Teenage Mutant Ninja Hormones

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Ever since the Kane boys had reached their angsty teenage years, the brick faced house on Savannah Lane had been treated to an abnormal amount of raging hormones.

There was unpleasant confrontations about the altering of their curfews, trouble trying to wake them up every day before the school bus arrived, brief conversations about their questionable hygiene practices, and the desperate -- but futile -- attempts to get the boys to spend less time worrying about high school drama, and more time focused on homework and family.

But, of all the things to be expected with teen boys and hormones, there is one thing that always tops the chart: teenage girls. Neither boy was able to escape their spells, but it's not as if either of them were concerned; the pain, apparently, was worth it. And, where Travis Kane was concerned, the waters of young love were about to get a lot, lot more turbulent... For better, or for worse.




The tents and camping gear had all been loaded up in the car, leaving barely enough room for the family to squish in; Amelia was already whining about having to sit on mommy's lap, Jeb was having a last-minute discussion with Meredith about the best path to take to the camp ground, and Bradley was making absolute sure that his older brother had not changed his mind.

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"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Bradley asked for probably the third time, Travis guessed. "It's not that far out of town, we'll make it back tomorrow before practice if that's what you're worried about. I'm sure we could figure out a way to fit you in the car..."

Travis laughed, and shook his head.

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"Nah, fishing's not really my thing," Travis replied with a shrug. "Even if there was room, I wouldn't be all that excited about going. No reason to drag me along and have me be a party pooper. Besides, I still haven't finished that report Mrs. Curious assigned, I probably should finish it before the weekend's over."

"Well, suit yourself," Bradley chuckled. "But you better not complain that you were bored all night!"

"Oh," Travis thought to himself. "I don't think you need to worry about that..."

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Once Travis saw the car drive off up the road, he hurried upstairs, changed, and made a quick stop in the bathroom to check out his hair. He wanted to look good, tonight... It's not many nights he'd get an opportunity like this, and he was going to make it well worth it.

The phone calls went out, and not twenty minutes later, June Larson came busting through the front door with her typical frazzled expression and annoyed attitude.

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"There's practically a line of people outside, Travis!" she groaned as she ran up behind him. "How many people did you invite to this thing?!"

"Oh... A few."

"Ugh, you invited everyone, didn't you?"

Travis snickered to himself; she knew him too well.

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As Travis cranked up the tunes and put in a call for some delivery, the line of teens began filing through the door. Jocks like Thomas, sweethearts like Bunny and Zo, and even nerds like Tay and Parker -- if Travis was gonna throw a party, he was going to do it right. No one was going to be excluded! Well... Except his family.

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When the pizza finally showed up, Travis saw that his girlfriend finally had as well. "Hey Jade," he said with a smile as he walked past her to pay the delivery woman. "Head on in! I'll catch up with you in a bit, need to make some drinks and set this out for people to eat."

Jade mumbled a quick 'mhm' before passing on by to go inside.

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Even though the house was a bit cramped, every free space was packed with dancing kids. Travis had never been more excited; people would be talking about this for weeks! And, as much as he loved his brother, he was glad he wasn't here -- it wouldn't be any good if everyone was passing out from boredom because Brad couldn't tell a half-decent joke... bless his heart.

Some danced, some worked on their late homework -- particularly Emerald, who was not very amused by how loud the music was -- some went out side to play a rowdy game of football...

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... and some decided to sneak off to a back corner to be alone.

"See, the music isn't quite so bad back here, huh?" Thomas jested as he and Jade danced.

She pursed her lips and shrugged. "Doesn't really make that big a difference. I swear Travis doesn't know how to use the volume control on anything, I'm not that surprised."

"So, things between you and him are going alright, huh?"

"Well, I guess... Why do you ask?"

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"Well, word's gotten around that you haven't quite got over me, since we broke up. I know I ended things kinda hastily, and it honestly was a huge mistake... I want to make it up to you...."

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... or, 'make it out with you'. After Jade and Thomas snuck downstairs to find a bit more peace and quiet, the details on that particular statement had become rather vague.

Unfortunately for Travis, his timing to come downstairs to use the restroom... could have been better.

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"What's wrong, Jade?" Thomas said as Jade looked across the room, where she saw the cold look on Travis' face from his spot at the bottom of the stairs.

"I knew this was a bad idea," she grumbled as she staggered away from the couch, leaving Thomas incredibly confused. But... not for long.

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"So this is what the rumors were all about! You've been messing around with Thomas, huh?! Well?! It's over!"

"Please, Travis, let me explain! It's not what you--"

"It's not what I think, huh? Then what is it, Jade?" Travis yelled. "What could possibly be a reasonable explanation for me finding your arms draped around another guy?"

