Welcome to Whibley

Edward Williams and Jonathan Rousseau met at Mariam Barber Memorial Library.

They were paired up to study together. Jon, now a junior, volunteered to help freshmen like Ed during the first few weeks of the new term in a mentorship program. It was a relief to both of them that they shared several common interests across their majors of Literature and History. Their new friendship was off to a great start. They were just agreeing to a tutoring schedule when…

…Naomi Sato joined them. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

“Well, erm—. Ed, this is my girlfriend, Naomi. Naomi, this is Ed Williams.”

She sat down and said, “Nice to meet’cha, Ed,” before immediately blowing a cute kiss to Jon.

He blushed, quickly flustered by her presence. “Naomi, dearest, we’re trying to get some work done here.”

“I know,” she grinned.

Ed stayed awkwardly paused at the display.

She laughed cheerfully in Ed’s direction, “Sorry, this is super embarrassing, huh? We have this totally obnoxious bet going on and I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to prove a point. Sorry you got caught in the crossfire, Ed.”

“Hold on, this doesn’t quite prove anything yet,” Jon griped.

She explained to Ed through a big grin, “We’re trying to crack Jon out of his social shell here, it’s only fair you know in advance.”

“We?” Ed asked, intrigued.

The stuttering middleman failed to interject, “Naomi, that’s really not—"

“Me and his brother, Deryck with a Y? You’ll probably meet him soon, just a matter of time if you hang around this guy. Well! I better go, happy studying.”

“This isn’t over!” Jon called after her. Ed laughed along siding with his new friend.

Kate quickly smeared stray tears across her cheek and smiled through a brave face as Jo told Lee, “We’ve got one more comin’ to RBU with us.”

“Aww, but I just took the car seat out.”

A shy, goofy grin flashed over Kate’s face. “Very funny Dad. I don’t have much. In fact, what I have on me is all I got. Just a shit tonne of emotional baggage, heh. I promise I won’t take up much space.”

“Yeah right, like we wouldn’t make room for you,” Jo snorted.

Kate sniffed before quickly adding, “I can pitch in for gas, I just need to open my own bank account first. Um, I think the financial aide office is in the Admin Building, right? You can just drop me off there when we get, um, there.”

“Forget it, I wouldn’t take your money,” Lee answered.

“Lee’s parents are loaded,” Jo explained with a smirky shrug, “don’t worry about it.”

“Not loaded exactly, but they do okay.”

“He’s just being modest. Seriously Kate, it’s fine. We’re just glad you’re back home with us. Screw Feverfew! Screw your parents! Lee and I adopted you forever ago anyway, we got dibs.”

Kate looked to her feet that held her otherwise shaky legs steady enough to stand on her own.

Home? What’s that? And, parents? Don’t know those either. The only thing these two adopted are my problems, and if I had any other means to get to RBU on my own I would.

She mumbled back, “Thanks, guys. I, um, really, really needed to hear that.”

It was what they wanted to hear, Kate figured. If only she could believe her own words.

Jo immediately reached out to hug Kate. “Oh, don’t cry now you dumb cow! We’re all starting over starting now. Remember your hair; remember how we cut off the bad together, and remember what green means: nature, new life, tranquility.”

Kate squeezed back though a bit lifelessly.

“I’ll start loading up the Jeep,” Lee offered.

The past twenty-four hours rushed at Kate in a big gust when her dorm door swung open on loose hinges. The bang of the doorknob hitting the wall scared her back to the present.

The eager sunrise of the second day on campus crept further into the room. Kate hoped her exhaustion was strong enough to fend off dreaming lest her thoughts continue to torment her unconscious mind too. Her body ached from tight, tensed muscles that she couldn’t seem to release. With any luck this was another good sign for a few dreamless hours, at least. She gripped the edge of the bed. Jo’s bed. On the drive to campus the couple explained their plan to share Lee’s room and insisted that Kate take Jo’s dorm despite objections.

“Hey, wait, that’s not fair. I mean, that costs money I’m not sure I can pay back here.”

“Will you stop?” Jo snapped. “We’re your parents, let us provide for you.”

