It Started this Summer




 Richard and Alan Gold are 20; Anna Phoenix is 21; Ivy Pitts and Julie Beckett are 18.

July 2025 - SSU Semester 1.2



Ivy moved around the table, trying to find a position where the trees would shade the laptop and make the screen at least readable.


Satisifed that this was the best she was going to get, she opened a new email and started to type...


"Hi, Danny, hope all is well at home.  Sorry I didn't write sooner, but it's been busy!  That probably sounds silly, being busy on vacation, but there's a lot to do here.


The campground is great.  It's right on the beach, and there's a really relaxed feel to the place...


... maybe a little too relaxed at times!


Anyway, we got to know some of the other people staying there...



... and spent some time just hanging out...


We've also been seeing the sights on the island... there are some amazing old ruins to explore...



I don't think Anna appreciated the history it the way the rest of us did, but she enjoyed herself anyway...


And wait 'til you hear what's been happening with our other room-mates!!  You know how Alan and Julie have been spending a lot of time together, since she moved in?  I always figured they'd end up as more than friends, and, boy, was I right!




Anna and I thought it was great...


... I mean, before things got so intense with Julie, Alan was spending half the day working on his assignments, on vacation!


 He needs someone to get his head out of his books!


Unfortunately, not everyone was as happy about it, as we were.

Yeah, things between Richard and Julie got even worse!



Poor Alan was stuck between his brother and his girlfriend...


... and they were fighting so much, they were spoiling the vacation for the rest of us.


In the end I just got sick of it!!  I told them they had to stop behaving like children and make up, for everyone's sake.


Richard was the first to apologise, then they started talking, and they found they actually had some stuff in common...


They're getting on quite well now, so hopefully things will be a bit more peaceful when we get back home..."


---

Ivy stopped typing.  Richard... just thinking about him made her a little uneasy, now.


Making up with Julie wasn't the only thing she could write about Richard, although she knew she could never share the rest with Danny.  Already, he didn't like Richard, but if he knew what had happened... Ivy was far from comfortable herself.

Maybe it was the romantic location, the fact that they were far from home, the warm summer evenings... she didn't know... she did know that it was one of the most embarrassing things that had ever happened to her.


In a tent!!!  The whole campground knew what was going on... Ivy had been so embarrassed, she'd felt like leaving right there and then.

The worst part of it, though, was the damage it had done to her friendship with Richard.  She'd felt so comfortable and at ease with him before...


... now, she just couldn't look at him the same.  She didn't dislike him, not really, and she hoped that in time, she'd feel better about it.  She hated the idea of loosing a friend over one impulsive moment, but right now she just couldn't get past it.

She tried to put Richard out of her mind and turn her attention back to the email.


There were plenty of other, more positive things to write about...

"I've left the most amazing news for last," she started.  "Remember, I said that Alan and Julia were spending a lot of time together?  One evening, according to Julia, they were just sitting on the beach together, talking, watching the waves...






Isn't that so romantic?!  He'd even bought her a ring when we were in town.  I know they've only known each other a few months, but they're both so sure they're meant for each other.  They said they'll have a long engagement, probably not even think about marriage until they both finish college... but they just wanted to make some kind of commitment to each other, now.  That's so sweet!

Well, Danny, I need to finish this for now.  We're going to the beach in town again tonight.  They've got these fire dancers, native musical instruments that you can try, all kinds of stuff like that.



... and limbo pole dancing, which is crazy fun.





Hope you and your family are having a good summer, too.  Can't wait to see you again when I get back!

Lots and lots of love!
Ivy


---

Richard and Julie were driving me mad with their constant fights, and wrecking the vacation for everyone else, as they'd stop what they were doing to watch the fight... also I kept getting the 'when do we start having fun' windows, so I had to do something about it.  I got Ivy to use her influence to make them talk to each other, repeatedly, until their relationship was in positives again and they were talking autonomously.  They're friends now, so hopefully problem solved.


All the other 'news' in this update was autonomous/acr driven :)  Julie and Alan persistently rolled engagement wants so I let them go for it despite only knowing each other for one semester.  They're a cute couple and hopefully things will work out for them.

SSU Semester Two Grades:
Ivy Pitts - B-
Julie Beckett - B-
Alan Gold - C+
Richard Gold - D+ (academic probation)
Danny Tarro - D- (academic probation)
Anna Phoenix - D- (academic probation)

(*groan*)

Comments

  1. Wow at Alan and Julie! That's a whirlwind romance for sure! I'm glad they're going to take it slow in terms of marriage though. And yeesh...Ivy and Richard. Yeah, that's gotta be awkward. Isn't ACR fun? LOL.

    I've never seen the "when do we start having fun?" pop-ups. Do they get those from a bad vacation? I don't think I've ever had one of those. Sims seem pretty easy to please.

    And geez, you weren't lying about your students and their awful grades! I've never had more than one on academic probation at the same time and you've got three! Were those three students doing well previously?

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  2. I hope Danny can pull through his probation and wow, Ivy and Richard. Not the best of news, I have a feeling that Richard will bring it back up to Danny though.

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  3. Carla, make that four on academic probation, you haven't seen the update for my other college yet :( . Danny and Anna were always mediocre students, with a C and C+ respectively last semester, but Richard made a spectacular fall from A+ to D+! Basically he wasted a whole semester slapping Julie...

    The 'when do we start having fun' popup is the flip-side of the 'this vacation is worth every penny' popup you get when things are going well. Not sure if its caused by low motives or fulfilling fears, but the fights were causing both. You know the vacation rewards they get when they come home from a good vacation? There's a corresponding set of penalties for a bad one. Can't remember what they all are, but one is 'jet-lag', which manifests as slower skilling and learning - the last thing these guys need!

    Apple, thanks! Richard might surprise you, he has a good reason to keep the secret, too - as you'll see in future updates.

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  4. Looks like they're having fun on vacation! I'm glad Richard and Julie are finally getting along, because I know I hate when sims fight automnously (cough Pleasant twins). And Julie and Alan are adorable together. They both seem exactly like the type of people who would get engaged right away. Can't wait for thei wedding already!

    Good luck getting all three sims off academic probation! And great update!:)

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  5. Oh Wow... what a vacations. Fights, engagements and cheating. Your college students sure know how to have a good time.

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  6. Thanks for reading and commenting.

    coolkat2, yeah, they managed to have fun overall... once we sorted out the fights! Julie and Alan's wedding's a way away yet but they weren't going to be talked out of getting engaged no matter how many other wants they fulfilled.

    Next semester is going to be a challenging one!

    oasisvalley, yeah, they sure made the most of their time away!

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  7. Yikes, lots of academic probation there. Hope everyone gets their acts together.

    It does look like a fun time though, even if lots of people seem to get sunburned a bit easily. I feel terrible for Ivy and what happened. I'm cringing just thinking about something like that. I hope she and Richard are able to smooth things out though.

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