Sim State University Versus Ripp Grunt

Chapter Thirteen

Sophomore Year: Romance Disasters

Tank and Kea are walking down the sidewalk across from Cassandra's dormitory, with Tank leading the way. Kea, having a hard time walking in heels, stops to rub her aching feet. "So," Kea begins, looking up at Tank, "Where are we going again?"

"Well, I was going to take you to the park first," Tank answers uneasily, "But if you're hungry, we can always go dumpster diving." Kea drops her foot down, a disturbed expression spread across her face. "That was a joke," Tank states.

"Oh," Kea replies, forcing herself to let out a small laugh, "Uh, let's go now," she says, as the two of them continue walking towards the entrance of the park.

Meanwhile: In Cassandra's Dormitory

Ripp and Isabella are sitting at a black and white checked table in the cafeteria, finishing up their spaghetti dinners. Isabella stops eating when she notices her brother approaching the table.

"Hey Izzy," Brent greets, placing his hands flat down on the tabletop, "I was looking all over for you! Apparently, the university is throwing a little meet-and-greet for all of the Romance Sims on campus tonight, you in?"

"Uh," Isabella begins, turning to exchange a look of panic to Ripp across the table, "Gee, that sounds great Brent, but I actually can't because umm…" Isabella frantically glances around the room searching for an excuse to get out of it; she spots a townie sitting at a table near them, "I promised I would tutor Lindsey today," Isabella states, smiling innocently.

"Oh okay," Brent responds, "Well hopefully you can make the one next week. After all, this is just the intro meeting!" Brent exclaims, causing Isabella's face to fall, "See you later little sister!"

"Bye Brent," Isabella says weakly, as she watches her brother exit through the front door; she blops her head down into her spaghetti and groans.

"So when are you going to tell Brent that you aren't a Romance Sim anymore?" Ripp asks to the back of his girlfriend's head.

Isabella lifts her head up and faces Ripp, "I'll tell him eventually, these things take time. I mean I can't just walk up to him and tell him straight out that I'm a Family Sim."

"Why not?" Ripp asks, confused.

"Hmm, I guess you're right," Isabella replies, a small smile forming on her face, "I guess I could do that," Isabella gets up out of her seat and turns to him, "Thanks Ripp."

"Hey, you thought of it," Ripp replies smiling, getting up from the table as well, "I just wanted to get your face out of your spaghetti."

Meanwhile: At the Park

Tank and Kea are sitting on one of the green park benches that are situated in front of a red and blue playground structure. Kea smiles and turns to Tank, watching the children play in front of them, "So tell me about you Tank."

"About me?" Tank repeats, he shrugs, "There's not much to say about me. I'm a Grunt, that should be enough of an explanation for you."

"What's a Grunt?" Kea asks intrigued, "Sounds painful."

Tank smiles, entertained by her actions, "That's my last name," he answers, "You know, like your last name is Kalson."

"Yeah," Kea says, "And that's not just because it says that on my bracelet," she completes, holding up her right arm to show Tank the gold lettered name bracelet around her wrist.

"Wow, that's a really nice bracelet," Tank states, holding her wrist up gently to take a better look the shiny gold band, "Where did you get it?"

Kea smiles, "Oh, my grandma gave it to me," she replies, before slipping the bracelet off of her wrist and handing it to Tank who is situated next to her, "You can see it if you like."

Tank nods, turning the gold lettered name bracelet around in his hand, "It's very pretty," he states, eyeing the nine engraved letters that spell out 'Kea Kalson' on the front of it, "But I thought college townies didn't have any relatives."

"Well not usually but-"

"Hey Kea!" an unfamiliar male voice calls out from across the park. Tank looks up only to find a blonde haired blue eyed sim about their age, wearing an orange shirt with yellow sleeves and blue jeans heading towards them. The guy continues waving to Kea as he walks across the playground, he stops when he is standing in front of her.

