4.1--Ellis & Co.

Prom takes Ellis by surprise.  Of course she knows about the dance, but she was convinced that she would never attend.  She tends to be much more aloof than inviting in these situations - but Fawn's excitement and attempts to persuade her to go eventually get to Ellis.  


"We'll go together.  It'll be fun!" Fawn pouts her lips in mock sadness.


"Nope. Remember the other dance you convinced me to go to?"


"He totally liked you!" She says, throwing her hands up in the air. "I was just trying to help!"


Ellis narrows her eyes and scoffs. "Ugh! Fine." Fawn relents. "I promise not to push you into any guys this time.  You happy?"


"Yes."


"Then you'll go?"


Ellis sighs.  Fawn's excitement over the whole thing was already beginning to work it's charm, but seeing her hopeful expression now just seals the deal.  "I'll go." 

So clothes were bought, a limo was hired, and her brothers were invited - and off they went.

Gideon and Kris, however, never make it to the dance.  Kris's brother Tobias aged up the day before and both of them don't have any other friends at the school to convince them that it will be worthwhile - instead, they make their way over to the local tavern.  


When Gideon suggests they have a few underage drinks to make this night a little more interesting, Kris shakes his head nervously.  "The bartender, Kylee Sweetin - she knows my parents."


"Well, that's stupid.  Why did you suggest this place then?"


Kris smirks.  "Perhaps because it's the only bar in town?"


"Oh right." Gideon shrugs.  "Forgot that detail.  So - what do we do now?"


"Shuffleboard?" Kris laughs when Gideon's frown deepens.  "It's either this or prom."


"Eh.  Shuffleboard it is then."

The night is a success for everyone involved.  Ellis, even with her initial reservations, ends up having a great time and doesn't get prodded by Fawn to flirt with anyone.  Fawn, however, doesn't keep that promise for herself and bats her eyes at anything with two legs.


Pacey's night is much more interesting than his sister's.  Anne Parks - a girl from his class - not only asks him to dance, but reveals the crush she's been harboring for over a year.  He's surprised and somewhat confused as she's one of the few talented artists in their art club - someone who has inspired him, but also someone he never really talked to.  The way she smiles at him keeps him at her side for rest of prom.


Gideon and Kris manage to rejoin the group when they return and make up stories about their fake prom night when Harper and Cedric ask how it went.  Ellis and Fawn snicker when Kris almost slips up, but Gideon regains footing - shooting a smug smile at his sister when he finishes. "That sly bastard." Fawn whispers under her breath.

Cedric has recently taken up the paint brush.  Not because he hopes to be a famous artist like Pacey or an attempt to make a name for himself, as he's already done that, but to simply tick something off of his bucket list.  Despite what his son thinks, Cedric does have an appreciation for art - just not the weird shit Pacey likes.  He'll be the first to admit that his paintings looks like a five year-old did them, but that doesn't matter to him.

Harper still plays the guitar - a lot.  She's almost at the highest her career can go and has been given first chair in the symphony, so now she focuses mostly on honing her skill and practicing the compositions.

Sometimes Harper even sneaks into Gideon's room while he's playing the drums and starts an impromptu jam session with her son; a moment that Gideon has grudgingly learned to appreciate.  After all, if he wants to be a musician like his mother - who better to learn from than her?

Lachlan spam.  The boy is adorable - 'nuff said.

Pacey recently applied to the arts school in Bridgeport, not expecting to get in.  However, after his painting won an award in the local young artist contest in Meadow Glen and eventually made the circuit around Simnation, he was offered a scholarship to the school.  His parents would still have to pay quite a hefty sum and he would have to leave Anne - but this is his dream and he decides to go for it.


"Mom. Dad. Now that you're both gathered here - may I speak with you?"


Harper laughs.  "No need to be so formal, Pace.  Of course you can talk to us."


Pacey brushes his hand through his hair nervously.  "Okay.  Remember that contest that I won?" Harper and Cedric nod. "Well - the painting I submitted has been noticed during its presentation in that young artist show and I was offered a spot at the prestigious LeFromage Art School in Bridgeport.  They gave me a scholarship, but it doesn't cover the whole cost for tuition."  He finishes.

