2. Clara Robinson was lost. An orphan, looking for her parents, stranded
in some sweet suburb she had never heard of.
Cursing, Clara gazed around, “That taxi driver said he would take me
to Strangetown,” she recalled, “this doesn't look like Strangetown to
me.”
Regardless of whether this place was the Strangetown of the
brochures Clara had leafed through or not, she couldn't help but notice
the town was peaceful, and beautifully green.

3. “Ask for directions,” Clara suggested to herself, as she had earlier, “that way,
you might be able to get out of this place by sundown.”
With a sigh, Clara noted that she was in yet another unfamiliar street. For a
town so small, it seemed rather easy to get lost in it.
There was no other option but to keep walking, for the only house Clara had
seen occupied so far was an ominous-looking mansion, complete with its
own graveyard. She decided to wait for a more friendly-looking house
instead.

4. Nathaniel Dreamer was catching butterflies in his front yard when he
saw her. Terrified, his lip wobbled, before Clara could say anything.
The young boy took off running towards his house, yelling “MUM!
MUUUM!”
Clara waited in the street, confused. But perhaps the boy's parents
could help her out.

5. Inside, Lilith was winning at a snowboarding game, which she had
been playing obsessively for a few hours. Originally, her husband,
Dirk, had bought the console for Nathaniel, but his intention was
ignored.
“MUM! I SAW AN ALIEN!” Nathaniel was yelling, storming into the
living room.
Lilith's character fell over on the screen, and she turned to Nathaniel,
sighing, “I knew your Dad was right when he said I shouldn't have let
you watch War of the Worlds with me.”

6. “But Mum, there actually is an alien outside!” Nathaniel protested as
Lilith restarted her game, “A lady one!”
Puzzled and intrigued, Lilith set down the controller, “Well, I shall go
introduce myself then. You go see if Granddad is finished painting,
okay?”
“Don't let the alien eat your brain.” Nathaniel said, seriously.
Lilith laughed, “That's zombies, Nate. I'll be fine.”

7. Outside, Clara was patiently waited, curious about what was taking
place inside the house.
Eventually, Clara ventured up the stairs leading to the house, as Lilith
burst out of the door.

8. “Hi there!” Lilith said, loudly, offering a hand, “I'm Mrs Lilith Dreamer,
and you are?”
“Clara Robinson,” Clara replied, shaking Lilith's hand, slowly, “I'm
looking for the next bus out of here...I'm going to Strangetown-”

9. “Strangetown? Never heard of it. Besides, we don't have a bus service
or a train station. Only taxis.”
Clara groaned, “But taxis are ridiculously expensive.”
Lilith shrugged, “So stay in Pleasantview, it's a nice little place.”

10. “Pleasantview?” Clara repeated, in an uncertain voice.
“Oh, you know!” Lilith grinned, “Home of the infamous Bella Goth
mystery? And some of the biggest scandals this side of Veronaville?”
Clara shook her head.

11. “If you've never heard of us, how did you find us?” Lilith asked, raising
an eyebrow.
“A taxi driver dropped me off,” Clara adjusted her stance, “Perhaps he
thought this was Strangetown.”
“Come inside, and I will enlighten you in the ways of our small society.”
Lilith moved towards the door, and Clara smiled. A friend already?
Perhaps it was worth staying if all the neighbours were this nice!

12. “The first thing you need to know about small town life, Clara,” Lilith
began as soon as they had sat down in the kitchen, “is that everyone
knows everything about everyone. Nothing stays secret.”
“Right...”
“So that means not being associated with Don Lotherio. He's a
notorious romancer, who stole the eternal-youth serum Mortimer Goth
was working on whilst seducing his daughter.”

13. “What?” Clara questioned, confused. Lilith sighed.
“The late Mr Goth was a scientist, working on immortality, which fell
into the hands of Lotherio, keep up,” Lilith rolled her eyes, “Also in this
town you have me and my bitchy twin sister, Angela...”

