Winter 2011/2012: Suzie and Charlie Tang are 53, Madison Craig is 16, George Tang is 14 (Anna Sutton is 16)
Suzie Craig Tang’s newest book, Robotic Desire, has just been released and already has fans raving. It’s been hailed in the reviews as “a steamy sci-fi romance that’s sure to push all the right buttons.” Fans line up at her release day booksigning at the Book Nook in Pine Hollow. And who knew Nathan Gates was one of her biggest fans?
“Here you go,” Suzie says, giving her half-brother’s girlfriend a personally signed copy. She tries to ignore Julien Cooke, who has burst into tears at the sight of his favorite author. Suzie loves being an author, but sometimes fans can be a bit weird.
###
There’s another member of the Tang household that dreams of screaming, crying fans too. George has recently put together a band with his friends Ethan and Anita. The band doesn’t have a name yet and they haven’t quite decided what kind of music they’ll focus on–George wants to play hard rock, Ethan wants hip hop, and Anita wants sappy pop princess love songs. But for now, they’ve all actually managed to play the same song and so George doesn’t worry about tiny details like a band name.
They do need a better place to rehearse though. George’s parents are the only ones that are cool with having a startup band performing in their living room, so they’re practicing here. Unfortunately, the living room is kind of too small for a band practice.
And there’s that little problem called George’s dad. Charlie likes to intrude into the middle of practice and show off his moves.
Much to George’s complete humiliation.
“All right, let’s take a break,” George says, quickly putting an end to his dad’s dancing.
George pulls Charlie aside to have a little talk. “Dad, I thought we talked about this. When you dance, you look like a monkey on crack. You were supposed to stay in your bedroom during rehearsal.”
“I just wanted to come give you guys some support,” Charlie says.
“You can support us from another room,” George tells him. “We feel the love, trust me.”
Once Charlie goes back to his room, George finds Ethan waiting to talk to him.
“Dude, we’ve got to decide on a sound,” Ethan says. “We can’t just keep playing whatever we happen to feel like at the time.”
“I know,” George says.
“And we still need a name,” Anita says. She’s lounged across the couch, making herself perfectly at home in the Tang house.
“I know,” George says again.
“I think we should be called the Ethanizers,” Ethan says.
“You don’t name a band after one of the musicians,” George says. “You name a band after the lead singer.”
“Oh, really? What about Van Halen?”
“We’re not Van Halen and we’re not going to be the Ethanizers!”
“Well, I’m not going to be G’Tang and the Rest of Those People,” Ethan says. “We need a name.”
George sighs. “I know!” Why is putting a band together so hard? Why can’t he just play music and have fun?
After a bit more arguing over a band name, Ethan finally leaves, slamming the door behind him.
“He’s a bit hard-headed, but once we figure out a name Ethan will be fine with it,” Anita assures George. “He just thinks he has to have his way sometimes.”
“Yeah, well, this is my band,” George says.
“It belongs to all of us,” Anita corrects him. “Without Ethan and me, you’re just a guy onstage by yourself, not a band.”
George knows she’s right, but Ethan has him in such a bad mood that he won’t admit it. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” he grumbles.
When Suzie gets back from her booksigning, George sits down on the couch next to her and says, “Mom, do you think I can ever really get my band going? Right now, we just argue and play whatever we want. Sometimes we happen to play the same song, but most of the time it’s just noise.”
“My books are always just noise when I start them,” Suzie tells him. “It’s so jumbled and nothing makes sense. It takes time and hard work for things to make sense. It will take time and hard work for your band to be something you’ll be proud of.”
“But we don’t even have a name,” George says.
“The titles of my books usually don’t come until later, once I’ve figured out what the book is about. Maybe you just need to figure out what your band is about and then the name will come to you.”
George sighs. “I guess.”
Suzie smiles. “It’s hard being a rock star, isn’t it?”
###
“Prom isn’t for another three months,” Anna Sutton says. “Why do we have to go dress shopping today?”
“Because we have to be prepared!” Madison Craig explains. “Prom is the most magical night of our lives. Everything has to be perfect. Perfect dress. Perfect date. Perfect everything.”
“We don’t have dates,” Anna says. “Unless that guy Simon you went out with asked you?”
