2.26 The Gallery

"Kairaaaa, are you coming?" Santos calls from downstairs. Everyone but her is already in the car.

"Just a minute! I almost have this poem finished!" Just because she missed a week of class doesn't mean she's going to completely slack off. 

"You've been agonizing over that thing for days, it can wait a few hours!" 

Kaira glowers at her nearly finished assignment. The right words continue to elude her. 

"Fine! I'll be down in a minute!" It's an important occasion, after all. 

Tonight's the night! The gallery showing! 

"Thanks for coming with me. Tatum's worked so hard on this, I wanted to be sure not just her family came to see it," Dot tells her date, Erich Ball-Bailey. 

Erich smiles, "Wouldn't miss it. It's not every day a teenager gets their work shown in a gallery, right?" 

Tatum herself still can't believe it. 

After all of that angry rant Mr. Potts gave her and Lester, they got a nearly perfect score for the mermaid sculpture and they were selected. 

Next to her and Lester's statue is Jeremie's sketch of a woman wearing an apron stylishly. 

Tatum smiles. All that hard work paid off. She just wishes Lester would've come to see it. But it's only been a month or so since he asked her out on a date. She thinks guiltily about the messages he sent her later that she never replied to.  She just feels so...confused. 

Let's not think about this tonight. Our sculpture is here and that's what matters. 

She can't help but feel tired. It almost feels like she's walking around in a dream. This is why she rubs her eyes when she sees a familiar face. 

"Elias? What are you doing here?" 

"I haven't seen you outside of art class in ages. I thought you were still mad at me." 

Elias laughs uneasily, "Mad? Nah. I, erm...was just swamped. With the project. Haha! Tiffanie was a total mess, she was so worried." 

"So you're not mad that I partnered up with Lester?" 

Elias makes a face, "That old stick in the mud? Naaaaah. It's all cool. I'm not mad he got picked over me or anything. Picked again..." 

Tatum eagerly pushes past the uneasy pause in conversation. "Did you see Jeremie's sketch? It looks so nice with the professional lighting!" 

Elias forces a smile, "Eh, seen it once, seen it a thousand times, am I right?" 

"Uh, sure," Tatum lets out a strained laugh. 

Erich is telling Dot about the butterfly garden in Bridgeport when Marcie walks by. Dot gives her a polite smile. 

"Who is that?" he asks, noticing Dot's strange expression.

 Dot leans in to answer, her voice hushed, "She's my brother's ex-wife. They just got divorced." 

Erich's eyes widen in surprise. "Really? I'm sorry to hear that. Is your brother ok?" 

Dot sighs, "He took it pretty hard, if I'm being honest. Long story short, they married too young and they both regretted it. They tried to make it work for a while, since they have a daughter together, but it fell through." 

Erich nods somberly, "It sounds like it's better then, that they separated." 

Dot thinks briefly to her own failed relationships. "Yeah... I just hope they all can be happy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burden you with my family's problems." 

Erich smiles amicably, "Don't worry about that, I can see your family is important to you. It's good that you care." 

As a warm feeling spreads through her chest, Dot grins. "How about we go look at my daughter's sculpture now?" 

Erich offers the crook of his arm, which Dot takes. "Lead the way!" 

Dot thinks of having Tatum explain her sculpture to her and Erich, but can see her daughter is engrossed in another conversation. She quietly leads Erich through another hallway as to not disturb them. 

"Oh, I also have great news!" Tatum beams, happy to catch up with her friend after such a long time a part. 

"What is it?" 

"I applied to Sims University. They said I can have a partial scholarship to study fine arts!" 

Elias's excited expression quickly falls flat. "Oh. I see." 

"What is it? You don't seem happy for me," Tatum can't hide her hurt or her confusion. 

"I mean, that's great for you and all..." Elias tries to steer the conversation away from his lack of enthusiasm. 

Tatum won't let this go. "But what?" 

"I mean, what, one good sculpture and you want to study art forever?" 

"I've always liked art. Not just because I got selected for the gallery, I just enjoy it." 

Elias shrugs, "Yeah, sure. But um... you know you won't really get any jobs with an art degree, right?" 

There's a heavy pain in Tatum's chest, but she blinks back her tears and pastes a smile on her face. 

"Look, I understand all that, but I like art. I really, really like it. With the scholarship, it won't even be that expensive..." 

"You know how you always say you're sick of Kaira wanting to leave? She's not the only one who thinks she's better than the rest of us.Quit rubbing your art skills in my face. I lost to you and Lester, I get it."  

With those words, Elias walks away. 

Tatum looks down at her hands. Was it arrogant of her to think she could make a career out of art? Should she have waited to bring it up with Elias? They haven't even been talking again for a full day. 

Is Elias right? Is she acting stuck up? 

Suddenly, she doesn't feel like celebrating anymore.
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AN: Yeesh, I've been so hard on Tatum the past few chapters. She's almost a young adult!

Erich Ball-Bailey is one of Buddy and Gala Ball-Bailey's children. He and Dot have a notable age gap, something between one and two sim weeks, but when the hearts exploded from the attraction system...well, why not? I can't remember all of his traits, but I clearly remember that he's a natural born cook, hot headed, and an animal lover. He's a chef at the bistro!

At this point, Kaira's about halfway through her high school career. I'm not planning on doing any more scenes at school for this generation, it took so much time and planning. But we will see some more of Kaira's classmates outside of their school!