Lee glanced to Kate in the rear-view when he said, “Jo’s tuition and residence fees are all looked after already, the room would go empty for the whole semester anyway. This isn’t charity, you really should take it. And when it comes to getting a loan for tuition, keep me posted ‘cause if you need a parent to co-sign that’s where my folks can step in.”

“Aren’t they already covering yours and Naomi’s fees?”

Jo insisted, “Gen and Michi are great, Kate. You can trust them.”

“I’ll pay you back with interest, both of you. I don’t know how, or when, but it’ll happen.”

Lee asked the long stretch of highway in front of them, “Why?” But Kate didn’t have an answer.

She still didn’t. Without a family of her own, would she be stunted as her friends’ adult-child forever? Was a clean start in RBU even possible with so much emotional baggage cluttering her bare room?

Once Ben’s stretch woke up the couch, Jo was the first to say, “Erm, that’s a wrap, hey guys? We can call it a night—err, morning. Whatever.”

Ben nodded being too tired to form words yet.

While rubbing his eye Lee asked, “None of us have class now, right? What time is it?”

“Pretty sure classes are in the afternoon?” Brandon answer-asked.

Lee yawned, “That’s—good.”

Jo clarified, “Yeah, it’s just orientation in the morning. We can skip it, I’m sure we can figure out where our classes are.”

“That’s very good.”

Kate pouted just as Ben, Jo, and Lee started shuffling to their feet, grabbing blankets and chip bags and other stray garbage as they went, so their movement drowned out her little whine. But still acting as her shoulder-pillow Brandon heard it.

“Still asleep?” he asked.

“Nnn-nnn. But I’m so tired, just leave me here.”

“Don’t think that’s how that works. One of us, remember? On your feet, solider.”

She pouted again.

Next to them, Ben asked, “Hey, where did all these blankets come from?”

Jo replied, “They’re ours; Lee got them for us, I forget when,” while rubbing her tired temple.

Lee said, “Start of the second movie, wasn’t it? But it was Jo’s idea.”

Through a big yawn Ben said, “Props. Good thinkin’, you two.”

In the vacant dormitory hallway, Ben asked, “Think the cafeteria’s open?” He seemed completely unaware he was leaving a trail of barbeque-flavoured dust carrying a chip bag upside down.

Lee lit up. “Yo, is it?”

Jo had to set them both straight: “It’s like four or five in the morning, you guys. Cafeteria opens at six-thirty. Am I the only one who read their acceptance package?”

“Probably,” Ben answered.

Behind them, Brandon said to Kate: “Hey, got a minute?”

“I’m holding chip crumbs.” She thought that would be a good enough deflect.

Of course it wasn’t, so their friends marched on as Kate slinked back to Brandon.

“I was kinda hoping we could talk,” he tried. “We haven’t said much since you left last summer. So, just—how was Feverfew? Everything good?”

“Right, the summer.” Of course he remembered. Dammit. “I, um, can’t talk about that right now. Feverfew was—it changed everything for me. I met my Dad.”

“Your Dad?”

“I even have a grandma too, and possibly a new step-mom? Oh, and I was right by the way: my Mom isn’t my mom, Aunt Vivian is my—um, yeah.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. So, I’m really looking forward to a fresh start in university, y’know?”

Only after the words left her lips did she worry, Was that enough? Could he believe that and leave the rest alone? Kate had plenty of excuses for why she insisted on smothering her feelings, but guilt overwhelmed her in Brandon’s presence. She may have learned how to lie last summer, but Kate gravely neglected how much harder it was to lie to herself. Her sweaty grip began melting those crumbs in her palm, it was very uncomfortable to carry.

He answered, “I get it. Me too, actually.”

It was true: their time apart gave Brandon W. a lot of aimless afternoons thinking about what he’d say to Kate Rose when they met again at RBU. What he missed the most was freely talking to his best friend. Forget his stupid feelings, he decided. How he liked Kate didn’t matter when the two of them weren’t even talking anymore. The sooner he and Kate could start over, the better.

Her spirit lifted a little. “Really? We’re cool? Um, everything’s normal?” she asked, hopeful, but with a shy laugh crudely tacked on that undercut something important in her voice.

But Brandon was eager to move on and didn’t dwell on it. “Long, awkward future, right?” This was what kept him going: hope that his embarrassing disaster at the train station might be one day completely forgotten with a friendship reset at RBU. The rest could figure itself out later.

