Rose 2-1: BTW

This chapter got out of control. Enjoy.

Donovan

     At five a.m., the phone call I'd expected finally comes in. The shuttle is coming to take me to the airport so I can take a flight to Sim City University. I'm nervously excited.

     Mom's crying really makes things a little awkward for all involved when the shuttle shows up. I try to tell her I'll see her in a few months, but that just makes her cry harder. She's gotten really weepy lately. I hope she's not pregnant. Dad is getting really old. I won't be surprised to come home and see that he's aged dramatically. Sims do that. If Mom turns out to be pregnant, that won't be easy on them, even with my three teenage siblings to help out. Somehow, I can't imagine Skye helping at all.

    I finally manage to tear myself out of my mother's arms to get on the shuttle. I wave from inside of it and see that Dad is trying to calm Mom down. I guess I should call her when I get there.

    My flight is uneventful other than the in-flight movie glitching and getting to watch the stewardesses scramble as they try to fix it.

      I go to the university's main office, and they direct me to my dormitory via a town map. I rent a bicycle and head over.

      I get there and find two of my future roomies moving in as well. One just has to be a vampire. He... kinda freaks me out how he looks at me.

      First order of business: It is damn hot here being the middle of summer. I need to change out of this black shirt before I roast alive.

    Once that's accomplished, I decide to head down to the kitchen to see what there might be to eat. The university staff keep the fridge moderately stocked magically somehow.

      I get stopped by a girl with purple hair. She introduces herself as Liz Tarry. I'm starving as I listen to her ramble, but I don't want to be rude and just brush her off.

      I do, however, avoid the creepy vampire like the plague.

      When I finally do get to fix myself something to eat, I notice on the refrigerator a flyer talking about a meet and greet at the student center. It's within walking distance, and it's a nice day, so I decide to head over once I finish eating.

    I walk in. To my right is a computer lab, then the door past that houses some strange, science-y looking machines. I don't see anyone in the room, and the door is unlocked, so I decide to satisfy my burning curiosity. I really wouldn't know the first thing about them, but they look so cool!

     "Don't touch that!" a girl behind me snaps after I reach out to further inspect this strange machine. I jump in surprise. I'd thought no one was in here.

    She quickly scoots her way between me and the machine.

    "I'm working on something and it can't be altered in any way or the results would be unpredictably dangerous." she explains, talking really fast like she thinks that taking too long to say something is a waste of her time.

     "Sorry. I was just curious. What is that thing, anyway?" I apologize and ask, smiling a little to hopefully get her to take it down a notch on the anxiety bit.

      She immediately goes into some long spiel about what the machine is called and why. I right away forget what it's called because I get a little distracted by being amazed at how fast she talks. I can't place her accent.

       "Okay." I say when she pauses. "Is it okay if I just look, not touch? I'm only curious."

    She immediately looks contrite before a smile covers that up, and she says, "I'm sorry. I guess I got a little carried away. Can you keep a secret?"

    "Yeah, but you only just met me. What if I'm lying?" I answer jokingly.

    "It's okay. You look trustworthy, and you're curious which is nice. Usually people don't care about what I do in here." The timbre of her voice alters slightly as she treats me like we've known each other forever. "Maybe I'll even let you touch it." she giggles for a quick second before guiding me over to the strange machine.

     "What's in there?" I ask. I can tell it's a seed, but it looks strange.

     "I may have created a seed for the tree of life. I've been working on it since I was a child." she answers reverently.

      I look over at her and raise a dubious eyebrow. "Really." I answer, not wishing to contradict or encourage her. "What is it made from?" I ask to be polite. I'm starting to understand why people avoid her.

       "An apple seed, of course." she says like the answer should be as plain as day.

       "Of course." I agree stupidly.

       Then she takes the seed out and grabs my hand. "Here." she says. "Now you've touched it so I've completely apologized for snapping at you like that." She closes my fingers around the strangely-warm seed. 