14. “After I left home, I vowed never to speak to my sister ever again. My
brother-in-law's pretty cool, though. We used to hang out when we
were younger, but anyway,” Lilith paused, “their daughter, Cassia
Pleasant, hangs out with my son all the time.”
“You hate your sister, but her daughter is good friends with your son?”
“Of course! Did you not wish for cousins when you were younger? I
mean, I had cousins, but eh. No cool cousins.”

15. “I never really thought about the cousin thing.” Clara admitted.
“Well, speaking of cousins, and families, and small towns, my brother-
in-law, Dustin Broke, has a younger brother named Beau. Well, he's
marrying my cousin, Lucy.”
Clara stared at Lilith confused.

16. “So Beau is this handsome guy who is marrying this beautiful girl.
Alexander Goth is annoyed because he really liked Lucy and dated
her a bit in High School,” Lilith shrugged, “means nothing, really.”
“When you say this town is small and connected, you weren't lying.”
Lilith just grinned.

17. “Right, I'm going to phone my mother, because she's working in
property now and can fix you up with somewhere to live...if you plan
on staying, that is...” Lilith waited.
“Sure, I'll stick around.” Clara replied, calmly. She wasn't sure she
wanted to be part of the Pleasantview tangle.
“Cool! And when I say stay away from Lotherio, I mean it. You'll end up
involved with him and his two best girls, the Caliente sisters, and their
children...and Cassandra Goth and her son, Dimitri – Lotherio is his
dad...yeah, complicated, I know.” Lilith got up, “Right, phone call!”

18. Later that day, Clara found herself standing outside a small property
on the outskirts of Pleasantview. Lilith had pulled strings in order to get
it, and Clara was touched by the sentiment.
Looking up at the house, Clara smiled, “It's nice...but it needs flowers.”

19. Clara soon began spending her time tending the garden, peacefully
ignored by the neighbours.
Well, almost completely ignored.

20. Don Lotherio walked by, unnoticed by Clara. He grinned, “Is that an
alien chick on my street? A hot alien chick?”
Clara wondered if she had heard something, and straightened up,
catching sight of the stranger, “Hey there!”
“Hey! You must be new, I'd remember your gorgeous face if I had seen
it before.”
Clara blushed, flattered, “I'm new...Clara Robinson.”

21. “I'm Don,” pausing to wolf-whistle, he continued, “did I mention how
good-looking you are?”
His name sounded familiar, but didn't ring any bells in Clara's mind,
“Yeah, you did, “ she raised an eyebrow, “you're pretty nice to look at
too.”
“Only pretty nice?” Don asked, smoothly.

22. The pair of them flirted the afternoon away, Clara not realising he was
the man Lilith had warned her about.
Don didn't have any idea who Clara really was, and it didn't bother him
at all. It was probably better if he didn't get to know her, then he
wouldn't end up tied down to her.

25. In the early hours of the morning, Don pushed the bedsheets away,
carefully.
“I'm so late...Nina's going to kill me.” Don murmured to himself. Rolling
his eyes, he got up. His open relationship was not so open nowadays,
and he hated that.
Still, Nina couldn't complain too much. She adored him.

26. As quickly and quietly as he possibly could, Don pulled on his jeans,
re-buttoned his shirt, and silently stepped down the stairs.
Clara stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake as Don carefully shut the
front door behind.

28. Light streamed through the windows, morning making its appearance.
Clara sat up, feeling refreshed after her night's sleep.
“Don?” She called, dazed. She glanced to his side of the bed, finding it
cold and unmade.

29. Turning away from the empty side of the bed, Clara put a hand to her
forehead.
“What have I done?” She asked herself, sadly.

30. Clara decided to ignore the mistake of the previous evening, and went
shopping for groceries to stock her fridge with. While the house had
come with a fridge, the only thing inside of it was a neglected carton of
milk.
It was then Clara noticed the first whisper.

31. Angela Pleasant, was leaning into the ear of Cassandra Goth,
gossiping in a hushed voice. Few of the words uttered carried across
to Clara.
“Affair...Lotherio...first night...” Was all Clara was able to catch. Feeling
slightly ill, she tried to continue with her shopping, only to find Cassia
speaking rather loudly.
“Mummy, is that her?” Cassia questioned, innocently. Angela looked
up, and smirked, before turning back to Cassandra.

