Fanon:One Shy Celebrity

Chapter 1: Moving Out
Bridgeport is one of the biggest cities in SimNation. It's always bustling with activities during the night, be it at bars, lounges or clubs. It's impossible for an outgoing Sim to stay stuck at home.

However, even though Bridgeport offers many opportunities, sometimes it doesn't fit the lifestyle of other Sims. This is the case of the Paladios household. Forever busy with work and school, they were unable to keep up with the late-night activities, always returning exhausted and seeking nothing more than sleep. One Sunday morning, Darren, the World-Renowed Surgeon, sat down on a chair and began to use his computer, the one he barely used. He immediately opened the internet browser, and began searching for plane tickets for a voyage.

Meanwhile, Zackery had just awakened from his sleep due to an outspoken alarm clock. Sunday, the last day of the precious weekend. He got up, made his bed, and instantly headed for his shower-bathtub -- the Shower of Power.

After taking his exhilarating shower and becoming squeaky clean, he proceeded to walk downstairs for breakfast. Or brunch. Whatever. He was going to eat the Stuffed Turkey his mother got from work. While it was tasty, he still preferred food she made herself. It was much better. Especially the hamburgers.

However, he saw his parents sitting in the hall, the one with a long table and many chairs that they rarely ever used. Curious, he sat in a chair as well.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"I bought some tickets to Sunset Valley. We're going to spend some time there." his father answered.

Zackery didn't take the reply too positively. He didn't like moving; it was too tiresome. And he barely knew anything about Sunset Valley.

"But how are we going to get our stuff there? It's quite far from there; we have to go through both Twinbrook and Riverview!" he replied.

"Two planes are going to Sunset Valley. We will be onboard the first, and the second will be a cargo plane, carrying out furniture." his mother explained. They were interrupted by the sound of a truck honking.

"Oh, the cargo trucks are here. We better get going. We will go to the airport and the trucks will take our furniture to the airport." his father told Zack. The three got out of their chairs and proceeded to go to the garage. Darren and Zack boarded into the orange Bwan Speedster YL, while Lindsay went on her Margaret Vaguester.

Chapter 2: Finding a new home
Zackery opened his Edu-Osmosis laptop, with its layer customized to have a fiery red look, resembling his favourite color - red. He opened the internet browser, and began searching about Sunset Valley.

"So, it is a town founded by the Goth family, and built by the Landgraabs. So there's where the Landgraabs reside. I remember hearing about the Goths before, but I didn't knew they founded Sunset Valley." he thought. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from the intercom. "The plane is now reaching Sunset Valley. Please keep your seatbelts tight and shut down any eletronic device as we land." it stated. Zackery shut down his laptop, and looked at the window. And he had to admit, the view was very beautiful. Hopefully he would find himself comfortable during his stay.

Quickly, the airplane reached the airport destination, making a soft but quick landing. He and his parents stepped out to find themselves free of the usual industrious ambient from Bridgeport. Shortly after, the cargo plane landed as well. They were quickly greeted by a woman wearing a business suit, a notepad and glasses.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Sherril, I'm from the travel services. You're here from Starlight Shores, right?" she asked in a friendly tone.

"Actually, we're from Bridgeport." Darren corrected her.

"Oh, right, sorry." she said as she changed her tone to a more serious tone. Zackery felt curious about that. "So, I'm here to help you find a house here. I assume you want a penthouse, right...?" she asked.

"Uh, no, we want an actual house. There are no penthouses here, if I am right." Darren replied. The travel woman seemed a little surprised, but then shortly recovered.

"Ok, I have a list of houses available for you. Follow me, I'll guide you." she said as she walked towards her car; a black Yomoshoto Evasion.

"She's acting a litle weird." Zackery thought as he and his parents got on the vehicle.