"Hey Curtis," Kea greets back, before turning to Tank, "Tank, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Curtis Adams, he's in my biology class. We're lab partners."

"And let me tell you, Kea is an amazing lab partner," Curtis adds, extending his hand out to shake, "I don't believe I've met you before, you a new townie?"

"Well actually I'm from Strangetown," Tank states, staring at his hand as if it were a foreign object. He leans closer to Kea, lowering his voice, "Hey Kea, maybe we should get out of here. You know, before the restaurant closes-"

"Restaurant?" Curtis repeats in confusion, retreating his hand to gaze at Kea, "Please don't tell me that this is that creepy premade that you were complaining about dating in class."

"Hey!" Tank exclaims, getting up from off of the bench to stare Curtis straight in the eyes, "Who are you calling creepy, you custom-face jerk!"

Kea quickly stands up, grabbing Tank's forearm in panic as she watches a crowd form around them, "Tank please," Kea states quietly through her teeth, "You're causing a scene."

"No I'm not!" Tank exclaims, clenching his fists even harder, "Besides, he started it!" Tank calls out, pointing to Curtis, who now has his arms crossed.

Curtis shakes his head in disappointment, "I thought you said you were over premades Kea, that you'd never date another one after what Andrew did to you. Ever since Andrew broke your heart you've never been the same. Let's face it, you know one premade you know them all," Curtis pauses, watching a hurt Kea drift her gaze to the floor before pointing to Tank, who is trying to grasp what Curtis is saying, "And in the end, he'll break your heart too, just like he broke your bracelet."

"What are you talking about…?" Tank begins, opening up his right hand only to find the golden pieces of Kea's broken bracelet inside of it. Tank turns to Kea, struggling to find the right words to say, "Kea," he says apologetically, "I'm so sorry."

Kea stands in silence before turning her back to him; she sighs, "Just go home Tank."

Tank nods, and turns around to leave. He stops when he notices the crowd dispersing and Curtis heading towards the opposite end of the playground. Tank races over to him and grabs Curtis by the shoulder, turning him around to face him. Curtis opens his mouth to speak, but Tank silences him.

"Listen you, I'm not sure exactly what you heard about me but I can assure you that my social class has nothing to do with the kind of person I am and how I'll treat Kea. It isn't fair for you to assume that all premades are the same, and it definitely isn't fair for you to judge me based on that alone."

Curtis turns to Tank firmly, looking him straight in the eyes, "I'm not judging you," he states, "I just don't want Kea to get hurt again. And if you get upset and have a rampage over one little thing, you really shouldn't be with Kea," he completes, backing up towards the entrance of the park, "You're heading for a dead end Tank, you're not like Kea. Kea will never love you. Ever."

Tank watches as Curtis disappears into the tree-filled park entrance, before angrily turning around and thrusting the pieces of Kea's broken bracelet into his left pocket, "Kea will never love me huh? Well we'll just see about that," he states as he exits out of the park and into the growing darkness of the evening.

Meanwhile: Inside of Cassandra's Dormitory

Isabella is standing outside of the lounge, leaning up against the back of the stairs trying to keep her heart rate down. She sighs, eyeing her target situated in the other room. "Well, here goes nothing," Isabella states as she walks into the living room in search of her brother.

Isabella stops walking when she finds Brent making out on the tan leather lounge room couch with a girl that appears to be Breanna. Isabella sighs and walks over to him. "Brent?" she speaks, after no response she opens her mouth again, "Hello, Brent?"

Brent temporarily ceases making out with Breanna to give his sister a glare, "Not now Isabella!" he states, "I'm busy!"

"Oh no you're not!" Isabella says, rolling her eyes as she pulls the two of them apart. Brent sits up with his hair all messed up and glares at his little sister.

"Hey! I was in the middle of something!" he exclaims.

Isabella glares at Brent and impatiently taps her foot, "Believe me, I know," she sighs, "Honestly Brent you're starting to embarrass me and that's supposed to be my job. After all, I am the younger sibling!"