Kate may have forgot she said that once. A smile formed. “That’s—great. Really great, B. Thanks. Night.”

Nevertheless, what little Kate told Brandon just now did beg the question of what she wasn’t telling him. That long, awkward future of theirs dimmed a little in its hopeful promise.

Thank you. Whibley has been my sidekick/bedtime story for the past two weeks 😊 Now I'm off fangirling my way out to bed hehe, night night!

I am so touched. You all are so nice. Quick -- someone insult me, I need humbling STAT!

I feel like Will in this scene right now: "Do it for them, eh?"

Lila and Caroline deserve so much better. You are kind to say that my writing is not entirely at fault for this, but it's true. I have narrative reasons for why they can't be together, namely for Kate Rose to exist. However, I still should have handled their backstory with better care from the beginning. Alas, writers' remorse: always craving a rewrite.

What a sweet and fun request! I'd be happy to package some Whibley sims for download. I will need time to get to this, my free hours are limited.

Small FYI, most of Whibley's character faces are tweaked versions of sims I made for Strangeytown and SimValley. If you're looking for a shortcut in the meantime, have a look through those faces.

“Guess we have different ideas of what ‘all night’ movie marathoning means. Think we should wake them?”

It wasn’t a serious question, and Jo knew Lee understood with the sound of his muffled chuckle.

“They just can’t keep up like we can, hm?” he whispered back. “Poor kiddos all tuckered out after a long move. The real question is who’s gonna start snoring first.”

They waited.

Brandon was the first they heard, technically, though not by much; Kate was a close second, followed by Ben peacefully soon after. It would be fairer to say this trio probably started sawing logs at the same time given the synchronized rise and fall of their chests and the three calm, contented heart rates hiding inside.

“Sadie!? This can’t be the same house. I almost drove right past!”

“I know, right? Landlord changed a lot since we were here, it’s totally different.”

Bonnie Weseman and Sadie Hill, best friends even before the two survived their university days in this same sorority house together, shared a brief albeit tight embrace.

“It still seems like just yesterday to you too, right?” Bonnie asked.

“You said it, sister. It’s been a very tiring day of déjà vu.”

“You know I love my boys but, damn, what I wouldn’t give to have a daughter right now.”

“I don’t know about that, Bon. Girls love trouble, or at least my girls certainly do. I can’t even think about what’s gonna happen here.”

“Oh pssh. We didn’t get up to anything too bad, did we?”

“You kissed Sophie Clarke.”

Bonnie grinned. “Just a peck.”

“Have you talked to Sophie at all lately? It’s weird being here without her.”

“No. It’s hard to stay in touch with her in Feverfew, plus her boys are a little older too which doesn’t help things. Have you?”

“No, but maybe we should change that. Start a reunion.”

“This isn’t one already?” Bonnie laughed. “Most of our graduating class is here dropping off their kids for college now. Talk about weird, it really does feel like only yesterday we were here all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. If I stay much longer I’ll start to convince myself I’m late for class!”

“You’re sweet to stay with me,” Bonnie Weseman sniffed, “but don’t let me hold you back on your big day. Go on, go, be with your friends. Wouldn’t be the first time, hey? Dropping you off at school like this?”

“No big deal, Mom,” Brandon shrugged.

She sniffed again. “I’ll be crying for months over this one, kid. Seriously, honey, don’t wait for me. Is that Kate over there?” Her son’s subtle nod made Bonnie’s knowing grin grow. “Go say hi to her for me. Go, go! You can tell her that your mother misses hearing the two of you bicker over those games of yours. What do you think? Would that work, or too sappy?”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her those days were probably long over, but his mother’s teary eyes were brimming with new hope for him and his future. He stalled. “I, uhh—”

“Just use me, sweet pea, I’m the perfect excuse. Say whatever you want, even if it’s just an opener, like, ‘Hey, my Mom says hi.’ I promise I won’t watch, sheesh! I told Sadie I’d meet her at the sorority house after dropping you off.”

“Sure, Mom. Say hi to Sadie for me. Tell her to visit the house more now that your favourite son has moved out.”

“Nick still has his blonde hair, wise guy.”

