It Happened Over Mandarin Sorbet

For a few days, Nessa felt troubled. Something was definitely on her mind, which was why she was slightly reluctant to ditch her job at the bookstore (or was it the spa? Can't remember) to pursue her dream of joining the Singer career.

Was it because she didn't want to overshadow her sister Sophie?
Or was it that she saw first hand, just how difficult it was to get up that corporate ladder and she just didn't have the strength to pitch forward - feet first - into a possibly long and arduous career.

One thing was certain. Something was definitely up with Nessa.

And she came to a momentous decision, whilst sitting pigging out on a large tub of Mandarin Sorbet that they kept tucked in the freezer for such occasions.

After she'd finished, she pulled out her phone and looked at the College Packs that were littered over the front lawn.

She had a decision to make.

But what? So many choices. Leave home. College. Time travel. Go on vacation. Own her own resort. Start her career. Own a share in a local business. Change careers.

Taking a deep breath, she carefully pressed the numbers and dialled. And in next to no time, everything had been sorted out.

Her adventure was about to begin.....

Was she sure she'd made this decision?

She'd soon find out when she got there.

Eccentricity Knows No Bounds

The minute Sophie arrived, she received a text message from home.

Hi Soph, good luck with your studies! See you soon and don't give up!

It gave her a much needed smile.

However, the minute she arrived at her dorm to claim her room, she started farting hearts for practically everyone there!

Whoa, hold on there missy, you're here to study. Not to chase after every student that's available!

She had a few minutes before the Student 'Meet and Greet', so she carefully unpacked her brand new easel (that she's spotted en route to campus and couldn't resist buying) and started painting.

She didn't get far. But that's against the point. She was here, she only had two morning classes, so the afternoon and evenings were hers to do as she pleased.

Rather than run, she decided to test out her wings and zoomed along at great speed towards the Student Union building.

She met up with a few interesting folks and immediately struck up a conversation with the llama mascot.

Sophie: So, it's your turn to be the mascot huh?
Mascot: Yep.
Sophie: Bummer. That must suck.
Mascot: Nah. In fact I enjoy meeting all the new faces here.
Sophie: Yeah, well, I'm more of an 'old face'.
Mascot: Oh, a returnee? What's your vocation? What are you studying?
Sophie: Fine Arts.
Mascot: Oh, nice one. I'm still undeclared. I can't decide which degree to choose from. There are so many!

Just then, a lecturer walked in and Sophie and the rest of the students just couldn't help but stare at him. It looked as though he'd taken a dip in the local pool. He ignored all the stares to wipe the white board and scribble down some notes.

Mascot: That must be the new lecturer. I heard he's a little ... um ... eccentric.
Sophie: Sounds as though classes with him will be  ... interesting!
Mascot: Yep. Anyways, I'd better go greet more students, make them feel welcome. And welcome back!
Sophie: Thanks. I'm feeling a little thirsty so I'll just grab a couple of sodas.

Unfortunately, the easel, plus the cost of the moving van, almost wiped out Sophie's pocket money and she was feeling a bit thirsty. So she rattled the vending machine.

Nothing.

She gave it a kick.

Still nothing.

A couple of body slams later and one of the cans jiggled from it's cradle and rolled down into the compartment below. After slugging the free soda down, she decided to whip out her guitar and start playing. After all, she DID have lofty ambitions to sing!

It got the attention of a rather suave looking Sim, who immediately invited her to his frat kegger party on campus.

Frat Boy: You'll be great for entertainment
Sophie: Gee, thanks, but I do need to study you know.
Frat Boy: Oh come on, classes don't start until tomorrow anyways, it'll be fun. And don't forget your guitar. You're really talented.

And that's when Sophie's good intentions went completely out of the window.

Sophie Learns About Her Auras

Sophie headed for bed, happy that she'd put her mother's mind at rest and pleased that she wasn't angry with her. She was surprised that she was the only one in the dorm. Everyone else had gone to the kegger party right across campus. So it was nice and quiet for her. She was sound asleep by the time they all arrived back at around about 3 maybe 4am!

The next day proved to be quite dramatic. She had a lecture to attend to, but by the time she arrived there, there was a congregation of students AND tutors outside the lecture hall. *

Sophie: What's going on?
Student: We don't really know, we've been told to stay here.
Sophie: But a couple of students have already gone in, look, I can see them from here.

Professor: Students! Pay attention. We have a serious problem here. One of our lecturers has been taken to hospital, seriously ill. We don't know for sure what is wrong with him and we are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused here and the short notice too.
Irate Student: Surely you could have posted a notice on the boards?
Professor: We only discovered him about half an hour ago, there wasn't time to let everyone know.
Irate Student: But what about our studies? What about those two inside?
Professor: There's nothing we can do about the studies, sorry, but we'll let those two students know what has happened.

Sophie sensed that there was going to be an uproar if she didn't do something. During her free time study periods, she'd been secretly reading up about the Fae and their powers. Since she was still fairly new to all of this, she had severely restricted magic. But the one that she had, was that of an aura of Soothing.

