Author's Note: Greetings, everyone! I have been asked before, when was I going to update. Obviously, it has been a while, and that is because I was so busy that I simply could not. But finally, I have been given a break, where I can.
For this particular chapter, we are going to focus on some of the other characters—to give them a chance to have their 'voice' heard. I also want to point out that this chapter is a little bit explicit, so be careful with your 'virgin ears'. As with all chapters, please continue to read and review.

New Generation

Chapter IX

While Dil Pickles was having his conversation at the Kendell residence, someone rapped on the front door of his parents' residence. Didi Pickles opened the front door of her home to reveal Kirk Finster. "Well, hi, Kirk. How are you?"

"I'm okay, thanks."

Didi turned to her driveway. "I don't see your car. Did you walk here?"

Kirk sadly nodded. "Considering that it's supposed to snow, I thought that it would be safer."

"Are you all right, Kirk? You seem kind of down."

"No, I'm fine."

"Well, why don't you come inside? It's cold out here."

"No, that's okay. I was just wondering, would you care, if I climbed into the tree house?"

Didi laughed. "Why, Kirk, you know that you don't need to ask that."

Kirk flashed a sad smile. "Thanks, but I thought that I would ask anyway."

"Are you sure that you're all right, Kirk?"

Kirk tried to remove the sadness that he felt. "Yes, I'm fine."

Didi smiled. "Well, all right, Kirk. You know your way to the tree house."

"Thanks."

Kirk left the Pickles' front porch for a gate, which led into the Pickles' backyard. As Kirk opened the gate, and closed it, he sighed.

From the front porch, Didi watched Kirk. "He does seem kind of down," thought Didi. "I hope nothing bad happened to him at school."


The sky had been gray all day. Soon the Sun would set. If the clouds were unable to spread out, the second night of December would be darker than normal. But the gray sky reflected Kirk's mood—loneliness.

Kirk looked at his hands. "Worthless, worthless." Then he sighed. "And pointless!" he added in his thoughts. "I can't do a damn thing!"

As Kirk completed his thought, he heard a noise coming from the entrance to the tree house. Kirk turned to the entrance, and discovered someone with blonde hair entering the tree house. The blonde haired individual turned out to be Elisha DeVille.

"What are you doing here?" asked Elisha.

Kirk ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess that I wanted to come here and think."

Elisha stepped into the tree house, and removed her ponytail. "Think about what?"

Kirk sighed, and walked to one of the 'open windows' of the tree house. Kirk blew into the winter air. "It doesn't matter."

"Well, if that's the case, then nothing should be bothering you."

"Hmph," said Kirk.

Elisha giggled.

Kirk glared.

"Now what is that for?"

"Because you laughed at me."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did! I just heard you."

"Hey, now! There's no reason to yell."

Kirk gritted his teeth.

Elisha smiled. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Kirk sighed. In some respects, Kirk felt as though he was talking to a 'kid'. "Girls don't like me."

Elisha giggled.

But the 'giggle' infuriated Kirk. He clenched his palm on one of the 'windows', and shook it. "Why is that so funny?"

"What makes you think so?"

"What makes me think 'what'?"

"That girls don't like you."

Kirk sighed. "One in particular doesn't."

"And who's that?"

Again, Kirk sighed. "Blaer."

Elisha gasped. "Blaer? Do you mean Blaer Pickles?!"

Kirk nodded.

Elisha laughed.

Kirk glared. "What the hell is so funny about that?!"

Elisha giggled. "Oh, nothing."

"No, I think that there is something! What is it?!"

"Well, um…"

"What?!"

Elisha giggled. "Well, it's not like I could see Blaer interested in you."

"What?!"

Again, Elisha giggled. "Well, you're kind of, um, boring."

Kirk was stunned.

Once again, Elisha giggled. "I mean, you are."

Kirk glared, and he kept his focus on Elisha, as he walked passed her. "Fuck you!"

Elisha was stunned. "Huh?"

"Fuck you, you stupid uppity bitch! Most people think you're a bitch; they just won't admit it!"

Elisha remained stunned; she was trying to find a comeback.

"Oh, hell, go talk to your quote 'boyfriend' J.T."

The reference to 'boyfriend' in quotations made Elisha glare. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he thinks that you're an 'uppity bitch' too," replied Kirk, while he began to descend the steps of the tree house.

"No, he does not!" shouted Elisha, while she glared at Kirk, as he descended the steps of the tree house. "I know that he can't keep his eyes off of me, unlike how Blaer can't even keep her eyes on you."

Kirk smirked, as he touched the ground. "He's my cousin. Won't it be a surprise for you."

"Fuck you!"

Kirk grinned. As he did so, snow began to descend over the City of Missouri, California.

Elisha's statement resulted in the back patio door of the Pickles residence to open. "Excuse me!" began Didi Pickles, "but what kind of language did I hear out here?!"

Kirk grinned, and with his thumb pointed to the tree house. "Just a bratty Elisha."

Didi glared, and turned to the tree house. "Watch your mouth, Elisha! It's not very 'lady like' to talk like that."

"Hmph!" said Elisha.

"She is a very immature," thought Didi. "I think that Phil and Rachel need to discipline her a little better. Maybe I should talk to Betty about this?" But verbally, Didi said, "Also, you should probably get home. It just started snowing, and the snow might make the tree house steps very slick."

To Kirk, Didi added, "You too, Kirk. You should get home as well, but what were you and Elisha arguing about?"

"Nothing important," replied Kirk.

"Well, as cold as it is, I truly don't want to discuss it. I'm just going to look at it as a 'heated conversation' between two teenagers. But anyway, you should get on home now."

"Thanks, I will, bye!"

