Romancing the Apocalypse Chapter 8 - Uni Daze (University and 50 Dream Dates team up to drive the creator: a) insane, b) to Guitar Hero, c) both. ;) )

Welcome back to Romancing the Apocalypse! Episode 6* left off as Gen 3's youngest, Ciel and Jake, arrived at La Fiesta Tech. After D- grades in high school, will they shine academically? Will they be able to avoid killing each other? Will Ciel get her 50 Dream Dates? Will Jake even get played? Let's find out these answers and more as the creator goes into a uni daze... *Chapter 7 was an interlude only to fix the slow dance in Chapter 6. Pinstar's Apocalypse Challenge can be found at http://apocalypsechallenge.boolprop.com. More Apoca-fun can be found on the forums at www.boolprop.com.

(06/07/2008)

My brother Jake and I were able afford this little house with our $8250 in scholarship money, with a few thou leftover to spend. I had visions of throwing the best bash ever so I could get to know some guys to date. But no, Tightwad here insisted we stash our extra money in the bank. Party pooper.

I brought a recliner, phone, and grill that Jake had given me as my going away present. For a few blissful days I thought I was going to be spared the pleasure of his company, but sadly, he followed me to college and brought his own recliner, a good sink, and Haley's bookcase. Hah! As if I was going to spend my free time studying. There were dream dates to be had, many many dream dates...

"Hey Dummy, not bad, huh?" "That's Mr. Dummy to you. C'mon, let's get this stuff arranged." "Make you a deal... you arrange and I'll go buy the other stuff we need." "All right, you can have a thousand. That'll leave us over $2000 for bills and protection payments at the end of the semester." "A thousand! We can only buy crappy stuff for a thousand." "Then I'll go buy the crappy stuff and you can shift this stuff around." "No thanks... *mutter* Tightwad." "That's Mr. Tightwad to you."

I found the stuff we needed for the kitchen and a decent toilet. Really, whoever heard of a house, even in the Apocalypse, coming without a toilet? My best buys were the carpet remnants I was able to piece together for a festive rug in the main room and two free pillows. Which left me with five simoleans to spare.

"C'mon, hand it over. Where's my change?" "Are you insane?" "Heheh, just kidding. You did pretty good, you're a lot smarter than you look." The sooner I got away from this bozo, the better. "I'm going out...don't bother waiting up for me." "Whatever you say, Miss Universe."

So I started my quest for dream dates, and Jake began his quest for...I had no clue and couldn't care less.

For dating, I figured LuLu's was a good place to start. “Hey, babe, do you know who I am?” “No.” “Ratna Miguel? Celebrity Chef? Number one show on the Yummy Channel?” “I have no idea what you're talking about.” “You haven't seen me on TV?” “I've never seen anything on TV. So many televisions, only none of 'em work.” “Yours or the whole neighborhood's?” “The whole neighborhood.” “Later, babe.”

"Dad!" "Hey, Ciel. How's college treating my sky girl?" "So far so good. Um, I wasn't expecting to see you." "We just found someone in Science we'd like you to meet. He's an Inventor." "Is he cute?" "How would I know? Why don't you come with me and see for yourself...he's at the house right now."

"There he is, Ciel, the Inventor." "He's kinda cute. I totally could date him." "He's all yours."

"Kennedy, I'd like you to meet my daughter Haley. Haley, this is my new friend, Kennedy Custer. He's an Inventor." "Yeah, Mom, we all know he's an Inventor." "Don't be rude..." "But I told you about me and Blue. I don't wanna see anyone else." "Haley! Not in front of..."

"La-la-la. Not Blue, not interested."

"I'm Ciel. Don't mind my sister, Kennedy...she has only one nice point." "I take it you're nicer?" "I was thinking we could go on a date. Is that nice enough for you?" "Very nice."

"Blue, you came over!" "I always come over."

"You've gotta help me my family's in matchmaking mode they're finding all these scientists thank goodness for Ciel and her dream-date want I've been let off the hook so far I don't think I can take anymore I told them I'm not interested in being heir I want to be with you but they..." "Wait a minute...did you say you want to be with me?" "Didn't I just make that clear?" "But what happened on our date was an accident. You're not supposed to get involved with Simselves, remember?" "I've been thinking about that. If I'm not heir, I don't see why we can't."