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"Travis, I didn't mean to--" but Jade still couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"I knew I shouldn'tve trusted you, Jade. You practically seduced me when I was with Lolly, and you've been acting weird ever since we started dating. You're a lying, cheating girl, Jade. I don't want to have anything to do with you, ever again... We're through."

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Travis scowled at Jade, and Jade scowled at Travis... While they both still had choice words for each other in store, the room fell into silence...

... well. Except for Thomas snickering; apparently, he found the whole ordeal rather funny. Ironic, since he wouldn't the moment that July finished walking down the stairs.

July, being his girlfriend. What a loser.





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On the other side of town, all that was left to light the Kane family's fishing expeditions was a smattering of stars and the moon's glow hovering above the horizon. As the crickets started to come out, Meredith finally decided, "We may as well pack it in for the night."

Unfortunately, they'd been unable to catch much more than a few minnows and a goldfish, which was a lot less than they needed to cook the firepit dinner they'd been planning. Luckily for them, they brought a backup plan.

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Backup being marshmallows.

"Mooommm, why don't we just go hoooommmeee," Amelia whined, flopping her sandals loudly -- much to the family's irritation -- while staring into the fire.

Bradley was the first to dignify that with a response: his usual 'over-dignified' response. "We don't get out to do things as a family near enough, Amelia. I think it's positively fantastic that we finally decided to do this. Still unfortunate that Travis isn't here to join us, though."

They all grumbled at his attempt to sound smart; but, after Meredith quipped, "Just grab some freakin' marshmallows and shoosh," at Amelia, things got quiet again.

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Both Jeb and Meredith glared at Amelia's stick as she hovered it over the fire, though. "Three marshmallows?" Meredith groaned, scrunching her nose. "Three marshmallows? Do you want to get sick?"

"I'm huungry!" Amelia sighed. "It's not like you brought anything else! And the fishies don't like our bait, sooo..."

"We aren't going to starve, Mia," Meredith sighed. "But... If you're that hungry, I put some pot pies in the cooler before we left."

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"Om nom nom nom," Amelia said out loud as she gobbled a pie down...

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... much to Jebidiah's chagrin. She was not the only one who did not particularly enjoy this 'camping' thing.

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But, at least after a night of sore backs and a grumbling tummy, they'd appreciate their beds at home a lot, lot more.




Perhaps Jebidiah was dreaming about how lucky Travis was to be at home in a warm house, eating real food, sleeping on a real bed, but at that particular moment, there was no way that Travis believed he was lucky to be in that position.

He had never been more angry... Never been more hurt.

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When he came upstairs, he realized he couldn't face the crowd of kids dancing around the stereo. As soon as he reached the ground floor, he immediately turned into the guest bedroom, and slammed the door behind him.

Unfortunately, not everyone was oblivious to his displayed of anger.

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"What was that all about?" Chase asked, her face souring as she turned back to look at Emerald.

"I don't know," Emerald said with pursed lips. "I'm gonna go find out. Can't be anything good." To her frustration, she was pretty sure she knew what was up -- and seeing as her sister was involved, she felt partially responsible.

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As Emerald walked in, Travis jumped up from the bed. "Something up?" she asked, even more concerned seeing his impulsive reaction to her entrance.

"No, no, I'm fine, everything's fine," he lied through his teeth as he continued to hang his head, attempting to hide the tears he was desperately trying to contain.

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Realizing his discomfort, Emerald looked away. "Oh, this is nice," she said, looking at the painting on the wall next to her. "Your mom do this?"

"Yeah," Travis said, using the moment to wipe away the streaks on his face in an effort to appear a bit more manly. "Yeah, that's one of her recent ones."

"It's nice..."

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Travis nodded as he walked up to her, but once he considered leaving the room and going out to face Jade and Thomas again, he had to turn away to hide his tears. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually like this," he mumbled as an excuse.

"No, no, it's okay... you can talk to me, Travis... What happened?"

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Emerald felt a bit awkward, trying to handle her sister's boyfriend -- who she was sure was 'ex' at this point -- but she figured it was the right thing to do.

"I walked in on Jade and Thomas doing... something. I don't know. Making out, whatever, but... She's obviously been cheating on me, and so I had to break up with her. I can't stick with her if she's not going to be faithful, you know? But I feel horrible... Jade's my whole world, I really care about her..."

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"Hey, you did the right thing." Emerald tried to sound convincing, but she still wasn't sure if this was territory she should be treading on. "My sister's always been full of herself, she could use a little snap back into reality. I mean, if she can't be faithful to you, then she doesn't deserve you... right?"

"Yeah... I guess you're right. Still... I can't believe she..." Travis closed his eyes, trying to shut out the pain for just one more moment; but, when he opened them, he realized something he never had before.

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Emerald looked a lot like her sister. Which meant she was... well, beautiful.

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And, at the very same moment, Emerald couldn't help thinking how cute Travis was.

