PSU, Spring 2017 Semester:
Anna Sutton, Madison Craig, Dewey Richard, Bryant Smith, and Mona Wiggins are 21; George Tang, Catherine Marshall, Anita Bryant, and Ethan Carter are 19
“Whatcha doing?” Madison asks as she comes down the stairs.
“Reading the paper,” Anna answers.
Madison comes over and sits down next to her, not saying anything.
“I can feel you staring at me,” Anna says. “What do you want?”
“Nothing,” Madison says. “I was just thinking…wouldn’t it be fun if you failed your classes this semester and stayed on campus with me next fall?”
Anna laughs. “I’d have to say that’s not my definition of fun.”
Madison sighs and stands. “Fine. Leave me here all alone. What a good sister you are.”
“It’s only one semester,” Anna reminds her. “I think you’ll survive.”
Finals are approaching quickly and Anna has been hard at work to make sure she passes everything with flying colors. She has great reviews from her student teaching this past year and she’s excited to just be done with school and move out into the real world. There’s no way she’ll fail anything, not even for Madison.
Of course, Anna doesn’t spend all of her time studying. Dewey comes over a lot, and Bryant comes along with him. Bryant doesn’t mind seeing Anna and Dewey flirting with each other anymore.
Because finally he has Madison and he can flirt with her or kiss her any time he wants.
Anywhere they go, Bryant can’t resist being close to her, touching her, kissing her. Sometimes he thinks it’s all a dream that he’ll wake up from and realize that Madison isn’t really his girlfriend.
But so far, every time he opens his eyes, she’s still there.
“Am I interrupting?” Anna asks from behind them.
Madison giggles. “No, we’re just enjoying the scenery.”
“Uh-huh,” Anna says. “Well, if you’re done sightseeing, we’re ready to eat.”
The four friends head over to Red’s Diner for dinner. It’s a favorite place among the university students and is usually pretty busy. They manage to find a booth and chat about graduation as they wait for the food.
Bryant notices that Madison is being unusually quiet. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
She sighs. “Nothing. Just thinking about how lonely I’ll be next semester. Stuck on campus all by myself.”
“You do realize we’re all staying in Arcadia, right?” Dewey reminds her.
“We’ll be able to see each other every day,” Bryant says.
“But it won’t be the same!” Madison whines. “I know, it’s my own fault for failing that one semester. But it still sucks.”
Over at the dorms, the other students are busy preparing for the end of the year too. Ethan has slacked off a lot this semester, but he does hope to graduate on time and so he tries to finish up his term paper. Unfortunately, that cheerleader he’s slept with a couple of times decides this is the best time to show him her new routine.
George calls a meeting with his friends later that day. “I have a possible gig for us,” he announces.
“Center Drip again?” Anita asks.
Anita loves playing at Center Drip because it reminds her of when she first met Hazel. The two have been spending as much time together as they possibly can and Anita has never been happier.
“No,” George says. “Actually, the place I was thinking of is right here. The dorms.”
His friends give him a confused look. “We’re going to play in the dorms?” Anita asks.
“Well, the seniors are planning to throw a party for graduation here,” George says. “And I thought that since my sister is such close friends with some of the graduates, we might be able to convince them to let us play.” He pauses, then adds, “It would probably be unpaid.”
“No payment?” Ethan grumbles. “How are we supposed to ever make it if we keep taking unpaid gigs?”
“We have to start somewhere,” George reminds him. “The more unpaid gigs we take, the more we get our name out there and the more people can hear us play. Eventually, someone might want to actually pay us.”
Ethan sighs. He knows George is right, but still, it would be nice to have some money to put toward his tuition bills. Not everyone has a bestselling romance author and highly skilled chef for parents that can pay the entire cost themselves.
###
One of the last girls in the dorm that Ethan hasn’t slept with is Mona. But she pushes him back when he tries to flirt with her.
“Aren’t you gay?” she asks.
“Bi,” he corrects her.
“I have a boyfriend anyway,” she says.
“Yeah, but he’s a llama.”
Ethan always likes her better after she’s spent a little time on the bubble blower. She’s a lot less uptight then.
“You think my boyfriend’s a real llama, don’t you?” she asks, giggling.
“Well, he looks like one,” Ethan says.
“And you want me to forget him and jump into bed with you,” Mona goes on.
“Naturally,” Ethan agrees.
