on the safe side, part 4

January 15, 2084 - Summer Phoenix is 19, Sophie is 61.

Soundtrack: "Because of You," by Kelly Clarkson.

Summer doesn't dream most of the time. Between school and work and family, there isn't time to dream. Or when she does, they're those short, nonsensical dreams...

silly red sheet, part 3

September 2083 - Aurora Miguel and Adrian Jackson are 51. (Beau and Tyler Jackson and Evie Bachman are 20, Summer Phoenix is 19.)

* soundtrack: "Superman," by Five for Fighting. *

There have been plenty of girls in and out of this house, and in any family, it's an easy enough mistake to make, the question of what to call your boyfriend's mother?

She prefers Aurora, for the record, as Summer always called her. Or even "mom," as April has boldly called her for the past seven years, is just fine. But anything else gets tricky, as Evie quickly discovers.

"Thanks for having me over for dinner, Mrs. Jackson," Evie says.

It's certainly not the first time she's been mistaken for the actual wife of her longtime live-in lover. But tonight, maybe the word hits Aurora harder than it should.

"Oh, no, it's just Ms. Miguel," Aurora says. "And you can thank Adrian for dinner, he does all the cooking around here."

silly red sheet, part 1

September 2083 - Aurora Miguel and Adrian Jackson are 51. (Beau and Tyler Jackson are 20, Carly Cook is 28.)

* soundtrack: "Superman," by Five for Fighting. *

After a lovely weekend with Adrian, Aurora was quickly dropped hard back into her real life. She's afraid of this man, the same man who called her employees customer service lazy and entitled just a couple years ago. So when she sees him in her boutique again, she feels herself inclined to run and hide. But this time he says, "No, don't worry! Everything looks great!"

one day, at Fort Bluewater...

May 2083 (mini-update) - Tyler Jackson (19), Jeremiah Day (26), Joel Harris (41).

One day, at Fort Bluewater, Tyler finds a helicopter. He's never seen one this close, the large metal monstrosity poised there on top of the roof, as if ready to spring into the sky.

prom 2083, revisited

With four different scenes, and travel time to community lots, that prom update took forever to shoot and produced a lot of fun outtakes. And I was also feeling very particular about the mood of my narrative, so I didn't want to throw a bunch of funny outtakes at the end.

And besides all that, it was plenty long enough on its own.

So to start things off, this is what Melissa thought of my first idea for her prom dress! She says, "My cleavage is showing, I feel so naked!"

the things that make you panic

May 2083 (prom) - Dallas Deppiesse (18) and Lucy Harris (16) // Elijah Roberts (17) and Melissa Fortney (15) // Vicky Garth (18) // Summer Phoenix (18) and Tyler Jackson (19).

*** Sorry, I just realized three of my four girls have long dark hair, so I hope that doesn't get too confusing - none of them are wearing the same style. The first section kind of banks on you already knowing who these characters are, so new readers might want to read the linked posts above first. Before you think you're going crazy, yes, the first half is written in a wandering second person POV - and I intend it that way ;)

Box of tissues warning, and maybe NSFW?...

Soundtrack, "Details in the Fabric," by Jason Mraz/James Morrison. ***

You're young. You're growing up by the very minute, but inside, you're not much different from one minute to the next. Not deep down, where it counts, where you still feel the same things you've always felt. You're still the same girl you've been all along.

LCU, life in present tense, part 2

LCU, spring semester, 2083 (part 2 of 3). Last semester, fall 2082.

*soundtrack (for all three parts), "Lifeboats," by Snow Patrol*

They find themselves in a new bar one Thursday night - or new to them, rather. Lucky's Card Bar in the Old West End has been around for decades, longer than the three of them put together. There was a help wanted sign on the door for bartenders. April needs a job, seriously, she doesn't have rich entrepreneur parents funding her education like her friends.

April says, "I'm broke as a joke, guys. Which one of you are buying my drinks tonight?"

Beau says, "Eh, maybe, if you don't tell Evie."

