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.



She helped herself to some free, lightly spiked punch. There was a program on the table that read, “Commencement Ceremony, 2088. Welcome to your new beginning!”

How odd, and appropriate, Selena thought, realizing that the word “commencement” actually meant, “to begin something.” For some reason, she always thought it meant, “the end.” And here she was at the intersection of all these endings and beginnings, everyone excited to begin their next things. But she had no next thing of her own to begin.



Evie graduated tonight, too. She and Odin moved into their new place earlier this week. Their apartment still smelled like cleaned carpet and brand new furniture—nothing second-hand, nothing ever slept or sat on before. They paid for it all with the sign-on bonus from Evie’s new, official, grown-up job. And Odin had good news about the pilot he filmed for that pirate show. A producer finally snatched it up, and they would begin production this fall. Evie and Odin were beginning a new chapter for the two of them. Nobody would be the least bit surprised if they were engaged by Christmas.



Selena needed the pick-me-up of an after-graduation kegger at her friend’s snazzy new apartment. She found Andre to announce her departure.

“Hey, you’re coming over to Evie’s new place for the party later?” she asked him. “You wanna meet me there? Bring your brother.”

“Yeah, see you there.”

Andre gave her a warm and polite hug in front of his parents.




Living in the same city all these months, it was inevitable that Selena would run into her ex eventually. It had been a heated breakup between them, but she wasn’t mad at Luis anymore. In fact, it turned out she rarely thought about him at all anymore. But he was graduating tonight, too. She had a feeling she wouldn’t avoid him for much longer.

He was standing alone outside the gallery entrance. Should she pretend she hadn’t seen him at all? No, that would be rude. Would a nod suffice? A quick, “Hey, congrats!” and be on her way?

A quick glance over her shoulder, and she found him staring back at her with a smug half-smile.

“Luis! Oh gosh, I didn’t recognize you. In the gown, you all look the same tonight.”

“Right,” he said.



“Hey, so, congrats,” she said. “And, um, why are you standing out here alone?”

“Headed home, probably.” He shrugged. “There’s nobody here for me. Not worth hanging around.”

Luis had no family, and he wasn’t the type to keep close friends. In the four years they dated, he used to say, “I don’t need friends, I have you.” They didn’t break up because they disliked each other. She wondered how lonely this past year had been for him.

“Aw, don’t talk like that,” she said. “I’m here. Congrats from me then. You earned it.”

“Well, thank you. You don’t have to say that, but thanks. So, you and Andre then?”

“Oh! Yeah. Crazy world, huh?”

“Good for you,” he said. “I hope it works out.”

That was surprising. She expected Luis to scoff at her new boyfriend. How odd, after she’d already suspected it would probably not work out, to receive the genuine blessing of her ex.

There was a cruel glimmer of hope brewing in her heart.

“Hey, so, you’re a grad, too, you know,” Selena said. “Did you hear about Evie’s grad party? Come if you want.”

He looked at her funny. “Thanks, but no. You guys have fun.”

—

[Picspam of Evie & Odin's new apartment.]

The beer was tame. But they were all friends here, and they managed to have fun anyway. 

Raquel and Melissa have really bonded as friends this year, being the only two lit majors at SNU. 

Meanwhile, Raquel and Sarah may be drifting apart, since Sarah seems keen to make swoony-eyes at Evie's sister, Courtney, in the laundry room. 

Selena is pretty sure this was her idea. She finds her boyfriend very handsome, and it overcomes her sometimes. But there’s only one bathroom in this apartment, and about a dozen of their closest friends would like to use it soon. 

Knock, knock. “Are you okay in there? Was the ceviche bad? Do you need some Pepto-Bismol?” 

Now Selena feels guilty for christening Evie’s brand new shower before she’s probably gotten a chance to do it there herself. Oops! 

So the party was tame, but it made for a satisfying housewarming and launch into Evie and Odin’s new grown-up life together. Nobody was drunk enough to break anything, and if anything else unsavory went on, Evie was blissfully clueless. 

—

You couldn’t ask for a lovelier night. Clear with a soft breeze. The city smelled of late-night pizza and the exhaust from a taxi waiting three stories below.