"Do you know who the heir is yet?" "No, not yet." "Then how do you know it won't be you?" "I have my ways...I'll make sure of it."

Kennedy and I started dating. I decided to get as many of my dream dates as possible with him to avoid public slap fests.

Five dates...

Ten dates...

“Remember when you mentioned that girl you might be engaged to when we tried to break up the nice way?” “Shelby? Yeah?” “I've been thinking... How do you know she even exists in our neighborhood?” “She must...she exists in all downtown neighborhoods.” “Have you been looking for her?” “Of course I have, I'm so done with being in limbo like this.” “Now that the kids are in college we've been going downtown at night looking for future spouses. What does she look like? Maybe I can help you find her.” “Blonde hair, kind of a black beret...” “Omigosh, the downtown hottie?” “That's her.” “I've seen her! Just a minute, let me check my friends panel...no, sorry, I haven't met her, but I know exactly who you're talking about.” “Then there is hope I can find her. Thanks, Kate.”

Fifteen dates...

"Dad, who's your friend?" "This is Melissa Fancey. She's a Mad Scientist." "Eeee! Dad! Oh my... Sorry Melissa, I didn't mean to sound so...so...you must think I'm a loon." "Sullivan has told me all about your situation. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you and meeting...Jake."

Lorin here: I wondered if getting Sullivan vamped was a good move, aside from wanting him to bring back Eileen and his friend count being so high. When he found Melissa, I felt every minute of his miserable existence (Knowledge Sim with skills all maxed) after Eileen's death was worth it.

"I hope you'll like it here." "I hope so too. The prospect of spending all my days and nights holed up in my lab was becoming a depressing reality for me. Can you tell me a little about...Jake?" "He's a good kid, but he's no pushover. You wouldn't want to get on his wrong side." "I'll keep that in mind."

Twenty dates... I was thrilled with the progress I was making, but of course, others thought differently...

“Have I told you before how glad I am you became a vampire?” “No, you haven't.” “Well, I just wanted to say...good job.” “You've had a want for me to be cured from the beginning. You're trying to butter me up for something, aren't you?” “Well...don't get upset, but it's about Nemo.” “I should've known. Kate, I don't want...” “But this is good news for you as well... See, I found out who the girl is that he's involved with in Riverblossom Hills. If we could help him find her, maybe they could get together here too.” “You mean someone else to take his mind off of you? I could go for that.” “So you'll help?” “As long as I don't have to deal with him directly, sure.”

Downtown Hotties - Female. Aha, I bet that's the one. Now we'll just arrange for them to meet...

“Is Punch You Punch Me helping you at all, Nemo? I'm finding it kinda therapeutic.” “Too early for me to tell yet.” “I have good news...I think we found your downtown hottie.” “But how?” “That's the other good news...we moved in a Mad Scientist! The computers are working now.” “That's great! Where can I find her?” “Corey found out she hangs around LuLu's mainly.” “Ugh, LuLu's?” “I know...” “It can't be helped, I suppose. LuLu's it is.”

"Kathi, uh, nice to see you." "What d'you want?" "...Sorry for being so rude the other day. Nothing against you personally, I just wasn't myself." "Oh yeah?" "Hey, I was wondering, could you tell me how to make those eggs again? They did sound rather yummy." "Darn right they're yummy. You know, you've really got some nerve. First you get me in trouble with Pinstar, then you ignore me in public. So I don't think I will tell you how to make those eggs, but I'll tell you where you can put 'em..." "I...I can't believe it. It's her!" "What on earth...?" "Sorry, Kathi, gotta go...”

“Ah...hello.” “Hello.” “Your name wouldn't happen to be...Shelby, would it?” “No, it's Erin.” “I'm Nemo.” “Nemo.” “This is gonna sound crazy, but do you...know me, know about me, remember me...anything like that?” “I've never seen you before, I have no clue who you are.” “You're sure? I'm not familiar to you at all?” “Look, bub, if this is some kind of pickup line, it's not working.” “Cats? Dog? Helmet? Any of those ring a bell?” “Get lost.”

Erin: Psycho. Nemo: I...didn't cheat. I'm...free... Lorin here: The plumbbob isn't Nemo's, it's Jake's. Nemo and his Riverblossom Hills sweetheart just happened to talk all on their own. Hehe! Da Bomb.

I should've known...he's never gonna be out of our lives. Oh no! Not...

"Nemo! This is a nice surprise." "Wow, Ciel, I can't believe you're already in college. How d'you like it?" "It's really hectic, but good. Especially the stuff...you know...besides the school part?" "I'm glad you're...enjoying yourself." "I'm glad I ran into you, Nemo. I better run, I'm meeting someone in a few minutes. Say hi to Mom for me."

“Nemo, I heard it didn't work out with Shelby.” “Erin.” “You must be so disappointed.” “Well, it's not great news, but I was kind of expecting it. I'm thinking this is a turning point for me...at least there's nothing holding me back now.” “So you're really okay?” “Yeah, I'm really okay. By the way, I saw Ciel that night too.” “Really? What did she say? I haven't heard from her for a while.” “Just that her life was hectic and she was enjoying herself. We didn't talk for very long, she was on her way to meet someone.” “So she seemed all right?” “She seemed fine. A little more interested in having fun than in her studies...” “She is a Pleasure Sim.” “That makes sense then. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders, though.” “I know she doesn't want me checking up on her, but would you mind...sometime, for my peace of mind, maybe paying her a visit?” “In a couple of days?” “Thank you, Nemo. And thank you for the lovely piano.”

Twenty-five dates later, the roses were really getting out of control. I invited Alvin to the house to give most of them away.

Then one day, Nemo paid me a surprise visit. "My mom put you up to this, didn't she? I can't believe she sent you over to check up on me!" "She's just worried because you go out a lot." "So what if I do? It's with the guy she set me up with. I'm not missing any classes, I'm doing all my assignments, I've got a 4.0. What more does she want?" "Have you maxed all your skills yet? Maybe that'd make her feel better." If they wanted to play their little games, I'd play along.

"Maybe you could help me with that?" "Sure, what do you need to work on?" "Just one itty-bitty logic point and I'm done." "Reeeally, you're that far along?" "I'm a very fast skiller." "How about a game of chess, then I'll be on my way?"

"Whoa, we just sat down. I hate to waste a trip... shall we play a game for fun anyway?" "You know, Nemo, there's something else you could help me with." "What's that?"

"You know...dream date?" "Dream date?"

"I've got fifty of 'em to get, and twenty-three left." "Your mom didn't send me over to date you." "Forget about her. In case you forgot, I'm all grown up. And one of the classes I took here was on those little Sim absurdities...I figure you're not that much older than me. Besides, no woo-hoo, no problems, right?" "I think I forgot to feed Sake..." "So you're not gonna help me achieve my Lifetime Want? I thought you had this reputation for getting your Sims to achieve amazing things." "That's true..."

"How about this? If I ask and you don't want to, just say no... I won't ask again. So tell me, Nemo, do you wanna, you know, go on a date?" "N...yes!" Heheh, too easy...

Only the date didn't turn out the way I expected. "Wow, Nemo, I'm...surprised." "I didn't expect this either." "Only twenty-two left. Oops, I didn't mean that the way it sounded." "It's kind of exciting when you get past the half-way point, isn't it?" "Hehe, yeah it is."

"But you are more than just a date count to me now. Can we go on another one?"

“Twenty-one. Oops, I did it again.” “Don't worry about it. It kind of reminds me of...me.”

Twenty...and every date just got better and better.

"Lemme guess...roses." "Our roses, Nemo." "Hm..."

"I think we should keep us a secret for a while." "Fine by me." "Really? Why so fine by you?" "First there's your mom. You know about the...incident she and I had?" "Not the details, but yeah, I have a general idea."

"After the slow dance, something happened that never should have. And the breakup was rather...awful. She is my best friend again, but once in a while I get this irresistible urge to kick her trashcan. I guess the memories will never go away completely."

"And then there's your dad. Let's just say we'll never be the best of buddies." "What is it between you and my dad? I mean, besides my mom." "He has a...distant twin brother who's in my Apocalypse and I think, no I'm certain, he considers me a...let's be kind and call it a tyrant. But it's really just my style of playing...I mean, going for all those points doesn't make it easy on me either. So anyway, that's why I'm not too eager for your parents to know I'm seeing you right now." "Nemo?" "Too complicated for you? I wouldn't blame you if it was."

"Does this answer your question?"

"Dad! What are you doing here?" "I want to talk to you about the other night." "What other night?" "I think you know...the night when you were out with him." "Who him?" "Don't play dumb, Ciel. You know very well which him I'm talking about." "H-how do you know?"

"I saw you two together. Nemo certainly gets around with his slow dance, doesn't he?"

"You were there that night too? You and Mom are a piece of work! First she sends him over to...practically spy on me. Like he had to hold my hand to make sure I was doing what I was supposed to!" "But you are out all the time." "Dates, Dad, remember those? I can keep going practically forever with them. 4.0, never late for class once either. And just so you know, he spent less than a minute at the chess table with me before I had maxed all my skills, so get off my back!" "Don't you talk to me like that." "Ha! You treat me like a child and look what happened! And get this, now I really like him. Don't you love the irony? Thanks for sending him over! And now you're giving me grief over it?" "You come inside with me."

"It wasn't my idea to send him over. And get this straight, Ciel. I..don't..like him. It's bad enough that your mom and he are such good friends. But I draw the line at you getting involved with him." "Then why don't you draw the line at Mom being friends with him, too?" "Your mom isn't perfect, but I trust her. I would never tell her who she can or cannot see." "Wake up, Dad! I'm an adult now, you can't tell me who I can see anymore either! It's not just Mom and I, but Haley too. We all really like him. Do you think we're all a bunch of gullible fools? Well, I won't bother telling you about all of his good qualities because you're blind to them anyway. Just what is your problem with him?" "All of you think he's so flipping nice, but he can be ruthless. He stops at nothing, and I mean nothing, for his precious legacy points."

"Is he doing that to us, to you?" "No, of course not. You don't understand, I don't understand it. Oh, never mind, I can't explain it...I just get this very strong gut reaction at the idea of you with him...I can't help it. And I'm not telling you but asking you to stop seeing him. For me." "If you're worried about Kennedy, he doesn't know." "This has nothing to do with Kennedy." "Of course it does, you don't want me to blow our chances now that we've got someone who can lift Science for us..." "He's not going to lift Science for us." "What? Did he find out?" I felt my stomach clench. "Oh Dad, I'm sorry..." "Will you stop talking and listen to me? Your Vampa found someone else, a Mad Scientist."

“A Mad Scientist? Dad, this is incredible! He or she?” “...She...” I felt light-headed, giddy. I liked Kennedy, but for the first time in my life, my future was wide open with possibilities. I was able to consider being with someone totally of my own choosing. “...but I wish it was a he.” I chose to ignore his last comment. “I'm so excited...for all of us.” “......” “Dad? You don't look very happy about it.” “Of course I'm happy about it.” “What's wrong then?” “You've very neatly managed to get the subject changed, Ciel, but we're not finished with the real reason I came here.” All my life my dad had been so understanding and supportive of all of us, especially when it came to our happiness. The possibility of an arranged marriage that came with heirship was a natural part of our upbringing in the Apocalypse, and we accepted it. But I had never seen this stubborn streak before...there was not one bit of understanding or support for me in his eyes. I felt...lost somehow.

“But what if I really want to keep seeing him?” “You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?” “I don't mean to be difficult, but *sniff* I think it might be too late already...” “From the moment I had to kick you out of my coffin I knew you could someday be the death of me...” “Dad! How can you say that?” “I'm...sorry, I didn't mean death literally. That was just my stupid way of saying that you're...very special to me, and I'm...at a complete loss right now.” “I'm sorry for how I sounded earlier.” “You were right...you are an adult now, and it's about time I accept that.” “Dad... *sniff* ” “I'll...let you be for a while, and I'll see you after you graduate. In the meantime, take care of my...take care of yourself for me.” “Please don't go. Can't we talk about it some more?” “Goodbye, Ciel.”

Knowing of my dad's strong disapproval didn't stop from wanting to see Nemo more than ever.