“Why should I do that? You’re a stoner who plays in a lame ass band. You’ll probably end up in jail some day.”
He laughs at this idea. “Yeah, they’re going to come get me with their flashing lights and sirens. Woo woo woo! But hey.” He leans forward, twitching his finger at her to come closer. “You know what?”
“What?” Mona asks.
“I still won’t be a freaking llama,” Ethan says in a loud whisper, laughing.
After the bubble blower, Mona is a little more receptive to Ethan’s advances.
Make that a lot more receptive. Like he said before, he always likes her better after a little time on the bubble blower.
“Don’t you have an exam today?” Dewey asks.
“Yeah,” Bryant says.
“So shouldn’t you be studying?”
Bryant shrugs. “If I don’t know it all by now, I never will.”
“I haven’t seen you studying much this semester,” Dewey tells him.
“I study, Mom,” Bryant says, rolling his eyes. “You’re so prissy sometimes.”
“I’m not being your mom, I’m being your concerned friend,” Dewey says. He holds up the logic ball he’s been working on. “I’ll figure this thing out one day.”
Bryant sulks up the walk toward the rental house that night. Dewey is going to be pissed when he hears that Bryant failed his exam. Maybe he should have studied a little more. But he had been out with Madison most of the day. And yesterday. And the day before…and he just kept putting off studying.
At least Dewey is already asleep, so Bryant doesn’t have to tell him tonight. It’ll be okay. He might lose some of his scholarships, but he can take on extra work with the extermination company he’s been working for to pay for another semester.
He decides to tell Madison first and calls her over after Dewey has left to go to his last exam.
“So,” Bryant begins, “it turns out that you might not be so lonely on campus next semester.”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“I kind of failed one of my classes,” Bryant tells her. “And now I’m on academic probation. So I can’t graduate this semester.”
Madison is stunned for a moment. Then she asks, “You didn’t fail just because I whined about being alone next year, right? I was just playing around with you guys. I didn’t really want anyone to purposely fail their classes.”
Bryant shakes his head. “No, I didn’t fail on purpose. I just didn’t study like I should have.” He sighs. “I really screwed up.”
Madison pulls him into a tight hug. “It’ll be okay,” she assures him. “We’ll get through next semester together.”
###
A few nights later, the graduation party is in full swing over at the dorms and Two-Bit Karma keeps the students entertained.
It’s a tight squeeze for all of their instruments, and they had to rearrange some furniture, but even Ethan can’t grumble about the tips the drunken guests are stuffing into the little jar he set out.
The party guests all mingle and grab some beers as they enjoy the night.
Catherine tries to get Bryant to dance with her during one of the band’s songs, but he’s not very comfortable cozying up to his girlfriend’s brother’s girlfriend.
Dewey has a little too much to drink and decides to practice his proposal technique on the dorm cook.
She turns him down, clearly indicating that she’s crazy.
That’s okay though, Anna will always take him!
Bryant escapes from Catherine and finds someone he’d much rather be close to.
All in all, even though they didn’t get paid for it, George thinks Two-Bit Karma’s latest gig is a success!
###
Some graduation pictures:
Dewey turned his head like this when I positioned Anna. It wasn’t the pose I intended, but I liked that he was looking at her and smiling.
Here’s the picture I intended to get, the happy graduates!
Anna with her mom and stepfather.
The best friends and stepsisters.
“You’re supposed to smile,” Anna whispers, keeping her smile plastered on her face.
Madison sniffles. “I can’t, I’m going to cry because you’re leaving me!”
—————————————-
Spring 2017 Grades:
Anna: A+, 3.8 GPA – Mathematics (education), senior – Graduated cum laude
Dewey: A+, 3.6 GPA – Mathematics (architecture), senior – Graduated
Mona: C+, 3.5 GPA – Physics (natural science), senior – Graduated
Madison: A+, 3.2 GPA – Biology (genetic research), senior
Bryant: D, 3.0 GPA – Economics (government intelligence studies), senior – Academic Probation
George: A, 3.4 GPA – Drama (performing arts/music), sophomore
Catherine: A+, 4.0 GPA – Art (art history), sophomore
Ethan: B-, 3.3 GPA – Psychology (journalism), sophomore
Anita: C+, 3.0 GPA – Political Science (business studies), sophomore
– Grr, Bryant! He did that to himself though, he didn’t ever want to write his term paper or work on his skills.