“That was fun,” Summer said. “We should have more parties. We could host next time. I can get us better beer than that. Man, I wish you could try the beer we had back home. Lakeside Brewery craft ale. You can’t buy it here. It was strong as hell. Ha ha, it made you do some crazy stuff.”

Selena seemed to have no trouble getting into crazy stuff on her own.

“Andre and I did it in Evie’s new shower tonight.”



“No shit. Wow.” Summer wondered if that was worse than salivating over Evie’s boyfriend all night, and which of them was a lousier friend? “It’s a nice bathroom. I guess I can’t judge.”

“The whole place is nice,” Selena said, her voice heavy with lament. “Luis and I didn’t have nearly as much stuff when we moved in together. It was stupid, probably, we were only twenty.”

Summer sat down. It looked like her friend needed to talk.



“I ran into Luis earlier tonight,” Selena said. “It was his graduation, too. Gosh, I haven’t thought about him in ages. But seeing him again in person, it brought back so many memories. That apartment we got together. It felt like the start of something, but then, it wasn’t.”

Summer had loved a couple guys in her time, but she never considered living with one. Maybe she knew all along that she wasn’t cut out for it.

“I do know one thing,” Summer said. “Don’t go there. I know what you’re thinking—he’s so familiar, so nostalgic. But no, just don’t.”

“I wouldn’t,” Selena said. “You know, Andre and I are still a couple.”



For now, Summer thought. “Okay, next year though. You’ll be lonely, craving something old and familiar. Show up at his football game wearing your tightest jeans, he stalks past your house walking his dog. I know how this goes. You figure, why not? Been there, done that, it feels familiar, it feels safe. Tried at tested. He knows what you like, you know what he likes. On and off and on and off. Oh, believe me, ex-sex is good! But exes are exes for a reason.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Selena said.



“Well, anyway, I’m glad you’re still here. I hate living alone, I’m glad to have another single girl around.”

Selena smirked. “Like I said. Not single. Andre and I didn’t break up.”

Summers’ face said, Oh, sweetie.

“Anyway, we’re gonna have a blast here. We can be stylish, too! Let’s clean up the place, get rid of that flea market sofa, plaster the walls with some artsy shit. Maybe a plant? Are you good at plants?”



“No, not really,” Selena said. “But can we get a puppy?”

“Oh, yikes. A puppy sounds way harder than a plant. But if you want one, sure. Let’s get a puppy!”



Selena liked the idea of a puppy. Just think of all that love and adoration! But tonight, she was alone.

“Sorry,” Andre had said, “It’s my brother’s first night back home, you understand? I’ll call you tomorrow.”

She did understand. He was a loyal son and loving brother. That was part of why she liked him. He would make a fantastic husband and father some distant, far-off day. So Selena didn’t want to give up hope on Andre just yet. If he was prepared to drag their strangled relationship through the dust, then she was going to pick up her end and drag it, too. And if that meant some long lonely months of being half single, then so be it.

At least she had a room to herself now, cabinets for her shoes, romantic candles, and a big beautiful cozy bed. She’d fall asleep and dream that he’d burst through the door and say, “I changed my mind, I love you, please come stay with me.”

Her fantasies would keep her warm. And if they didn’t, perhaps a big cuddly ball of fur might do the trick.

—

So that was how it came to be that Selena and Summer had a charming new man in their life!

Meet Fabio, named because he is a Collie and they were told he would grow up to have a mane of long flowing hair.

He is smart, loyal, and very hairy.

They are so in love with him. Even Summer. Though you better believe when his hairballs accumulate all over the apartment, he’ll probably be “Selena’s dog.”

Selena is okay with that.

—

notes: Selena and Luis gameplay // Selena and Andre gameplay/story notes

I am kind of excited to play Selena and Summer as roomies with their sweet little pup. Summer is “single and loving it” and Selena is “hungry for love” with a soon-to-be long-distance boyfriend. They’re gonna have some times! And I'm sure we'll still see plenty of Evie, too. In the couple of days I've played them since she moved out, she drops by uninvited ALL the time, lol!