Part 4 - The Teenage Years

NOTE: This series is directed at a teenage and older audience, as it contains reference to subjects such as "woohoo", though the word may not actually be used. You have been warned!

Credits for custom content: The witch hats are from Mod the Sims (made by Nukael), Kenzie's witch outfit is from The Sims Resource (made by Guiseppe778), Jillian's skeleton dress is from The Sims Resource (made by Ekky_Sims), and Savannah's princess dress is from Mod the Sims (made by Kara24).

Welcome back to my scrapbook life! The last part was super long, but this part is even longer. You have been warned! Also, looking back at my childhood years, I notice I was skinny back then. What happened?! Must be my genes. Anyway...

Ah, the wonderful age of thirteen. Thirteen is the year in which one becomes a teenager. A lot of people make a big deal out of it, others don't care, and others expect to see a major change in their appearance overnight. The biggest change in my appearance was that I began growing out instead of up, and for some crazy reason, I thought a haircut was in order. Why, I don't know. And why I chose the one I did, I don't know. But I guess everyone makes mistakes.

Anyway, as had become a custom since meeting her, Jillian was at my house to celebrate my birthday. You'd think we'd have a lot more friends, and we did hang out with other people, but the two of us were inseparable. We'd had several sleepovers together by this time and had celebrated each other's birthday at each other's house every year. As with all friends, we did have a few little disputes, but we were always able to patch things up. I only wish all relationships were so easily mended. But that comes later.

Here I am at my thirteenth birthday party, thinking about what I want to wish for. And no, I won't say what it was! It could still happen...

So after making the wish, I blew out the candles (Jillian took this picture, having become quite a fan of photography at this point; also, my dad is such a nut!):

I was at the point in my life where holidays and birthdays meant one big gift and that's it. There were a few extra packages under the Christmas tree but nothing like when I was a kid. But I'd outgrown that anyway; everyone I knew had stopped believing in Santa years ago, and my parents correctly assumed the same (though of course they did have a talk with me to confirm it - that was the least awkward "talk" I'd have with them FYI), so there was no point in putting things under the tree from both them and Santa. It wasn't an issue with money, it was an issue of growing up and learning that not everyone gets everything they want.

Anyway, my big present for my thirteenth birthday was a complete remodel of my bedroom, to give it a more grown-up vibe. Not only that, but I finally, at long last, got a double bed! Jillian's brother had moved out a year before, and she'd gotten his bedroom, complete with his double bed, so when we had sleepovers, we both got to sleep in a bed rather than on the floor or a cot. It was high time I extended the courtesy. So my parents had given in and gotten me a double bed and a full room remodel. I loved the color purple back then (plum to be more exact), so that was in there, and I was amazed at how awesome it looked, as you can see (although I refused to get rid of my ladybug dresser!).

Jillian and I celebrated by dancing (this party was on a weekend of course, so there would be another sleepover).

Another sleepover, and another part of growing up - makeup. I was always considered kind of a "late bloomer", meaning I didn't "mature" as fast as the other kids. I liked to secretly play with my doll house until I was 12, had no interest in makeup or body piercings, and certainly didn't care about boys. But I made a promise to myself that when I turned 13, I'd change and try to adapt to what was "normal" for that age.

So I began with letting Jillian give me a makeover; I didn't look too bad, if I do say so myself.

I did, however, make her promise to keep the makeup light, as I didn't want to look like some girl trying to get attention.

Many things changed that year; I entered junior high school, my body was changing (I'll spare you the details), I cut my hair (why?! Although several people said I looked cute but how do I know they weren't just being nice?), and, the biggest thing of all, Jillian was changing. Not that we were drifting apart, but we didn't spend quite as much time together as we used to. That's not because of cliques thankfully (we never had a clique problem, we avoided them), but because a few months into the semester, she got herself her very first boyfriend.

I was happy for her, don't get me wrong, but I was a little jealous. I did develop crushes in middle school, but I was the "girl next door" type; the girl who'd help guys with their homework and be their friends, not their girlfriends. Jillian, on the other hand, was drop-dead gorgeous, and I can assure you she only got better as she got older.

Her blonde hair was long and flowing, her eyes were a mix between blue and green (literally, depending on the light, they could range from sapphire blue to emerald green to aqua or turquoise), and she had a killer body. Must be in her genes, because I sure didn't get blessed in that area.

It was no wonder Jillian got a boyfriend so fast. One weekend she invited us both over to her place to do homework. I was ready to get the stuff done with so we could have some fun, and by fun I meant maybe playing video games or something (it was too cold to swim at this point), but I ended up doing the homework by myself because I hate having a task hanging over my head. I'm not a procrastinator, and I never have been. I want something done with so I can enjoy what comes after it.

But Jillian and her boyfriend (his name was Spencer Latham) vanished into her room, so I finished the homework myself. They left the door open a crack, and, after I'd finished my homework, I decided to be silly and grab a camera (at this point, both of us had portable, one-time use cameras that we carried with us; we'd agreed to both make scrapbooks of our lives long ago).

They were so "busy", they didn't hear me sneak in. But I'm sure the camera flash got their attention!

