Dear Mom,

Well, here we are at university. We were able to rent a small house that’s fairly close to the center of campus. It only has three rooms, so it’s a little small for the five of us, but we’re making it work. I included some pictures for you and uncle Alek. Hopefully you’ll actually get this letter before we’re home on Saturday.

Love,
Cece

P.S.
Benny sends his love.


This is the room that Luce and I are sharing. It’s about the same size as Evie’s room (You remember Evelyn Bennett, right? She’s at university with us.) It’s slightly bigger though, and there’s just enough room for two beds. There isn’t any room for a desk though, so Luce and I will have to use the computer in the study, or go into Evie’s room and use hers, or, Boolprop forbid, brave the boy’s room and use theirs.


This is Evie’s room. She’s glad to have her own room, since the rest of use are sharing. But none of us really care that much. It’s only until Saturday anyway.


I braved the boy’s room long enough to get a picture for you. It’s incredibly tiny, and since there will be two young men in there, something tells me it will be stinking a lot by the time Saturday rolls around. I feel sorry for whoever has to clean it out…


The house has a nice landing at the top of the stairs, and we set up an art area. Since all five of us are working towards our Fine Arts degrees, it felt like an appropriate use of the space. And there is an amazing view out of the window by the easel. I wish we had the same view back home.


The living/TV area. It’s the first room of the house and is honestly the biggest room in the entire place. Something tells me that Benny and Thad aren’t going to be doing much schoolwork. Do you agree? Haha, just kidding. I hope!


There’s a really nice office area too, with the same view as the upstairs painting nook. This house is just gorgeous, mom. I wish you, me, Benny, and Uncle Al could live here together!

Actually, scratch that. Maybe just you and me. I feel like Benny and Uncle Al would trash the place quicker than you could say ‘Holy Plumbob!’


Almost done with the house tour, mom, I swear! The dining room is off to the right when you first step into the house. When we moved in, none of the chairs matched. We had to scrounge around, but we found some chairs out in the garage (Oh yeah, did I mention this place has a garage?) and were able to find enough chairs to have it look nice.


And the last room, the kitchen. It’s pretty basic, and the stove is kind of temperamental, but honestly, we’re only here a few days, and we’re all taking so many classes we’re out of the house for most meals anyway. We pretty much only eat breakfast and dinner at the house. Sorry. I know you probably don’t want to hear that, right?

There are also three bathrooms, one downstairs and two upstairs, but they aren’t anything special. And one of the bathrooms is connected to the room that Luce and I share, so we don’t even have to walk around the house in our pajamas. Unless we want to.



"Everything okay?" I asked, pushing myself up from my bed as Lucia came in, looking very dejected.

"Yeah, yeah. I just…I miss Debbie," Luce admitted, settling into the chair in our room.

"She’ll be fine," I assured her, getting an envelope and putting the letter and pictures to my mom in it.

"I know. Do you really think your mom and uncle are okay with taking care of her?"

"Of course they are. My mom might not have been expecting to be a grandma quite so soon, but I know she loves Debbie. She’ll be fine. You’ll see."

"I guess. Hey, are you going to go to the meet and greet later today?"

"Yeah. Thad and I were going to try to meet the professors ahead of time."

"Of course you are," Luce laughed, getting up and sighing, "Well, I’m going to go find something to do. Take my mind off Debbie."

"Okay. We can go to the meet and greet together, kay?"

"Sounds good," Luce smiled and left the room.
















"Is everything okay?" I asked Luce as I pulled on my pajamas. It had been a long day getting ready for classes the next morning, but I was excited.

"Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?"

"Well, you and my brother barely talked today, let alone looked at each other. And I’m pretty sure I saw you glaring at Evie during dinner. So what’s up? I’m your best friend. Can’t you tell me?"

"I broke up with Benedict."

"Oh, Luce. What did he do?"

"How do you know it was him?" Luce asked, staring at me.

"I can only assume it was him. You were the one who asked him out, remember? Something tells me he would have been fine to just sleep with you and never actually have it go anywhere. So. What did my twin brother do?"


"You know how I left the meet and greet before you and Thad? Well, I came home because I was going to call your mom and ask how Debbie was doing. But when I walked in the front door, I completely forgot all about calling and checking on my baby girl.

"Your brother and Evelyn were sitting on the couch, as close as they could be. They weren’t doing anything; just sitting. Cuddling. But they both had damp hair. Something inside of me just knew that Benedict had cheated on me.

