Cactus

Round 20: Autumn 2012

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Eliot Novak is 26, Max Nihill is 25, Zaria Royce is 24, Wade Gottlieb is 22 and Cordy and Luc Lane are both 19.
(Amelia is 23)

On starting her sophomore year, Cordy found that the other dormies living with her and Luc at Novak Hall weren't as bad as they seemed . They made convenient study buddies...



And sometimes it was nice to talk to someone other than Luc over breakfast.

Cordy's boyfriend Eliot had just started his senior year and both of them dreaded the inevitable separation that would come with his graduation. They're not supposed to have overnight "guests" in the single dorms but it's not too hard to get around that rule.

Eliot is really struggling in his senior year and is desperately writing extra term papers and assignments to try to catch up to his classmates. Cordy's yammering is not particularly helpful, nor is the incessant ringing of her mobile phone.

Luc has been attempting to get into Rhianna's pants, pretty much since his arrival. He's not even really that interested in her but it fascinates him that she's not into him.

He's found her weakness - sports! Luc knows plenty about sports, so they're soon chatting away and before Luc knows it, Rhianna has agreed to a date that very night.

Luc's last date at the ice skating rink was back in high school and wasn't too successful. Still, there's no reason to believe this one might turn out the same way.

Not too bad so far.

Honestly though, Rhianna was a little boring. Nothing she said was at all interesting and she'd agreed to come to a skating rink and then refused to actually skate.

And she got taken in by that pickpocket guy. Sure, Luc had been fooled by him himself last time he was at the rink but he was only in high school then! Rhianna was a grown woman!

Luc refused to let the whole night go to waste. There was no law saying he ever had to see her again, right?

Of course, if Luc is going to live his life by that philosophy, perhaps he should choose partners who don't live in the same dorm as him. Rhianna has become a bit clingy!

Luc has moved onto other challenges, like Corrinna here. Corrinna started out completely uninterested but one long-stemmed rose later and she's suddenly looking at Luc differently.

Now she's like putty in his hands!

So far though, Cara is still his favourite.

Cordy had to admit to being a little jealous of her brother. They made the same grades but they seemed to come so much easier to him. Here she was slaving away at the computer every single night while Luc was out on dates, drinking at bars or lounging around the dorm watching TV. Cordy felt like she hadn't left the dorm all year.

Over at Moretti Hall, the seniors are supposed to be studying in preparation for their final year but that's not exactly what's happening. Wade and Eliot are playing poker and Max and Zaria are engaging in their usual public displays of affection, much to Eliot's disgust.

Eliot is relieved when they go downstairs to retire to the hot tub.

Why is it that every time Max and Zaria want to spend some time together, her father seems to show up?

Thankfully, Leo keeps his distance during their date and Max and Zaria are able to (mostly) ignore him. Even if he does keep glaring at Max every time he touches Zaria.

It's for that reason that the pair end up finishing their evening at a park, rather than anywhere near the restaurant.

Back at the dorm and the reasons for Eliot's struggles this year are becoming clear: alcohol...

...and Cordy. Too much distraction, not enough study! He's been warned about academic probation but just can't motivate himself to care.

Wade's doing pretty well this year, so he can afford some time off to take Amelia out for dinner. They go to The Claudette. Not only is it the fanciest place in town but it's also owned by Wade's dad, entitling him to a hefty discount!

Wade orders the Chef's Choice and when the waitress brings them their food, she ends up dumping most of it all over Amelia.

After Wade had convinced Amelia that the waitress didn't deserved to be fired for an honest mistake which she had already apologised profusely for, they shared an uneventful dinner.

Wade thought he might have been in for a purse beating when he spotted Mrs Crumplebottom approaching, just as he'd reached down to grab Amelia's ass. Apparently, old Mrs Crumplebottom has loosened up a tad though because she just keeps walking. She glares at them but she seems to glare at everything!

Max has breezed through university and without much effort at all, he's been able to graduate early.

Caterina and Ben are both so proud of their college graduate (hopefully not the last - they're hoping Olivia decides to go too) and they've made a special trip to campus to attend his party.

Zaria's not quite ready for graduation but if she knuckles down, she'll be able to graduate by the scheduled date and rejoin Max in Sullivan.

Max's dormmate Wade earned the privilege of graduating a little early too and his family has also traveled to campus to congratulate him.

Wade even had a cheesy graduation portrait taken, which Athena will be proud to hang on the wall.

It's been four years since Joanna and Wade have seen each other regularly and with Joanna starting at Suffolk in Autumn 2013, it will be yet another four years before they are again living in the same city. Joanna uses the grad party to catch up with her brother and to get some advice on college life.

Joanna's pretty sure she'll be okay with the academic side of university and she figures it can't hurt to be friendly with some older students either. Cordy will be a junior when Joanna starts as a freshman. They'll also be living in the same dorm next year.

Weeks pass and Zaria is thrilled to be able to graduate on time.

She's somewhat surprised her father hasn't thought about what a bad idea it might be to bring her boy-crazy sister Asha to a university campus but she's so excited to see her sister again and doesn't mention anything.

Just as Zaria had suspected she would, Asha makes a beeline for Luc as soon as she's through the door. They actually seem to be getting along really well. Zaria definitely won't mention this to their father but she could have sworn Asha was flirting with Luc.

And with that, Eliot is the final student remaining at Moretti Hall. Unsurprisingly, the university admin have placed Eliot on academic probation, so he will have to repeat his final semester. Hopefully, he'll be a little more conscientious this time around.

Random pics:
In case you were wondering, the narcolepsy epidemic at Novak Hall is still in full force! It seems to affect all residents, except for Luc and Cordy, so it's a dormie problem. Why it doesn't happen at Moretti Hall is anyone's guess.

Notes:

• Grades! Luc has earned an A+ every semester so far, so he's got a 4.0 GPA (I went ahead and gave him secondary aspiration of Knowledge, seeing he seems to swing that way anyway). Cordy earned an A+ too but her GPA is only 3.7. Max (another Rom/Kno Sim) graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Wade got an A+ this year too and graduated with a GPA of 3.6. Zaria was somewhat of a lazy student and earned a C+ and graduated with a GPA of 3.4. Eliot seems to have lost all motivation. He got a D this year (GPA 3.1). He has at least 5 skill points he needs to earn to open up his grade meter and he hasn't rolled a want to gain a single one. So I'm expecting him to flunk out but he may surprise me.
• When Eliot finally does flunk out/graduate, that will be the end of my college students in their mid 20s! From now on, everyone will enter at 18 and be back in the hood at 22.
• Luc has 1 bolt with Rhianna but he follows her around the dorm flirting with her anyway. But he yawned and rolled his eyes through their entire date, so I gather he's not too fond of her company, apart from the physical side of it.
• More chemistry fun: Corrinna started out with negative chemistry with Luc (bear in mind that they had somehow become BFFs without my knowledge) and one or two romantic interactions was all it took to boost that chemistry to TWO BOLTS! Unbelievable!
• Cordy and Eliot's chemistry has gone up too. I had it recorded as 2 bolts, raw score 70 and total 125. It's now gone up to 3 bolts, 105, 210. I wish I'd noted when I checked their score last. If the score I jotted down was pre-going steady, I would assume that it was going steady that gave it the boost.
• I think it's really cool that I wrote Leo as an overprotective father way back when Zaria was in her early teens and he continues to "coincidentally" show up every time Max and Zaria are out together.
• Asha and Luc have very high chemistry. I forgot to note it but it's definitely into three bolts territory and whatever it was, I think it was the third highest I've seen so far (top two couples are Emil and Anna and Max and Zaria). So there's definitely a future for these two!