“I’m a good excuse too, Mom.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. On your way, favourite son of mine.”

“Hey! Long time no see, weary traveller.”

Kate Rose was distracted taking in all the changes approaching her that she forgot to answer. His voice was a lot lower than she remembered, it sounded almost fake. Was that real stubble? And chest hair? He made a face that brought her back. “Brandon. Sorry—hi.”

“Everyone’s dying these days.”

“What?”

“Your hair?”

“Oh, phfft, yeah. You like it? Jo’s handiwork. It’s a big change but that’s what university’s all about, right?”

“So they say. Definitely heard that one a few times today already.”

Jo Payne swooped in then. “I’m gonna miss you, roomie! Just kidding. Did you know she snores?”

Kate made a face but before she could protest Lee Sato called her out too: “It’s true! She slept most of the way here, I can attest.”

All Kate wanted was to keep her problems quiet. If Kate sleeping was the excuse the couple wanted to disguise all their heavy road trip conversation with, fine, but—snoring? Brandon laughed predictively with Jo and Lee which gave Kate little room to say anything else but:

“Umm—okay, well, obviously these two are in kahoots and therefore can’t be trusted. Let’s focus instead on getting all this crap inside, yeah? Hooray, move day.”

“I can’t believe you,” Kate pouted to Jo. “I don’t even snore.”

“Shut up, it’s cute.”

Behind them, Ben Parker Green waddled over carrying a big basket of records as Lee whistled to win back their lovesick friend’s attention. “Yoohoo? Brandon? Any chance you’d like to help sometime today?”

“Right, yeah, I will—I’ll help. Sorry. What’s next? Ben’s guitar?” He really didn’t have a clue.

“Kids, please! This is the last thing we’re asking of you before you leave for university.” That was their very unimpressed father, Reginald Barber the Third, speaking for the entire Cambridge Barber clan standing subject to the teenagers’ constant slew of complaints.

Lillian snorted at his blatant lie. “Okay Dad, sure. Like we won’t be doing this same thing all over again tomorrow when the next generation of Barbers set foot on their own campus.”

“Daring to go where no Barber dare yet go: the financial aide office,” Reginald the Fourth mumbled to his sister, who giggled, though everyone heard him. Even the artist stifled some laughter.

“Reginald, honey, you know that’s not appropriate behaviour.” That was their golden-haired mother Camilla, who was also unimpressed but noticeably more polite.

“This was a stupid idea,” Reginald III cursed.

Reigning matriarch Sarah Barber barked back at her adult son, “Dammit, Reginald. Will you stand up straight? No wonder your children are wild, look at what they have for a role model.”

Lillian and Reginald IV snickered at Dad for getting swatted down by Grandma.

The artist, Vivian Catherine Rose, was only too happy to announce, “It’s finished.” The family’s bickering helped her work impossibly quickly and she took home a generous commission for her discrete service.

Once the painting was hung, Sarah stepped back and spoke for the family all crowding around it: “Ah, see? There it is, and isn’t it just perfect. This portrait is what makes it all worthwhile, seeing our family displayed so proudly. Don’t you agree, Reginald dear?”

Reginald III answered his mother with a noticeably distracted “Y-yeah” as his thoughts drowned out the reality around him.

Perhaps it was the painted permanence of the portrait that reminded the heir of his own budding power within the family. All his life Reginald III was told what to do and when, but one day soon, he realized in the brushstrokes of his father’s silver hair, Reginald the Third would determine the Barber legacy. He could choose to change everything or nothing, either way was following one of his grandfather’s or father’s footsteps.

He wondered what his father, Reginald the Second, thought about the aging changes. He had been mentally checked out for a while. Dad barely bothered keeping up appearances anymore. The son was sure that smile was painted on.

“Don’t mind your father,” Sarah said with a quick wave of her hand. “He’s always been quite aloof. I’m running things just fine without his help, and I have been for a while now.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Reginald III answered, crossing his arms. “Why did you consult on my children’s names without me, Mother? Are you trying to go above me?”

“Oh no, no, nothing like that.” She circled the rim of her wine glass with a fingertip. “An old habit, I suppose.”

“Aren’t you coming, Dad?” Lillian asked, with her brother Reginald IV watching their father’s reaction carefully beside her. The family was moving on to afternoon tea with or without Reginald III, apparently.