Was I ever going to be able to go somewhere without running into my parents? "Ciel, what a surprise! Shouldn't you be in class or studying or something?" "Don't worry, Mom, I've got it handled. I have a question for you, though." "Yes?" "Where do you get off sending Nemo over to...to..." "See how you're doing?" "I don't need that, Mom! How could you...embarrass me like that? What did I do to deserve that?"

“Well, it would've been nice for you to keep in touch with us. We haven't heard from you since you met Kennedy, but your dad sure sees you out and about at all hours. We were worried about you.” “I've been busy...” “Obviously.” “Mom, please listen... I'm not gonna blow all of Haley's hard work and not do well in college, okay? Actually, school's the easy part...but getting fifty dream dates is hard work.” “Fifty is an awful lot." Thank heaven for Medical! "How are you doing it all?” “Like I said, Mom, I'm very busy! But you know how it is...you don't really need to sleep after dating all night.” “That's true. Do you think you'll make your goal?” “Of course. I can get five to ten a night before Lorin goes crazy or Crumpy-butt puts the kibash on things.” “Oh, I hate Crumpy-butt too.”

"Actually, Mom, there's something I want to tell you. I think I've met someone..." "Not Kennedy?" "I like Kennedy, but no...not Kennedy. Promise you won't get upset?" "Should I be upset?" "I...I'm not sure. It's..." "Come on, Ciel, now you've really got me curious." "It's...............Nemo."

“Nemo?!?” “Are you...you're not upset?” “Nemo. You really like each other?” “We've only been on a few dates, but yeah, I really like him, I think I more than like him. And he likes me too.” “I...don't think I am upset, Ciel. I think maybe I like the idea.” “He told me about your...you know...the...” “Slow dance?” “Yeah. So...you really don't think you'd mind?” “To be honest, the slow dance did mess us up a little, but nothing we can't deal with. I'll tell you exactly how it is with me and Nemo. We've been best friends for a very long time, and only your dad and you kids are more important to me than him. I wish him every happiness, and if you're happy with each other, I couldn't be more happy...for both of you.” “Mom, I'm so relieved! But what about...Dad?” “Your dad...is going to be a problem. I can't guarantee anything, but...let me see what I can do.” “Thanks, Mom, you're the best!”

“Don't waste your time, Kate, you're not going to change my mind.” “But if you just saw how she was when she talked about him...” “I don't want her seeing him. You have no idea how strongly I feel about this.” “Oh, I do have an idea, Corey. I've never known you to be so unreasonable before...just like when I was being the exact same way with a certain vampire in this room.” “This is different...” “Of course it is...you choose to place more importance on sticking to your guns than on our daughter's happiness. Why don't you tell me the difference?” “.......” “Well?” “I...can't.” “Believe me when I say it's not worth it, Corey.” “.....I will...give it more thought.”

A few days later I decided to go home and see how the family was doing... Oh, who was I kidding, I couldn't stand not seeing Dad, I had to find out if he had softened, even if it was just a little. “I miss you, Dad.” “I...miss you, too.” “Where's Mom?” “She's downtown with your Vampa.” “I ran into her the other day.” “She told me. So you're still seeing him.” “Have you thought anymore about it?” “Is that what you came here for?” “Dad, please...have you?” “Of course I've thought about it. It's all I can think about.”

"And...?" "I've tried, I'm trying, but I just...can't, Ciel, not yet." "Well, I can't stop seeing him either. Why do you have to be this way with the only guy I've ever really wanted?!" "Just a minute, for years you've all known how I felt about him. Of all the choices out there, why did you have to go and choose him?! The only one you knew would drive me crazy!"

"Stop it, Dad, just stop it!" I could hear the anger growing in our voices, felt it like it was a living thing, and for the first time in my life I was afraid...afraid that if I stayed any longer we both might say things we would never be able to take back. It was so unfair...all I ever wanted was to enjoy life, I never wanted to hurt anyone. But all I could feel at that moment was hurt, all I could see in his eyes was hurt. Blinking back my tears, I started to leave, a complete meltdown a near certainty if I didn't get away. When I felt his hand touch my shoulder I bolted, not caring that he could hear me sobbing my heart out. I wanted him to know just how much he was hurting me.