Acting quickly, she managed to diffuse what could have been a toxic, maybe even dangerous situation. Every body calmed down immediately and dispersed, grumbling only slightly.

Only one student appeared severely stressed out that she was considering hitting the bars for a few drinks!

It didn't help that a paparazzi had infiltrated the campus, disguised as a student, and was taking pics of everything! Sophie was so glad that she'd stayed waaay under the radar there!

Studying was fast taking it's toll on poor Sophie, and she found herself grabbing a quick siesta at the coffeeshop in between classes, just to recharge her batteries! The study packs were increasing at an alarming rate and she struggled to get anything done. Not only that, she was getting invites to parties galore. Parties that she couldn't possibly attend.

However, she managed to oversleep and after checking her watch, realised she was late for her next class. Thankfully she'd packed her Kenspa, and hopped on board.

One of her friends wanted to throw a bonfire party, but the sky was filling with thick dark clouds, so Sophie backed out. Instead, she called her mother to chat.

Sophie: Hey mom, thought I'd better check in, how's everyone?
Shannon: Missing you, believe it or not. It's too quiet here.
Sophie: Really? I find that hard to believe.
Shannon: Afraid so. So what have you been up to?
Sophie: Not a lot, got an art class tomorrow.

Shannon: That sounds nice.
Sophie: Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that. It's being held outside, and the weather doesn't look favourable at all.
Shannon: Maybe they'll take it indoors if it gets too wet?
Sophie: Nu uh, I'm pretty sure they're adamant that it has GOT to be taken outdoors.
Shannon: Not cool.
Sophie: Nope.
Shannon: Soo, how's the partying going?
Sophie: Partying? What partying?
Shannon: Don't be coy Sophie, I've heard of all the keggers etc.
Sophie: Trust me mom, I'm too busy studying and sleeping to go partying.
Shannon: Aw that's a shame. Anyways I'd best go, Blaine's rusted up and shorted out ... again. I'd better go fix him.
Sophie: Okay. Laters mom!

She hung up the phone.

Sophie: Party indeed. I'm always too tired for those.

The rain continued to pour and Sophie suddenly realised that she forgot to pack her umbrella. So, whilst everyone else managed to keep dry, she was soaked through to the skin!

Back at the dorm, she couldn't help noticing that one of her dormies was looking a little sad and folorn. He also looked a little spaced out. So she decided to introduce herself.

Sophie: Hi, I'm Sophie
Dormie: I'm hungry.
Sophie: Hi, um ... Hungry, nice to meet you.

Shortly afterwards, he collapsed in a heap on the floor and started snoring. It was plainly obvious that juggling study time and partying, was taking it's toll on every student here.

It was late by the time Sophie went to bed, so she crashed out instead, taking a power nap. She needed to be focused for her class today.

Unbeknownst to her, a fellow student suddenly collapsed and died, right outside her dorm. She was so focused on getting to class that she failed to see him.

He was laid there for at least three hours until the Grim Reaper claimed his soul.

Sophie couldn't mourn because she hardly knew him. But she felt bad because she was always too busy to actually meet and greet a few of the students.

Sophie was especially smart. She didn't have time to grab a bite to eat, but managed to smuggle a tub of ice cream out of the dorm. She was sitting quietly eating it, when she was joined by a fellow student, who took out a book and started studying ... hard.

Desperate to get rid of the unnecessary guilt over the deceased student, Sophie decided to try another aura. Creativity. She was a little rusty. After all, casting these auras was pretty new to her.

The downside to maintaining these auras is the fact that they drain quite easily, leaving her feeling a bit queasy and sick. But she was happy that she'd managed to help that studious student along.

However, her mood quickly plummeted when she'd discovered that someone had been helping themselves to her wheatgerm shampoo and left the empty bottle in the shower. It wasn't a matter of the cost, it was pretty cheap and easy to buy. But the fact that someone had taken it without permission and used the whole lot without even attempting to replace it.

So, without further ado, she decided to try out a fairy trick, and booby trapped the shower.

Sophie: There, that'll teach them to steal my stuff!

Outside, the weather had dried up somewhat, and somebody was stoking up a bonfire. But Sophie was far too tired to join them. Tomorrow was Finals day. She needed to be fresh, alert and ready!

Editors Notes:

* Naturally, there's  a guaranteed bottleneck whenever the Sims go to class/lectures etc. preventing them from actually attending classes at all. And this was what had happened. So I had to write something to explain why hardly anybody was at class.

College - It's Not All Parties And Such

Sophie arrived at campus and was immediately blown away by the amount of progression that was going on. Never mind that her dormies were happily gathered around the table - family style - to chat about the weather and whatnot.

 There was one girl who was fiddling with a metal contraption and talking into a strange looking cone!

Sophie: Hi, sorry to stare ... but what's that?
Radio Hack: Hi, it's my radio. I'm a radio hack. I'm just trying to get a sig ... oh there it is! Sorry I'm a bit distracted, I like to broadcast events and whatnot when I've got the chance.
Sophie: You can do that?
Radio Hack: Sure I can.
Sophie: You don't need to post scrolls on the town hall walls for everyone to read?
Radio Hack: Er no.... where are you from, you sound positively medieval
Sophie: Yeah, you could say that.