April says, "Tyler? I'll put out."

Tyler says, "Eww."

one day, when she might be able to cheer...

March 2083 (mini-update) - Stephanie Day is 23, Tyler Jackson is 19, Jeremiah Day is 26.

One day, while Stephanie was out walking, she picked up a sad and lost little puppy dog. His name was Tyler Jackson. He saw her first actually, walking past his house. She's still working off that last ten pounds of baby weight, which her mother has informed her might not ever go away. She was always such a tall and slender girl. She's become a woman now. It can't be taken back.

She and Tyler just missed each other last summer, when she moved back to Lakeside Heights, and he moved out to the city for college. But he saw her walking down the street past his parents' house, pushing Willow in a stroller, and he ran out to them. Since he's trying not to smother Summer too much these days, he's happy to reacquaint with an old friend.

He couldn't have come along at a better time. She should have figured a college student might be available to hang out when most grown people are working. She begs him to grant her a game, but she doesn't have to beg. He helps her carry out Willow's bouncy swing.

one day, when she's already in it too deep...

January 2083 ((not so) mini-update) - Amelia Bradshaw is 27, Tyler Jackson is 19, Drew Bruty is 26. *optional soundtrack, "Destiny," by Zero 7*

*** warnings: *blushing* Ummm, not safe for work, or any children playing in the background. This was meant to be a lot tamer before that song came on precisely as I was shooting the last scene, and well, things took a drastic (but hopefully tasteful) turn for the steamier from there! ;) ***

She refuses to think of herself as a slut. Were she a man, nobody would think twice about the number of people she's slept with. It's just a number, and it isn't even that high, considering. She's twenty-seven years old, which means she's been an adult for almost ten years now. She was single for a lot of that time. She was single in college.

It all started three weeks ago, new year's eve, and a long close night spent on the couch. It happened again, once or twice or three times, falling asleep in front of some movie, his hands on her skin, whatever skin was accessible, which was usually quite a bit. Then the warmth of his body heat, and her body heat, which adds up to just too much heat, and finally stripping off her jacket in the night with nothing underneath but that little tiny tank top. Their arms and bodies, twisting in tandem, in tangle, and he finally had to tell her she was driving him crazy.

He might be a sweetheart, but he is a man, after all, and she is Amelia Bradshaw with the cleavage of doom.

LCU, just one key (part 2)

LCU, fall semester, 2082 (part 2 of 2). *optional soundtrack, "Get Together, by the Youngbloods*

*** I had a blast playing these three, so this is MEGA-LONG! I couldn't find a logical place to break it though, and it's mostly picture/dialogue-heavy, so it shouldn't feel too bad ;) ***

It's a lovely night in October, the air is crisp, but not very cold yet. The soccer field smells like cut grass and young men sweating. They're watching Tyler's soccer practice, or not exactly watching, but discussing the wonders of life. Which brings April Hutchins to a very important question.

She turns to her best friend, Beau, and says, "So I'm not saying I'm going to try or anything, but I just want to know, would you hate me forever if I hooked up with Summer?"

2082, we don't need no education

Whoa! Who the heck are all these kids??? Let's see who all is growing up this year.

prequel stories #3: young loves

So I've gotten kind of carried away with these, lol! Looking back through two years worth of pictures, and I've found so many stories I'd like to tell! Most of those stories will have to wait for another time, but I've come up with three more, for now, and then I promise we'll start round 2082! And I want to start round 2082, because I have some good stuff planned, but I figure we'll get these out of the way first.

The "young loves" theme ended up being really huge, so I've broken it in half, loosely divided between the couples who worked out, and the couples who didn't. So part 2 will be prequel story #4: the cutest couples never meant to be. Which in turn inspired prequel story #5: what ever happened to Samantha Bradshaw?

But first, prequel story #3: young loves :)

Summer's place, continued, part 2

July 2082 (part 2 of 2) - part one here.

