# Isle of the Midnight Sun: Chapter 2.27 Moving On With Things

Time To Remember.....

Flash back to Jin as a child. Chapter 2.8 Goodbye Socks

"Did you notice that Jin wasn't his normal chatty person today. It was like he was here but not really here," said Maya.

"He's sheltered here. Perhaps he needs to spend some time in the real world, when he is older, so he is prepared."

"People deal with grief in all different kinds of ways,"

These thoughts from Maya are important to remember, as we carry on with the next few chapters.

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The week following the fight with Cameron at the pond was an emotional and frustrating education for me. The sweet funny girl I had gotten to know so well, or as I thought, was actually a very mean and vindictive person.

By the time the first day of school had ended, she had everyone convinced I was an inconsiderate jerk who had lead her on and treated her badly. No one would talk to me, or look my way. Girls would pass me in the hall way and turn to point and gossip.

The second day was no better.

"Is that him Cameron? Oh he is gorgeous!"

"Yah, well don't waste your time cause you won't get anywhere with him! He may be nice to look at, but he is also super gay."

It didn't take Cameron and her groupies very long before they had convinced the entire school I was gay. Slowly but surely, she was making sure that not only would I have no friends, but no possible girlfriends either. Not that I was looking for one.

The next two days I stayed home from school feigning illness to Mrs Monty. But on the third morning, she declared that if I didn't go back, she was taking me to the doctor.

Didn't really seem like any real threat to me so I ignored her, until she told me that if I missed too many days, they would automatically flunk me and I would have to return the next year. So what? She then continued to say that my parents had been very clear. If I didn't graduate, I couldn't come home till I did.

I think then Sylvia realized there was something more going on then just my lack of desire to go to school.

"Jin, sit down. Listen, I know you and I didn't get off on the right foot in this whole arrangement. That is my fault and I'm really very sorry. But you have to understand, I'm in your corner here. Think of me as a favourite aunt. Please tell me what is going on."

So I relented and told her everything.

"Oh my. No wonder you don't want to go to school," said Sylvia. She sat quietly for a moment thinking.

"Okay," she said and moved to sit beside me. "We can fix this, or at least do some stuff to make things better. But first off, I was thinking you should meet Caeruleus. His family was gone for a little over a year and has just returned. He would be your age. Perhaps he can introduce you to some of his friends."

Then she went "OH!" and I could see some excitement in her eyes. "I have some more ideas but I will let you know when I am ready.

Now, school is almost over. Why don't you go shower, then pop across the road to see Caeruleus. I will phone to let them know you are coming."

I was about to stand up when I turned to her and said "Thank you aunty Silvia."

"Cute. Don't be thinking you will get me wrapped around your little finger using those sweet brown eyes. This isn't my first go around, you know. Now scram."

I jumped off the couch still laughing and headed for the shower, feeling better about things all around. Silvia was cooler than I thought, for an old lady.

Caeruleus must have been waiting for me because I had barely knocked when the door flung open and out he stepped.

"Hey you must be Jin."

I stopped and stared.

"Come in, come in," he continued and I followed him in a daze.

"You're...you're...a fairy?"

Caeruleus laughed. "Have you never seen a fairy before?"

"Like, in fairy tales. No one ever told me that fairies were actually real!"

"Oh yeah. And werewolves and witches and vampires-"

"NO WAY! Vampires are actually real?"

"Jin, where on Simworld have you been living?"

So I told him. He asked me a few questions, but I never told him why I had been sent to Monte Vista. He seemed fascinated by my childhood, yet I was more fascinated by his.

"We are going out!" he declared.

"Going out where?" I asked.

"Oh you will like this," he assured me. "Its going to change your whole world!"

Caeruleus took me to this really dark and run down lot that was supposed to be a "supernatural hangout" where I would see all kinds of spooky and scary things.

I had my first juice; some flaming citrus drink that wasn't half bad.

We ran into a girl from school on the dance floor, then played a round of pool.

"Soooooo, this is supposed to change my life?" I stated.

"Okay fine, it's a slow night tonight. But I swear, all those things I said, are very much real! I promise, I'm not lying!"

"Uh huh," I replied.

"Maybe if we wait just five more minutes."

So five minutes became five more and so on and so on. You get the picture. Then he said, "I dunno why no one is here. Maybe I should have brought you on a full moon night."

I laughed out loud then. "Seriously! C'mon Caeruleus, give it up."

"Ah hah!" he said then turned me to look towards the dance floor. "Get a load of that!"

"That can't be. You are playing some kind of trick on me, or the light is just reflecting off his very....bright eyes."

"Don't stare!" he said in alarm. "You never want to get on a vampire's bad side and trust me that isn't hard to do depending on what they are like. Ah, crap!"

"What?" I said now nervous myself.

"The cops! It must be past curfew. Shoot! If we run out the back, maybe we can get away."

But no luck and I was driven home by a very stern looking female cop to a very upset, foot tapping, glaring Sylvia. She thanked the cop for bringing me home and unleashed her wrath on me. She was right, this wasn't her first go around, and I could tell because she was in full mom mode. Part of the conversation went like this....

"I didn't know about any curfew! No one told me! How was I supposed to know?"

"The law in Monte Vista is very strict around the youth. You must obey the law."

"Geez, I'm almost 18 for cripes sake! This is ridiculous."

"You don't sound like someone who is almost an adult Jin. I suggest you don't say another word and march up to bed."