“Ugh, definitely not,” Madison says. She only went out with Simon because he had just gotten his license and offered to take her to eat out in Arcadia. She was bored that day, so why not? But Simon had been an even bigger bore and that date was a complete bust. “We may not have dates yet, but we will. Once we find the perfect dresses.”
Anna knows better than to argue with Madison that her logic is a bit flawed. Finding a perfect dress doesn’t guarantee them dates. But Madison’s mind is made up and so to H&M they go, where Anna pretends to look through the racks while Madison tries on various different prom dresses.
“This one is perfect,” Madison says, examining her reflection. “But Charlie would literally have a cow if he saw me in it. He still thinks I’m six years old.”
“Isn’t it a little tight?” Anna asks. “How are you supposed to dance in that?”
“The point isn’t to dance,” Madison says. “It’s to look irresistible.”
When Madison goes back into the changing room, Anna studies her own reflection. She doesn’t think prom is going to be as magical as Madison claims, but maybe looking irresistible in a beautiful gown wouldn’t be too bad. Especially if one certain boy happens to notice how irresistible she is…
Once they’re done shopping, they decide to go catch a movie. And suddenly, there he is. Madison looks over at her friend with a knowing smile. Madison knows Anna and Dewey both like each other. And she also knows that they’re both too shy to make a move, so Madison will have to do it for them.
“Let’s ask Dewey and Bryant to watch a movie with us,” Madison whispers.
Anna’s face turns red. “I can’t do that!”
“I can,” Madison says. And before Anna can stop her, Madison marches right up to the boys.
“Hey, Dewey,” Madison greets him.
“Hey,” Dewey says. He smiles at Anna. “Hey, Anna.”
Anna is thinking, Oh my sim, he’s talking to me!
“Um, hey,” she manages to mumble.
“Do you guys know Bryant?” Dewey asks.
“Only by name,” Madison says. She nods at him. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Bryant looks over at Dewey, his eyes widening. He can’t believe Madison Craig is standing here in front of him, actually talking to him. He’s seen her around school and of course Madison has caught his eye–she catches every boy’s eye–but he’s never had a chance to ever speak to her before now.
“So we were going to see a movie,” Madison says. “You guys want to join us?”
Anna is still thinking, Oh my sim, oh my sim! She’s so embarrassed, she can’t even look at him to see what he thinks of this idea.
But the boys agree and soon all four of them are sitting together and somehow, Anna ends up next to Dewey with Bryant sitting next to Madison. Like a double date.
After the movie, they all decide to eat in the little cafe downstairs. It’s an unseasonably warm January night and so they take advantage of the nice weather by eating outside.
For a long time, no one says anything. They all stare at their menus, except for Madison, who is shooting glares at Anna, silently urging her to say something to Dewey.
But it’s Dewey who finally breaks the silence by turning to Anna and saying, “So did you like the movie?”
Finally! Madison thinks.
“Yeah,” Anna says. “It was pretty good.”
“Tell him about your favorite part,” Madison says, trying to keep the conversation going.
“Um,” Anna says, “I liked the end. It was happy.”
“Yeah,” Dewey says. “The end was good.
“My favorite part was when the ship blew up,” Bryant tells Madison.
“Uh, yeah, that’s nice,” Madison says. She’s really thinking, “No one cares!” She’s already decided that Bryant Smith will not be her prom date. There’s just no chemistry there and nothing at all is clicking between them. Plus, his eyes keep drifting down toward her cleavage and she’s almost ready to punch him in the nose if he does it again.
The food arrives and that occupies them for a long time. The boys talk about the movie some more and Madison pretends to be fascinated, for Anna’s sake. But Anna is just quietly eating her pasta, not even trying to be a part of the conversation.
Finally, the awkward night is coming to an end. Bryant is the first to leave, saying he has to get home and finish his homework. He surprises Madison by lunging at her and hugging her before she’s able to get out of the way.
“I had a great time,” Bryant says.
“Um, me too,” Madison says, patting his back. She can’t help but suspect that he hugs her way longer than he should have, pulling her so close that her boobs are smooshed against his chest. Is he pretending to give her a friendly hug just so he can feel her up?
Dewey walks the girls to the front of the theater. He lives in the opposite direction from them, so he says his good-bye on the sidewalk.
“I had a really great time,” he tells Anna. “And you look really pretty tonight.”
Anna blushes. “Thank you. I had a great time too.”
“So did I,” Madison says. “If anyone cares.”
“See you later,” Dewey says, his eyes still on Anna.
“So is Bryant your perfect prom date?” Anna teases as they walk away.
“Ugh.” Madison shudders. “No way.”
After a moment, Anna says, “Do you think he’s watching us walk away?”
“Definitely,” Madison tells her. “Just practice that walk I showed you. Swing your hips. He’ll be asking you to prom before you know it.”
——————————————————-
I used the celebrity fan zone cones to create Suzie’s fans at her booksigning. So funny that Nathan appeared as first in line, cheering her on. I guess he reads her books to get some romance tips? 😉 All of Suzie’s books have the word desire in the title and I’ve been just making up random ones lately since I already went through the more normal sounding ones like Dueling With Desire, Cooking With Desire, Looking for Desire (these are based on the novel covers the game has available). So now we have things like Robotic Desire, Ghostly Desire, The Grapes of Desire, Wuthering Desire.
I’ve mentioned this before, but Madison is so picky when it comes to boys! I haven’t found anyone she’s met yet that she has higher than one bolt with and most boys she has no attraction with (like Bryant and Simon). I’ve used the Crystal Ball and figured out who her highest matches are with, but she hasn’t ever run into them around town or anything. I think it fits her though. She very much wants to date and meet boys, but she knows what she wants and isn’t willing to settle for anything less than what she thinks she deserves. I imagine her as being the kind of person who dates a lot of random people, never really clicking with anyone, until she meets that great love of her life that turns everything upside down. But we’ll see. For now, she’s just extremely picky!
First!
That book signing was genius. This is why I love going to different blogs. Everyone comes up with these cool ideas that make the stories so interesting.
I love Charlie dancing. His flailing made me flail.
Anna and Dewey are the cutest. I hope they go to prom together.
LOL at the crying fan. Oh my goodness. Suzie’s reaction is fantastic. Wuthering Desire? Heehee…
Madison is such an “it” girl… she needs to find an “it” boy to match her, um, it-ness?
Poor Anna, she’s so sweet and shy! LOL, practice the walk I taught you. Oh no.
I laughed so hard at them practicing in the livingroom. Not exactly good acoustics!
I think Nathan reads Suzie’s book because he finds Suzie hot. She’s happily married Nathan move on.
Madison looks really pretty although her skirt is too short. And her boots belong to a prostitue but I wore clothing like that to get on my dad’s nerves so I shouldn’t be talking.
Did Anna get Cecil’s nose? That what it looks like to me.
Yep, Anna and Audrey both got Cecil’s nose. 🙂
Poor Anna! I had a friend like Madison when I was in high school and though I loved her, she got on my nerves so bad sometimes!!!! I hope her and Dewey get together!!
Oh my sweetness!!! That fan zone cone is a total SCORE! I’m downloading it now. I LOVE the idea of this. I have an author in my hood too, and would love to add this level. I personally love book signings in real life.
I totally see Madison that way too, not clicking, just dating for fun. She’s so confident in herself, that it’s not a big deal. Kind of like Phoebe on friends, she dated a lot, but never cared (well until Ross mentioned it, right as dreamy, witty paul rudd came in the picture) *ahem* back to PH.
Great update! I love the movie theatre “date” you captured the awkward, shy teenage life with Anna perfectly.
Oh my God, that book signing was hilarious! I love Julien Cooke crying! LOL.
George’s whole thing with his band reminds me of when they were trying to think up a name for their band on Freaks and Geeks. They have a conversation about what a badass Carlos Santana must have been to get the band named after him when he’s not even the singer!
I like that Madison’s not settling for just anybody – it definitely suits her personality. I’m totally pulling for Anna and Dewey to get together too, so I’m glad Madison is pushing it.
LOL @ G’Tang! I love it!
Awww, Anna and Madison look so pretty with their makeovers! Man, that cleavage though, lol! I don’t blame Bryant for staring at it! 🙂
But good for Madison for being picky!
Lol, I love Madison…she’s so direct. I’m dying to meet the man who will eventually tame her. Seems like an impossible task :). I imagine there will be much pouting on her part when she does eventually meet Mr Right, she’ll finally get it as good as she gives it, lol.
Lol, I just noticed this now…..is Madison sporting a break-out?
I’m an adult hetero human woman & I can’t stop staring at Madison’s cleavage. Poor teenaged boys just don’t stand a chance. :laugh: