Round Two - The Coopersmith's

Introduction - http://aspenlake.blogspot.com/2007/12/introductions-coopersmiths.html
Round one - http://aspenlake.blogspot.com/2007/12/round-one-coopersmiths.html

Adam was surprised at how lonely he was now that Kadia had left. They hadn’t even been that close, but he missed her anyway. His parents didn’t seem to have any time for him. They were always so wrapped up in their careers. Alex was trying to become police chief and Suzie was busy dreaming of buying a home in the new Ridge Subdivision. It didn’t really make sense to Adam. They adopted him, which meant they *wanted* him, and yet, all they did was ignore them. He would come home and struggle most evenings alone at his homework, trying to impress his father with good grades.



He managed to get an A+ report and was so proud to show his father. Maybe now he would pay attention to him! He ran up to him to show him as soon as he got home from work. Alex congratulated him, but then busied himself making friends with another co-worker. Adam found himself playing alone again in the backyard.







One day a new girl showed up in his class. No one wanted to make the first move at recess so Adam went up and talked to her. He knew what it felt like to be ignored. He found out that she had a home much like his, with parents that were too busy to care. She soon became his best friend, calling most nights and coming over after school. Adam found it helped to have someone around that understood what his life was like.






But still, he desperately wanted his father’s attention, so he started to ask about his job. Adam thought that maybe if he tried to become a police officer too, then his father would be proud of him. Alex was happy that his son was showing an interest in the police work. He had been worried for some time about his son’s lack of ambition. He seemed content to just slide by in life. Alex decided he should start encouraging Adam more in the things that would help with the job in the future. He also let him play with his finger print scanner. Alex thought it would be fitting to carry on the tradition of police work in the family for a third generation.









Soon, Suzie realized her dream of owning a new Ridge Subdivision house. She was promoted to an extra on a local TV show and they invested the promotion money into their new house. Adam felt weird watching the for sale sign go up and their lives get packed away in boxes. First Kaida was gone, and now the only home he had known was gone too.








In their new house, Adam found out that his bedroom was in the basement. He wasn’t even on the same floor as his parents now. It was as if they wanted to just forget that they had a kid at all. The new bedroom scared him. He was too far away from his parents and there were strange noises from the garage. His sleep was restless but he didn’t want to tell his father because he didn’t want him to think he was a wimp.

Shortly after moving into the new house, Kadia graduated from college and moved back home. They only had two bedrooms though so Adam wondered where she would sleep. He was fine with the idea of sharing a room. Maybe it wouldn’t be so scary with someone else there. Kadia, though, wasn’t intending to stay. She was just briefly ‘crashing’ in order to pack up her stuff, and then she was off to her own home, a little place she had rented up in the hills. Adam found her packing one evening and sat down to talk to her. He told her about being scared and lonely. The next day after school he found Kadia gone, but a small kitten waiting for him in his room. There was a note on his bed, left by Kadia.

“Hey Cous! This is Cymmi. My friend George found him on the street and can’t keep him. I thought you could give him a good home. Maybe having some company will help you not feel so scared. Remember, I’m only up in the hills so if you ever want to see me, just ride your bike on up!”

Adam quickly got to know his new little kitten, and he found that having it did help the loneliness and fear.







Adam’s sixteenth birthday rolled around. His Dad threw him a big party. At first Adam was happy, but soon realized that most of the people there he didn’t even know. They were just friends from his parents work. The party wasn’t really about him. It was just an excuse to smooze with their work friends. Him and Trista snuck away on their own to talk.
“This sucks. This party isn’t even about me,” Adam said.
“Yeah, but its fun. And I’ll bet you’ll get a really cool present,” Trista replied
“I don’t care about presents. All they do is buy me stuff.”
“Look, Adam, you can’t change the way things are. It sucks, but so be it. All you can do is enjoy the perks, like all the cool stuff we get and the exotic vacations.” She lounged back on the grass, “Parents are overated anyway. I mean, not having them around gives you the freedom to do what you want.”
“Freedom to do what?”
She shrugged, “To do whatever you want. And Go where you want, when you want. No ones around to stop you, so who cares. I say, enjoy life! We’ve got the best of everything.”
“We just don’t have parents.”
“Like I said, overrated.”
He sighed, trying to see what Trista saw, “Yeah I guess.”
Soon his Mom appeared and found him. “There you are! Come on Adam, we have a surprise for you.”
Trista grinned at him, “Present time. *This* is what makes it worth it”
They went around back to the party. Alex had a wide smile and lead him around to the front, where a brand new sports car sat. “This is yours Adam!” Alex said, proud.
Adam couldn’t believe it. His own car. “Cool!” he quickly went to check it out.
“Take it for a spin,” Alex said, giving him the keys.He quickly jumped in with Trista and drove it around the blok.
“See, the perks!” Trista said with a laugh, turning up the radio. “And tonight, we sneak out.” She grinned. Adam looked over at her, then grinned too. Yes, the perks. He just had to keep remembering the perks.





(note: Adam rolled a fortune aspiration. LTW undeclared at the moment.)