– Spring birthdays are coming up next, so you’ll get to see the new adults then. 🙂
– Title comes from “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day
Grr, I always found it irritating that Maxis found it okay to have a 3.0 GPA and still be on academic probation.
Congrats grads!
It really annoyed me that he was put on academic probation even though he has a 3.0 GPA! You would think that would be high enough to qualify for graduation, even if he did get a D for the semester. 😦
The graduates look so happy and the band did great. I love Catherine’s hair, that’s a very interesting style.
Bryant getting on academic probation! Yikes! Sometimes the maxis style doesn’t make that much sense so I tend to skip or force things to work the way I think they would work, ie, Bryant would have graduated. But…next semester should be interesting, I just hope Madison doesn’t get pregnant then. Don’t know why I had the thought, but I do 😛
~Apple Valley
I love Catherine’s hair, I just wish I could remember where I got it from, lol! I seem to be completely drawing a blank and haven’t found it so far, but I’ll post a link when I do manage to find it. 🙂
I considered forcing a pass on Bryant and letting him graduate, but then I decided he could just stick around and keep Madison company for one more semester. 😉 Hopefully, they’ll both do their classwork and graduate in the fall. And I hope she doesn’t end up pregnant yet, lol!
Bryant & Madison, and Anna & Dewey are so sweet together 🙂
I really love this little group of friends. 😀
Congrats grads! And is there anything that Bryant won’t do for Madison? He may not have done it on purpose, but he was hanging out with her instead of studying………he’s so love sick! I hope they go the distant! Dewey and Anna are cute together, as always!
Ha, this must have been Bryant’s plan all along, to fail and get to stay on campus with her one more semester. He just couldn’t bear to be even a few blocks away. 😉
Aww, they grow up so fast. *sniff* Poor Madison, I thought that Bryant might do it just to be with her. At least they won’t be alone, though Anna and Dewey aren’t going far ether.
Mona sure does let her guard down with the bubble blower. heh. THe party looked great, and the grade pictures look great, I like that Dewey is smiling at Anna.
They do! I can’t believe they’re all grown up already.
Mona and Ethan made me laugh. First she pushed him away when he tried to flirt with her, then they get on the bubble blower and immediately start talking about being arrested, and then suddenly, she’s willing to get into bed with him. The stuff in that bubble blower must really make her relax. 😉
3.0 is definitely high enough to qualify for graduation – Troy had a 2.9 when he graduated. I’m amazed he never got on academic probation! I agree that the GPA should be what gets you on probation, not one failed semester.
I can’t believe these guys are graduating already! Congratulations to Anna and Dewey – their grad pics are so adorable. As for Madison and Bryant…well, at least they’re not alone on campus now!
LOL @ Dewey proposing to the cook! Did Anna get jealous of that?
I was just thinking as I wrote this that I can’t believe they’re graduating already. It feels like the end of an era in a way, with this group of friends full grown up now.
Amazingly, Anna didn’t even seem to notice Dewey’s drunken proposal to the cook, lol! I guess she knew he’d had too much to drink and didn’t really want to marry the cook. 😉
Congrats to the graduates!
I had this total surreal moment when I read that Anna and Madison are 21. The last time I read they were like 16! So much time has passed. Now I feel like an old lady. LOL
Need to catch up.
lol, I can’t believe they’re all grown up either! I still keep thinking about them as little kids, with Madison talking about woohoo to everyone she knows. 😉
Aw, that was cute!
Wow, that cheerleader in the dorms is so pretty!
Anna and Dewey get to start their life together and I’m so excited for them. Anna looks like a little munchkin standing next to Madison, ha ha!
That cheerleader is really pretty! She was automatically generated, but I do use default face template replacements, so she didn’t run the risk of getting any of the awkward Maxis faces. 😉
Anna does look really little next to Madison, lol! The Sutton girls are slightly shorter than average, and Madison is slightly taller than average, so it ends up being a big difference between them.
LOL @ Ethan and Mona and her llama boyfriend! These kids are too funny!
OMG, Bryant! Way to fail, lol! I’m totally not convinced that was an accident! 😉
That is annoying about the GPA thing – I just tend to consider it a class they need to qualify for graduation, rather than real academic probation.
Yay, congrats to Anna and Dewey!