The next morning I had a bunch of chores to complete and it was suggested that I join a few after school clubs to keep me "busy". I made the mistake a grumbling about next they would want me to get a job, because Valentine piped up and said "Good idea." I'm still having difficulty taking orders from a ghost, especially a grumpy old dead guy like Valentine is. Luckily Sylvia is easy to get along with.

I spent the next couple weeks hanging out with Caerueus, doing our homework together, playing video games and of all things-pillow fighting.

Its like a sport in this town I found out.

I wasn't quite sure how to go about hitting a fairy with those big wings and all, which meant I spent more time being hit, than doing the hitting. I caught on though after being nearly knocked out cold by his brawniness!

He introduced me to the Ichtaca boys who were good friends of his before he left town. Sylvia set up the second floor of her house as like a mini teen hangout, complete with a dance floor, wall tv, furniture and arcade machines.

The four of us started hanging out at my house, then they brought some girls, who told other girls and before I knew it everyone had forgotten about the rumors Cameron had spread around school about me.

There was no doubt that things were going well, but it didn't mean I had forgotten about home and Sun. Home is where I truly wanted to be.

I called everyday for more than two weeks and each time it was the same response:

*No I couldn't come home
*No I couldn't talk to mom
*No I couldn't talk to Sun

The last phone call was incredibly bad, with my father losing his cool as if I had pushed his last button. He told me it was time to grow up and be a man. I needed to stay where I was and experience life as any normal kid would have done. Create a life, learn all I could learn, make connections with people and truly learn who I was. Lastly and most importantly, I was to stop calling home. He didn't want to hear from me anymore and that he would call when and if they knew anything in regards to the situation. However, I would like to point out I gave you the nice version, instead of the actual version I got from a very pissed off father. My father was a man I greatly looked up to, even though we knocked heads somewhat over the years. But that was a side I had never seen from him before and I had no idea where it came from. It was as if I didn't know him at all.

I didn't go home that night. I spent the time sitting on a bench, just staring at the waves as they rolled onto the beach. Sylvia became concerned the next morning when she found my bed empty and called Caeruleus hoping I was there. He went out with his dad looking for me and found me there. His father, although happy to have found me, wondered why I wasn't caught by the curfew police. I didn't know. They brought me home and I vaguely remember hearing someone say they thought I was in shock. I was shoved into a warm shower and told to put on the clean pj's when I got out. Caeruleus's mom was a pretty lady with bright red hair, which I found amazing considering my friend's shocking white/blue hair, depending on the lighting he was under. She gently pushed me into a chair and placed a bowl of soup in front of me, telling me to eat.

I'm embarrassed to say I nearly did cry then. I felt like I had lost my whole family and missed my mother at that moment terribly. I ended up staying the whole weekend and was comforted by the sense of family I found there. Caeruleus had a much younger sister name Ranna Rosa who was very cute and very much attached to

her older brother. She was always with him and by connection me, no matter where we were or what we were doing. She was very easy to like. They all were, I had to say.

His mother was also a great cook, something Sylvia was not! Another thing I missed about home and my mother.

On Sunday night, Ranna Rosa came to me and asked if I would

read her a bedtime story. It was this funny children's story that I remembered my own mother reading to me as a child. As I read I wondered if this was what it would be like with my own little brother and sister. I was inspired by this family and decided then and there I would be a great big brother to whomever came along. Although now I was kind of hoping for a sister.

When Ranna fell asleep I closed the book and kissed her gently on the forehead before turning off the light.

After that I was like a second big brother to her. She even sat with me on the bus ride to school every morning.

As angry as I was with my father for his ill treatment of me on the phone, I did take his words to heart. I joined the shop class and learned how to weld and work with wood. Then I was asked to join the sports club and be part of the soccer team after the coach saw me hanging out in the field playing with my ball while I waited for Caeruleus to get out of debate club. I was made co captain of the team just like that.

Lady Maria, offered to teach me to drive which I gratefully took her up on.

That lead me to searching the junkyard till I found exactly what I was looking for. I brought Zach Ichtaca who was a true car guy and of course my best friend to check it out.

"Okay so now that I have seen the car...are you out of your mind?

Do you know how much work this is going to be?" said Zach.

"But do you know how much these cars cost to buy new?" I replied.

"Yeah, about 43, 000 simoleons. But you aren't going to be able to fix this for a couple hundred either" he said.

"I know but its the coolest car I've seen so far. Please Zach! Help!"

"You do know there is a perfectly good pick up truck right there and all it needs is a new engine."

I gave him a look and he relented. "Fine. Offer him this and see what he says."

So I did....and he laughed his head off. Back to Zach and I told him what the junkyard guy said.

"He is dreaming if he thinks he is going to get that much! The car doesn't even have tires." Zach sighed, "Fine offer him this much and tell him that is your final offer."

I had it towed home to the driveway and spent the next few weeks working on it non stop.

Car parts are not cheap, and since I didn't want to ask my dad for anything, I did go out and get that job that ghost Monty was bugging me about so much. The thing that bothered me the most about that was that secretly I knew the Monty's were being paid very well for my room and board. So it wasn't like I was putting them out. I think Mr. Monty just didn't like having a kid around to cut in to his time to do this with

his wife..........

And everything that follows
this, to be more exact. Trust me, with that echo-e ghost voice, there is no escaping the sound of that when they get busy in the bedroom. So I stayed away as much as possible while still completing all the chores I was required to do.

But three days a week, you could find me doing this-