The Light

Round 5 - Fall 2035 - LBU

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Taesha Foster and Gordon Nott are 19, Kayla Knowles, Kenny Coners, Brian Johnson, Mindi Mason, Tippy Dean, Casey Addler, Slade Willis are 21 (Tabitha Coners is 45, Terrence is 44, Keisha and Tanner Knowles are 47)

So I pray more than anything, friends we'll stay

As we begin to lay this foundation for a family

Love ain't simple, why can't it be?

Anything worth having you work at annually

Granted we've known each other for some time

It don't take a whole day to recognize sunshine

Common

Taesha and Gordon were really getting along very well. More than she would have ever thought possible. She never really paid him much attention when he would come over to her house to play video games. It was funny how you could overlook something so easily.......

They still played video games together, although these days Taesha cheered Gordon on more than she played. She could still beat his butt in any game and she didn't want to get into arguments with him about it!

They had recently started spending alot of time in the hottub since they moved from the freshman dorm to Lily Rose. Taesha wasn't really saving herself for marriage, she had just really never noticed boys much before. But she really liked being with Gordon and saw no reason not to go to the next level with him.

Gordon had begun working in the cafeteria in their dorm to save up a little money so that he and Taesha could maybe go somewhere for spring break together. Neither of them had much money so there was no way they could take a trip like Brian and his friends took, but they could go somewhere nice.

Taesha had been spending alot of time in the new science building on campus. She knew that her senior project would have to be some drafted plans and she wanted to practice on making some before her senior year. She didn't want anything to stand in the way of her getting her degree!

Things were pretty dull in their dorm and they wanted to liven things up a bit.

"Why don't you get your step-brother's band to put on a show? I'm sure that will get everyone to mingle," Gordon said.

"That's a great idea. And Brian loves showing off for a crowd so I know he'll agree to do it. You're so smart babe," she said smiling.

"Tell me something I don't know," he said laughing.

Everyone in the dorm loved Mellow Metal and their little mini-concert was a success. Taesha gave Brian a hard time, but their band really was pretty good. She would be proud to tell people he was her step-brother. Some of the girls in the dorm were already asking her about him. But she knew he was completely smitten with Mindi.

Speaking of smitten, Kayla found herself really falling for Kenny Coners. He was the sweetest guy she had ever met and she could really see herself staying with him for the long haul.

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Brian and Kenny may have had one of Cupid's arrows in their butts, but Slade was not about to settle down with anyone! He was having too much fun with all the attention Mellow Metal was getting around campus. He was able to pull girls that would never have given him a second glance before he joined the band.

And if they wanted to pay homage to Mellow Metal with a little woohoo to its lead singer, who was he to turn it down? He couldn't even imagine the women he would be able to bring home once they had their permanent gig at Jacob's club!

Kenny was head over heels for Kayla, but he didn't want to rush things and freak her out. It was killing him, taking it slow. But he wanted her to be comfortable with where they were. He just knew she would freak out if she knew that he had been thinking of marrying her and of what their life could be like.......

Or maybe she wouldn't be so freaked after all......Kayla showed up at their door at 3:00 in the morning.

"Is anything wrong?" Kenny asked.

"I think I should meet your parents. And you should meet mine. And I think we should move in together after graduation. And I know this sounds sudden, and I hope I'm not freaking you out......"

"Kayla, slow down! First of all, I've been wanting to ask you about meeting my parents for weeks now, but I didn't want to freak YOU out. And I would love to meet your family. And I would love to stay with you. But Brian and Slade and I have already decided to get an apartment in Camden so we can be closer to this club we have a permanent gig at," Kenny said.

"I don't mind moving to Camden. I can't touch my trust fund until I'm 25 so I was thinking I could maybe teach art at the high school until I can open up my gallery. I can paint in the mean time and build up my portfolio."

"I would love for you to come stay with me. And my parents are visiting tomorrow so you can meet them then."

"Great. I hope I haven't weirded you out. I've just been thinking about this and I couldn't sleep until I at least told you," she said.

"Well how about you come upstairs and try sleeping with me?"

"Sounds like a plan," she said smiling.

It was late afternoon when Terrence and Tabitha arrived. They were a little apprehensive when Kenny called to tell them that he had a girl he wanted them to meet. They had met Cammie and weren't all that impressed with her. But Terrence had to admit that Kayla seemed like a pretty nice girl.

