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The Andretti Legacy
Chapter 98
Chapter 98 With Prom just two days away, the girls were anxious. Not only did half of them not have dates, they knew that graduation would follow it shortly. They didn't fear they wouldn't graduate, they feared the real world. Mike and Mags had done a very good job supporting the girls, and ensuring they had everything they needed regardless of if they worked for it or not. Life was handed to them on a silver platter for the entire lives.
Natalie is the most afraid; she's also been independent. Naomi has kept her distance from the girls, too, but not to the extent of Natalie. Nova and Norah already had a million boys ask them to be their prom dates, but the two decided they would be their own dates. No sense in going with one boy, when you can dance with ALL the boys if you don't have a date!
Naomi still is undecided if she'll attend or not. She'd rather stay home and work out or play some weekend sports with some of the other athletes that won't be going. But, Prom is a once in a lifetime opportunity and if you turn it down, you'll never forgive yourself.
"Hey, Athlete...you got a date for Prom yet?" Norah snickers at her older sister. Norah and Nova know full well that they are the most sought after girls in school, and the two of them do enjoy cramming it down their older sister's throats.
"No, actually...I don't. I don't even know if I'm going." Naomi shoots back a look that worries Nova. Norah is one to never know when to quit, and she'll keep poking fun and prodding her prey until they boil over.
"Yeah...I figured you wouldn't." Norah's nose turns up to the sky a little as she spits out the words. "I don't think you'd look as pretty in a dress as I would, anyway. You're too muscle-y and junk." Norah smiles a snobby smile as Nova snickers in the background. "I'm just going to through this out there...I think it'd be kind of neat if we all went together. Yeah, yeah...you, too, Mouse." Natalie was always referred to as 'Mouse' by the others. She was quiet and intelligent, and was never one to like being seen in public. A smile forms across her face as she realizes Norah just asked her to go with them to the Prom. Of course, not flat out...she asked in her own snobby-Norah way. Either way, Natalie has someone to go with now. One less stress to worry with this month. Prom arrives, and the Andretti girls made their way to the school gym. Nova and Norah in the front, obviously. Naomi followed closely behind, after many failed attempts by Norah and Nova to get her in a dress. Behind them slowly walked Natalie, quiet and soft as a mouse. It bothers Natalie that they're late, but Norah and Nova insisted on arriving 'fashionably late'. Natalie giggled to herself thinking that neither of them knew what that meant, but she isn't one to lead, she did as they told her.
Nova and Norah also made it clear that neither of the two quieter sisters were to bother them at any time during the Prom. In fact, Nova told them to leave her alone and not to expect her or Norah to arrive home at the same time the older two would. When Naomi reminded her younger sisters of the curfew, she was told to 'cram it'.
Natalie figured she'd find a seat at an empty table and just watch her classmates dancing and having fun. It's not like she'd be asked to dance anyway, and Naomi certainly wouldn't dance. That's the only physical activity she refuses to partake in. But of course, Norah and Nova will never leave the floor and will surround themselves with the best dressed boys and girls.
Later that night, or rather, early into the next morning, Natalie kept her dad company while he waited up for Nova and Norah to come home.
"...it's getting really late, do you think I should drive around looking for them?" Mike asks her quietly.
"No, Dad. Trust me...those two can take care of themselves." Natalie replies softly, and after a long silence, she continued talking. "...is it bad that I don't know what I want to do with my life?"
"No, of course not...half the kids in your class don't know what they want to do, and the other half will change their minds half way through school." He looks over at her with concern.
"...I'm just afraid." Natalie sighs. "You've always given us anything and everything...I mean, I am excited to see how the divas do on their own...but, we're going to be out there...in the world. I remember saying, 'I can't wait to get out of here and live my own life...'. And, now that it's hear...I want more time." She looks over at him with sad eyes, and then looks back at the fireplace.
"Natalie, you don't have to leave..." He puts his hand around hers lovingly. "You can stay just as long as you need or like. I'll admit, it's going to be pretty quiet around here with you four moved out." He squeezes her hand, and then lets go. "You've got amazing artistic potential, Natalie. You really do...I can see great things happening to you, and I can't wait until you have your own paintings in an art museum. I'd pay big bucks to go in and see it."
"Dad...don't say those things. I'm going to disappoint you." Natalie giggles.
"I'm serious...you have an amazing ability. My own wish for you is for you to realize your potential. You don't have to 'do' anything...be an artist, do what you love. Sell your prints, make a name for yourself out there...when you have enough money, buy the art museum, I know you love that place." He laughs softly as some car does open and shut outside. "Okay...time to play dad." He takes a deep breath, holds it, then exhales loudly as the girls shoes can be heard crossing the hard wood porch flooring.
"Oh, hi, Daddy!" Nova smiles as Mike meets them at the door.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" He scolds them as best he knows how.