32. “Did you hear that?” Lucy asked Beau, with a snigger, “the new girl's
already fallen victim to Don.”
Beau said nothing, and the expression on his face remained plain as
Lucy giggled, trying to hide her broad grin behind her hand.
Clara noticed anyway.

33. Clara set down her shopping, and headed out of the store, stepping
into the glorious sunshine. Behind her, Angela wandered by the door,
smirking as she peered round.
“No one new ever succeeds in Pleasantview.” Angela said to herself,
coldly. She turned her back on Clara and headed over to Cassia.
Someone pushed past Angela on their way out to see Clara.

34. “Hey...” Beau paused, wondering what her name was, “are you okay?
They were saying some mean stuff in there...”
“How would you feel?” Clara asked, dryly. Beau put his hands on his
hips.
“I would do exactly what you did. Put down my basket and wander off.”
Beau replied, quietly, “I'm Beau Broke, by the way.”
Clara turned to look at him. Lilith hadn't been lying when she called
him handsome.

35. “I'm Clara Robinson.”
Beau didn't comment on her name aloud, though it crossed his mind
that she had a pretty name, “Well, Clara, welcome to Pleasantview.”
“It's not that pleasant here,” Clara sighed, “judging by what I heard in
there.”
Clara scowled, spotting one of the gossipers through the window.
Beau shrugged, “That's what small neighbourhoods are like.”

36. “That makes it completely okay to talk about me like that, then.” Clara
responded, sarcastically, her voice full of hurt.
“That's not what I meant,” Beau said, with a smile, “No one should
have their private discussed in the aisles of the local convenience
store, but it happens here...I'm sorry it happened to you, Clara.”
Clara smiled a little then. She decided she liked Beau.

37. “Look at it this way, at least you're not engaged to the guy, expecting
his child, and then find out he has three other girls on the go,” Beau
smiled, “That happened to Cassandra quite a while ago.”
Clara smiled, “Optimistic. It could always be worse.”
“That's me!” Beau laughed, “Optimistic!”

38. “I like optimism,” Clara confessed, “I struggle with it a little myself.”
“Well, we all struggle with something.” Beau smiled. The door behind
them opened, and Lucy exited the shop, cupping her eyes in an
attempt to protect them from the sun.
“Beau, are you still driving me home? I'm going to miss yoga if we
don't get a move on!”
“Yeah, yeah, give me a second.” He replied, mentally rolling his eyes.
Clara tried to conceal a smile, unsuccessfully.

39. “Come on, Clara, I think you need a hug.” Beau grinned. Clara
laughed a little, but didn't feel she could refuse.
She found she didn't want to refuse anyway.

40. “Everything will work out, I swear.” Beau said, quietly. Clara just
smiled.
He's almost a married man, Clara, you can't have him, she told
herself. Even though she knew it was true, she knew she didn't want
to believe it.

41. “Come on,” Beau said, after the hug had ended, “let's get you home so
you can go to yoga.”
Lucy's attention was completely focused on Beau as the pair of them
wandered away. Despite the fact Clara got the feeling Lucy really
didn't like her, she was happy they were a couple.
She's lucky to have him, Clara commented as she watched them
leave.
“Clara Robinson!” Came a cry behind her.

42. “Did I or did I not warn you about Don Lotherio?” Lilith demanded,
once Clara had turned round to face her.
“You told me to avoid him. You neglected to tell me what he looked
like, or how charming he can be.” Clara pointed out.
Lilith sighed, “Doesn't matter now, it's too late. I heard the gossip,
anyway.”

43. “It's just gossip,” Clara pointed out, “it hurts at the time but it soon gets
replaced.”
“Guess so,” Lilith replied, bored, “I have to go over to Lucy's tomorrow
to sort out some stuff for the wedding. I have no idea why she wants
my help, but I can't face it alone. Come with me?”
“Why do you want my help?” Clara asked, baffled, “I know nothing
about weddings, or Lucy...”