      I worry that there's some strange, magical, ulterior reason that she needs someone else to touch it. I can sense magic around her like I do Mom and Giselle.

       "My name's Sasha BTW."

       "Nice to meet you, Sasha BTW." I answer, and she starts laughing.

       "That means 'by the way'." she says, still laughing as she keeps my fingers around the seed that I want to let go of. I blush, feeling stupid as I tell her my name. 

       Finally, she lets me let go of the seed, and I stammer out an excuse for wanting to see other stuff in this building now as I escape.

    Out in the main hallway, I get drawn towards a table with what are apparently freebies on it. Sasha shows up around the edge of it.

     "You can have one of each of those. It's based on the honor system that you take only one. That, and I think the cameras would catch you."

      I glance sideways at her as I say, "Okay."

      She sighs like she's irritated about something. "Well, I have to go get something I forgot. Sometimes I wonder if I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached. Want to come along so I can point out stuff to you on the way?"

      "No, but thank you. I'm just going to hang around here for a while." I answer as un-creeped-out as I can.

      She nods, understanding. "Well, Donovan, if you ever need someone to show you around, I'd be happy to." She grabs my hand and pushes a small piece of paper into my palm before closing my fingers around it. "Call me anytime." She smiles before she walks away.

      I feel my eyebrows come together as I open my hand and look at the paper. She's written her name and phone number on it. I shrug and stuff the piece of paper in my back pocket.

      I decide to not be here when she gets back, so I head back out to the area they call the 'quad'. It's gone from 'nice day' to too sunny today for my liking, and I can't wait to go and check out the art building.

      I smile a tiny bit when I pass a group of other students, and one of the girls turns away from them for a second. "Hey you. You're new aren't you?" she says with a friendly smile on her face. Her friends all start whispering real quickly.

     I stop to talk to her for a second. "Yeah." Why do I get the feeling she's thinking 'fresh meat'?

     That girl behind her has really long hair. I like it.

     "So, where ya from, red?" she asks, distracting me from thinking about the other girl's hair.

     "Monte Vista." I answer simply, feeling suddenly awkward.

     "Oh, that explains the accent. You don't really look like someone I'd expect to be from Monte Vista. Not that that really means anything, but I'm generalizing."

       My eyebrows raise. "You mean stereotyping?" I ask cheekily.

      She laughs a little and answers, "Not quite that bad, I hope. I'm Ye, by the way. What do they call you, or should I call you red forever?"

      "Donovan." I answer, thinking her name is strange.

      She immediately turns around and introduces me to her friends. The girl with the long hair's name is Paris. The girl in the short skirt is Samantha, and I think she has to be in her final year. The one in the longer dress is Hanna. Hanna blushes when I shake her hand.

      They immediately draw me into their conversation. I guess I'm not going to look around in the art building just yet.

      

     Lunchtime rolls around, and Paris invites me to join her, Hanna, and this other girl for a picnic. I forget the other girl's name, but I do like where this conversation is going. I notice Hanna stares at the picnic basket intently. When I look down at it too, wondering why it's so fascinating, I see a colony of ants is taking some of the picnic away. Nobody else appears bothered by this, so I let it go too. Ants have to eat too, I guess.

     The girls have somewhere they need to be, so we all go our different ways. For fun, I speak directly to Hanna, and she blushes again while she mumbles out a reply. I swallow back my chuckle and turn around to do a little exploring on my own. Before I turn the corner, I glance back at Hanna to see her holding her face in her hand. I allow myself to chuckle this time.

       I come across a bowling alley/hangout a little after the sun sets. I wish I'd found this place earlier. I could've gotten out of the sun sooner.

       The place is packed with other students, and I stop at the door to check the place out.

       I feel the warm draft behind me as the door opens before I hear a surprised noise coming out of the girl walking in.

       "Whoa!" I say as I spin around and prevent her from doing a faceplant into the floor. She looks annoyed that I caught her.

     She angrily brushes me off of her after I help her stand up and regain her balance.

     "Are you alright?" I ask.