*** optional soundtrack, "Not As We," by Alanis Morissette ***

He's been lounging around the house lately deep in thought. You'd think he might be giving up the gaming industry to become a philosopher or something. But he decides this morning, just as she's leaving for work, that he'll finally wake up and come bounding out to the garage to stop her and say, "Hey, Summer, wait up a sec'."

Summer's place, continued, part 1

July 2082 (part 1 of 2) - Micah Phoenix is 59, Sophie is 60, Hayden is 32, Summer is 17, Ryanne is 11. (Tyler Jackson is 18). Last update, November 2079.

*** notes: Just a warning, this first part is sad, but the second part made me bawl like the sappy dork that I am, so, if you're that way inclined, maybe don't read these in public ;) ***

*** optional soundtrack, "Not As We," by Alanis Morissette ***

The shop has been closed for almost three years. Summer hasn't even stepped foot inside except for once or twice in that time, and she finds herself surprised at how much it still smells like woodchips, and a little bit like dust. The shelves are still stocked with stuffed teddy bears, and a wooden toy firetruck remains on the front counter, right where her mother left it. She doesn't know what she thought would have happened to them in her absence.

And she doesn't know why she expected to magically find the light switches she was never able to find before, because she doesn't. Not at first. It's a lot to take in all at once, and she finds herself stalled here as the last evening light fades from the day. This front store room is a place stopped in time.

happy mother's day!

I know there are a lot of mommies who read this blog, so in honor of Mother's Day...

in the middle of your picture

May 2082 (prom) - Dallas Deppiesse is 17, Lucy Harris is 15. (Tyler and Beau Jackson are 18, April Hutchins is 18, Summer Phoenix is 17.)

*** notes: you'll probably want to have read Lucy's recent update first. Optional soundtrack, "All I Need," by Radiohead ***

She was just Lucy. She was just some funny little girl he met on the internet, even though they've gone to the same school since childhood. She dragged him out of his shell and became his first real friend. And then they became more than friends. They grew up together, they got older, and somehow he'd missed the point where she had morphed into something of a goddess.

tethered

April 2082 - Toby and April Harris are 42, Lucy is 15, Sarah is 13, Sam is 10. (Dallas Deppiesse is 17.) Last update, September 2078.

Lucy is still not allowed to date Dallas Deppiesse, but it has proven to be a lost cause trying to keep them apart. So her parents reason that she is allowed to have friends, and indeed, a friend he is. A friend that she watches movies with, holds hands with, and kisses goodnight at the door. A friend who drives her home from work, invites her over to dinner with his family, and stays until ten almost every night to "study." And the touching, always touching, her fingertips graze his ankle, or his hand comes to rest on her knee, as if they might die if they weren't constantly tethered by some kind of vital but invisible life force.

And nobody wants to mention - you know silly kids and their fragile egos - but do they even realize that they've started to dress color-coordinated?

But both of their grades remain consistently excellent, so who can complain? Call it what you will.

too hot for words

May 2081 - (2080/81 school year update)

The Lakeside Heights school district is bursting at the seams this year, as it usually is. But with the Lake City Building nearing completion and scheduled to open on time for the 81/82 school year, that should help thin things out a bit. Not so much for these families, but for the incoming crowd, a large group of young families in Lake City who have chosen not to send their children to Lakeside Heights schools. But this is a good thing, because there isn't really room for many more here.

coming of age

April 2081 - Adrian Jackson and Aurora Miguel are 48, Beau and Tyler Jackson are 17. (Summer Phoenix is 16.) Last Update, January 2079.

Beau Jackson has finally grown himself a beard, and it's a fine beard, a proud beard, a manly beard. He's been working on it for quite some time now.

traditional kind of people

December 2080 - Adam and Heather Thompson are 27, Laney is 13 months.

Heather says to her 13-month-old daughter, "The thing is, Laney-cakes, I never really liked it anyway. It's so traditional-looking, so conventional, and what I want to try for is avant-garde. Your daddy liked that one. Your daddy's more traditional than you and I - though we are pretty traditional kind of people - well, except for the graveyard thing. But anyway, the painting..."