Cedric and Harper look skeptically at each other for a moment and Pacey feels his heart sink.  They aren't going to say yes and he'll be stuck in his mediocre arts class studying under failed painters who are just trying to make a living with the one talent that they have.  "Are you sure this is what you want?" Cedric starts. "Your art is wonderful, Pacey and you don't need to go to an expensive school for anyone else to acknowledge that much."


"Yes, I do." Pacey states simply. "I want to be great, dad.  The best way to do that is to study with the best."


When Cedric looks to Harper for her opinion, she smiles and nods. "All right, son.  If that's what you want then make the arrangements and we'll sign the check."


"Thank you."  Pacey bows to his parents before leaving the room.

The elder Harris' exchange a confused glance in response to Pacey's overly cordial manner.  "Artists are weird." Cedric smirks.


Harper shakes her head, laughing.  "No.  I'm afraid that's just our son."

Not too long later, the twins have their birthdays.  Ellis isn't ready to become an adult, but Gideon is.  He's been waiting for this for far too long and can't wait to start his own life with Kris.

 Ellis.  The pink and purple are strong with this one.

Gideon.  Aimed and ready to cause some trouble.

His family wanted a small birthday gathering, so Kris wasn't able to attend.  However, along with his parents - Kris has been helping him move his stuff over to their new place across town.  As soon as he ages up, Gideon says a quick goodbye and hops into Kris's car.  He has a warm bed with his boyfriend waiting for him at his new home and a job to be ready for at the local theater - there's no need to delay.

After his older siblings age up, Pacey meets Anne at their spot (which is the same spot that Gideon and Kris used to share - random fact).  He decides not to break the news of his leaving to her over the phone.


Anne frowns when he doesn't say anything for a long while.  "You got in to the art school."  Pacey quickly changes his expression to that of genuine surprise and Anne smiles.  She loves that face and she's going to miss it.  "News travels fast, Pace."


"You're not angry?"


"Angry, no.  A little disappointed that you didn't tell me, yes."


Pacey grabs her hand, brushing it lightly with his thumb.  A habit that he's developed to save time when Anne catches him off-guard, like she usually does.  "I didn't want to say anything until everything was filed and ready."


Anne squeezes his hand.  "When do you leave?"


"Tomorrow."

Anne is a little angry at first, but ignores it to pull him into a hug.  "I'll miss you."  


Pacey rests his head in the crook of her neck and sighs.  "I'm going to miss you too."

Back at home, Fawn makes an impromptu appearance after Ellis's birthday - something that Ellis, and her family, have long since gotten used to.  Fawn never calls, she just pops in whenever she feels like it.


"So, what are we going to do tonight?" She asks eagerly.


"Um - I'm probably going to go sleep early so I can look for jobs in the morning."


"No." Fawn laughs. "You're going out with me to Shady's and we're going to get you hooked up."

Luckily for Ellis, Fawn decides to regale her with the "dirty charm" of the club - making her all the more turned off by the idea.  Fawn watches as Ellis's expression changes from reluctance to outright disgust. "You'll like it, I promise."  She adds.  "I went there last night by myself and scoped the place out.  I wouldn't just take you to any club, Ell."


Ellis smirks.  "If I go, will you promise to give me one quiet weekend without clubbing and drinking to watch a movie, or maker forbid, read?"


Fawn shakes her head, laughing.  "You are seriously such a hermit.  Yes, I give my word as your best friend that I will not bug you to go out for one full weekend if you come with me tonight."


"Fine."  Ellis says, slumping her shoulders.  "I guess let's go then."

We can dance if you want to, we can leave your friends behind...

It's not long before Fawn finds them both potential prospects.  Fawn has her eye on Alicia Silver - a local doctor that she's been fawning over (ha - bad pun!) since she met her at high school.


"There's a man at the bar that keeps staring at you."  Fawn says, not taking her eyes off of Alicia lest she leave before she can make her move.  


Ellis follows her eyes and laughs.  "Go for it, Fawn.  You don't need to set me up - I am okay just hanging out by myself."


Fawn shakes her head. "That's one thing I wouldn't do Ell - leave you by yourself."  She frowns.


"But you'd leave me with a complete stranger?"  She chides and when Fawn looks legitimately hurt, Ellis sighs.  "That was rude."


