a bunch of overgrown children

October 2076, Adrian Jackson and Aurora Miguel are 44, Beau and Tyler Jackson are 12.

The boys are going on fourteen this year, and though Adrian is forty-five, he is honestly nothing more than a teenage boy himself. He owns an arcade, for crying out loud! If it weren't for Aurora sometimes these boys wouldn't know night from day! At least somebody in this house has her head on straight.

Hidden among some very carefully placed pine trees, Adrian has been cultivating "money tree plants" behind the garage ;)

(Money tree plants are illegal in Lakeside Heights, and for each round there are plants present on the lot there is a chance of being caught. The cards of fate must be consulted, and the joker card results in a $1000 fine. This is just a slap on the wrist compared to the counterfeiting machine though, which is a felony and worth 5-10 years jail time!)

Adrian also finally brought home a dog for the boys, from the Bluewater Animal Shelter. She's a really sweet dog, and it was the boys, of course, who thought it would be funny to name her Mary Jane.

Jolie Jolie is doing well, up to rank 9 now. Aurora's stylist skills are vastly improving and she's currently working on her emo look. Aurora fired her long-time manager, Brandon Lillard. He got really fat, and appearances matter in a place like this. And besides, she has Carly, who is learning fast, has a business management degree from Sim State University, and she only charges $45 an hour.

And she's not fat. Again, that kind of matters in the world of high fashion.

More than anything else in the world, Tyler Jackson really really wants to kiss a girl. But he just doesn't seem to know how to go about it.

Dude, she really really doesn't like you!

And then one day, Tyler meets LOVE, and her name is Stephanie Nova! She's a junior in high school this year and he's still in seventh grade, so not that he ever stood a real chance with her...

But good Lord! These boys don't know a damn thing about women!

Or maybe the just like to give noogies?

Stephanie says, "You boys are so lame! Cute maybe, but lame!"

They say one man's trash is another man's treasure. Well Adrian heard that Finer Things had some kind of rare pinball machine for sale, and in an effort to attract more customers to the arcade, he stopped by to have a look.

To say that they find this thing amazing is an understatement! It's loud! It's fun! It has flashing lights and spouting fire! It pays $5 for every point scored! Adrian says, "Boys, let us stand in awe!" And they do. They devote a whole room to it and decorate in a tiki theme.

"It's like art," Beau says.

When she doesn't have any customers, Beau likes to flirt with their cashier, April, which is probably sexual harassment in several forms, but she seems to like him too, so he does it anyway.

She's a little weird, but he doesn't seem to mind.

The pinball machine does seem to be attracting customers and the arcade is up to level four now. Even Stephanie stops by while they're working one night. Tyler gives her yet another noogie while he's thinking about kissing her. Nope, Tyler, that's not how it's done...

But it doesn't matter, she's not here to see Tyler anyway. She really came to meet up with Julian, the guy she's already kind of seeing. "Damn!" Tyler says.

She buys a video game and leaves with Julian. "Thanks kiddo," she says to Tyler, "You're the best."

Oh well. Another girl, another noogie. But don't take it personally, honey, it means he likes you.

And maybe Tyler should take a few hints from Beau, because he's not doing too bad for himself.

Oh, wait, nope, April gets a noogie for old time's sake!

(author's note: I've been playing this game a long time, and never have I ever seen so many autonomous noogies! And Beau doesn't even have a mean personality. I swear, I don't know what's up with these boys, lol!)