1.20 Et-eee-cut

Naomi lives her life quietly.

But that doesn't mean she doesn't have any fun. 

It's been rainy lately. Even though mommy hates it when she gets dirty, Naomi loves playing in the puddles outside. 

She smiles at the stormy sky, willing big fat droplets to fall. 

Her wish is granted, but of course while she's doing homework. Naomi grumbles at her notepad as it grows soggy. So much for math. 

The hairs on the back of her neck stand up despite the rain. She looks around worriedly; is someone watching her? Mommy told her not to talk to strangers. 

She relaxes infinitesimally when she see's it's just Calvin Broke, her grouchy, aloof classmate. 

"Naomi?" he squints his eyes at her, "What're you still doing here?" 

Thinking that he's angry, Naomi does what mommy told her if a stranger makes her uncomfortable- run to the nearest safe place. 

Right now that means to her bicycle so she can go home. 

I knew that Calvin hated me! He hates everyone! I bet he eats other kids for breakfast... she shudders. Best not to cross paths with him again. 

No one's home, like most afternoons now that she can get to and from school by herself, so with her homework (mostly) done, Naomi splashes in the wet grass outside. 

She laughs uproariously. She loves it when it rains! 

She immediately stops when she sees her mother's carpool pull into the neighborhood and runs inside. 

Mommy doesn't like messes, after all. 

Sage, on the other hand, is only sighing because of the bills. At least now they don't wipe out most of her paycheck. 

When Sage comes into the house, Naomi is bathed and ready for bed. Sage smiles approvingly. 

"Hi mommy. How was your day?" Naomi can scarcely contain her excitement to tell her mother about the scary Calvin Broke, but mommy gets mad if she's not "polite". 

"It was good. How was yours?" 

"It was scary! I ran into this boy-," 

Sage raises an eyebrow, "What were you doing with a boy?" 

"He came up to me, but I ran away!" 

Sage sighs. A juvenile response to a boy. "Naomi, it's rude to run away from conversations." 

Naomi frowns, "But he was a stranger. I thought you said I should run away from them?" 

"Well yes, but your classmate is hardly a stranger, Naomi! You have to learn how to handle boys very carefully..." 

What follows is a long lecture filled with words that Naomi doesn't understand, like "etiquette" and "feminine", and words she knows but don't make any sense, like "her place as a woman". But she doesn't ask any questions. 

Mommy doesn't like questions. 

Once Sage finishes giving important advice, she rewards Naomi's silence with a bedtime song. Naomi knows better than to laugh or giggle or even worse, dance, so she just smiles and taps her foot to the beat. 

"Naomi, it's rude to stare." 

Naomi immediately averts her gaze. There's a lot that she doesn't do right. 

But still, Sage continues to play. Naomi smiles again. Mommy is so nice! 

 ***

The next afternoon Sage doesn't have any work so Naomi comes straight home. As always, she doesn't interrupt her mother as she practices and finds something useful to do instead- homework. 

Well. Useful is a strong word according to Naomi. That's a strong word... it's a phrase she picked up from her simlish teacher. It's the way adults say something isn't really that thing the other person said without saying they're wrong. 

Adults are so weird. Naomi thinks they must be telepathic since they hate talking so much. She glances at Sage. 

I like your guitar. She thinks the thought as hard as she can, but her mother doesn't react. 

Naomi pulls her eyes back to her history homework. It's rude to stare, after all. 

Sage puts her guitar down to answer her phone.

"Another sound check? At what time?" she says.

Naomi tries to keep from pouting at those words. Sound check means that mommy will be gone...again. At that work place. Why do adults need to go there so much? It seems stupid to Naomi.

"Can I have a bedtime story before you leave?" Naomi asks hopefully. 

"Naomi, I have to go in five minutes, I don't have the time." 

"Pleeeease?" 

"No whining, Naomi. I simply can't. Just...play until you're tired. You're getting too old for bed time stories anyways."

Naomi looks down at the floor and nods.

Sage pats her daughter's shoulder, "That's a good girl. Remember to take your bath and brush your teeth before bed."

Naomi dutifully plays with her blocks. She carefully stacks the blocks one on top of the other, making sure they're all perfectly aligned. The noise of her houses falling down when she didn't align them properly made mommy really mad. Since mommy knows everything, Naomi doesn't risk letting the houses fall over even when mommy's at work. 

But blocks get boring. In the back of the dresser with the clothes mommy forced her to stop wearing was a doll. Naomi loves her doll, Buttons. Buttons isn't scary, like Calvin, or noisy like the other kids in her class. 

"Their mommies just don't know et-eee-cut," she whispers to Buttons. 

When Naomi wakes up the next morning Sage is back home, but wearing her fancy dress. That means that there's going to be a concert tonight! Naomi smiles sadly; she really wants to see mommy play at her concerts, but they're too late at night for her to go. 

Besides, kids are too noisy to go to concerts, Naomi reminds herself. Once she's a big high schooler maybe she'll be quiet enough. 

"Good morning Mr. Mailman," Naomi greets politely. 

He smiles and waves at her, "Have fun at school!" 

School can be fun, but Naomi hates the long line of kids she has to weave through every morning. She says "excuse me", but either she's too quiet or everyone ignores her because no one ever moves. 

But when Calvin says it, people do move. 

Probably because he'd bite them if they didn't, she thinks, shuffling as far away from Calvin as she can. 

Naomi decides not biting people is better, even if it doesn't get people to get out of her way. Biting is bad etiquette. 

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AN: I couldn't think of a better way to end the chapter. With Sage working or playing instruments on her days off and with just Naomi in the house, most of my gameplay at this point came from Naomi. Man, the child stage is so restrictive! There were a lot of skills I couldn't have Naomi learn yet and curfew meant she couldn't go out. At least it only lasts for seven days :P