"Sorry," Brent states quietly, hoping Breanna didn't hear him, "But I'm a Romance Sim, what do you expect?"

Isabella sighs, before giving a small smile, "Look, I really need to tell you something."

Brent gets up from off of the couch and turns toward his sister, causing Breanna to race out of the room behind him. "Oh no, don't tell me," Brent states, eyeing Isabella's stomach, "You're pregnant?"

"No!" Isabella exclaims, placing her arms over her stomach in defense, "It's about my aspiration."

"Oh," Brent says, his face suddenly lights up, "You finally got your second boyfriend? Oh Isabella, I am so proud of you! You're on your way to becoming a real kick-butt Romance Sim!"

Isabella slaps her face in frustration before plopping herself down on the couch; she sighs, "It this rate, you'll never find out," she says quietly to herself.

"Find out what?" Brent asks, stepping towards her intrigued.

Isabella sighs, having a hard time facing her older brother's gaze, "Brent, I'm not a Romance Sim anymore. I switched."

"Huh?" Brent states, unable grasp what he is hearing.

"Ripp and I switched aspirations the end of last year and I'm not a Romance Sim anymore," Isabella pauses to make sure that she has Brent's full attention for the words that she is about to speak next, "I'm a Family Sim."

"You're WHAT?" Brent exclaims, seemingly as though his words echoed throughout the entire dormitory. "Isabella, how could you?"

"I had to Brent," Isabella states, her eyes to the floor, trying not to let her emotions get the best of the situation, "I wanted to be with Ripp, I wanted to be in love for real," Isabella turns to gaze at Brent, only to find a strange expression of confusion and disbelief plastered on his face, "Besides, maybe there's more to life than just making out with people!"

"Since when?" Brent exclaims. He turns towards the kitchen, trying to keep his world from spinning. Brent keeps to himself for a few minutes before turning back stern towards Isabella, "College has changed you Isabella," he states, heading out the door, "I feel like I don't even know you anymore."

Isabella gets up from off of the couch and reaches out for her departing brother, "Brent, wait!"

But it was too late, he was gone.

Later That Night

Isabella is sitting on the front steps of Cassandra's dormitory with her head in her hands in silence. She sits up when she notices someone sit down next to her.

"It stinks doesn't it?" Tank states looking out at the park in the distance; "College stinks."

Isabella sighs and turns to the young adult situated on the steps beside her, "Yeah, I guess it does."

"Everyone thinks they know me before they've even met me," Tank states, picking up a pebble from the ground and tossing it into the grass, "They think I'm just like everyone else and it's not fair."

"I hear you," Isabella says, staring out into the distance, "My brother thinks all Family Sims are the same, when he never even took the time to get to know one," Isabella sighs and gazes at the ground beneath her, "A long time ago he told me that aspirations don't define people, but why is he treating me as if a Family Sim is all that I am? Like I'm not even his sister anymore?"

Tank sighs and turns to Isabella, placing a gentle hand on her right shoulder, "Because he's afraid. Up until now he assumed that all Family Sims were the same and then you come along and break the mold, causing him to question everything he thought was true. It's just like us and other premade sims. We're nothing like the others, and college townies will never understand that until they really get to know us."

Tank turns to Isabella and smiles as she lifts her head up to face him, "Of course, you know what we have to do now right?"

Isabella looks up at Tank, her eyes shining in wonder, "What?" she speaks.

Tank leans towards Isabella and whispers in her ear, "Prove them wrong."

With that, Tank gets up from off of the front porch and opens the entrance door to Cassandra's dorm. Isabella slowly stands up, her hair blowing gently in the breeze; she gives Tank a small smile.

"What?" Tank states, causing Isabella to race over to Tank and embrace him. Tank, now in a state of shock, stands there stiff as a board, before wrapping his arms around her returning the hug.

Isabella pulls away from Tank as she gazes up at him, smiling about a mile wide, "Thanks," she quietly states into the silence.

Tank smiles back, "No problem."