"No; that was the truth.  I'm sorry, Ell.  Let's go get a drink - there will always be another time for Alicia."

As they head toward the bar, Ellis can sense Fawn's disappointment.  She stops and turns back toward her friend.  "Go, Fawn."  She smiles.  "We took my car, so I have a ride home if you're flirting is... successful."

Fawn shakes her head again, but Ellis persists and it's not too long later that Fawn lets her know that she and Alicia will be heading back to her place.  Ellis smiles to herself once they're out the door - she has always admired Fawn's ability to spark other people's interest.  How she manages it, she'll never know.

It's also not long until the man at the bar that Fawn was pointing out earlier joins Ellis.  She can feel his stare and blushes.  "Are you going to say something or just be creepy?" She asks.


The man laughs. "Can I do both?  Creepy adds character, I say."  Ellis smiles. "Should we formally introduce ourselves?"  


"Ellis."  She states simply.  "And you?"


He extends his hand and Ellis reddens at the sudden contact.  "Logan.  Well, Ellis - what do you say to another drink?"

She pauses, fiddling with the empty glass in front of her.  "I really shouldn't.  I need to get up early in the morning."


Without skipping a beat, Logan hands her a small card with his name on it and a pen.  "Can I have your number?  Maybe we can do this another time."  


Ellis looks at the card briefly.  It's clearly a business card.  "Do you carry these with you everywhere?"  She holds the card up, smirking.


Logan shrugs.  "No.  I had a meeting here, of all places."  He says, looking around. "If you don't want to give me your number, just keep it.  I'll wait for your call."


Ellis smiles and puts the card in her purse.  "Don't lose it."  He chides as she leaves the bar.  "I really will be waiting."  


Ellis laughs and pats the pocket of her purse where she put his card protectively.  "I put it in a safe place.  It was nice meeting you, Logan."


"It will be nice meeting up with you again, Ellis."  He smiles.


"You're confident." 


"I'm hopeful."  He corrects.

The next morning, Pacey packs his things and heads out to the cab that will take him to the airport.

And Ellis gets a job at the local police station.  She wasn't expecting getting a job there, but it seems it's the only place she's qualified for - so she takes it.  

When Ellis returns home after her workout at the gym, she pulls out Logan's card from her purse and looks at it.  If Dasia and Fawn find out, they'll convince her to call him anyway - so why not?  She dials the number quickly and nervously hits the call button.  It rings for a long while and Ellis sighs in relief.  An answering machine she can handle.


Her relief is cut short when Logan answers. "Hello?"


"Oh hi."  She stammers.  "This is - well, the girl you met from the bar last night."


"Ellis!" He says, excitedly.  "Thank goodness.  I was starting to second guess my charming personality there for a while."


Ellis laughs.  "So - about meeting up again?"


"Are you open tonight?" 


Ellis pauses.  She was hoping for more time to prepare herself for dating.  "Um - well, yes."


"Great.  I don't have a car while I'm in town, but can you meet me at the bistro around 7?"


"Sure.  I'll be there at 7."  When they hang up, Ellis looks at the clock.  She has 5 hours to get ready - in more ways than one.  Why did I say yes?!  She silently complains, before heading upstairs.


-----------------------------------------
Finally a chapter focused on the heir.  Jebus.  Dasia and Gideon were sucking up all the chapters; those plot-hoarders! 


Okay, so Ellis' Miscellaneous Roll is Live Your Trait and I picked Athletic.  I may or may not have accidentally forgotten about this roll until about a week or so into her YA stage. : / She's making up for it now though.  

I have however been really good with The Opportunist roll so far.  The only drawback to this is she keeps wishing to have more fuggin' friends, courtesy of her blasted Friendly trait.  I never truly realized it before now, but socialization in sims can be a downright nightmare sometimes.


In case it isn't painfully obvious - both Ellis and Dasia didn't do the whole dating thing in high school.  Dasia because she just doesn't want to enter anything serious with anyone and keeps to herself (borderline asexual, if you ask me) and Ellis because she's too shy and no boy ever truly appealed to her; which is changing with the introduction of Logan.  :D


I'm about 7 chapters ahead and I keep wanting to play more than write - possibly because I'm in love with a future person in the legacy.  Maybe.