"I... I uh.. I mean.. D--Do you want to lay down and talk for a bit? We don't have to go back out there until you're ready to face them," Emerald stuttered out as she gazed into Travis' dark green eyes.

"If you don't mind staying with me... Yeah, I'd like that, a lot."


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For what felt like a small taste of infinity, Travis and Emerald talked: about how hard it was to find a good relationship, how miserable it was to see other kids at school who were happily dating and smooching on each other in the halls, how Emerald couldn't figure out why the guy she liked couldn't get the courage to do anything about it, and how Travis was tired of all the girls he liked turning out to be complete nutcases.

It felt good... Like they were both the opposite pages of an angsty romance novel, and now that the book had been slammed shut, the words on their pages were being smudged onto each others'. It was corny, but it made them smile... It made them look at each other in a whole new way.

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"You know... It's almost like fate brought us together," Travis said softly as he pulled Emerald closer, resting his hand on her stomach. "Maybe these paths just lead us to each other."

"Maybe," Emerald said with a smile. "But maybe we're just two people who just have a gap in our lives that need filled."

"Well... Do you want to fill it?"

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"I don't know, Travis. I feel like I should wait, just a little while longer..." Emerald paused, looking into his eyes as he poised over top of her. "But I'm just not so sure anymore."

"You don't have to be unhappy if you don't want to be, Emerald. You always have another choice."

"But what if I want to say no to that choice?" she chided, though still smiling as her eyes stared into Travis'.

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"If you wanted to say no," Travis reponded, smiling deviously. "Then you would have a long time before now."





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Teenage hormones... They may be hectic, awkward, and frustrating, but at least with a little effort they can be rather predictable.

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You always know that foolish love will captivate them...

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... that uncontrollable envy will overtake them...

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... that wrath will find every reason to escape them...

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... and they'll always think immaturity is becoming of them.

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But sometimes, there is more than what's predicted lingering in the futures of these raging, hormonal teenage kids...

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... and there are more unexpected things to find of their past for those lucky few on the outside looking in.

17 comments:

PiB - Nicarra August 11, 2010 at 4:43 AM  

Hmm, you gotta love the family outings that are a good theory but terrible in practice. At least they were trying and they had emergency "no fish" supplies.

Ah Travis, a home to yourself, what a dangerous thing for any teen. Pizza, music and far too much activity. Breaking up with one girl and immediately going after her sister? Not the brightest bulb sweetie. Not at all. Poor brad will be crushed.

Lovely update again.

Dee August 11, 2010 at 5:10 AM  

O. M. G. Travis, what have you done? At the beginning I was laughing about Travis.Typical teen throwing a party while the parents are out of the house. they all want to, even if they don't.Then typical teen jock jerk. Then I felt sorry for him. Then I thought, if she hadn't cheated on him, he would have done the same thing to her before it was over with.
I have gone from laughter to sadness, to anger to pity for Bradley.

Emerald has me teed off at her. Not the brother of your ex! Anyone but him!

Oh I hope the house is still a mess when the family gets home. Travis is going to be in so much deep doodoo.

I can see Amelia is at that tween stage. Doing stuff with the family is just borrrring. But she's so cute.

Anonymous,  August 11, 2010 at 9:36 AM  

Bradley is going to be crushed. Travis, you're an idiot. An normal teenage boy idiot. You wrote this perfectly, Kaleeko.

I could almost see the spilled food and drinks on the furniture, hear the music pumping through the house and teenage drama oozed from the screen.

Now, who is in that cab?

Anonymous,  August 11, 2010 at 9:38 AM  

Aw, took a closer look. The family is in the cab. Dang, the fireworks are about to fly even more. I think I'll enjoy Jeb's take on this.

Unknown August 11, 2010 at 11:12 AM  

Travis is quite a piece of work, isn't he? I knew this would be the turning point to finally show his true colors. ;D Like I've said before, he's not BAD... Just kinda stupid. And, when he makes mistakes, he refuses to acknowledge he did. He's more a jerk than he realizes.

But, yes -- Bradley certainly is going to be crushed. Even though the party was really fun to do (my house was FULL of dancing teens everywhere, it was awesome!) this whole Emerald/Travis segment was kinda painful to play out. Emerald is Bradley's! Forever and ever and.... ... :( ever.

Yup, just the family in the cab. That was actually really annoying -- I put a car in Jeb's inventory, told him to 'go' towards the house with the rest of the family, and instead he used a cab, and left Amelia... She had to bike home. Poor kid. ;D

Anonymous,  August 11, 2010 at 11:18 AM  

He left Amelia!! *laughs* I shouldn't find that funny but that's hilarious! *snickers*

You write teenagers very well. Even after all this time I remember Travis type boys in high school.

Poor Bradley, love or puppy love can really suck. He's going to learn a valuable and very painful lesson.

