Friends

Round 15: College
(Emil, James, Betsy, Trent and Tate)

Last update: Tate and Trent/Emil/Betsy/James

Next update

Narrated by Betsy Carmody

Emil, James and I are the new freshmen at Suffolk this semester. I'm majoring in Economics, Emil's chosen Art and James has gone the self-flagellation route and picked Mathematics. James and I are both single but Emil is theoretically dating my sister. Not quite sure how exclusive they are.

Also living with us are Tate and Trent, my cousins. They both put on a lot of weight in their first two years at Suffolk and are currently working pretty hard to get rid of it all.

James and Emil, despite being polar opposites, have become study buddies. It works out okay for them, apart from the times Emil mutters dirty jokes about the nudes in his art books, which completely scandalises James.

Me though, I prefer to work alone.

Besides his studies, Emil has also been concentrating on a cheerleader who pops in constantly to boost school spirit or something.

I guess he and my sister aren't exclusive after all. I hope Anna is aware of this fact.

While Emil is occupying himself with the cheerleader, the other boys are usually watching TV. Unfortunately, nobody but Tate ever wants to watch the Yummy Channel.

This usually happens well after I've gone off to bed for the night. I go to bed at a pretty decent hour; the boys are up till at least 2, usually closer to 4.

So I had no idea but Tate has started dating Zelda Benton.

We're pretty good friends and she tells me it's a fairly new thing.

Still, sounds like it's getting serious fast. Tate is planning on moving in with her and her mum once he graduates.

To celebrate the end of our freshman year (and the end of junior year for Tate and Trent), we decided to go on a camping trip to Three Lakes. Remind me to bring my own food next time. The service is way too slow, considering how hungry we all were when we arrived.

There was an axe throwing...thing...right at our campground. I'd never tried it before but I got a bull's eye on my second try! I almost fell over I was so shocked. I guess I'm a natural.

Emil though...well, not so much. I've never seen anyone throw an axe and have it land behind them before. He tried for hours, until he was all sweaty but the closest he got was the grass surrounding the target.

For some reason, Emil's mum was hanging around the campsite. Uh, thanks, but we didn't come here to hang out with our parents the whole time! We made a hasty exit and decided to come back closer to bedtime and hope that she was just on a day trip!

James and Trent spent forever looking at this tree stump thing. It must have been fascinating, not that I'd know, seeing they had their big heads in the way the whole time.

Meanwhile, Emil wasted money in the gift shop. He bought a miniature tree stump with an axe stuck in it.

Then the boys went for a soak in the hot springs...

...while I tested out the sauna...

...and learnt how to give deep tissue massages!

After all that, we were relaxed but exhausted and headed back to the camp site. No sign of any mothers!

It's not so comfortable in a tent though so James and I both ended up waking before the sun had even risen. We hung out together, watching the stars. I tell you, if James was a girl, we'd be a great match. We get along so well.

We also decided to go log rolling. I got bored of falling into murky water and pushing other people into murky water pretty quickly but the boys loved it.

Emil, predictably, sucked at it.

Which thrilled Tate.

They were all so rough though. I couldn't help but worry that someone would get hurt.

Being a glutton for punishment, Emil decides to take one last crack at the axe throwing.

It pays off, finally, and Emil leaves Three Lakes satisfied that his trip is complete.

We took it easy for a while once we got back and Emil and I decided on a game of chess. You'd think an experienced games enthusiast like Emil would realise their less experienced opponent was cheating but he fell for the "what the hell is that?" trick every time!

Trent, James and I went girl-hunting at Blue Velvet and it was kind of a bust. I ended up taking over the DJ booth for a few hours.

Trent had a little bit of...um, "fun"...in the photo booth with this biker chick though. I've heard she's kind of a nut though, so I don't know if that will go anywhere.

Tate finished up his senior year (in this "sexy" outfit!) with a 3.4 GPA. Not bad for someone who spent most of their time in front of the TV. He's moved in with Zelda and her mum already.

Trent did much better and managed to get a perfect GPA of 4.0. Trent has moved back to his parents' farm and will eventually take it over.

Random pics:I just like this one and it didn't fit into the update anywhere. They were all playing Marco Polo.

My sister insisted I stick this one in, because she likes how it looks like he's trying to stop the car. Trent's fitness kick lasted pretty much his whole last two years at college, vacation included (loved the log roll!).

Notes:

• James is a total stick-in-the-mud. He consistently rolled up wants to do assignments and study skills while on vacation! When he got the opportunity to change aspiration in junior year, I took it and changed him to Popularity. Knowledge isn't working for any of the ladies, apparently. But he now has chemistry with someone playable, so I'm happy.
• Trent is so not getting started with Virginia Watkins. Nuh uh. They did that all on their own. I'm going to wait to see if any playables want to marry him. Guys don't have the fertility issues girls do, so I'm less eager to marry them off.
• Going on vacation was an ROS but it was a nice, easy one and lots of fun too.