I walked a good part of the way, and I had calmed down a little by the time I got home, but I couldn't believe my eyes when Jake was outside, could it be waiting up for me? “Jakey! I mean...Dummy. What're you do... OMIGOSH, your hair! You look so different.” “You don't know the half of it.” “What?” “I decided to change my...outlook on things. Wanting to buy all that material stuff and trying to watch our finances was wearing me down...I was having no fun at all. So I decided to choose Knowledge aspiration like Vampa.” “You could've handed the money over to me, I would let you buy whatever you wanted.” “Eh, I don't care about that stuff anymore. You wanna know the best part?” “I can call you Nerd?” “Go ahead, call me what you want. Cuz I'm perma-plat, baby! Oh yeah, beatcha!” “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” “Heheheh.” “But how?” I stomped my foot. “You weren't even supposed to get perma-plat, let alone beat me to it!”

"Remember that time when you were home and you ignored me? Oh wait, when you're home you always ignore me. Which I'm grateful for, by the way."

“You really could use some freshening up, sis.” “Why are you being so nice to me?” “Dad called...” “He did? What'd he say?” “He said you might want someone to talk to when you got home tonight. And he wants me to call so he knows you got home safe.” *sniff* “So do you? Wanna talk?” “Not really. I just wanna forget about me for a while. *sniff* ” “Okay.” “So...you're perma-plat. Can you...tell me what else you've been doing?” “It's probably boring compared to you.” “Can you tell me anyway?”

"I invited Kelly over to give her some of your roses and the stuff I dug up in back of the house." "Did you find anything good?" "Tons of bones and rocks, then I found three treasure maps..." "That's pretty cool." "...and a couple of small statues...a frog and a horse." "That is cool. Why did you stop digging?" "This place is too small, and I didn't feel like digging up stuff I'd just have to give away later." "What else happened?"

"You know the cheerleader who kept barging in all the time?" "The redhead?" "Yeah, Ivy. She and I hit it off." "You and a cheerleader?!" "......." "Ahem. Anything else good?"

"Then I met Mel. She wants to be a Celebrity Chef."

"Then I was seeing more and more of Ivy..."

"...and more and more of Mel." "Jake! You're worse than I am."

"And get this... I met Jaqueline, who was one of Gramma Ei's best friends from the Secret Society." "That is so weird!" "It gets weirder. She just couldn't get over how Eileen's grandson was going to college with her. And then..."

"She kissed me goodbye. And not a little peck either." "Ewww! She's gotta be ancient!" "No, she's our age...that's the strangest part of all." "This keeps getting better and better...what else?"

"Nothing else, except I felt a real passion for learning. I didn't stop until I learned everything I could from Haley's bookcase. And that's when I became perma-plat." "I still can't believe you beat me." "Heheh, me either. So anyway, that's my story." "It's a lot better than I thought it would be."

"That's better. Oh yeah, there's one more thing I did while you were gone." "Yeah?" "Look over there. I'm gonna call Dad."

"Hey, it works!" "I know." "So you must know about the Mad Scientist?" "Yeah." "What're you gonna do about your girlfriends?" "I'm not thinking about that right now. I'm gonna have fun here as long as I can." Jake had to go to class, so I watched TV for a few hours and even saw Ratna Miguel's show on the Yummy Channel. The food looked good, but since I probably would not cook or eat anything I saw on his show, I lost interest and got antsy.

It wasn't until I saw him again that I knew how much I missed him. "Oh Nemo, I needed this hug." "Are you all right?" "I am now."

"I could use a little cheering up, though." "Can I help?" "Definitely. I want to get the rest of my dream dates." "Now?" "Now, today, tonight, tomorrow, as long as it takes." "Sixteen left." "Sixteen? You're keeping count?" "Of course I am. Sixteen dream dates...I'm game. Are you?" "Of course I am."

We always started off with a slow dance.

By the time we finished our make-out wants, our dates were always just shy of dreamy. *Sigh* if only we could woo-hoo, it would be so much easier...

Sometimes we'd get so close to but not quite a dream date, and then the only thing I could do was prank him, then Nemo would prank back and then...

Dream Date!