     "Yes." she snaps and shoots me an aggravated look from some gorgeous blue eyes. "I never trip. Well, I guess I can't use that superlative anymore." She lets out a huff.

     "My name's Donovan, by the way." I offer, using the same greeting everyone around here seems to use.

      "Tiffany." she answers, and I immediately work on being sure to remember her name. Saying it in a sentence always helps. Tiffany has beautiful blue eyes like twin sapphires. I didn't really mean to make my 'remember the name' sentence to be so poetic.
      "So, Tiffany, do you come here often?" I ask and then realize how that sounded. I put a few fingertips on my forehead as I apologize, "Sorry. That wasn't supposed to sound like a line."
       "Good, because I don't put up with stuff like that." she tells me shrewishly. "And no, for your information, I don't come here often. I just got here today."

    "Really?! Me too. What's your major?" I exclaim and ask.
    "Art." she answers, and I'm floored.
    I smile brightly and say, "Again, me too!"
     "I didn't take you for an art major." she says cryptically.
     "Why?" I ask, confused.
     "You look too athletic to be an art major." she answers without pause.
     I look athletic? Oh, Skye would laugh and laugh if he heard that.
      I let out a few short laughs as I say, "Believe me that is not the case. I just enjoy working out from time to time." I hope that didn't sound vain. We get quiet for a second before I decide to ask, "So, where are you from?"
      "Starlight Shores, and I'm guessing you're from Monte Vista."
      I look at her in amused incredulence. "How can you tell?"
      "Your accent, of course."
      "I don't have an accent." I reply stubbornly, also playing with her a little bit.
      "Yes, you do, and you know you do." she says, starting to look a little mad.

    "Listen, um, Donovan. I just came here to grab a bite to eat since the comic book store doesn't sell food. At least like I want." she says suddenly, obviously wanting to brush me off.
     I don't want to be brushed off. "Mind if I join you?"
     "Yes, I mind. I just want to scarf something down and get back to what I was doing before I fell through the door."
     "Oh." I say lamely. "Well, I guess I'll see you in class sometime since we'll probably have them together."
      "Yeah, maybe." she says before she walks past me, heading towards the bar.
       Then, out of nowhere, this guy named Anooki practically forces me to bowl with him and a friend of his. I suck at bowling, but at least I provide some entertainment for the upperclassmen. They invite me to a 'start of term' bonfire party tomorrow night. I tell them I'll think about it.

    I get back to my room real late. The university offered me a private room with an easel as an incentive to attend, my test scores were what they wanted. In fact, I apparently completely tested out of my freshman year and I start as a sophomore. I guess this means I might not have classes with Tiffany. Oh well, I'm bound to see her somewhere around the college of art building.
    Oh sh*t, Mom! I think as I quickly pull out my phone. It's too late to call, or rather too early where she is, so I shoot her a quick 'I'm okay' text.

    After attending classes for a few days, I manage to snag a campus registry. I now have Tiffany's phone number, haha. One morning towards the end of the week, I shoot her a secret admirer text, being sure to block my number. I laugh to myself, imagining her going around all day wondering who texted her. I'd spoken to her a couple of times. She looked like she didn't really mind talking to me, but at the same time she acted like she didn't have time for me. She has one class with me, apparently she completed half of her freshman year the same way I skipped it entirely.

     I lost Sasha's number when I washed my jeans with the piece of paper in them. She's in the registry too, but honestly, I don't care.

     One morning, I decide to go over to the library since I have a few hours before my next class. When I show up, I'm the only one there.

     I don't really feel like reading at the moment. I should probably study a little ahead so I'm not lost in class.

    I decide what I really need to do is veg. I've been taking things way too intensely lately. Besides, video games are the field I want to get into. Why not? ... even if I'm sitting here playing chess.

     I veg out a little too good, and have to dash out of the library before I'm late to class! Not to mention this is my class with Tiffany! 

      She got so mad at me during the last class since I stared at her almost the whole time, and then when she'd feel me looking at her and look at me, I'd just grin. I'd studied ahead anyway, so I was a little bored. Getting under her skin made it less boring.