"This house might suit you pretty well." Mrs. Sherril commented as she guided them into the Condor Museum Lofts. "It has 3 floors, and slots for 3 cars. When you have reached that stage in life where suburban living has lost its appeal, it is time to move up to this stunning abode." she described the house as the household explored it. "While I like it's design, it's too expansive for us. We don't exactly need 4 bedrooms, and some of it's rooms are a bit repetitive." Darren commented.

"In that case, I have a better house for you." she replied.

"This one is stylish, and it's features are not too repetitive." Mrs. Sherril said as she stopped her car in front of the Wagner's Repose. "This is the perfect home for the composer seeking inspiration or Sims who just love living among the ocean waves and the redwoods. This is a grand old house with wraparound porches and a fourth-story cupola to take in the best views in town." she described. "It looks nice and all, but we'd like to be closer to the center of the town." Lindsay stated. Again, they went back to the Yomoshoto to find another house.

"Look, this is the last house we have to offer." Mrs. Sherril stated after a long time searching for houses. She then showed the household the Unabridged house. "A traditional cape style house is made modern by bridging a large custom pool. Easy living on this beach front property will make you feel like you are on vacation every day of the week." she described. "This house fits everything I was looking for. Proximity to the beach, fair amount of bedrooms, actual separated rooms, a swimming pool and a yard, it is as good as our house back in Bridgeport. I'm buying it." Darren said as he handed her the money.

"Huh, well, that's odd. Nobody ever wanted to move in here as this house is too small for it's price. But anyway, enjoy your stay at Sunset Valley." she said as she received the payment, and drove off.

After he made sure she was gone, Zackery turned to his father.

"Hey, didn't you noticed she was acting a bit...weird?" he asked.

"Now that you said it...yeah, she was treating us like we were snobs." he replied. "But it's not that everyone is like this, we can't base our opinions about a town just from a single citizen." he continued. "Now, all we have to wait for is for the cargo truck to-" he said, but was interrupted by the sound of honking again. "Oh, it's here."

Chapter 3: Potential New Friend
Zackery's sweet dreams about computer games and future were brutally interrupted as his high-end alarm clock went off. First day of school. Well, at least first day of school in Sunset Valley. Regardless, he hated first days of school. He made his bed, and proceeded to take a shower.

Well, that shower was exhilarating, but that wasn't enough to make his morning better. At least he has some time before-

*Honk* *Honk*

...-the school bus coming. Ugh. Is that school bus with Nitrous Oxide installed or something? It never came so quick. Zackery headed out to board the bus.

The class was relatively noisy from the chat. The students liked to chat with each other before class began. Well, at least those who were extroverted and not aggressive. Their chat, however, was interrupted as the teacher called out.

"Ok, class, as you probably know, we will be recieving a new student to our class." the teacher announced.

The students' reactions were mixed. Some were happy, as that meant a potential new friend, and some were annoyed, as it meant less space to call their own., while others were indifferent.

"The student comes from Bridgeport, and has moved into Sunset Valley yesterday." the teacher added. The students' reactions instantly stopped after she mentioned that the new student is from Bridgeport. "Yeah, I figured you all would react like this, but avoid displaying this sort of behavior. You never know, Bridgeport could open a lawsuit against us." she added.

The classroom door then opened, revealing a child wearing a blue jacket and a red shirt underneath entering the classroom. The students thought that the child was from another classroom, but the teacher recognized him.

"Oh, hello, you're the new student, right?" she asked. Afterwards, the children had not-so-loud-but-noticeable surprised reactions, some even quietly saying "it's him?!".

"Yes..." Zackery responded shyly, looking with the corner of his eyes at the rest of the classroom, feeling out of place as he was in front of all of them.

"Oh, in this case, welcome to our classroom. I am Lillian Hills, but you can call me Mrs. Hills. Introduce yourself to the class!" she greeted him.

Zackery looked downwards, then to the class, and then back to Hills, and shook his head 'no'.

"Why not?" she asked. Zackery simply responded by shrugging, not wanting to state the reason. "In that case, simply tell us your name, so we can properly adress you." she added.

"My name is Zackery..." he answered quietly.

