head over feet

June 2088. Vicky Garth is 23. Vale Akiyama is 27. Melissa Fortney is 21.

previously: Vale and Vicky prepare for a hot summer of music // with a monumental oops on her hands, Melissa makes a difficult decision to free up her future.

soundtrack: "Head Over Feet," by Alanis Morissette.

With dreams of freedom and sunshine and festival summer in her head, Melissa never imagined she’d be tempted by a summer job offer.

That is, until it turned out that her boss at Halston House Studios is actually best friends with Vale Akiyama, and Vale needed a roadie and media manager for his tour this summer.

Do you mean to say that Melissa isn’t just going to some festivals this summer…? She’s going to ALL the festivals this summer? And she’ll be paid to do it?

“Can you film in varying lighting conditions and weather elements? Can you edit videos and navigate social media platforms? Can you carry thirty—okay, fifty pounds of musical equipment?”

Hell fucking yes I can! Melissa thinks. Well, she’s never tried to lift fifty pounds before, but how hard can it be?

“Totally! When do we start?”

commencement

June 2088. Selena Sosa is 24, Andre Sylvester is 23, Luis Talbot is 24, Evie Bachman is 24, Odin Grant is 27, and Summer Phoenix is 23.

previously: Selena and Luis were so in love for many years… // but Andre is in love with Selena, too? // in the end, Selena and Luis can’t make it work // despite the initial rejection, Andre and Selena give it a shot

—

The graduation ceremony ended and everyone filed into the reception hall for drinks and congratulations. Selena joined everyone, standing nearby Andre and his parents like an afterthought.

Everyone congratulated him on his acceptance to med school and on his big move across the country which didn’t involve her for at least the next three years. No hard feelings, though. They all knew he’d go to med school next. They knew he planned to live in the dorm housing and bury himself in his studies. It wasn’t exactly a breakup, but the fact was that there was no room for her in his immediate future.

But, summer break! Yes, they still had summer break. Then maybe they would talk about the end of things. Or maybe they would try to make long-distance work. Or maybe they would just let the relationship fade and cut the cord over the phone on some random weekday night this fall when they both decided it wasn’t worth the trouble anymore.

Seven months was such a precarious length of time. Too little to make a big deal over, but long enough to feel its loss.

Gosh, he was going to be a doctor. Emergency room trauma. He was going to save lives. Surely that was more important than some college girlfriend. He was so good and so giving, and she felt so petty for feeling sorry for herself.

But all this talk of his bright and bountiful future was getting her down.

graduation 2088

June 2088. 

This evening is presented by April Harris, Education Minister. 

AH: “Welcome, friends, family, and esteemed graduates! Tonight we gather in San Catalina, California, to congratulate our graduating class of 2088! This year’s graduating class was brimming with talent, but one student inched out ahead with her dedication to service and community as Class President and National Merit Kindness Ambassador. Please enjoy a speech by this year’s valedictorian, Delphie Deppiesse, from Fort Palms High School.”

cherry blossom girl, part 2 (prom 2088)

May 2088. 

seniors: Delphie Deppiesse, Dakota Deppiesse, Austin Turner, Desmond Banks 

juniors: Ryanne Phoenix, Malia Kapule, Sam Harris, Shannon Brett

chaperones: Violet & Orion Deppiesse 

—

The next morning at breakfast, Shannon sat at Dakota’s table, which must have been the first time she even attempted to speak to Dakota since their big blowout back at home. 

“I didn’t see you at the lights festival last night,” Shannon said.  

“I went home, it was kind of boring.”

“It wasn’t boring, you were just in a mood. I had plenty of fun. Did you see my kimono?”

“Maybe for a minute.” 

“You went home with Austin?” 

“Maybe, why?”

“Did you guys do it?”

Dakota scoffed. “What’s it to you if we did? Are you jealous? You can’t be jealous. You have a boyfriend at home.” 

“But did you?”

Dakota refused to offer anything, not even a hint of expression on her face. “Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t.” 

Shannon rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Whatever.”

They didn’t, for the record. But Dakota didn’t mind letting Shannon sweat about it a little.

cherry blossom girl, part 1 (prom 2088)

May 2088. 

seniors: Delphie Deppiesse, Dakota Deppiesse, Austin Turner, Desmond Banks 

juniors: Ryanne Phoenix, Malia Kapule, Sam Harris, Shannon Brett

chaperones: Violet & Orion Deppiesse 

—

“Hey, check this out. Doesn’t it rock so hard?”

Dakota’s fingers fluttered across the fretboard in a movement so quick and delicate, it was astonishing how she made that instrument scream. The sound that came out was heavy and abrasive. To be honest, Shannon’s style was probably more Katy Perry than Metallica. But she did like Dakota.

postcards from the land of wanting

April & May 2088. 

*warnings: briefly NSFW* 

#1: the fountain of desperately reclaimed youth

Pamela Collins is making forty look divine. As much as she dreaded this big day, it turns out there was no need to worry at all. Her butt is still firm, her breasts are still high, and her smile lines are light and cheerful. At the gym, she still draws a crowd of men—married men, single men, co-workers, teenagers.

But don’t worry, she’s not screwing any of these men.

Carly & Kyle: the wedding

May 2088. Carly Cook is 33, Kyle Kowalski is 31.

previously: Carly & Kyle got engaged

Carly is an old character whose story existed across three game versions and several blogs, much of it even off-camera. I know there are parts of her story that I can’t find on any of the blogs now—maybe they were in drafts of things I never got around to posting? Like the ending of her relationship with Joe. Or that she and Kyle were breaking up, then they were suddenly back together and getting engaged. There was some in between, I’m sure, but I can’t find it now, lol! 

Well, she’s here now and she’s finally getting married! 

superstar

May 2088. Vale Akiyama is 27, Vicky Garth is 23, Patrick Nova is 37, Raine is 9.

previously: Vale and Vicky make some big moves together // packing up // and celebrate nephew Abe's 1st birthday.

Music lessons, because: 

“I already wrote you a love song,” she said. 

“But I want another one,” he said.

the truth, for once

April 2088. Gwen Palmer is 35. Andreas Tsoukalos is 33.

previously: terrible love // but Gwen miscarried

warnings: miscarriage

You can have everything you deserve if you work hard enough, if you fight for it. The career, the man, the family. Just be smart enough, fierce enough, dedicated enough, sexy enough, and you can have it all.

Except that it’s not true. 

Gwen must have known it wasn’t true or realistic, especially for everyone else. Maybe, deep down, she even knew it wasn’t true for herself. But who cared as long as she was winning? For a long time, she thought she could bend the universe to her will. For a long time, she actually did.