Francis O`Hanlon is joined by his cousin, Grace Saunders, at University. Will Grace’s unique outlook make Francis rethink his own life choices?
“Wow, Grace,” Francis said, finding his cousin looking at her new look in the mirror. They’d never been close, but her drastic makeover still managed to shock him. “Do your parents know about this?”
“No,” she snapped. “And who cares? I’m an adult now.”
He chuckled, “ahh, rebellion… so, you’re really into this whole black thing?”
“Yes.”
“Well, at least it’s a skirt. I mean, for you, that’s a huge step.”
“Watch it, pretty boy. I’ll rearrange your face, cousin or not.”
Grace’s adjustment to college was made difficult by the introduction of boys her own age who didn’t mind her abrasive nature. In fact, they seemed to delight in it, much to Grace’s chagrin. She wasn’t brash and aggressive to get boys. Even worse, when she shouted and berated them, they enjoyed it!
Getting hit on college boys, much less ones with inferiority-complexes who dressed in llama outfits, was not her idea of a good time.
Grace was just beginning her sophomore year at Boreal Summit University when she ran into Fujin Yu. Finding him on campus was quite startling, as he certainly wasn’t a student. Approaching him without some sort of malice would be suspect, so she put on her best face and walked forward. As if feeling her shadow on him, he slowly looked up, unable to hide his shock at her drastic change.
“…Grace?”
“You,” she replied stonily. “What are you doing here? This is the university library.”
Fujin stood up and put his book back on the shelf, “I was just checking out an architecture lecture. It was open to the public.”
“If you’d just gone to college, you wouldn’t have this issue.”
He rolled his eyes, “yes, because college makes everything better. It’s turned you very… black, I see.”
“Got a problem?”
“No, uh… mesh suits you?”
She quirked a dark eyebrow, ignoring his comment, “the lecture is over, obviously, so why are you still here?”
“I don’t know, the library looked big and I wanted to check it out,” he shrugged easily. “Why are you here? I thought you learned by osmosis, making studying unnecessary.”
“Business class, I need some books for research,” she sniffed, head held high. “I’m surprised you’re able to breathe so easily without Rosa nearby.”
“She… uh, she’s actually visiting Francis, I think.”
“That figures, you guys can’t separate for five seconds, can you?” Grace said as a way of dismissal. She walked away without another word, the books she needed located on the second floor.
Fujin was too stunned by the acidity of her tone to bother responding. He didn’t even have a chance to be offended at the rude way she’d left.
Francis, meanwhile, occupied his time with Emma. It was surprisingly monogamous of him, to spend so much time on a single girl. Since the whole blow-up with Rosa, he’d found himself treading a bit more carefully. He still saw Rosa, but it was always platonic. He met Emma downtown on one fateful Saturday night, as was their ritual. He knew something was up when he sat down and she looked… weird.
“You feeling okay? You look a little… pale.”
“I… met someone,” she said quickly, startling him.
“That’s nice? There’s all kinds of people out there to meet.”
“I went on a date… and I slept with someone,” Emma said in-between hurried sips of clear liquid. It was clear she’d had a glass or two of courage before his arrival. “Two… different people, one for the date… one for the whole, sleeping with thing.”
Francis blinked, completely caught offguard. To be honest, he was a little surprised by his mind and body’s reaction. He felt warm and cold at the same time, his hearing seem to tunnel out, losing Emma’s voice. All that remain was a high-pitched screeching noise that made him cringe.
“Did you hear me? I said I don’t think we can keep doing this. I mean, no strings, right? But… I just, I think it’s better if we see other people and just, well, not each other. Anymore.”
“You’re serious? What the hell happened to you?”
She stood up with a long sigh, taking a moment to find her balance before speaking, “it’s not like there was anything serious, right? I mean, you made that pretty clear. So… maybe I want to look for something serious. I don’t want to be another Rosa.”
“Emma, how much have you drank? You can barely walk–”
“I’ll be fine, the apartment isn’t far… we’re good, right?”
He was still a little too shocked to completely fathom what was happening, “uh, I don’t know. I’m still kind of in shock.”
“It’s not like you haven’t done it, right? So… yeah… see you around.”
“Yeah… right.”
“Why are we here again?” Grace asked, taking her third drink for the night. Francis had come home in a bit of a mood and demanded that he needed drinks, many of them, and that Grace was coming along for the ride. At least he was paying.
“Because life is a confusing little b–”
“Is this about Emma? I thought you guys had a ‘deal’, you know, with your whole ‘casual rule’ thing. I mean, I commend your honesty, way to not go all Uncle Patrick, but still. So what? Now you’re free to mess around even more–look, the bartender is into it.”
Francis sighed, “I couldn’t be my father if I tried, I don’t know how he did it. To be honest, I thought it’d be cool, but it’s not. It sucks. Like, angry sucks… the type that makes me want an address so I know where to send you.”