"You want to live together? Isn't that a bit sudden?" Tabitha said.

"Tab, come on! Everyone isn't like us. You see Kayla, Tabitha and I were friends for years before we got together. We wasted quite a bit of time. If you two are happy with each other, I say why wait? It's not like you're running off to get married. Kenny is a good kid and you seem like a nice girl. I actually like you alot better than....."

"Dad! Don't start that!" Kenny said.

"So what happens if his music career takes off?" Tabitha asked.

"Tabitha, what does that have to do with anything?" Terrence asked.

"Well, he could be traveling all over the world. Can you handle him being gone, being on the road?"

"Well Mrs. Coners, I actually have plans of my own. My parents have set up trust funds for me and my siblings, which I'll have access to when I turn 25. I plan to open up my own art gallery to sell my paintings in. I'm even thinking of maybe taking up pottery. So if Mellow Metal got really famous and Kenny was on the road alot, I would have plenty to do with my gallery. I would miss him of course, but I would never stand in the way of his dreams."

"Well, I guess that answers that! I'm still a little apprehensive about you guys shacking up together, but you're adults and Kenny has proven himself to be a pretty good judge of character. And I would never want anyone to waste as much time as Terrence and I did!"

Kenny, Brian, and Slade all sat down to dinner once Kayla and Kenny's parents had left.

"So Kayla's moving in with us, huh?" Brian asked.

"Yea........I really hope you guys don't mind."

"Mind? She can help us pay the rent!" Slade said.

"I was thinking of asking Mindi to move in too. She's not from LaQuest and she really doesn't want to move back home," Brian said.

"Cool, maybe her and Kayla can hang out," Kenny said.

"You guys are crazy! Do you have any idea how much tail we'll have thrown at us once we start playing at The Hub regularly?" Slade asked.

"Well now you can have it all to yourself," Brian said laughing.

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"So Kayla is moving in with Kenny, which sucks for me. I was thinking maybe you would like to get a place together," Tippy said to Casey.

"Well........I'd love to babe, but I already told Adam I would get an apartment with him," he said.

"Well tell him you can't now! I don't want to stay with that dog, I might catch fleas!"

"Come on, Tippy. Kayla has moved on. And wouldn't it have been worse if he had just strung her along?" Casey asked.

"I don't give a damn about that! He's still a jerk! We could get a cute one bedroom apartment in Camden."

"Camden? I thought you wanted to live in the city so you would have a better chance at some acting jobs," Casey said.

"I can drive into the city any time. I want to stay near my best friend!"

"Tippy, I don't mind you staying with me. I would love to be able to wake up to you every morning. And you know I usually let you have your way, but not this time. If you want to stay with me, Adam will be part of the deal."

"Dammit.........."

Kayla was a bit worried about Kenny meeting her parents. It's not that they weren't nice people, it's just that she was kind of the black sheep. And she knew her mother wasn't happy about the idea of Kayla living with Kenny before they got married....

Her dad was much more cool and laid back and she knew that he and Kenny would get along well. She was right! Tanner didn't really like the idea of Kayla living with some guy, but Kenny seemed like a nice guy. And Kayla was a grown woman. She had always marched to her own beat, which had always driven Keisha crazy. Tanner trusted Kayla to make good decisions.

Keisha wasn't as understanding.

"Hold on, young man. I'm sure you're a nice kid, but I don't see why you would think I would be okay with you shacking up with my daughter!"

"Mrs. Knowles, I care very deeply for Kayla. I'm not "shacking up" with her. We're just going to be living together until our careers take off and until we're in a place where we both want to take it to the next level," Kenny said.

"And just how long will that be? How do I know you won't just string her along until something better comes by?"

"Do you think there's anything better than Kayla?" Kenny asked.

"Why are you doing this, Mom?" Kayla asked.

"Why can't you ever do things the right way? Why can't you just get that apartment with Tippy like you've been planning to do for over a year now?" Keisha asked.

"Because I love him. Because I want to spend as much time around him as I can. Is that so wrong?"

"Then why aren't you two getting married? Your brother loved Kinsley as well, but they were married before they got a place together."

