2.15 There is no end in sight

With the new house came a new spirit. Christina became more content with herself, now that she tried to no longer listen to her mother and her older sister turning her down, but she was not happy with her outer appearance yet. She spent quite a lot of time on the treadmill on the second floor. Although it was tough at first, she used every failure to push herself, and soon could tell that her young body was changing. Muscles started to replace the baby fat she had never gotten rid of, and also attacked the fat that was the result of all the comforting food. The more she ran on the treadmill, the better she felt.

Unfortunately, the move did not only have positive results. Britney found herself unable to draw back from putting herself out there. It felt so good to be appreciated by another being, and since her husband could no longer provide her with this feeling, she continued to fight the emptiness in her heart by changing lovers like women changed her outfits.

Her newest catch was a colleague from work, who had repeatedly complimented Britney on her earlier articles.

Cyra found it amusing to gossip about her mother’s liaisons, and did not miss a single opportunity to do so. What she had not considered, however, was that her siblings were different from her.

Christopher, who had grown into a handsome teenager, told her off and asked her to respect their mother’s privacy. If she desired to be surrounded by many different people who all adored her, instead of turning to her family for support, then this was her very own decision. He had given up on his mother a long time ago, even though she had never made him feel unwelcome as long as his father was alive. But during these months, none of the siblings got a lot of attention from Britney.

He had found a way to deal with the lack of love he experienced at home. Christopher had successfully taken up painting, and had already created quite a few works that showed his individual style. Although he did not want to limit his future to one job just yet, it was a possibility for him to become a professional painter. He definitely had the talent.

Time flew by, and very soon it was Carole’s turn to grow up into a teenager. Surprisingly, her twin brother Chad had some time as a child left; those two apparently developed in their individual pace. Carole showed that she had inherited her father’s figure, just like Christina had.

With said time passing, Cyra became meaner and meaner when it came to interacting with fellow students at school. They had all heard about Karim passing away, and therefore offered their sympathies to Cyra and her siblings. She did not appreciate these nice gestures, though, but reacted aggressively whenever a teenager approached her with a sad look in their eyes. Soon, nobody got too close to Cyra, because they all were not too fond of being yelled at. Cyra’s popularity was starting to fade, but it would be a long time until she realized that she was seriously jeopardizing her lifetime wish to become and stay friends with twenty people. 

Author's Notes: Caught up with my gameplay! You will notice that a lot has been happening throughout the last chapters, although not much (game-)time has passed. Karim leaving the family, and particularly Britney, has caused the family dynamics to change completely. Christina has started coming out of her shell, and Cyra is on the verge of losing everything she already had.