"Uhm...actually, no. I'm not wearing a watch, see?" Norah holds up her wrist and shows him, and then scratches her temple. "Do you?" "Norah...Nova...it's 4am. Last time I checked, Prom doesn't last that long. You could have been arrested for staying out past curfew." He states sternly.
"Oooh...police men!" Nova cries out smiling. "Not a doctor, but good enough..." She shrugs her shoulders as Norah snickers quietly. "Besides, being arrested sounds fun, Dad."
"Don't listen to her...she's delirious from her lack of sleep." Norah rolls her eyes. "I'm really tired...can I go to bed now?" She pouts, knowing full well he'd never punish them. "Yeah...sure. I've never been good at parenting...just don't tell your mother. She's furious with you two." He scratches his head giving up on scolding them.
"Daddy, you're great...see...bad parents would yell at us and ground us to our rooms. But, not you...you're the coolest dad. A rock star dad!" Nova giggles as she brushes by him and heads up the stairs. Norah follows behind her, laughing the entire way to the top.
"Seriously...?" Natalie rises from the couch and stares at him. "We stayed up for that...?" She glares at him. "Heck, if I'd have known you were that much of a softy, I'd have messed up a lot more in my childhood."
"Natalie, I'd have been more harsh on you...only because you have great potential. I don't want you to screw that up." He sighs softly and heads up the stairs leaving Natalie alone letting his words sink in, deep into her heart.
After graduation, Nova and Norah moved as far away from the nest as they possibly could. They both weaseled their way into a very prominent modeling agency, and from there they made their money and broke hearts for a living. You'd find their names in the dictionary under 'gold-digger' if you needed an example. Natalie and Naomi ended up renting a house together after graduation. Naomi knew that Natalie's dream, whether she admitted it or not, was to become a famous painter. Natalie still claims that she is undecided, but her family knows her better than that.
Naomi told Natalie that as long as she kept up with the house, she'd support them financially. Slowly and surely, Naomi joined Sunset Valley's sports team, and she steadily moved up to a playing position from the water girl.
One afternoon, as Natalie is leaving the grocery store, she notices a rather nice looking man jogging by. She most likely wouldn't have noticed him, except he was lacking a shirt. She looks away, as though he were nothing spectacular, but something strange makes her look back and watch him jog off into the distance. She almost feels as if she recognizes him, as though she's seen him before. She watches him until she can no longer see him, prodding her brain and memories to find his place there. When she can't find him in her past, she shrugs it off and heads to the library to look at some books she's interested in. As she leaves the library, the two cross paths again. This time, Natalie gets a good look at his face. He seems to not take notice of her, but she can't seem to stop noticing him. In fact, she can't stop looking at him. She watches him jogging away until she can no longer see him before she waves a taxi down and heads home. The next morning, Natalie wakes at around 3am and heads to the back porch to see if fresh air would help her sleep. She couldn't keep that man out of her thoughts, and he was invading every dream she was having.
"You're up early." Naomi smiles sweetly at her sister; Naomi is often awake as this hour. She gets home late from practice, and is still pumped so she continues working out at home until she's tired. "Everything okay?"
"Oh...yeah." Natalie shrugs, but notices her sister's disbelief so she continues. "...everywhere I went yesterday, I saw this man...jogging. I thought I knew him, but I can't place him anywhere. But...I can't stop thinking about him. I mean, he's in every single of my dreams. I can't sleep." Natalie's voice is quiet, as though she were trying not to wake anyone.
"Really!?" Naomi's eyes widen. "What's his name? Did you talk to him? Did you get his number?" "No, Naomi." Natalie giggles and nods her head. "It's not like that...not like that at all. He probably doesn't even know I exist." The words roll out of her mouth, but so does an unintentional sadness in her voice.
"You seem bothered by that? Do you like him?" Naomi asks quietly.
"Oh, Naomi...!" Natalie scolds her. "Of course not! How can you possibly like someone that you've never met!?" She continues on outside to get the much needed fresh air.
In the evenings, when Naomi is at practice, Natalie heads to Central Park. She's always sits on the fountain and watches the town move around her. She gets her inspiration for painting from these little outings, and tonight the strangest thing has happened.
The man she can't remember or forget has just jogged into the park, and takes a seat across from her on the bench to rest. Natalie can't explain why, but her heart starts to skip beats and suddenly she feels like a little girl.
He sits down in front of her, and he wrinkles his forehead. He recognizes her. Natalie stares back, she's never gotten this good of a look at him. Her heart races, and she starts to get nervous at the thought of what if he speaks to her?! What will she say?! What does she do!? She has little to no experience with the opposite gender, unlike her sisters, Norah and Nova, who have little to no experience with their own gender. "...you know, this is kind of weird. For the past few days, I've been seeing you all over town. I feel like I should know you? I recognize you from somewhere, but I can't really place where." He speaks to her, and shakes his head in confusion. "...no, what's weird is I feel the same way." Natalie says with a soft laugh.