"Ok, Zack, you can sit over....there!" she said as she pointed towards an empty chair right in front of Amber Lovestone. He shyly walked over the chair and sat on it. Almost immediately he quietly slammed his face on the desk, clearly not enjoying the experience he just had.

And Amber was relatively curious about Zackery's behavior in front of the class. He seemed to act a bit...shy...unfitting for a citizen from Bridgeport. Yet nobody seemed to notice. She wanted to know more about him. Though, since class began, she had to wait until lunch time.

Finally, lunch time! Class was so boring that it seemed like time was moving as fast as a snail being covered in salt. He was at the line for receiving the lunch. He wanted to eat the grilled salmon. It was quite good, though not as good as hamburgers.

Unfortunally, there was only one grilled salmon left, running the possibility that someone else could take it. And right on the balls, someone ordered the grilled salmon. Great. And it was that girl who sat behind him.

Now he had to satisfy himself with autumn salad, one of the food he disliked. Today just wasn't his day. Did he begin it with his left leg? He should check before getting up from bed. Now the worst part; finding an empty snack table. And apparently, to contribute to his bad day, all snack tables were alterady taken. Which meant he had to find someone who would be fine with his presence.

He began looking for a table that wasn't too full.

"Hey, Zack!" someone called out. It apparently was Amber, who was sitting alone.

"Sit here," she suggested, pointing to the space to her right. Seeing that it was the most empty table, he decided to sit there.

"I saw you were a little upset that I took the last grilled salmon, so let's share it." she said as she gave half of her grilled salmon to Zackery.

"Thanks... not much people actually shared with me." he commented.

"That could be because you don't have friends." she suggested.

"Yes, that is true- wait, how do you know that?" he asked.

"I noticed you were acting really uncomfortable in the front of the class. And you slammed your face in the desk when you managed to get out of that situation. I sat behind you, forgot?" she answered.

"Oh. It's because...you're the first one to actually notice it..." he commented.

"Really? But how could someone not notice?" she asked.

"I don't know, either. Back then, since I didn't had the courage to mention that I was shy, I gave hints and tips about my personality, but they simply didn't notice. Eventually I got tired of doing that. As such, nobody knew I was shy." he answered.

"I never thought a Bridgeport resident would be shy. Don't they like to party at clubs?" she said.

"Yeah, but there are a few shy residents, though not many. Mainly, the Party Animals end up drawing attention from most other participants, and as such they do not notice the more introverted members of the party at the corner of the party." he said.

"Oh, I see." she replied.

"I myself am a little afraid of party animals. Their explosive nature creeps me out." he commented. Afterwards, he leaned away from Amber and asked. "You're not a Party Animal, right...?"

"No, don't worry, you can calm down." Amber replied with a smile. Afterwards, Zackery calmed down and resumed his normal posture. "Well, we should probably finish eating our food, lunchtime's almost up." she commented. The two then proceeded to finish their meals before class resumed.

School session's over, finally! It seemed like it would never end. Zackery was going to simply head home without talking to anyone, though Amber called him before he could board the bus.

"Follow me over there, I need to ask you something." she said as she pushed him to the side of the school, where nobody was looking.

"What is it?" he asked, feeling awkward.

"Have you tried telling your parents about the fact that you're shy?" she asked. Zackery then looked downwards.

"I did, but they don't really understood my situation. They told me I had to talk with others in order to become more extroverted, but they didn't actually helped me in how to start a chat. I don't even know what to chat about." he answered.

"I know how you feel. I had a similar experience. I have this habit of feeling anxious about certain objects, and constantly checking them to make sure they're safe. My parents constantly tell me to calm down because the objects are perfectly safe, but I can't simply stop, it's instincts." she said. "This situation you suffer of is similar to mine. I understand it." she added.

"You....do understand?" he asked, with his eyes filling in tears for finally encountering someone who understood how he felt. Amber nodded, smiling. Zackery then began to cry in her shoulders. "No-nobody...NOBODY ever und-understood how I fe-felt! I-I clearly demo-demonstrated from sh-shy behavior th-that I'm not th-the social ty-type, ye-yet they sti-till crowd over m-me!" he muttered as he cried.

