The Morgan Legacy, Chapter 35, Part 2: Disparate Youth--Wilf
Life, in Wilf Fitzhugh's opinion, was going to be perfect.
He was a Teen, finally. He was going to be a drummer in a real, awesome band (well, as soon as they saw him try out, anyway) with his friends, including two really hot girls.
The only problem was the whole being caught in the middle of his best friends' fight thing.
Wilf had meant to see Jacqueline sooner. He really had. But it had taken awhile to talk Seeley down--his temper was hard to rile, but just as hard to calm.
Once he'd finally sent Seeley back in to finish his date with Lina, the band had finished their set. Maria had waved him over and introduced him to the band's hot bassist, and they talked. And didn't talk. And, well, brand new Romance sim, needs, et cetera...
He stayed at the club a bit longer than intended, and by the time he made it to Jacqueline's house she was already in bed, as Nora explained to him when she answered the door.
"Oh." He scuffed his foot awkwardly against the porch floor. "Sorry."
"I'll tell her you stopped by," Nora reassured him. "She'll appreciate it."
"You think so?"
"I do. Are you doing okay, Wilf? I know it's not good to be in the middle of your friends' fight."
"Yeah, it's not fun," he agreed wryly.
"But I know you'll help them work things out in the end. Everything will be all right."
Wilf smiled at her. Once Jacqueline had told him that he reminded her of her mother, since they were both always so optimistic. He'd taken it as a compliment--Nora was awesome. "Thanks."
Since there was nothing more he could do for his friends at the moment, he decided to spend the rest of the night focused on getting into the band. One trip through the Energizer later, he was all set to practice drums until the bus arrived.
It was just as much fun as he'd thought it would be, and as easy. By the time the rest of his family was awake, Wilf was confident that he'd impress the band.
"What's going on, guys?" his dad asked.
"Dad!" Amy stopped dancing long enough to wave. "Wilf's gonna be a rock star!"
"Oh yeah?" Saxon was pleased, no surprise there. It was his drum set Wilf was currently using, after all. "So that's your lifetime want?"
"Yeah, but I can be in a band now," Wilf explained. "The band at the club last night, Permaplat, needs a drummer since theirs is leaving for uni. So I'm gonna try out today. It won't interfere with school or anything. I told Mom that already."
"That's awesome," Saxon said proudly. "We're getting lifetime front row passes, right?"
Wilf laughed. "I don't know, is being in the front row good for an old man like you?"
"Cute," his dad retorted. When Amy started giggling, he playfully rounded on her. "Think that's funny, do you?" Which pretty much put an end to practice, since Saxon wound up chasing both Wilf and Amy around until the bus arrived, but Wilf didn't mind.
All things considered, Wilf had worried that Jacqueline would be angry with him for ditching her, but she met him in front of the auditorium before the band auditions like she'd said she would. "Hey," he said hurriedly, rushing toward her. "I'm sorry, I tried to come see you-"
"I know. Mom told me."
"So you're not mad at me?"
"I can't afford to be, can I?" she asked wryly. "I'd be all out of friends then."
"Seeley just needs to calm down," he assured her. "He'll be fine by tomorrow. He can't be anything but happy during his parents' wedding."
"Do you think I should still go?"
He gave her a Look. "He'd be really mad at you if you didn't. Just leave Lina alone and everything will be fine."
"He invited her? I saw them together today, but-"
"I don't know. I just figured he would."
"Oh." She looked hurt, though Wilf didn't understand why. Not that he understood anything that was going on between his friends right now. "What about you? Are you going with Maria?"
He blinked. "No. I was going to go with you."
"I thought you'd want a real date, now that you're a Romance sim and all. Someone to make out with."
"Good point, maybe I should ditch you," he agreed mock-thoughtfully, wincing when she elbowed him.
"Don't you need to go inside?" she reminded him.
"I will, in a minute."
"Don't tell me you're nervous."
"Me? No way, I'm fine."
"Mmhmm. Just think of it this way--you can't be any worse than whoever's playing right now."
He shuddered at the thought of being worse than whoever was making the cacophany of noise leaking from the auditorium at that moment. "I hope not."
"Come on," she instructed, pushing him inside.
After Wilf and another boy auditioned and the band held a whispered conference, Maria got up and announced that Wilf was the one they'd chosen. "So, Wilf, if you'll come back up here so we can talk about our practice schedule?" Maria requested.
"Sure, just a sec!" He pulled out his phone to text Jacqueline, who had opted to wait outside. Mind waiting for me? This shouldn't take long.
Are you sure? If you'd rather hang out with Maria, or Victoria...
You think Victoria likes me, too?
Just don't break up the band, Yoko.
Is that another human reference?
Just go. I'll wait, if you really want me to.
Truth was that he really wanted time with Maria. Or Victoria. Or both of them. But he knew Jacqueline was at a loss without Seeley, and he felt bad for not being there for her before.
Yeah, obviously I do. This shouldn't take long.
Okay.
He put his phone away, then dashed up to the stage.
"Great job!" Maria told him, and with a wink added, "I'm surprised you got time to practice."
He grinned. "That's me. Just full of surprises."
"I bet." She turned to the rest of the group. "Anyway, Wilf, these guys are Smith and Eoin, and you met Victoria last night."
"Yeah, I did." He exchanged friendly nods with the guys, then grinned at Victoria. "Hey."
She grinned back, cheeks going a brighter shade of pink than her shirt. "Hi."
"We usually practice a few hours every afternoon," Smith cut in. "Usually at Maria's house."
"So Smith's girlfriend will be there to cheer him on," Eoin stage-whispered to Wilf.
Smith scowled. "We're not practicing today, but we are tomorrow."
"In the afternoon, right?" Wilf asked quickly. "Cause my best friend's parents are getting married tomorrow morning and I have to be there for that."
"It all depends," Victoria said gravely.
Maria nodded. "Will you be wearing your suit to practice?" she inquired in a tone that matched Victoria's. The other girl was visibly on the verge of giggles, but Maria managed an impressive poker face.
"Wait, nobody told me you guys would be flirting with him all the time if we let him in the band," Smith objected with a scowl. "Is it too late to choose someone else?"
The girls just giggled, and even Eoin was eying Wilf with obvious interest. Wilf grinned.
It was good to be a Romance sim.
"Finally," Jacqueline said when he emerged from the auditorium.
"So sorry to have kept my fanclub waiting."
"Riiiiight." All the same, she did little more than roll her eyes when he patted her shoulder. "Anyway, your whole trying to charm two girls at once thing, do you really think-"
She stopped speaking abruptly as Seeley rounded the corner.
"I thought you wanted to go to the audition by yourself," Seeley said to Wilf after an awkward silence. "Or was Lina right about you two?"
"You know better than that," Wilf said, frowning. He'd had enough of this. Time to make them make up.
"But-"
Wilf towed Jacqueline toward Seeley, ignoring her attempts to get free of his grasp. "Jacqueline, tell Seeley you're sorry for trying to scare Lina off."
"But-" she began. He gave her a Look, and her eyes darted back to Seeley, then dropped. "I'm sorry."
"Seeley, tell Jacqueline you're sorry for overreacting."
"I didn't-"
Now Wilf gave him a Look. "You did and you know it."
Seeley sighed. "Sorry, Jacks."
"I'm not good at sharing," she said with an awkward shrug. An odd gesture from someone as innately graceful as Jacqueline, and one that really revealed how much this all unsettled her.
"I know." Seeley took her hands in his, and Wilf could feel her go rigid against his side. There were some seriously weird undercurrents here, and Wilf was well aware that he wasn't the most emotionally sensitive guy around, so if even he could sense them... "We're all always going to be best friends, though, okay?"
"Yeah," Wilf chimed in. "No matter how many of my bandmates I date."
Jacqueline and Seeley traded a look, then focused on him, raising their eyebrows in an alarmingly similar fashion. "Are you going after the guy, too?" Jacqueline inquired. "You know he's dating Andromeda, right?"
"And here I thought you meant it when you said you wouldn't go after anyone in a relationship," Seeley drawled.
"What? No! I meant Victoria and Maria! It was a joke because of you giving me such a hard time earlier!"
"Mmhmm, sure it was."
"You guys!"
Sometimes it just didn't pay to be a good person.
Author's Notes and Credits