"I am not Kevin. I'm not going to go to medical school. I'm not going to give you perfect grandchildren. That's not who I am. Sorry if I'm not living up to your expectations. Maybe Kali will be better than me," Kayla said.

"I never said you had to go to medical school! I simply said that opening a gallery wasn't the best way to make money."
"Everything isn't about money! I paint because I love to do it. It makes me happy. And being able to sell a little of that happiness to other people will make me happy. I never said I would get rich from it. I don't need to be. I just want to have a nice place and be happy. And Kenny makes me happy."

"Do you know why I'm so hard on you?" Keisha asked.

"Because you take pleasure in my pain?"

"No, because I see so much of myself in you. I never listened to my parents either. When I met your father, we were both trust fund babies whose parents had had enough of our antics. He was like my kindred spirit. We got together and drown in each other. It's how I had Kevin at such a young age."

"Your life turned out fine, Mom. Can't you trust that mine will too?"

"I just want what's best for you."

"I know you do. But you have to let me take my own paths in life. I'm not Kevin, and I never will be. I'm Kayla," she said.

"I know honey. I know."

Your mother really is proud of you and your work," Tanner told her before they left.

"It doesn't feel that way sometimes."

"I wish I could take you back in time to see your mother when she was your age. You guys are so much alike, which is why you butt heads so often. You'll have to bring Kenny over for dinner soon. I promise it will be much more civil," he said.

"I wouldn't hold my breathe on that one dad. You probably won't see him again until graduation!"

"Well, I better see you again before then. I love you baby."

"I love you too daddy."

"So that sucked," Kayla said after they left.

"It wasn't THAT bad. You dad is pretty cool. You mom is scary though," Kenny said laughing.

"Tell me about it! She desperately wants me to be like her golden child, Dr. Knowles."

"She just wants you to be ok. You're her daughter. It's a different relationship, the one between a mother and daughter. Tabitha is just like that with my sisters," Kenny said.

"Yea but at least she gave me a chance. You were screwed as soon as my mom got out the car and she didn't even buy you dinner first."

"It really wasn't that bad, Kayla," he said smiling.
You're being too kind."
"Maybe we should just wait........"
"You don't want to live with me now?"
"Of course I do! But we both had already made plans and promises to our friends. What is Tippy going to do if you move in with me?"
"I don't know........I hate it when you're right. Maybe we should just stick to the original plan........but can we wait to tell our parents? I want my mom to sweat over this," Kayla said.
"That's pretty cruel Kayla," Kenny said laughing.
"Hey, what can I say?"

* So Keisha was arguing with EVERYONE on the lot! She just wasn't having her daughter shacking up with some boy! Tanner and Kenny got along well though. Tabitha and Terrence got along pretty well with Kayla. But Keisha..........she wasn't very cooperative! Kinsley really did show up at like 3 in the morning and ring Kenny's doorbell! I've never had that happen before

* My original plan was for Tippy and Kayla to get an apartment together. But then both her and Kenny rolled the engagement want and I figured they were geting pretty serious about each other. But Kayla's want rolled away (I'm sure Keisha had a hand in that lol) so now I don't know what I want to do. If Tippy moves in with Kayla then she'll remain playable.....and I really like her. Plus, I just can't imagine her moving in with Casey and Adam. She'd kill him!

* One more semester to go before Brian, Slade, Kenny, Kayla, Tippy, Casey, Mindi, and Adam all graduate! It's been a fun drama filled ride :). As it stands in my head right now, Kayla and Tippy will be getting an apartment in LaQuest. Kenny, Brian, Slade, and more than likely Mindi will be getting an apartment in Camden Park so they can be closer to the club where they will be playing. Casey and Adam will become non-playable playables who will probably also live in an apartment in LaQuest. Casey has a good chance to become playble if he remains involved with Tippy. Adam's chances are slim unless he hooks up with one of my playables and I don't have many single playables.

Outtakes:

Tanner does not seem to be upset at all about his daughter dating a muscian! Seems he had some musical aspirations himself at one time :)

This is how I found Kenny when I load his lot. Talk about being all tangled up over someone! Thankfully it snapped back into place once I unpaused it!

I know some colleges have those classes where they have nude models, but LBU is not one of them! And I'm pretty sure the models have to remain still, not engage in the hula!