#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3
Sims University. Almost literally the Ivory Tower. It was truly a place apart.
After an hour of Sawyer at the wheel of the U-haul, Abby persuaded him to let her drive the rest of the way. She never expected such a slow, calculating person to have such a lead foot.
When they reached the campus, she wished she didn’t have to focus on the road. The campus was beautiful. They got to see most of it because she got lost trying to find the dorm.
The dormitory was a tall and forbidding building. Abby stared at it, then caught Sawyer’s eye and smiled nervously. “You ready to do this thing?”
Sawyer scowled. “It would be stupid to come all this way if we weren’t.”
“Come on,” Sawyer said. “I’ll show you to our room.”
“Our room?” Abby asked, surprised.
“You’re sharing a room with me,” Sawyer said sharply. “It’s more efficient.”
Abby smiled at her brother’s back as he walked away. She knew he’d never admit to being nervous about being out on his own.
The room was simple but surprisingly cozy.
And the bed was comfortable. This wasn’t the college she’d read about. Exhausted from hours of driving, Abby went to bed immediately.
Sawyer stayed up late to get a head start on anatomy.
The next morning brought student orientation.
Sawyer made sure they were on time.
Then he ditched the orientation lecture to find the research facilities.
He couldn’t have been happier.
Abby, on the other hand, was taking no chances.
She paid attention to all the presentations
and even took notes. At the very least, it was good practice.
And so began their college life.
Abby had a shock when she went to buy her textbooks. As soon as she walked through the door of the bookstore, a freshman girl bounced down the stairs, handed her a pen, and begged her to write in her notebook.
Abby took the pen and paper, her hands trembling. She’d come here to start over. What should she do now.
Then she actually realized what the girl was saying. “….Just have to tell me who does your makeup! I’ve never seen a skintone like that! It’s amazing!”
Abby smiled and folded up the paper. “My makeup is just Simbeline. I was born with the skintone. I’m Avalonian.”
“I’ve heard of Avalon!” the girl exclaimed. “Does everyone there look like you? If it’s not too forward, would you mind if I interviewed you for my simthropology class?”
Abby had forgotten how exotic Avalonians looked in the rest of the Simworld. Still, she decided that now was a good time to adjust her look to better fit the setting.
Of course, looking the part didn’t exactly make her a master of the college life style
Their days were filled with lectures.
Some more interesting than others.
In the evenings, Abby tried out some of the social opportunities of campus life, like fraternity and sorority parties.
She turned out to be a mean hand at juice pong.
She even put the local fraternity champion under the table without getting juiced.
Sawyer spent very little time at the dorm. Sometimes he left before dawn and came back after Abby was in bed. Abby worried that he was working himself too hard on his own obsession.
That obsession turned out to be the campus experimental physicists. They had a research grant to build… something… behind the science building.
Nobody was exactly sure what it was they were building.
But whatever it was, it was the kind of thing Sawyer had been dreaming about his whole life.
Outside classes, Sawyer often went all day without leaving the project site. He even studied there.
Still, being on his own was affecting Sawyer in some more subtle ways. He was becoming more responsible.
He even started cooking for himself. The results weren’t always pretty, and it wasn’t always obvious whether he noticed.
But by far the biggest change in Sawyer’s life was the women.
They were everywhere. Sawyer’s geeky obliviousness seemed to draw them out of the woodwork.
All of his female dorm mates were trying to get his attention. One spent all semester trying to get him to ask her out.
He never did figure it out.
While he was reading in the library,
a classmate approached him to tell him how much she respected his questions at lecture.
She asked him awkwardly whether he’d like to get together to study sometime.
Somehow THAT conversation send him on a tirade about how much he hated fingernail polish.
Sawyer got himself so worked up that another student came by to check to see if the girl needed help.
Sawyer didn’t take that well either.
After that evening, Sawyer was given a disciplinary warning by the university, and at least two students weren’t speaking to him.
Less than a week later, another dorm mate asked Abby to join her for lunch
only to ask for advice on how to ask Sawyer on a date.
It was all too much.
“How do I get them to leave me alone?” Sawyer asked Abby in despair one morning.
“I have no idea,” Abby admitted. “I’ve never wanted to be left alone.”
Abby enjoyed drifting from social group to social group, learning what motivated them. She ran into the local chapter of the Loch Ness Monster Preservation League at the local hangout one evening. They hit it off well.
Soon she found herself attending some protests.
Even giving the occasional speech. It was all great, real-life practice in method acting.
The one thing she didn’t want, though, was any sort of romantic relationship.
She managed to keep everyone at an arm’s length. Some were easier than others.