Elisha DeVille slowly descended the steps of the tree house. It was dark, but she was able to see Kirk Finster leave the Pickles residence. Elisha wanted to yell, but with Didi close by, she chose not to. Instead, she glared and thought, "Blaer would never want to be with a fucking loser like you!"


As the snow descended on Missouri, California, the streets were busy. Drivers were trying to get home, before the streets became worse. Trucks that carried rock salt deposited their contents on the city's streets.

Kirk, who did not follow Didi's advice and go immediately home, stood on the sidewalk and watched the rock salt trucks. "Makes me wonder, if they'll do any good?" thought Kirk. "I really don't want to go to school tomorrow, so I hope not."

"Might want to get home, Kirk," said a familiar voice. "You don't want to freeze to death out here."

Kirk turned. The voice belonged to his uncle, Tommy Pickles. Kirk smiled. "Hey, there!"

Tommy returned the smile. "Hey. What are you doing out here and not at home?"

Kirk maintained the smile. "Couldn't we ask you the same question?"

Tommy chuckled. "Well, yes, I guess that you could."

"I actually thought that you were out of town?"

"Nope, I've been back in town for a few days now. I'm actually on my way home. But what about you? What are you doing out on this snowy night in Missouri?"

Kirk turned to the snowy sky. A snow flake struck his right eye. Kirk wiped the cold water away. "Thinking, I guess you could say."

"About school related stuff?"

Kirk nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

"So what's going on?"

Kirk turned to the ground, which was beginning to accumulate with snow. "Um…"

"Is it 'girl related'?" Tommy asked with a smile.

Kirk turned away.

Tommy chuckled. "I thought as much. You remind me of your dad."

Kirk returned to Tommy. "Huh?"

Tommy smiled. "He was a lot like that sometimes in high school. Shy, you know?"

Kirk glared. "I'm not my dad, and I'm not shy."

"We're all shy sometimes, Kirk. But you're right, you're not your dad. You're your own person."

Kirk smiled. "Thanks."

Tommy returned the smile. "So who is it?"

Kirk turned away. "Um…"

"Are you worried that I'm going to tell someone?"

Kirk returned to Tommy.

Tommy smiled. "I promise you that I won't. I won't tell your aunt or your cousins."

"Or your niece and nephews?"

Tommy laughed. "By them, you're referring to Blaer, Xavier, and Saber, right?"

Kirk nodded.

"Okay, I won't say anything."

Kirk paused.

And Tommy smiled. "So who is it?"

"…Blaer."

Tommy laughed.

"What's so funny about that?!"

Tommy ceased laughing. "Oh, sorry, nothing's funny about it, except…"

"Except what?!"

"Except that when you kids were little, we used to tease Dil about how one day, when you and Blaer were older, that you would go after Blaer."

Kirk was stunned.

Tommy smiled. "Looks like our prediction came true. Too bad that I can't tell anyone about it, because I 'swore to secrecy'."

Kirk returned the smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"But," began Kirk, while he turned melancholy.

"Yes?"

"I don't think that your prediction is going to come true. I don't think that Blaer cares about me, the way that I do about her."

"Regardless of whether or not it becomes true, it's never going to, if an effort is not made to make it 'turn true'."

"I don't know by 'effort' what you mean, Uncle Tommy? People always say 'be yourself'. I am, but I guess 'being myself' is not good enough."

"That's not the problem."

Kirk gave Tommy a look. "Then what is?"

"You need to do something that stands out. Something that comes natural to you. For some, it's sports. For others, it's music. For me, it was theater."

Kirk paused.

Tommy smiled. "Think you can act, Kirk?"

"I don't know…Of course, I don't know, if the theater will make me 'stand out'."

"What makes you think so?"

"It seems like sports are what everyone focuses on lately."

Tommy laughed. "Kirk, the theater flourished well, when I was in high school, but even if sports are the 'big show' so what? Who cares? Not everyone can be an athlete. I couldn't."

Kirk frowned.

Tommy smiled. "Look, Kirk, I know what I'm going to say to you, you probably won't believe me to be true at the moment, but you will see in the future that what I am about to tell you will turn out to be the truth."

Kirk focused his uncle; he was curious about what Tommy would tell him.

"I know that your school years seem like an eternity, because you're so young. But the truth is, they are only a tiny portion of your life. High school is only about what—three years at the most? What about all the decades and decades that will follow? I can tell you that people, who only focus on their 'high school glory days', don't get very far in the world."

Kirk turned to the ground that had more snow upon it, but it seemed as though Kirk was trying to make sense of his uncle's words.

Tommy smiled. "In other words, Kirk, in a few years from now, people are going to care less about what someone did at his high school football game."

Kirk returned to Tommy. "But that's a few years from now, and this is now."

Tommy nodded. "I know that, but you're not going to impress Blaer—or anybody else for that matter—by moping around. I'll tell you what, my brother was telling me how my nephew, Xavier, had just written a story that he wanted me to see, if it could become a 'mini movie'. Why don't you try acting in it? It could be your calling."

"What is it?"

"Dil said that it was some type of modern-day story with a romantic feel to it."

"'A romantic feel to it'?! Sorry, but I don't want to act in some 'romance novel'."

Tommy laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. I mean romance in the sense of 'tragedy' or 'sorrow'. Kind of like a Shakespeare play, or like the Titanic movie from the 1990s."

"So what's it about?"

"I'm not sure yet. Xavier emailed it to me earlier, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I may want to make some suggestions on the plot flow with Xavier."

"Could you have Xavier email it to me? I'd like to read it."

"Sure, I can do that." Tommy turned to the sky and added, "Well, Kirk, we should get home. It's getting cold."