“You two go on ahead, I need to—meditate on some things.”

Summer 6 of The Mess had a handful of random extras, and I also ramble about Max/Richard and the soul of this sim story. Enjoy below (spoilerous alertus):

Is this finally the end of Summer 6? Well, even though it is super fun to revisit teenage feelings and logic, I guess it's time to grow up. :) ... >:)

The pdf copy is now available at my public Mega folder for those interested in offline binge reading.

Thank you, dear reader.

“Kate?!”

Kate couldn’t decide what confused her more. Her mother’s dramatized worrying for no reason fell completely flat since Kathleen (a) knew where Kate was and (b) gave permission to be there. Who else would walk through their front door? Wait, did she just call her Kate?

“I would’ve picked you up from the train station had I known what train you were arriving on. Vivian gave you cab money, did she? I’m a little surprised you bothered coming home, I got the impression you might go straight to RBU from Feverfew.”

Kate’s angry stare was fixed to the tile floor, she didn’t see how Kathy’s lips curled a little for the timid beginnings of a smile. Maybe if she did, the teen would’ve heard more sincerity in her mother’s voice.

“You don’t want me around either, huh? Figures. Sorry, Aunt Kathy.”

“Pardon me?”

“I’m moving to RBU tomorrow, there’s nothing you can do. Ground me, I don’t care.”

“Is that what you think? That you can just take, take, take and come and go as you please? Hm? What makes you think you can talk to me this way, Catherine? I am your mother and I deserve respect.”

“What about you respecting me, huh? You’ve been lying to me for years! Why didn’t you tell me Vivian is my—" She couldn’t say it, not yet. Kathy’s scowl stopped Kate in her hurtful tracks.

“Forget it,” the teen spat, marching past the mother. She might as well have walked right through Kathy.

“One trip to Feverfew and you think you know everything, do you?”

“I do know everything. I know more than you do.”

“I highly doubt that.”

From the top of the stairs Kate declared, “I met my grandmother. I met Caroline Murphy.”

Kathy crossed her arms, unimpressed. “Yes, when your father called he told me all about your little meeting. And?”

“Oh yeah? Did you know Rose isn’t even our real last name? It’s Rowe. Grandpa Will changed his name before they moved here.”

“Rowe? Are you sure?”

Kathy had come across William Rowe in the town records once or twice, she simply assumed it was a miswrite of Rose. She wasn’t entirely wrong apparently, just a little backwards.

Kate didn’t wait for her to catch up: “It’s true. Grandma Lila’s girlfriend Caroline Murphy told me the whole story.”

“Her friend, you mean her friend. There’s no need to say it like that.”

“Yeah, Vivian warned me you were bigoted. Caroline was in love with Grandma Lila. They shared a room together in university.”

“Oh Catherine, most student housing was separated by sex back then. Love? That’s absurd. Everyone knows Caroline and Lila were just—neighbours before the Murphy’s divorce and Carol left town. I thought she took all of her shame with her, but it seems she’s spreading it to you now. Allow me to set the record straight: from the day they met, your grandparents Will and Lila were always devoted to each other. How dare you talk ill of your own family like this! In their home!”

“Whatever.”

Suddenly Kathy was decided. “That’s it. You’re not leaving, you’re not going to university. I won’t allow it.”

Kate scoffed, “You can’t do that, I’m an adult.”

“And you will work like an adult soon enough, trust me. But you are not leaving this house; you clearly haven’t learned the right lessons here yet. I should’ve known you weren’t ready for Feverfew.”

Kate was decided now too: “You’re crazy. You’re actually crazy! This whole damn family is so insane! I’m getting my stuff and going to Jo’s.”

Kate ran up the stairs then, hearing Kathy shriek helplessly after her: “Wh—? Kate?! You can’t walk away from me!”

“Just did,” she muttered.

Kate scanned her bedroom for what few belongings in her mother’s old room that were fully her own, stuff her mother didn’t touch. There wasn’t much.

She was eying the dollhouse when Kathy shouted, “Catherine! Catherine!?”

Kate refused to answer. Instead, she yearned to pick up the stupid, miniature happy home and smash it. Destroy the dollhouse, destroy the Rose house, or both; either way, there was no coming back to this place after tonight. Wasn’t that what she wanted now anyway?