Grace laughed, “great, I’ll let grandpa Gordon know that he can sign me up as muscle for his organization. I mean, he’ll be offended if I don’t let him know what’s up and everything.”
“Is that Rosa?” Francis asked, ignoring Grace’s last statement.
“…and of course, Fujin. She would drag him out, wouldn’t she? Hey! Where are you going?” Grace’s voice fell on deaf ears as Francis wondered over to his old friend. She sighed, hand on her face.
“Francis? What are you doing out here?” Rosa asked, surprised to see him so far from Boreal Summit University. “Aren’t finals coming up?”
“Meh, I’m a senior. It’s not like they’re going to kick me out when they’re so close to being rid of me forever.”
She smiled, “if I had known that’s how it worked, maybe I would have gone…”
Fujin found Grace on the dance floor. He tried to ignore the fact that she was dancing, figuring she’d probably punch him if he made any comments. Instead, he got right to the point, trying to shout over the loud music.
“Hey! Have you seen Rosa?”
“I think she went over there… with Francis.”
Fujin’s face looked panicked, “…Francis?”
Rosa and Francis had gotten reacquainted rather quickly in the not-so-privacy of the couches behind the dance floor. Of course, this amorous encounter quickly escalated, given the blood to alcohol ratio currently present in their systems. Without telling either of their companions, they spirited off to a cab for a nice of illict and regrettable ‘hooking up’.
“I can’t believe you’re still following her around like a stupid puppy,” Grace said as they searched for the missing couple. “It’s obvious she’s run off with Francis, despite knowing that he’s totally into Emma… without any thought as to you.”
“What is your problem? Rosa is my friend, that’s it. I’m all she has when it comes to looking out for her. You could’ve done us both a favor and kept a leash on your stupid cousin!” Fujin shot back angrily, startling Grace. She’d never seen him get angry. “Why are you even still here? Shouldn’t you be off beating someone up or something?”
Grace, for the first time in her life, found herself slightly speechless. It took her a moment to muster a response, “it’s a shame your backbone only shows itself for Rosa.”
With that, she left, feeling a little more confused and frustrated than she’d been originally.
The next morning Grace, nursing her slight hangover, sat down with a bowl of cereal. She had barely managed to dip her spoon into the mixture of sugared cornflakes and milk when she heard the front door open and close. A haggard looking Francis stepped in and took a seat next to her.
“Oh, look who it is. Where the hell did you go last night?”
“I’m an idiot, I thought we agreed you were my stupid decision wall??”
“Kind of hard when you run off and disappear into the night! Please tell me you didn’t hook up with Rosa and run out before she woke up.”
Francis didn’t reply, but his guilty look said it all. He sighed deeply.
“Well, at least you guys went to her place. None of that public stuff,” Grace said, shaking her head. “What are you going to do now? Rosa is obviously going to know something happened. You can’t avoid her forever.”
“My mind wasn’t made for this kind of stress,” Francis lamented, hands clasping his head tightly. “I’m still reeling from the hangover! I can’t think about this now! It’s bad enough that I almost fell down the stairs and broke my neck as I was trying to leave while also yanking on my pants. She’s a light sleeper, you know.”
“You’re an idiot, Francis.”
Francis went through the rest of his senior year considerably stressed and frenzied. It was difficult, trying to both avoid Rosa and Emma at the same time. Rosa had tried calling and Grace had covered for him. Unfortunately, graduation meant he’d be returning to Boreal Springs and Rosa knew where he lived. Worse yet, there was Emma. That whole thing still had him messed up and confused–he seriously thought that he wanted casual without commitment, but the thought of Emma just… going after any guy out there, it wasn’t something he relished.
Grace was having her own inner-turmoil and vowed to stay on campus. She had less chance of running into Fujin and making an idiot out of herself. Francis, Rosa, and Fujin could have their messed up triangle of disaster. Relationships were for stupid people who enjoyed pain.
—————————–
Note from Mao: Poor Francis. All his wants involved Emma! It wasn’t until after a few dates that he wanted to talk to Rosa. Francis is a Romance sim, but I’m seriously thinking he’s not the same as Shang Yu, Katarina Anderson, or Patrick O`Hanlon. We’ll see if I’m right. The whole thing with Rosa was an accident. She happened to be at the same community lot Grace and Francis were at, and they had public woohoo on the couch on their own, LOL! Of course, that makes NO SENSE, only insane people have sex on a couch in public view, so I changed those details in the text.
Grace also developed a crush on Fujin at the same lot… I have no idea. I heard the chimes and looked–pink heart. Oh boy. I initially only did the library thing to see what their chemistry was. Two bolts. Grace seems conflicted. 
Also, first post of the New Year AND the end of round 27!