"There, there...let off some steam..." she said as she patted Zackery in the back. He then cleaned his eyes to get rid of the remnants of the tears that washed his face.

"Now I feel a lot better after I cried. It's like I lifted off a huge weight off my back." he commented.

"Yeah, we feel like that after we find someone who's friendly to complain to about our daily grind." she said. "Hey, would you like to go over my house?" she asked.

"Oh, sure. When?" he asked.

"Today."

"Today? But what about homework?" he asked.

"We can work on it there. New to going over someone else's lot, right?" she commented.

"Yeah...nobody ever invited me to their houses..." he replied as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I can teach you about how visiting someone else works on the way there. Follow me, I'll guide you to my house." Amber said as she went towards her bike, Zackery following her shortly behind.

Chapter 4: Stereotypes and Rumors
"Here we are," Amber said as she stopped her bike next to a light blue house. "C'mon, enter!" she said as she opened the door. Zackery put his bike next to Amber's, and entered her house.

"Well, it looks cozy." Zackery complimented. Unexpectedly, someone bearing a creepy mask and a chainsaw fell from above.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!" he yelled as he turned on the chainsaw. Amber didn't even budge, but Zackery screamed loudly from the scare, becoming pale and freezing in the spot.

"Alex, you'll never end up scaring me, all you'll do is to scare my friends away! Just look at what you did to Zackery!" she scolded her older brother. Alex took off his mask and turned the chainsaw(that is actually blunt) off.

"Sorry about scaring him, but you know I will end up scaring you soon!" he replied.

"Whatever, now I have to calm him down. Just try to stay away from him until our parents get home from work." she said as she tried to pick up Zack(who was unable to move from the fright)

"I can help you carry him upstairs." Alex offered to help.

"Hey, you know I am pretty strong." she denied the offer. Eventually, she managed to lift him. She then carried him upstairs.

"You sure? Your arms might get weakened from doing that!" he teased her, who simply replied by sighing.

Zackery barely remembered anything that happened after that chainsaw guy randomly popped up. When he regained conscience, he was laying on a bed in a room adorned with the green color.

"Finally you are awake," Amber said, sitting on the other end of the bed. "Don't worry about that chainsaw guy, it was my brother Alex, trying to scare me. He bet §110 that he would be able to scare me within a week, and he's desesperatedly trying to scare me as the bet will end wednesday." she explained.

"That makes sense, then. Did he scared you?" he asked.

"No, it's very hard to scare me." she replied. Zackery then scratched the back of his head.

"Ugh...how much time I spent while blacked out?" he asked.

"About 45 minutes. Almost an hour. You got scared pretty badly," she commented.

"Yeah, I get scared pretty easily," he said. "Also, I have noticed something. Other people here at Sunset Valley have been treating me and my parents quite oddly. Is it because we're from Bridgeport?" he asked.

"It very likely is. You see, we have a very wealthy family who lives here, the Alto family. They're Noveau Riche and behave like spoiled snobs. Except Holly, though. Due to the fact that they apparently came from Bridgeport, this let most Sunset Valley residents to think that Bridgeport residents are stuck-up snobs who care nothing except about simoleons." she explained.

"That isn't true! Bridgeport citizens aren't snobs....well, at least most of them aren't." he replied. "Still, we're not snobs, we shouldn't be treated like we are." he added.

"Well, you could try to dispel the rumors to those who behave oddly towards you and other Bridgeport residents." Amber suggested. "But don't approach the Landgraabs just yet, except for Malcom. I've been hearing yesterday that the Landgraabs are frustrated with the arrival of your family, and believe that it's going to be another Alto family, except with a different surname." she noted.

"Ouch. It's going to take quite some time to show these people that we're not what we seem to be." Zackery commented. "Well, I guess we probably should do our homework.