The moment that Sawyer had been waiting for arrived.
With permission from his professor, he completed an experiment that had been months in the making.
Poof. Nothing happened. Months of work down the tubes. They would have to start over.
Overcome by frustrated emotion, Sawyer turned to leave.
“I think you turned up the blue plasma too far,” suggested one of his classmates.
“What are you talking about?” Sawyer asked. “The blue plasma couldn’t go any lower.”
Manisha shrugged. “A little bit of blue goes a long way. You could get the same effect as the blue by adding more green, and with fewer side effects.”
Sawyer opened his mouth for a biting retort and then closed it. He realized she was right. He’d framed the entire experiment backwards. Nobody, not even his professor, had noticed, but she had.
Her name was Manisha Kapoor, and from that moment on, she claimed all of Sawyer’s attention. When she was near, nothing could distract him.
She was just as geeky as he was.
And almost as socially impaired.
They spent hours reformulating the experiment. In class and out of class.
For the first time in his life, Sawyer felt that someone understood him.
“I want to initiate a woohoo relationship,” he told Abby point-blank one morning. “You are well-educated in this area. What is my first step?”
Abby choked. “You want to what?”
Sawyer glared at her. “I want what every male my age wants,” he said. “It’s degrading, but it’s true. I have found the perfect woman. Advise me.”
“You- you don’t do it like that,” Abby stammered.
“I haven’t done anything like anything,” Sawyer replied, looking exasperated. “You think I have failed, and I haven’t begun.”
“No, no,” Abby said. “It’s just that…. You need to set realistic goals. Start small. Ask her out on a date.”
Sawyer’s face took on the stoney expression that Abby had come to realize meant he was frightened. “What kind of experience makes a good date?” he asked.
“Let’s go up to the room and talk,” Abby said. Sawyer followed her upstairs, silently waiting for her to teach him. Abby, on the other hand, had no real idea what to teach.
Not long afterward, classes ended. They took their finals, and grades were released.
Sawyer was pleased at his straight As, but hardly surprised.
Abby opened her letter with nervous anticipation.
What she read there shocked her.
She’d made the Dean’s List!
The frat house had a bonfire party to celebrate the end of the term.
All of Abby’s university friends attended.
She felt comfortable here, one of a group. It was nice.
Sawyer had been more right than he could possibly know when he had persuaded her to come to school with him. This was exactly the place she needed to be to heal.
Sawyer had different plans for the end of term. He asked Manisha to meet him at the picturesque beach outside of campus. It was isolated and beautiful. He’d been scouting for this place throughout finals week.
“Wow! She said when she arrived. “I bet there are all sorts of insects here we could use for experimental samples! Thanks for inviting me out here.”
“I was hoping we could have, um, a different kind of conversation,” Sawyer said.
“Different how? Sure, let’s talk about something different.”
“You’re the most intelligent person I’ve never met,” Sawyer said. That seemed like the right sort of opening line. “Except for me, of course. But I wouldn’t expect you to be that smart.”
Manisha frowned. “Thanks, I think.”
“It seems logical that we would be biologically compatible as well as intellectually compatible,” Sawyer continued. Manisha was the easier to talk to than anyone else he’d ever known. He was sure she’d understand.
“I’m really not following you,” Manisha said.
“I was hoping you could do a new kind of experiment with me,” Sawyer said, trying again to find the words to describe how he felt. “Something I could only try with you.”
Manisha smiled this time. “That sounds wonderful.”
Now was the moment. He leaned toward her.
And she backed away.
“What are you doing?” Manisha demanded. “You’re getting all grabby. This is making me uncomfortable.”
“Nononono!” Sawyer exclaimed. “This was supposed to work! All the books said it would work!”
“What in the Simworld are you talking about?” Manisha demanded.
“Please, please, woohoo with me,” Sawyer begged.
“You’re crazy,” Manisha said. “I’m going home.”
And she did, leaving Sawyer alone on the beach, wondering how everyone else managed to get a girlfriend.
———-
I did it! I managed to post something!
Of course I didn’t manage to cover the entire trip to University in one post. But this is the first semester, and there are only two semesters. So just one more post at Sims U.
Seriously almost every female sim in all of University had heart-farts for Sawyer. It was insane. Manisha was the only one he wished to do things with, and it made sense. She doesn’t have the Socially Awkward trait, but she manages to be incredibly awkward anyway.
But wow, building a relationship with a Socially Awkward sim is almost impossible!
Of course, there was no professor for most of the lectures. This was even the first trip to University. Way to fail, EA. I think that Twallan came up with a check for professors at some point after I played this.