44. “We're friends, that's why,” Lilith answered, dismissively, “besides, you
don't need to know anything about weddings. Lucy makes the
decisions, just nod and smile at appropriate times.”
“If she knows what she wants, why does she need you?”
“To kid herself into thinking she had wedding planners,” Lilith nodded,
“so are you with me?”
“Definitely.” Clara smiled.

45. Clara went home to spend her afternoon lounging in the grass, her
minding thinking over the events of the day and the one before it.
And Beau, of course.

46. Darkness was beginning to fall over Pleasantview, and across town
from Clara's house, Skip Broke junior was losing at pinball.
“Damn it.” He cursed, the ball dropping down the pinball machine.
“Are you even listening to me, Skip?” A voice asked.

47. Beau sat waiting, while Skip nudged the machine, “Yeah...uh, yeah.”
Unconvinced, Beau decided to continue anyway, “So I just met her
and everything, and now I'm starting to doubt that Lucy is the one.
Crazy, huh?”
“Pretty wild.” Skip commented, distractedly.
Beau shrugged, “I don't even know her! She's a new girl in town!
Maybe it's just novelty.”
“Maybe.” Skip agreed. Beau cast a look over at Skip, tiredly.

48. “It obviously doesn't matter if you're not listening to me,” Beau sighed,
glancing away from Skip, “maybe I should talk to Dustin.”
Skip swore violently, and kicked at the pinball machine.

49. “This stupid thing cheats!” Skip exclaimed, kicking it again. He looked
up at Beau, who was staring at him, surprised, “Look, dude, if you
loved Lucy, truly, would you be noticing other women?”
“I...I don't know.” Beau admitted, in a small voice.
“Then go spend more time with this Clara-girl,” Skip answered, simply,
turning his attention back to the pinball machine, “I will win this before
midnight.”

50. Clara, meanwhile, was lounging about her own house.
“I am not going over to his house,” she told herself, firmly, “even if
Lilith did give me the directions. I am not going over there without a
reason...”

51. Clara straightened up, feeling a little tired, “Actually, I think I will go talk
to Beau. He seems like a really interesting guy in this gossipy little
town.”

52. Clara opened her door, on her way out of the house.
“Beau?” She asked, puzzled. Beau smiled without turning around.
“How did you know I was here before I decided to ring the bell?” He
replied.
“Lucky guess...can I help at all?”

53. “I was just...checking. To see how you are after...everything,” Beau
smiled, “Lilith told me where you live.”
Clara blinked in surprise, “You came here to ask me if I was okay?”
“Yeah, of course. What friend doesn't make sure their friends are
okay?”

54. “I'm fine.” Clara replied, cheerfully.
“Uh, that's good.” Beau smiled to the floor. Why was he suddenly so
shaky, so unsure of everything?
“How about you? Are you okay? You're getting married, that must be
stressful.”
“It's very stressful, especially when you're suddenly not sure about your
bride.”
“What?” Clara asked, concerned.

55. “Have you ever met someone and then just...couldn't imagine things if
they went away or something?” Beau questioned, looking up at Clara.
She smiled a little.
“Not until recently.” She responded, almost shyly.
“That's how I feel right now,” Beau continued, “and I don't think that's a
good sign for the marriage I'd have with Lucy.”

56. “Someone needs a hug.” Clara said, and pulled Beau close.
Automatically, his hands moved to her hair.
Clara didn't remind him that she wasn't Lucy. That this was just a hug.
A normal hug.

57. “A hug can solve a lot of problems, you know.” Beau announced,
seriously. Clara smiled.
“I know.” She mentally added, it could also create a lot of problems.
Before she knew it, Beau was leaning forwards.

58. And he lightly kissed her.
Clara was certain he'd started it, it was his fault...but then did it matter
whose fault it was? And did anyone ever truly know who started these
things?
She decided she wouldn't care, just this once.

59. Alright! I am going to end the first part here! But first, some info about
our founder:
Her name was picked by Beth (Bethkeeblelegacy), as was her red hair
and alien skin. I think she's pretty awesome! She also has elf ears,
they're just hidden.
I randomised her personality in CAS so she is a standard Gemini, and
I also rolled her aspiration, so Clara is a popularity sim.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!