have ten detentions to serve after-school when she comes back to class."

Parker looks desperately between Jenelle and the principal, "Suspended? Surely, there must be some mistake, she was the victim here-," 

"She admitted to threatening another student, Mr. Curious-Prudence. I'm sorry, but with all the other incidents in her permanent record, she can't just sit this one out in detention." 

"One week isn't so bad," Parker tries to reassure Jenelle, "And you don't have much left of the school year." 

"Whatever." 

Dot has been quiet most of this meeting, but the her gaze is downright chilling when she looks at her daughters. 

Kaira herself doesn't feel too bad about it all. No school for a week? Definitely a victory. 

Tatum hangs off to the side uneasily when they exit the school building. She's not surprised but still shaken when her mother, her normally cheerful, easy going mother, starts yelling. 

"Wipe that grin off your face! What is wrong with you!? Are you happy that you just attacked another person?" 

"I never expected something like this from you!" 

Kaira yells back just as loudly, "You don't know what she said to Tatum! She threatened to spread rumors about her! I was just looking out for her!" 

Dot's anger does not subside, but she does manage to lower her voice, "What that girl did was horrible, no question. But you can't solve your problems with violence, Kaira. If she hadn't admitted to threatening your sister, you could've been expelled!" 

Kaira snorts, "Is that so bad?" 

"I can't believe you're being so casual about all of this!"

Tatum wishes she could just walk away and dissolve into nothingness. It would be far less humiliating. 

The Curious-Prudence family is more subdued, but Jenelle feels exactly as Tatum does. 

"I hope this doesn't affect my promotion," Parker mutters. His boss wasn't happy about him just suddenly leaving the office. "If word gets around..." 

Bunny shoots Parker a disapproving look. He shakes his head in exasperation. Is he the only one who cares about his job?!

Bunny pulls her daughter to the side. 

"I thought you were making good progress! It's been so long since something like this has happened. What went wrong, Jenelle?" 

Jenelle groans. This happens every time. "I don't wanna talk about it, mom." 

Bunny's mouth flattens into a thin line. 

"I'm extremely disappointed in you." 

Like I haven't heard this line before, Jenelle thinks with a mental eye-roll. "I know." 

Bunny sighs. "I hope you apologize to that girl." 

"What!? She punched me!" 

"Not to Kaira! Her sister." 

"Ugh, mom-," 

"Don't start with that. You can't just...threaten people to get what you want. It's not right." 

Jenelle glowers at her mother. Bunny can see this will take more than one conversation. 

"Let's just go home." 

Jenelle's not going to argue with that. 

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AN: This was actually an extremely difficult chapter for me to write. I wanted to stay true to their in-game traits and create a believable conflict, but not have either side come off as completely un-redeemable, since neither of them have the evil trait after all ;P (Jenelle's teen traits are socially awkward, family oriented, bookworm, and mean spirited. As a young adult she also became a bot-fan; Kaira is a snob, rebellious, a daredevil, and a perfectionist). 

Other trivia: 

-Bunny and Parker are pre-made children that come with Twinbrook. Bunny's traits as an adult are good sense of humor, easily impressed, virtousou, dramatic, and workaholic. I can't remember all of Parker's, but he's ambitious, a loser, lucky, and a light sleeper. There's one more I can't remember. 

-Jenelle has a younger sister who doesn't appear here, but might appear later? 

-I kept getting Janell and Jenelle's names mixed up. Thanks, random name generator. 

-I could not get Tatum to sculpt a mermaid. I had to buy it in the buydebug menu. 

-Ms. Towers (Carol) is also the science teacher. I built a lab and everything, intending on showing Tatum trying to find potions at school, but it didn't make it into the story. However, perhaps future generations will be shown there. 

-Elias's teen traits are family oriented, artistic, socially awkward, and loser.