"...what's your name?" He asks her politely.
"Natalie." She replies politely. "Andretti." She mentions quietly. Any time she mentioned, or any of the girls, that she's an Andretti, people flock to her. They want her autograph, they want her picture, it's almost as though the girls are just as famous as their father and the rest of the Andretti family.
"Oh...wow!" His eyes widen and he blinks few times. "I didn't realize I was in the presence of royalty here." He laughs kindly.
"Royalty?" She shrieks. "You're mistaken...I'm nothing. I'm just a painter. Now, my dad...my sisters...you could consider them celebrities if you like, but not me. I'm plain." She smiles as she stares back at him, slowly growing an attraction to him.
"I'm Nathan Bridges." He rises and crosses the patio to him. "I'm no one special." He sticks out his hand and she shakes it. "In fact, I'm not even from around here."
"...I'm sure you know I am. The Andretti family goes back a long way...we've been here, in this town...for a long time." She looks up at him.
"I know all about your family...a long line of pretty darn successful generals and other military men. Back in boot camp they make sure you learn about all of them and their efforts. It's really honorable to meet you...to meet one of them." He smiles down at her.
"...thank you." She replies quietly. "It's been a long, long time since we had anybody in the military...and it's been even longer since anyone showed any interest in that part of our family. Seems everyone only cares about my dad...and all the other celebrities in the family." "...how did you end up here? You said you aren't from around here?" She asks, and he takes a seat next to her on the fountain's edging.
"...well, I'm on leave for 4 weeks. Then, I head back overseas. I don't have any family, so the military is renting me a room from a retired sergeant. Apparently, he does that for a lot of soldiers in my situation." He sounds hurt, as though there's a deep scar on his heart.
"...I think that's a nice thing to do...another way to give back to your country." She smiles politely, unsure of what to say.
"Yes. He's a great old man." Nathan smiles back over at her.
"...you know, the hardest part of leave...is not leaving and going back for me. It's coming and not having anyone to come to. Really...not having anyone to write back to either. Depressing, you know?" He laughs trying to be tough. "I know we just met each other...but, you can write back to me." Natalie replies quietly after a long silence.
"...don't feel sorry for me, Natalie." He replies strongly.
"I don't..." She butts in, trying to defend herself. "...I'm interested in you." They stare at the bench in front of them, feeling awkward and unsure of what the next move should be.
"...do you have a pen and paper?" He asks softly after another long silence, bringing an enormous smile to her face.
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13 Comment(s) posted so far
On May 26, 2010 methura1 wrote:
Great! Just like every other one!
On May 26, 2010 Illandrya wrote:
Oh, I almost spilled my tea laughing at screen 12 "I'm not wearing a watch". That girl has spunk, you have to admit, but personally I prefer Natalie. She seems to have her head screwed on better than the others. Wow, I wrote that previous sentence before I'd finished reading the rest of the story and every other screen is about Natalie *lol* I can't wait to see what happens between her and Nathan, it will be interesting to see if the military begins to merge back into the Andretti line.
On May 27, 2010 danitra213 wrote:
omg i love this series i cant wait for the next one
On May 27, 2010 Mangio wrote:
i love this chapter... Nathan is such a cutie, no wonder Natalie has an eye on him already. ohh.. cant wait to bring back the long line of generals. i like Natalie - she's the easiest one to relate to.
cant wait for more, i hope she becomes the successful painter her family would like her to take
On May 27, 2010 tillymint99 wrote:
OMG i think I just realized something, I don't think Mags is going to fall pregnant again and Nathan looks alot like Natalie's dad, He might be there secret brother
On May 29, 2010 martoele wrote:
Great chapter!
I missed it on the Sims3 page. Yes, I like Natalie very much. Naomi is nice as well. The other two.... welll they are more superficial. 
I hope you recovered from the accident. 
On May 29, 2010 OCIKITTEN wrote:
I was just found this (must have missed it the day it came out). It was a great part. I really hope Natalie is going to be the one we follow going onto the next generation. Thanks for another one.
On May 30, 2010 Golden97 wrote:
Awesome Chapter!
On May 31, 2010 xxheartlessxx12 wrote:
Natalie seems like such a sweet girl...I love her...this is a very interesting chapter...5.0!
On May 31, 2010 rdperson88 wrote:
i love your stories i have read them all from the begining and it just keeps getting better.
On Jun 18, 2010 brianswifey88 wrote:
i love this story its totally awesome. im almost done with it i just cant keep myself away from it. its really good. i hope you continue it more and not completely stop
On Jun 29, 2010 joker52455 wrote:
Finally I found it! Awesome chapter
On Dec 4, 2010 kubidlo wrote:
Beautiful story