On some of our dates, all we wanted to do was woo-hoo. Since that was out of the question, I called for the taxi to take us somewhere else...maybe we just needed a little change of scene. Voila! We rolled new wants and we got our dream date. “Willow, why so glum?” “Aside from you gagging when you passed by me inside a minute ago?” “I never...I didn't...” “It gets worse.” “Worse?” “I'm just not myself around here. Lorin didn't know what aspiration I was when she put me in the neighborhood, so she made me a Pleasure Sim because, get this, she thinks my story and posts are funny. But I'm supposed to be Knowledge.” “Sorry to hear that, Willow.” “Please keep that in mind if you see me around making a fool of myself.”

After several more dates, I was caught completely by surprise, although I should've known it would happen at LuLu's...

I had forgotten all about Kennedy.

"Kennedy, I'm sorry. Our dream dates were wonderful, but I've found somebody else. Can you forgive me?" "Does it look like I forgive you?" "Not really." "I think you can forget about recycling your newspapers from now on." "If it'll make you feel better, go right ahead."

For a little variety, I tried all sorts of options from the Ask menu. Here I invited Nemo home with me.

"What now? You hungry? Want a hot dog?" "No, do you?" "No." "Let's keep going then."

"After all the date-y stuff we've been doing, I know now my favorite thing to do with you." "So do I." "Hehe! Besides the kissing, I mean." "Oh. What do you like the best?"

"Slowwwww dance."

"Nemo, you're...really good. We've never danced like this before."

I knew it would happen, I wanted it to happen way more than getting my fifty. "I love you, Nemo. I knew it from the moment you counted my dates with me." "I...didn't expect this to happen, Ciel. I'm having the time of my life with you right now, but...I've never considered myself to be a guy for romantic relationships. Well, the helmet may be part of it." I felt a lump in my throat at his reaction, but it didn't really surprise me. I had made the first move, had made every move. I was impetuous, I was moving too fast, but I didn't care. I knew he felt the same way, he just needed the chance to come around in his own time.

"You don't know how wrong you are, Nemo."

"Ciel, wait! I...love you too."

"Better watch out, Nemo, you were awfully romantic back there." Needless to say, this was our dreamiest date yet.

"Hurry, we need a taxi right away." ... "Yes it's an emergency!"

Finally, I had my fifty dream dates!

"This was the best night, day, whatever of my life, Ciel." "Romantic, Nemo. Will you come home with me? There's something I've wanted to do ever since I got into college."

I was perma-plat! I loved Nemo! He loved me back! I was...freezing my a-- off! "Ciel, I can't believe the time. Gotta go."

Had I gone too far? Nemo didn't seem uptight, but that had been crazy even for me. I would have to call him in the morning and find out.

But the next morning roses started to appear. I could only watch in giddy delight as Nemo dropped off bouquet after bouquet after bouquet...sixteen in all, including two he left on the front porch.

"Nemo, how can you say you're not the guy for romantic relationships? This is the most romantic thing I've ever seen." "In this neighborhood, with you, it's almost impossible not to be." "I'll see you when we get back to the neighborhood, okay?" "Call me if you need anything." "I always do."

With our Liftetime Wants achieved and our skills maxed, all we had to do in our last semester was keep our 4.0 GPA. After that awful night with Dad, things were different between Jake and me. "You changed your hair back." "I guess I have more of Dad in me than I thought." At the mention of him, I felt a knot in my stomach. "I'm nervous about going home." "At least you know who you're going to end up with. I can't even imagine what a Mad Scientist is like." "I think Vampa knows what he's doing. And nobody's called us complaining about her, so she's probably a nice normal person, right?" "I sure hope so."

After I finished my final exams, I was ready to go home. There was nothing to hang around here for. My new clothes were slightly outrageous, but they suited me.

Hehe! Jake's clothes could've been worse, but all that green!

The trip home was a blur, both of us lost in our thoughts, wondering what the future held...

...for me and my dad. How afraid I was to see him again, how much I longed for him to call me his sky girl again. And Jake with his Mad Scientist...

"It...can't be. Mel?" "I'm Melissa, Melissa Fancey. Mad Scientist, aspiring Celebrity Chef. Hello, Jake."