Unknown August 11, 2010 at 12:01 PM  

It was really frustrating at first, but then when I zoomed in to Amelia biking across town, I started to crack up. XD Oh, Amelia!

Thanks, Chrysame. :D Although, I can probably jump into the mind of a teenager pretty well since I've practically only just graduated from being one. That and, the boys I modeled Travis and Bradley after haven't grown up much since High School, haha.

PiB - Nicarra August 11, 2010 at 2:30 PM  

I can imagine that it was hard to play out the Emerald/Travis thing - Bradley is not going to happy with his brother or Emerald.

LOL - Amelia having to bike home cause there was no room in the cab. Poor kid.

PiB - Nicarra August 11, 2010 at 2:38 PM  

Hmm, I just realised that we are finally getting to the point that the middle pic in the banner came from, aren't we?

Unknown August 11, 2010 at 4:31 PM  

You are correct, PiB. ;) That and the shot with Emerald will show up in the blog very soon. Eeee, I love as events unfold. It's really fun to share my braincells with you guys.

I finally got back into the game to do the last little bit for Season 3. Well, actually, there's a teeny bit left, but, all the recording for my machinima is done. Woo! It's probably not going to be that good, but who cares! I'm having fun with it. :D

Dee August 11, 2010 at 6:01 PM  

LOL, I kept clicking on the comment box and nothign was happening. Then I remembered you changed it to a pop up and still took me a moment to notice the little place to click to post. I'm such a dingbat at times. :D

Travis reminds me of someone. "It's not my fault".

Thank goodness neither of my sons ever got involved with each others girls. At least I don't know about it if they did.

Di Al Martini August 12, 2010 at 4:34 AM  

Hey, Kaleeko!
Great update! Well, Bradley is going to feel sorry! He will realize how much he had lost. I've been wondering about this ever since you used the new header. Oh, no! Brothers arguments! Then I thought, what would cause it?..hm.. usually girls! But, weren't they involved with different girls? Now, this post has answered it.
Lol, Emerald... that question of her: ""I... I uh.. I mean.. D--Do you want to lay down and talk for a bit?" Seemed like an invitation to me, although she probably was just nervous. But, I could feel they were attracted to each other and they were pretty much in disappointment.

As much as I concern about Bradley, Travis also draw my attention. He is the first son. I still remember when he was being very emotional with strange things that surrounded him. I mean, being in a rather "odd" family, have to go to new and strange town and left his friends there, not to mention her father disappearance for a while (when in fact he was in jail), he was probably a bit concerned about all of that. But, I'm glad that he could take it all and grow up to be a normal teenager with lots of acnes on his face (probably because he often thought about girls). I noticed how often he smiled in your pictures and I think it's cute.

As much as I feel sorry for Bradley, I can't blame Emerald and Travis. They all just teenagers, but Travis should have known better than to pick his brother's girl.

Unknown August 12, 2010 at 10:50 AM  

Bradley's definitely going to be heartbroken, but it is kinda his own fault. Emerald's just tired of waiting weeks and weeks to get a little affection, and Travis certainly isn't the type to pansy-foot around anything.

Travis still wonders about the past, but his own issues attract much more of his attention. ;) He's a pretty happy guy usually, too. Unfortunately, still stupid. I can't say I like him as much as the other two kids.

He is always smiling though, isn't he? Haha, I guess he doesn't have a lot to be grouchy about. He always gets all the girls. ;D

Anonymous,  August 12, 2010 at 10:55 AM  

Ignorance is bliss. That's very true in Travis' case.

Unknown August 14, 2010 at 3:28 AM  

Well, I think I'm finally making some head-way on whatever it is that is playing tag with my immune system. Huzzah!

Next post is almost finished, but due to an error calculating correct sleeping behavior, I will have to wait until sometime tomorrow afternoon to get it up. I know you guys are patient, but I'm not! I have deadlines to meet! I have a machinima that is pleading to be shared!

Speaking of which, random annoyance of the week: after spending a good amount of time setting up the last scene for this video, my computer decided it was time to update and quit before I could save. Moral of the story: I hate Windows. -_-

Dee August 14, 2010 at 6:46 AM  

I happy to know you are feeling better.
I know what you mean about those updates. I read so much about all the updates for the game on the forum but our computers seem to have to update something every time we turn around. It seems our computer days are more updates than anything else. It really is aggravating when I'm in the middle of playing and.....black screen, update time.

Jen August 19, 2010 at 4:32 PM  

That was a great chapter!

Travis throwing a party while his family are miserable camping. hahaha
Of course he had it all planned out and then discovers Jade with her ex.

Poor Bradley, he is going to be so crushed. But I didn't think they really were ever really a proper couple. lol Still it's not the right thing to do.

Travis is a big gung ho, he certainly moves on quick!

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