The day Simmer entered Anne’s life, the teen knew things would change forever. Her parents had refused to allow her to get a pet until her 15th birthday and now that it had finally happened, Anne’s knew that she had to get the most obscure pet ever, a ferret. Not obscure to most, but to Anne’s conservative parents this was like something from another parent. Simmer was supposed to be a family pet but instead she had driven the Handel family far apart. For hours, Anne and Simmer would play in the backyard, driving Anne further away from the real world of high school. Every day was spent journaling; Simmer had inspired a creative streak in Anne, causing her to write angst-filled poetry. She wore black and sipped coffee, isolating herself from her preppy friends. Parties were a non-factor, even if she were to be invited she would have declined, only to sit outside with Simmer and write. By Christmas, when Simmer had been a family member for four months, Anne barely spoke to her parents at all and had filled three 1-subject notebooks. Nobody noticed anything was wrong; Charles and Ellen were way too busy with their prestigious jobs at the university and almost encouraged Anne to be a loner. Of course they cared but it was too late.