     Today unfortunately, I have to pay attention. Plus, Tiffany doesn't attend. I wonder if she's sick.

    "No, you stupid thing! Kick it!"

    After class, I make my way over to the bowling alley/hangout place again, hoping to find Tiffany. She isn't downstairs, so I head upstairs where they have some video games, a pool table, and a foosball table. At said foosball table stands a peeved brunette.

    "You look like you suck at that even more than me." I comment as I walk past the table.

    Without looking up, she replies, "Fine, get over here and prove it then."

     "Prove how badly I suck." I state the question.

     "Yeah, unless you're afraid of making an idiot of yourself." she taunts.

     I laugh, put my bookbag away, and get on the other side of the table.

     We both make grand attempts to play until the ball winds up stuck in a place that neither of us can get our little men to reach. I start laughing at our vain attempts to reach it.

      "No! You've got to move your stick here." she says and pulls the other end of what is supposed to be my little guys' stick.

       "Quit pulling my stick!" I exclaim and then realize how that sounds.

       "I have to to get it to work right. We're going to have to work together to make this work."

       "We could just reach in there with our hands and pull it out."

       "No, that's cheating. I don't like to cheat."

       "You say that like you have in the past."

       "Yes, and it ruined everything." she tells me. "Ugh!" she exclaims. "I give up!"

      "No, wait a minute. I can get this!" I tell her while I work at both her rods and mine. I finally get a little guy to kick it, but it stops spinning immediately once it comes in contact with the ball. "What?!"

      "What is that?" she asks, leaning in to get a better look.

      I reach in and pick up the ball. "There's the reason." I state. "Someone stuck green gum on this spot and the ball got caught on it."

        "Ew! Some people have a lot of nerve. They ruined the thing." she says in an irritated tone. "It's just as well. You're right. I suck."

        I chuckle a little before unceremoniously dropping the ball back into the table.

    "Well anyway," she says, "my name is Willow."

    I smile as I add, "You're not going to end that with a 'by the way'?"

    Her eyes blink a few times in confusion before she asks, "No, why would I?"

    I have to laugh a little at her expression. "No real reason other than that's what everyone seems to do around here."

    "Oh. Well. I'm not from around here."

    "Really? Where are you from then?"

    "Moonlight Falls, and you're from Monte Vista." she smiles at my surprised expression.

    

     "How does everyone know that?" I ask.

     "It's your accent." she answers.

     "But I don't have one!" I stubbornly maintain. According to me, it's everyone else that has one.

     "To everyone else, you do." she tells me, almost mirroring my thoughts. "Don't worry about it though, it's really sexy."

     It's been a little while since I've blushed, and I wish I wasn't right now.

     "You still haven't told me your name, Mr. Sexy-voice-from-Monte-Vista." she almost whispers. I get the strong suspicion that I'm the one being played with right now. She caught me off guard.

      I have to clear my throat before I tell her, "It's Donovan." Then I add, "By the way."

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I'm forcing myself to stop here. I'd originally planned on having his first term all in one chapter, but looking at my pics in the folder, that will really make this get out of control.

I've figured out that no matter the 'hood, all the starter uni students are the same. Then I think the game generates more. I think Tiffany is one of the pre-programmed ones because she's got nerd lvl 9. Another thing about her is she's non-flirty. That really makes it hard for Donovan, as we saw. (I have no idea what her major is, but I made it art to suit my needs.)

Then, while he was in class, I wandered over to the bowling alley again, planning on sending him there after his class ended. That's when I saw Willow. She had this 'they all look the same' look about her, plus her fashion was AWFUL (convincing me she was generated, plus no social group lvl). So, I went into CAS with her and had some fun. I happily find out that she and Donovan turned out to be compatible.

About 99% of everyone, and I mean everyone, Donovan talked to gave him the 'I'm attracted to you' thing. It got really annoying. (not that I blame them hehe)

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