There was a distinct squeal of feedback and the hack had to quickly adjust the frequency.

Radio Hack: Sorry, signal's a bit iffy around here. I'd better start broadcasting before I lose it completely. Nice to meet you, see you around campus maybe?
Sophie: Um, yeah, okay. See you.

And Sophie went a wandering, taking in everything that was going on. Never mind that her mother had travelled into the future and seen what could be. This? This is in the NOW. This could bring Dragon Valley slap bang up to date - provided the Elder Counsel would allow it. She was only too aware of their restrictive way of life. How they disapproved of practically everything new.

The only thing that Sophie did not approve of, was the fact that her fellow students/dormies, were a messy lot. But she guessed that this was the price she had to pay for living with a bunch of strangers for a year.

Plus, she also discovered that she was sharing her room with a vampire .... who SNORED! Yes, she herself was a Heavy Sleeper, but the rattling sound of that vampire fast asleep was enough to wake the whole neighbourhood!

Her own semester timetable was punishing. She'd fallen back so badly on her grades at school, that she really needed to slog hard to get that Fine Arts degree that she wanted - and prove that she's equal to .. or even better than ... her siblings. If she was to carry on this legacy, she REALLY needed to pull up her socks - figuratively speaking - and get cracking!

But first, she felt really out of place. Whilst everyone else ran around in loose casual clothing and what she herself called 'reckless hair'. Her 'schoolmarm' look was far too severe. And her purple fitted dress was far too old for her young figure.

So she went to the salon to have a complete restyle.

The severe bun went, and out came a really nice carefree hair, loosely tied into a plait at the back, but short enough so it wouldn't get into her eyes when she studied.

Make up was a little better, not too harsh and heavy, and it accentuated her eyes. She chose NOT to go down the contact lenses route. Maybe because she still had that medieval streak running through her and she believed that they'd roll to the back of her eyes and make her blind.

The outfit. She'd already purchased that in the store and had it tucked away in the chest of drawers. Now that was a little more risky. A short bolero jacket, cut off at the waist, revealing a rather sharp and toned midriff, with a strange leggings/shorts combo. Finished off with some rather dandy ankle boots. She was used to walking in heels anyways. These were just a little higher. Nothing she couldn't handle.

Now she felt ready for college, and what it had to offer.

Before class even started, she decided to sit quietly and sketch for a while. It was peaceful, the warm breeze tickled her hair as she concentrated on her work. It wasn't much, just a quick study sketch. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to keep it. But she did, she added it to her portfolio for future usage.

She went to class where she was also supplied with a textbook that she needed to study. So, after her sketching and drawing, she settled down to read. At least the weather was in her favour as the sun warmed the back of her neck, and the murmur of students passed to and fro as they went about their business.

But then her sweet tooth kicked in, and following the scent of the campus coffeeshop, she treated herself to a large slice of cake. Studying was making her feel hungry! But she really needed to watch those pennies, maybe get herself a part time job or something, just to keep her going through the semester. This slice of cake was her treat... for now.

Just as she was finishing off the last few bites and was ready to go, another student arrived at her table.

Student: Mind if I join you? I feel self conscious sitting on my own.
Sophie: Sure you can, but I'm just headed off to class. I'm sorry.
Student: Hey, that's okay. Maybe we could meet up at some point? Share study tips etc.?
Sophie: That sounds cool. But I'd better go, see you around.
Student: See you.

Sophie felt really guilty that she had to leave like that. But she wasn't kidding. Class was but an hour away and it was right across the other end of campus, so she had to do some serious travelling.

After class, Sophie decided to do the right thing ... and call home. After all, it had been a couple of days and she'd left with hardly a goodbye or even a note for that matter. She felt it was her duty to let her mom know that she was okay and unharmed. By this time, the heavens had opened and it was pouring down outside, at the same time, she was exhausted and needed some sleep. But her mom came first. Her hand shook as she dialled the number. She half expected - actually,  strike that - FULLY expected a right royal dressing down and her ear being chewed off.

Shannon: Hello?
Sophie: Mom?
Shannon: Sophie? Is that you?
Sophie: It is Mom, and I'm sorry.
Shannon: Where are you, we've been worried sick. No note, house empty. All I could get from Sonny Em was that you had gone.
Sophie: I'm at college. I ... I decided to go a little early, you know, get a feel for the place.
Shannon: Although that was a rather reckless and immature thing to do, at least you are safe. You have no idea how close I came to calling the police and reporting you as a missing person.

Sophie: I'm sorry Mom.

Shannon: Well, promise me you'll keep in touch.

Sophie: Yes Mom.
Shannon: So, what major did you pick?

Sophie: Fine Arts, do you approve?
Shannon: I't s a good one for you, and you don't need to ask for my approval here Sophie, you are of your own mind. You can do whatever you want and go wherever you wish to go.... which is college by the looks of things.

She finally hung up, feeling a great weight of guilt lifting from her shoulders. And strangely enough, not once did she even give Pat a second thought. She was here in college, and enjoying every minute of it!