She decided to leave the room in tact.

Kate stormed down the stairs, past Kathy, determinedly headed for the front door. “I don’t know why I came back. Don’t worry, I’ll never make that mistake again, ever. I’m not your idiot anymore.”

“Catherine! Stop this behaviour immediately!”

“You can’t keep me here. What part of that don’t you understand? I will leave right now with nothing but the clothes on my back and everyone will blame you for being a bad mother.”

Bull’s eye. Kathleen Rose was crushed. An eerie silence lingered just long enough for both women to feel badly about what they had said tonight, but it was too late to take any of it back now.

“I—I wasn’t prepared for this,” the mother confessed quietly, “but I was prepared once; I married a good man from a good family. I was prepared to give you only the best with every opportunity at your fingertips. But then you never came. Infertility destroyed my marriage.”

Kathy’s unusual display of vulnerability touched Kate in a way that momentarily stunned the teen, compelling her to stop and turn around. Her giant mother looked so small to the fledgling young adult now. But the sympathy didn’t last long before Kate tripped over something else:

“You were married?! When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was before you were born.” And I don’t want to talk about it, it hurts!

“Argh! It’s always some new lie with you. If you were married, why aren’t there pictures? Why hide it? Why hide the fact that you aren’t my real mom? You should’ve been the aunt, and Aunt Vivian should’ve been my—”

“Vivian didn’t want you, I did! You’ve seen how she lives now. Do you really want that mess to be your mother? I gave you stability! I gave you a home, family! She—arrgh. This was all her stupid plan in the first place.”

“H-her plan? You mean the grad trip present, right?” Kathy sniffed instead of answering, so Kate sensed her silence was confessing something else. “Oh. So then, how much could you have really wanted me if this was all just her idea?”

“That’s not what I meant. My mother had just died. A door was closing. I don’t expect you to understand.”

“I’m leaving,” Kate told her.

“What about your things?”

“It’s all yours up there. All of it. Keep it. I don’t need anything from you anymore, Aunt Kathy.”

The nighttime quiet felt especially so once Kate was outside the Rose house, away from the shouting and tears and confusing attempts at love. She half expected Kathy to kick down the door and chase the adrenaline-enraged teen down the street in an embarrassing display only fitting for their screwed up family. But when Kathy didn’t give chase, was it guilt that held Kate there on the porch, or something else? She couldn’t be sure.

One thing she did know, however: Kate Rose was on her own now.

Genji Sato took the boys — Lee, Ben, and Brandon — to Whibley’s Fishin’ Spot for one last cast before the summer ended.

“It’s weird not celebrating the last day of summer with your sister,” Gen mentioned to his son next to him. “It’s her birthday today.”

“Yeah, but I think Naomi can find her own fun, Dad.”

The father chuckled, “You’re probably right about that.”

The group talked about nothing and everything for hours, including a thorough discussion on what clothes aliens might wear.

Slowly over the course of the pleasant afternoon, Brandon noticed an annoying pattern. At first, he thought he was on par with the guys.

But before long he heard Ben snicker, “Brandon, check it out. Mine’s bigger.”

“Shut up, man.”

Before he knew what happened exactly, the guys were doing laps around him!

Ben had the big, happy family. Lee met his wife at age six. What did Brandon have?

Them, he realized.

Despite whatever cruel twist of fate that cursed him to be consistently striking out lately, at least Lee and Ben never made him feel like a loser for it. Brandon understood their “ride or die” promise a little better with this in mind.

Pretty soon the more Brandon lost this afternoon the funnier it became. He was the one who started the laughter that bellowed from the men over the water, scaring the fish and cracking through the depressive shell Brandon was stuck in since graduation.

Bonnie Weseman greeted her dejected teen with sweet relief, “Oh good, you’re home,” just as his kid brother Nick whined, “Braaaaaandon, you’re in the waaay!”

Through a panicked smile she asked him, “Are you hungry, sweet pea? Do you want any supper? I can reheat the—”

“No thanks.”

“W-well, what about—”

“No thanks, Mom.”

“Okay…”

This is the part of nostalgia-fueled endless summers that we try to forget: