Life in Christophe Harbour

Oh wow!!

I was very behind on your story but in a way I am kind of glad. I didn't have to wait in suspense like everyone else, well until your last part....aaarrgghhh!!

Poor,poor Carolyn what is a girl to do ?


I agree with everyone else, you tell very beautiful stories and i love looking at all of your piccies!

I agree that Jackie is a big romantic @ heart :)

Hey Jen, great to see you back in Christophe Harbour! So glad you're enjoying it here....and thanks for all your kind words.

Oh..my dear romantic Jackie...I'm afraid, I AM a bit diabolical! ...I hope you can handle it!

----

Marco stood, looking after Carolyn as she disappeared down the hallway in a swirl of perfume and organza. He wanted to run after her, but what would he say? His mind was reeling. He didn't know why he had followed her from the ballroom. His feet had just taken him to her, and suddenly they were face to face and he could feel her breath on his cheek, and before he knew what he was doing, his lips were on hers.

He closed his eyes, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"What have I done?" he groaned. He shook his head, took a deep breath, and willed his legs to walk down the corridor, but when he got to the ballroom doors, he stopped, turned left and went into the bathroom.

Marco felt like he was burning up. He stood over the sink and touched his fingers to his lips. He couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. She had kissed him back! Boy had she ever kissed him back!

"It's like her mouth was...was...hungry!" he thought his knees feeling weak. He leaned against the washbasin to steady himself.

"Wow!" He whispered.

He stood like that for a few minutes, and then he splashed some water onto his face, straightened his tie and walked slowly back to the ballroom. He entered the side door just in time to see Sam Wade grab Carolyn by the hand and lead her into the garden. Marco felt as though someone had punched him in the stomach.

"Over here!" Vinnie called from across the room, waving to get Marco's attention. He was standing near the front doors with Lainey and Solveig. "Time to head to the Lighthouse!"

Marco walked over and as he approached them, heard himself say, "Guys I'm not feeling well. I should go home, but you guys go to the party."

"Oh no!" Solveig said, turning to him concerned. "I'll come with you. We'll grab a cab."

"No, no," Marco, with what he hoped was an apologetic smile. He put his hand on his stomach and said, "I'll be ok. You go to the Lighthouse with the others. It's prom night."

"Yes. Come with us Solveig!" Lainey said grabbing her hand.

"You're sure you don't want me to come with you," Solveig asked Marco.

"I'm sure," he said with a little smile.

Over the tops of the girls' heads Vinnie looked straight at his twin brother, and his eyes said.

"You're lying."

Marco dropped his gaze. "Dear Lord, I'm going straight to hell," he thought to himself.

He walked with the others outside, and as the girls walked ahead of them down the steps, Vinnie hung back to walk alongside Marco. He had seen Carolyn and Sam go into the garden too.

He put his hand on Marco's shoulder and said softly, "It's time to let go little brother." Born seven minutes ahead of Marco, he had always called him 'little brother.'

Marco smiled sadly.

Vinnie stepped forward his arms stretched out towards the girls. "Now what a lucky man I am to be taking two beautiful ladies to the after party."

Marco hugged Solveig, again assuring her that he would be okay, that he would grab a cab and head straight home.

He stood and watched as the limo slid down the street...

...but he didn't grab a cab...not right away. He walked the city streets for over an hour, trying to calm his tortured mind.

Carolyn had been in an intense relationship with Kyle, and was probably still on the rebound. He didn't want to be taking advantage of that. There had always been chemistry between them, but Carolyn was his friend, and he did not want to risk losing her friendship by saying something stupid or doing something stupid. Like kissing her! But she had kissed him back! Oh, how she had kissed him back!

He finally made it home at minutes to 2:00 in the morning.

He tiptoed into the quiet house, made himself a cup of cocoa and watched TV for a while with the volume on mute. The images flashed in front of him, but he wasn't seeing them.

Had that moment of fleeting passion been just about two people caught up in the heady excitement of life? He asked himself for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. They had reached the end of one phase of their lives, and they were moving on to a new phase, and everything was exciting and unknown, and they had been giddy and scared all at the same time...and so...

It was after 3:00 when he rolled off the sofa and staggered into his tiny room. He stretched across his bed fully clothed. He was crazy about Carolyn. That much he knew for a fact. But he didn't know much else.

Marco was not the only one who didn't sleep that night....

I am not going to get my hopes up here but....

Dang, those two belong together...

Kyle who>??? lol

I feel sorry for the lovestruck couple you need to post more and then some....

PS

You should post alittle about the jerk alert...Kyle (by the way could you post a download link to kyle in his teen years when the story starts out?)

AdriannaSimmie wrote:

I am not going to get my hopes up here but....Dang, those two belong together...

Time will tell....

AdriannaSimmie wrote:

Kyle who>??? lol

The most hated simmie on the block! I don't know why I like the guy! He's just such a great fixer-upper. What? No takers?

savannah1994 wrote:

You should post alittle about the jerk alert...Kyle

He should indeed come with a warning.

savannah1994 wrote:

By the way could you post a download link to kyle in his teen years when the story starts out?)

I haven't uploaded him as a teen, but you can download him as an adult here, and change his age to teen in CAS or Bodyshop.

-----
After a sleepless night Carolyn left with her family first thing in the morning for the airport...by lunchtime, they had arrived on the tiny island of Mustique in the Grenadines (a chain of islands that runs between Grenada and St. Vincent). Her grandparents still owned a home there, and it would be the family's home for the next two months. They had all worn their bathing suits under their clothes, and as soon as they entered the house, they dropped their bags and started undressing, and over their mother's protests left a trail of clothing through the house as they headed out the back door to the beach.


Her mother looked at the mess and then at her husband of 21 years who was standing there grinning. Michael started tugging off his shirt. "If you can't beat 'em..." he said.

"Oh why not?" she said, following her husband out onto the back veranda, casting her linen dress onto a chair as she headed down the steps onto the soft white sand. Michael glanced back at his wife and smiled. She was till a vision after all these years.

There wasn't much to do on the tiny island, so Carolyn and her siblings pretty much spent the summer on the beach. Her dad and Marc had brought their laptops, but internet coverage was unreliable. It took them about two weeks to get over their technology withdrawal, and then they began to really relax and really enjoy each others' company.

Far away from Christophe Harbour, her life back there began to feel like a dream...but at night, when the house was still and there was no one to distract her, Marco slipped into her thoughts. She remembered his kiss, and his smile and his smokey blue-grey eyes, that contrasted so dramatically with his shock of jet black hair. Whenever she would manage to get online there would be an email from him, or a note on her Facebook page. Always light, always casual...but still, it make her stomach flip over a bit to see his name.

Late one night, about a month into their holidays, after she and her siblings had come back from a walk into the sleepy town of Britannia Bay, she borrowed Marc's laptop and managed to get online...and there on Vinnie's Facebook page was a picture of him and Lainey and Solveig and Marco looking like they were having a really good time. She had tried never to think of Marco and Solveig together, and seeing the picture really shook her up.


"Well Carolyn, what did you expect?" She asked herself. "That he would wait around for you to get your act together? "


She turned off the laptop, kicked off her sandals and walked down the steps to the beach.

She really didn't know what she wanted from Marco. Were her feelings real or was she on the rebound? And if they were real, did she want to risk the friendship by telling him? He had a girlfriend, and if there was one thing Carolyn promised herself after her experiences with Kyle, she would never be 'the other woman.' She would never, ever get involved with someone's else's boyfriend.

"Chaya and Michael Garcia did not raise you that way," she told herself as she wandered along the shore. Eventually she turned around and headed for the stretch of beach in front of the rambling house, nestled in the cove...and there she sat until the sun began to rise.

The dawn did not bring any peace to her heart, but it brought resolve that she would start her life afresh when she reached back home and headed to university.

"Time to leave the old behind," she told herself stoically, though she knew it would take her heart a while to catch up with her new perspective.


"But we'll get there," she told herself.

Beautiful pictures from the beach, you did them very Bravo! Poor Carolyn all depressed on the beach
well time will tell if she ever will be happy again ... or will it?

I wish I had the holiday Expansion, it is reel fun to look at pictures from that, Can you go to winter holiday to like in the first Sim? there you could chose between romantic holiday in winter and on beach or in the woods ... if I remember right. sometimes I miss that game, I had all the expansions, and it was reel fun, well then Sim 2 came, and they all went 2 dimensional, so I stopped play ... but I don't ever regretted that I buy and started play Sims2, well is there different places to go to holiday to? (sorry for all the rant)

Well done Toni, you have us the Publicum/readers on the hook, and there is no way to stop wait on, and read your story!

Oh I love the way the story is going and your shots on the beach are fantastic...

Makes me actually want to play my game instead of just building homes :)

Poor, poor Carolyn but I am still holding out hope for her just because he did NOT have his arm around that other chick a dee in the pic she saw on facebook...humph!

Jackie wrote

Quote :

I wish I had the holiday Expansion, it is reel fun to look at pictures from that, Can you go to winter holiday to like in the first Sim? there you could chose between romantic holiday in winter and on beach or in the woods ... if I remember right.

I think you are talking about Bon Voyage and Seasons sweetie. Those are the only EP's I can think of where you can go from a winter vacation in the mountain to the beach....
You can also live on the beach.

No sweetie ... He,he... I got Season, but not the holiday pack and I tort it was like in Sim 1, where you had an Expansion pack, named holiday or happy holiday or such, and when you had that, you could have an romantic holiday in the mountains = snow, on the beach = real bad Volleyball game and a holiday in the wood (that expansion also gave you fising on comunity lots, but not like Sims 2 ), you also had holiday in an amusement park ... so I wonder if it is the same, but with more colors, in Sims 2 ? to Jen.

Like your new Avatar Toni

Wow, the beach scenes look really great! It makes me wish I had Bon Voyage too.

You've done such a great job of capturing the character's feelings and all the emotions that come with young love Your scenes are so in the moment. It's great! Keep it up, Toni.

I do love decorating beach lots, and the waves and surf are really beautiful (and yes Jackie, there's even the sound of the waves)...

With BV you can go on beach vacation, a mountain vacation or an eastern vacation (something vaguely Chinese) but you can also create your own vacation hood. Your simmies can either rent a room or house, or can even buy a vacation property. And like Jen said, you can have home beach lots as long as your hood has beach front.

The mountain hood vacation lots seem to start in winter, and you usually get snow within a day or so, but after that, they save in whatever season your last visitors left them. The mountain vacation comes with tents too (they're pretty cool). But by far I love the beaches most.

In this beach lot I'm playing (their vacation home), which I designed myself from scratch, a lot of the foliage is stuff that I got at MATY that was converted from the PS2 Castaways game, like the playable drums. There's also a limbo bar, that they can dance and limbo under...And there are coconut and papaya trees that they can climb and eat fruit or just play around in, and there's a banana tree that they can pick and eat bananas from. Pretty neat stuff actually. :wigglypig:

Well let's see what Marco's been up to.

---

Marco spent his summer working, and hanging with friends...

...And trying to be a good boyfriend.

But thoughts of Carolyn were never far away.


But by mid-summer he hardly ever heard from her anymore. She had explained that internet access where she was was sporadic, but he would sometimes see that she had been active on her Facebook page, but was not replying right away to his email and posts. The situation was driving him to distraction.

His relationship with Solveig had felt strained since the prom and he was becoming more and more distant.

Solveig began to question what was going on, and as the weeks passed, they almost always argued whenever they were together. Well, Solveig argued and Marco mostly listened.


"Do you love me Marco?" she asked him accusingly. It was about a week before he was to leave for university and they were walking through the park on their way to a movie.

He didn't answer. He had never told her that he loved her.

She looked at him, her eyes shining. "You don't, do you?" she whispered, a little sob escaping her lips.

"It's not you Solveig..."

The tears slid down her cheeks as he told her how sorry he was, but he just didn't see their relationship going any further.

"I'm so, so sorry Sol," he said softly, reaching for her hands, but she pulled them away.

"Don't," she said waving him away, and then she stepped onto the sidewalk and raised her hand to hail a passing cab.

"Let me come with you," he said gently.

"Just let me go Marco," she said, her voice trembling and her face pinched with pain.

"Text me when you get home," he said, touching her arm.

She pulled away to avoid his touch and yanked open the cab door.

She turned her tear-streaked face to him. "I thought I could make you love me," she said. "But your heart was always somewhere else."

"I'm sorry Solveig."

"So am I," she said hopping into the back seat, and slamming the door. She looked straight ahead of her as the cab pulled away from the curb.

Marco felt sick to be causing another person so much pain. This was what he had been trying to avoid. This was why he had let the relationship drag on.

He sat in the park, and when he figured Solveig should have reached home, he called her. She didn't answer, but she sent a text.

"I'm home."

"I'm so sorry Solveig. I hate that I have hurt you," he replied.

She did not respond.

He sat until it began to get dark. There was a chill in the air, as he walked out to the street and hailed a cab.

"Headache. Going to hit the sack," he mumbled as he passed his mother and one or two of his siblings in the living room, when he entered the house a short while later.

He tossed his clothes onto a chair, and slipped into bed.

"I'll never let myself get close enough to anyone again to risk hurting them like this."

Forgive me for falling so far behind. But dang, girl, where are you finding the time to get this done so quickly? I know how much work it takes to build and decorate sets and set up screen shots. I don't check in for a couple of days and I miss like, 3 or 4 chapters.

Your storytelling is just awesome. That's a blanket term, but it's true. There are so many things - little details, that you hit that make this into a real story that I can feel and taste while I'm reading. For example, at the prom, when Vinnie caught his brother's eye over the top of the girls' heads and whispered, "You're lying." and how each teen took a moment to reflect about the kiss - especially Marco how he mused twice about how Carolyn had kissed him back. I could go on and on, but I don't have that much time, lol. You also give everyone a personality - like Sol's reaction to the breakup. Very realistic.

Your shots are beautiful and captivating and accent your story beautifully. Heck, girl, this almost makes me want to get back into sim storytelling again. Fantastic job! My heart breaks for both of them. You are a master at torturing us with their tattered love lives and I'm on the edge of my seat for more.

Wow...thank you Ari. I was on vacation for a couple of weeks and so I had time to post updates daily, but now I'm back to the grind (I'm at work right now) and so they won't be quite as frequent. Hope you guys don't go into withdrawal!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read...I mean really read my stories, Ari. Yes, Marco was absolutely blown away by Carolyn's response to the kiss. I'm so pleased that you noticed. I wish I had more time to spend sharing Vinnie and Marco's relationship with you. I sort of have to try and squeeze in their connectedness in a just a few words. Again, I'm so flattered that you 'got it.' There is so much that I don't even get the chance to share. I'm almost as engrossed in Cassie's story as I am in Carolyn's, though it's not as emotionally tumultuous (yet!) ...and there's a whole other thing going on with Don and Cassandra and Daniel and Mary-Sue. lol!

As to my lots....I'm weird about detail. I spend a lot of time trying to make them as realistic and unique as possible (though I know I totally over-use the bottle of coke and two glasses. lol! What? Don't all teens live on Coke?!). I get so into it, that I even occasionally change the bedsheets and the clutter, and eventually a piece of furniture or a wall colour, so that a house isn't static as the years pass. lol! I'm a bit crazy that way!

I'm already a couple of years ahead in my game (expect more drama, tears, laughter, fights, break-ups and make-ups), so I just have to wade through the pictures that I have to try to piece together the story. I've always liked to document the happenings, and have always been an ardent picture-taker. I've got I'm sure thousands!

I did cheat a bit with a couple of pix in my story here though, like a school shot with Carolyn and Andre talking and Carolyn and her friend at the movies. I didn't have those taken at the time, and so I sent them to the lot when they were YAs, and aged them back to teens to take the pictures.

And of course I'm a shameless user of pose boxes to set up my pictures for my little 'storybooks.' And I do have a little mod by TwoJeffs, that allows you to force a simmie to think of another simmie, but it's not been updated, so sometimes it just doesn't work. I've found with Marco and Carolyn though, that I've hardly ever had to use it! They really do think about each other! Isn't that sweet? And Kyle thinks about Carolyn on his own (even though they've been a lot of other girls!) , and often gets the going steady thought bubble and the caught cheating one! Gee...I wonder why! lol!

What takes time, like you said, is writing the stories and trying to cram in a lot of information and nuance in just a few lines.

Oh Ari, it means so so much to me, that you're really reading (and apparently enjoying) exploring my neighbourhood. It's been so much fun telling my simmies' tales.

It's been pretty quiet around here these few past days, and so I'm not even sure if anyone is still reading the tales, but I'm falling so far behind from where I am in my game, I thought I'd keep going anyway just in case.

-----

Meanwhile, Kyle and his sister Lauren spent the first part of the summer in Pleasantview with their grandparents Faith and Rueben Gladstone (Maxis' Faith and Hubert Goodie).


A few days after they arrived in the sleepy town about 20 miles up the coast from Christophe Harbour, they were joined by their cousins Raquel and Rory Benoit (their mom and Kyle's mom are the Gladstone's daughters. Their Dad is the younger brother of Clayton Benoit (Cassie's dad) and Vivien Stovic (Andre's mom).


Kyle very much enjoys spending time at his grandparents comfortable home.


I wonder what this conversation is all about!


I totally had to share this moment with you guys. I was zooming around taking photos of the happenings, when I got this lovely closeup of Faith (who is Mortimer Goth's sister).


She looked so pretty and happy, and I zoomed out to see what she was thinking about....


Hmmmmmm.......perhaps this explains Kyle's interests

Speaking of Kyle's interests...having spent his summers in Plesantview since he was a child, he has a few friends there...and being as charismatic as he is, it didn't take him long to make a few more.

His grandfather's 1969 Marathon had not seen this much excitement in 40 years!


At the beginning of August, Kyle and Lauren headed back to Christophe Harbour, where Kyle enrolled in an art class.


His instructor was quite impressed with him...um...I mean, with his work! *cough*

During the rest of the summer he dated the violinist who had just joined the symphony that his mom plays with.


His art instructor (surprise! surprise!)


...and the nutritionist at his health club.


Uh oh!....despite all his efforts Carolyn kept creeping into his mind. He wondered how he would feel if...no...WHEN he inevitably ran into her at Fiesta Tech....

Oh girl please, he is such a ho bag!! Fer sho!

He isn't thinking about Carolyn at all.....sheesh!!

*sorry just had to vent, he is such a low down dirty dog ...hehehehe!

Wonderful pictures and update sweetie.

I love to hate Kyle btw

AdriannaSimmie wrote:

Oh girl please, he is such a ho bag!! Fer sho!

He isn't thinking about Carolyn at all.....sheesh!!

*sorry just had to vent, he is such a low down dirty dog ...hehehehe!

Wonderful pictures and update sweetie.

I love to hate Kyle btw

Ha haaaaaaa!!!!! Hey man...don't blame me....the game comes with wants to have 50 first dates, and 20 loves. At least the guy is ambitious! He has a goal!

Do you think he needs therapy...or is he just being a typical nineteen year old?

But he really IS thinking about Carolyn...look at that last shot. I feel sorry for the girl with him. If only she knew that he was thinking about another woman.

Oh he is in serious need of therapy..hahahaha

No he is just a typical 19 year old male and not ready to commit to relationship ......lol

I think he sounds like a typical 19 year old guy lyckily he isn´t a she.
I think he is the new Don! He must be his heir.

You are doing such a great job on this one

What a pathetic guy he is ... is there no free bus in Christophe Harbour, that can run him over


Amazing pictures Toni! and a good story that fire up all our mind, how can it be that a Sim can be so hated Oh ... no you got Kyle on your avatar ... teaser ...

What beautiful photo collages! They are striking.

Faith is very pretty and I don't blame her for having such a big smile on her face!

Ok, well...I'm content to let Kyle be, as long as he doesn't try to break any more hearts and string girls along in a relationship if he isn't able to be true. If everyone accepts him as the town playboy and know what they're getting into, then that's fine.

Great shots!

Well, time will tell if Kyle is immature or insecure and in constant need of validation. Though I can't imagine he's insecure...he's got so much going on for him: he's intelligent, talented, charismatic, great with kids (see pix of his summer vacation, and you'll see how he connects with his little cousin Rory) and he's...let's be honest here folks...GOR-GEOUS!

Anyway...this next update will bring us to just one school year away from where I am in my game. If all goes well, we'll be caught up very, very soon.

So here goes

-----

Carolyn pushed thoughts of Christophe Harbour out of her mind, and threw herself into enjoying life in the Caribbean. She and Pauline (her 16-year old sister) and Marc and Jon (her 17-year old brother) spent a lot of time bumming around Britannia Bay, where she and Pauline became the stars of the local karaoke bar…

…and made new friends.

She didn't even mind when one of her new friends Travis Byron flirted with her.

She did tell him though, that she had just stepped off an emotional roller coaster and was not ready to get back on again anytime soon; she just wanted to concentrate on school. He understood and because he liked her so much, was happy just to hang out.

Carolyn actually relaxed and enjoyed the company and attention of a boy without the pressure.

Back home in Christophe Harbour, Marco and Vinnie spent the last few days of the summer together.

…Wandering around the Harbour.

Vinnie was heading to Fiesta Tech, while Marco would be heading 10 hours north to the Academie Le Tour. It would be the first time in their 18 years that they would be apart from each other.

You gotta love when simmies cooperate with your story line and think and talk about what you want them to. I swear, in this shot they’re talking about Carolyn and Marco is saying he thinks about her every night! Very cool…

Well…the summer rushed to an end, and the Garcias flew home from the islands. The morning after they arrived back in Christophe Harbour Carolyn and Marc said goodbye to the family and hit the road, heading south to Fiesta Tech.

Marc had asked Carolyn if she wanted him to move out of the Farm seeing that Kyle was one of the roommates, but she said no. She told her brother that at some point she knew she'd run into Kyle on campus, and would just deal with it when she had to. Until then, she said while she would not go over to their house, she and Marc could hang out at her dorm and at the girls house across the street.

Their dad drove her and Carolyn Heden (Max's sister) down to the Tech as they were both moving into residence at Casey Hall Dorms.

Carolyn had registered in the Film and Media programme and Elisabeth in Marketing.

Marc drove back to school with Max.

Kyle drove down with Joey.

Vinnie and Johnny (Cassie’s boyfriend), were also attending Fiesta Tech. Both business majors, they moved into the tiny Woodsworth Dorms (where Sim Toni lives, by the way).

And more than half a day’s drive away from Fiesta Tech, Marco, Andre and Cassie moved into an aging, but cozy house on the Academie’s campus. Andre's movie director dad, Ivan drove him and Marco up to the Academie, while Cassie's dad made the trek with her.

Andre was registered in the university’s renowned Architecture programme, his first cousin, Cassandra (Cassie) would be studying music and Marco had gotten into the Academie’s exclusive theatre programme.

And so began the next chapter of their lives…

Hmmmmm...now what's that about Carolyn? Kyle? Seriously?!

Aw...some sadness. The hug shot is great, Carolyn looks so sad. And no she is not thinking about Kyle....ok maybe she is just a little bit, but it's not because she's really interested in him or anything. And va-va-vavoom! Why is it I've never noticed Vinnie before? He's the one in the orange tank, right? Wowza yum yum yum.

Beautiful shots and great wind down of the summer. Time to get back to reality.

Yep! That sure is Vinnie! Carlo and Maria make really nice looking boys. Their kids tend to have prominent chins and big noses so it doesn't always work out so well for the girls! lol!

I'm heading off to work now, so I have to drag myself away from Christophe Harbour (I'm here stirring up a little trouble in the Lothario household)...but here's something I've been dying to share with you all! It seems Max.....wants to fall in love with my sim self!

Should I? He's awfully cute...but I'm afraid not much better than Kyle in the fidelity department. Of course, she is at the same school, so she'll better be able to keep an eye on him, but.....

Anyone who is not much better than Kyle in the "fidelity department" is NOT a good match for ANY good woman, Toni.
I'd have ToniSim guard her heart against Max, if that's the case! Danger! Danger! Major red flag!!!

I am so lovin' your amazing scene settings and screen shots, m'lady.
That boat at the pier...Is that a downloaded lot? Or one of yours?



And Brittania Bay is such a cool hangout.
Did you design it yourself?
You find the most awesome downloads. Let me tell ya!

Vinnie and Johnny = YUMMINESS

You are such a gifted decorator, Sim creator and storyteller...
And of course I always admire and am jealous of your GREAT screenshots.
Thank you for sharing with us here, as always.

Weeellllll......how do I tell you guys this? I'm afraid it's too late...my Self Sim fell for Max's hazel eyes and mischievous smile *sigh*

Oh well, they're only 19...we learn from our mistakes (hopefully!)

The Britannia Bay lot is a Toni original. It's actually just a wee community lot with a shack on the beach with a bar, a pool table, a small karaoke machine (converted by someone at MATY from Castaways) and a hot spring...oh, and a few climbable trees with edible fruit (also converted from castaways)...as are the playable congo drums and usable limbo pole. The pier is decorative (but it lights up) and the lifeguard hut is deco too.

Britannia Bay is a real town on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines (where Princess Di used to visit with Harry and William when they were kids). I've never been there, but I've seen gorgeous pix.

Glad you like it!

Now...let's see what's going on with our star-crossed lovers...

----

Carolyn and Elisabeth joined Tri-Fruhm Sorority and moved into the House.


There was always a lot going on there (Yep...that's Anil dancing with Elisabeth. They're still together).



But in between classes and making new friends, Carolyn's thoughts often ran on Marco.


(Please note Sugah recolor of the memo board above Carolyn's bed )

Carolyn and Marco still communicated by email and Facebook and sometimes chatted online. Their conversations were light and a bit silly, and sometimes they skirted around the edges of flirtation but it never went very far. She often felt as though he wanted to say something more, but he never did. And sometimes...just sometimes, when she let her guard down, she wondered what it would be like to be close to him...really close. She still thought about the kiss, but they never spoke about it. She wondered if he thought about it too.

And then whether she liked it or not, there were thoughts of Kyle. She couldn't push them out of her mind. Mostly she thought about what she would do and say when she finally saw him, and she didn't have long to wait...less than a month after her arrival at university, it happened.

She was at yet another pool party at the Oresha Hoh Var Fraternity next door...

...when she turned to see Kyle looking at her across the yard. She was shocked to see him with his head shaved...and what was that scorpion thing tattooed on his stomach?!

She held her breath as he made his way over to her. He stopped right in front of her. He looked sad.

"Hi," he said with a tight smile.

She knew people were watching them.

"Hello," she replied, her voice steady, belying the rush of jumbled emotions that were coursing through her body.

"Carolyn, I know there's nothing I can ever say or do to make up for how I treated you," he said.

He cleared his throat. "I hope that someday you will find it in your heart to forgive me. Until then, we can't avoid seeing each other...our lives will always keep crossing, so I thought maybe when we do run into each other..."

He took a deep breath.

"I could smile, maybe nod...and perhaps you could agree not to throw your drink in my face," he said with a tentative smile.

She studied his face. This close she noticed circles under his eyes and faint lines around their edges. His green eyes shone too brightly. "Tears?" She thought.

He dropped his eyes, knowing she was reading him.

"Yeah. That's alright," she said.

He looked up at her, and this time there was no mistaking the tears in his eyes.

"Thanks...I'm sorry," he said softly, and walked away. She didn't turn to watch him go, but stood staring straight ahead.

Her brother Marc came up to her and draped his arm around her shoulder, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"You okay, Skipper?"

"Yep," she said, rubbing at the center of her forehead vigorously.

He led her away from the direction in which Kyle had disappeared.

"So I've heard..." he said conspiratorially.

"That all the frat boys are crazy about you, but are nervous about asking you out because apparently you have some big, beefy older brother who they're afraid of," he said with a grin.

She laughed and nudged him in his side with her elbow.

Kyle walked away from Carolyn, knowing that there were many pairs of eyes on him. He walked out the side gate of the Frat House's backyard and headed in the direction of The Farm. He was barefooted and wearing only his swim trucks. The sun was setting but the desert earth still felt warm on the soles of his feet. His heart was racing.

He felt someone come up behind him. It was Zahra Ramchandani (Shoba and Raishma's older sister).

"It'll be ok Kyle," she said giving him a warm hug. Zahra knew the whole story.

"The worst is over. You've seen her. You've spoken. She didn't freak out on you."

He nodded, pulling himself away from her. They were 'special' friends, but he didn't feel like being touched at that moment.

"Hey. I made murg makhani (butter chicken) last night. There're leftovers. Why don't you come over to the house and let me warm some up for you," she said.

"Yeah. Ok," he said reluctantly. Allowing her to link her arm through his and lead him away from the Frat House.


That night Carolyn dreamt about how things used to be with Kyle...


...And then the dream shifted and she was standing in the corridor outside the Benoit's rec room, wrapped in the arms of someone smelling of some kind of peach-scented shampoo and Polo cologne.

Well we knew the two would run into each other eventually. It's ok for Carolyn to reminisce about all times, there were some good ones, after all. But I like how her dream changed into 'that kiss' and I like how often she yearns for Marco. I do hope they get back together soon.

And ToniSim! Oy. She's going to get her heart broken. I thought we wanted her to meet someone else - was his name Andre?