"I snapped."




"I just started fighting with Benedict. Evelyn at least had the decency to sneak away, instead of trying to get in the middle of it. You know what’s kind of funny? I honestly couldn’t tell you what I said to Benedict.

"I just know that he didn’t say anything back. He didn’t defend himself. Didn’t call me names. Didn’t insult me. He just stood there and took it."






"The next thing I knew, I was screaming in his face that it was over. I wasn’t thinking of our baby when I said it; I was just thinking of the contented look on his face when he was cuddling with Evie.

"I know that he’s never felt for me the same thing he feels for Evie. I think this entire time I was just kidding myself. The first attractive guy I meet, I think is my soul mate. And then when I found out I was pregnant, I was ecstatic. Finally, Benny would realize how much he loved me. We’d be happy together.

"But now I know that he never really loved me. I loved him, but he didn’t love me back. I still love him, and it hurts to see him, but I want him to be happy. So I broke up with him," Luce shrugs as she finishes her story, a single tear rolling down her cheek. I get up and walk over to her bed, sitting next to her and taking her hand.

"Luce, I know this is going to sound stupid and you’re going to hate me, but something tells me this is all part of a bigger plan. There’s a reason you and your brother moved into the house across the street from us. There’s a reason you and my brother hit it off so well. There’s a reason that you two had a kid together before you were even done with high school. And yes, there’s even a reason that he cheated on you. You just have to hope that eventually, one day, you will feel better about your part in this plan."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Luce asks with a laugh. I smile and pull her into a hug.

"Maybe not today. But someday, yes. We should go to bed now. Classes are very early tomorrow."




Dear Diary,

We’ve been at University for a few days now and we’ve slowly settled into a rhythm of sorts. I’ve pretty become the mom of the group, making the meals and making sure everyone gets to bed on time and is ready for class. I guess it’s giving me some experience for when I have kids of my own.

I have no idea what Benny and Evie are doing, and I don’t want to know, but Luce, Thad, and I spend most of our free time skilling.


Dear Diary,

Thaddeus and I are still going strong. We’ve both agreed to take it slow. We really like each other and we don’t really want to ruin the relationship by sleeping together too soon. Look what happened to Luce and Benny! If you’re reading this, sorry. But then again, you shouldn’t be reading this in the first place!! But Thad and I don’t want to complicate our very simple relationship with woohoo. We’re still in college and still dating; that stuff can wait.


Dear Diary,

I may or may not have set the dishwasher on first trying to fix it. One second it was fine and I thought I was close to fixing it, the next thing i knew, I could smell my own eyebrows burning and the fire alarm was going off. I was able to put the fire out before the fire department arrived, which meant we had to pay a fine, but I felt pretty good about myself. Maybe I’ll become a firefighter…






Dear Diary,

Things have slowed down a little bit, and we’ve had some more time to skill. I’ve started to learn to play the guitar, while Thad sits down in front of the TV and watches the cooking channel. He’s actually learned quite a few recipes and can’t wait to cook them back home. Benny coops himself up in his room and works out on the tiny TV up there. As if the place doesn’t already smell bad enough. Boys.








Ohmigosh, you’ll never guess what happened! Benny actually asked Evie out, officially! She said yes of course and they’re now official. I feel kind of bad for Luce, since I think she still has feelings for Benny, but I know she’s also kind of glad that he’s happy. So I think that it won’t be quite as tense in the house from now on. It was getting almost unbearable to be in the same room as those three.


It felt like no time had passed before it was the day of finals. Thad, Luce and I did the best, passing all three, but Benny and Evie kind of failed. They only passed one exam each. Benny cheated on all three, and Evie cheated on her last two and got caught both times. Benny got caught cheating twice as well. I swear, those two are the worst students ever.








When we got our final report cards on Saturday, none of us were really surprised to find that Benny and Evie both got Cs. Actually, we might have been surprised that they did so well. Thad and I both got As and Luce got a nice, solid B.




Before too long, the van was here to pick us up and take us back to Riverview. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was tired, and a little bit homesick. I’d love to complete my degree, but I don’t really know if I could stand being away for another week, maybe even longer. But maybe I’ll change my mind. Maybe Thad and I can come back together. Just the two of us…


It's good to be home.

The heir poll is still up here, so go ahead and vote. I'm going to keep it open for at least another day, maybe two, while I decorate a new house for the Lightstones.