I'm just glad that's ALL I caught them doing. Jillian did get a good laugh out of it, though Spencer was a little peeved. Not that I cared what he thought; he was kind of a tool. In fact, this is when I first began realizing that, while I love Jillian to death, she can be completely clueless when it comes to guys...but more on that later.

Not long after that, the middle school was hosting a dance for all students. I wasn't going to go, since obviously it seemed to be a "date" thing, but Jillian insisted I come with her (and of course Spencer).  I reluctantly agreed, which meant I had to go shopping for a dress. No easy task considering I didn't want to wear anything too risqué. However, I was outgrowing my hatred of dresses, and I'll occasionally wear dresses and skirts; it's nice to dress up every once in a while.

I eventually settled on a dress, although thinking back, it wasn't the most appealing; no wonder I didn't have a boyfriend. Jillian, on the other hand, found something that was very flattering to her body, and, despite the temperature rapidly cooling off since fall was approaching, very revealing.

We both left from my house, since it was closer to the school, and Jillian found Spencer right away. She swore she wouldn't spend the whole night making out with him and would make sure I was included, since I was still her best friend and she'd known me longer. She did keep her word, although she wanted to have the first dance with Spencer. I agreed to take a picture of them.

But then here we are dancing together while Spencer took a picture (Jillian talked him into it):

So the night wasn't a total loss, although I did leave to go to the bathroom once and when I came back I found this:

The strobe lights must have hidden that flash because they didn't acknowledge my presence until this shot was taken:

That was Jillian's first relationship, but it wouldn't be her last. It wasn't meant to be though, since Spencer dumped her for some other girl. Jillian was pretty upset, and she even blamed me for butting in. She was so naive back then, thinking she was in love at thirteen. Thankfully, she realized it wasn't my fault (it totally wasn't!) and apologized. By Spooky Day that year, things were back to normal.

We were too old for trick-or-treating, or so we thought. But several of our classmates were still going to dress up and go door-to-door asking for candy. I never thought my overprotective parents would let me go out on my own, even if Jillian was with me. But they thankfully did; Riverview's a pretty small town after all.

So we got ready at Jillian's place and got our picture taken before we headed out (Jillian as a witch, me as a cowgirl).

The catch? We had to take Alexis and Savannah with us. I didn't mind too much; I'd known those girls since they were really little, and they were like the little sisters I never had but had wanted when I was younger. Jillian wasn't too thrilled, but she was probably used to baby-sitting and was hoping to escape them for one night.

Here's a picture of them, Savannah the princess (age seven) and Alexis the pirate (age 10; she was becoming quite the tomboy then and is even more so now).

Later that fall, we were just hanging out one day and Alexis, having discovered how fun it is to take pictures since Jillian was also doing it, snapped several shots of us.

Here we are once again on the trampoline (some things will always be fun no matter how old you are):

And here are some shots of us hanging out on the swings, and then swinging with Savannah.

That covers the amazing fun of my junior high years. By the time high school rolled around, a lot had happened.

First off, my hair grew back out and finally looked decent. Yay! Second, I was heavier. Boo! And third, I'd seriously decided on what I wanted to do for a career (previously an actress, changed from a kindergarten teacher. Doh! I just gave away my thirteenth birthday wish! Oh well, I love what I do anyway, but more on that later).

The summer before freshman year, Jillian and I were once again hanging out at her place; here we are holding our breath under water in a contest (don't tell my parents that one, they'd have a fit):

And here we are lounging by the pool; of course Jillian is wearing a bikini, having the perfect body for it. I, on the other hand, stuck with a one piece.

Oh, and you can also see my hair! Doesn't it look so much better?

Here we are having our first high school sleepover (Alexis was still enjoying using a camera at this point in time):

She even snuck in while we were in our PJs talking about "grown up" stuff! Eek!

When Spooky Day approached, we were once again assigned to take Alexis and Savannah trick-or-treating with us; a lot of high school kids were having parties, but I'd rather hang out with Jillian and her sisters than attend one of those. Come on, they're mostly for the really popular people who like to get drunk and make life-altering mistakes for fun. I didn't want that. The same can't be said for my best friend, who purposely bought a sexy dress to wear in the event of us actually going to a party, but hey, she couldn't ditch us; her sisters would have told on her, and me, being a horrible liar, would have easily backed them up. But here we are, me as a witch and Jillian as a skeleton:

My sophomore year wasn't very exciting; I had another crush that only had eyes for a bimbo (what's new right?), so I began focusing on my grades. I knew what I wanted to be when I got older - a detective. I'd seen crime shows on TV in junior high and I was so fascinated with the way the criminalists dusted for fingerprints and used all this hi-tech gear to catch criminals and put them in jail. I wanted to be one of those detectives, and that meant I had to keep my grades up. So instead of partying or even getting a part-time job (I had no cell phone or car, what did I need money for?), I spent my time studying. And it paid off, because I got on the honor roll. I never went to a concert, stayed out late (apart from hanging out with Jillian on weekends), or put off doing homework.

But when junior year rolled around, my relationship status changed. Jillian already had another boyfriend, a guy named Shane Kessler. I was good friends with a guy in my history class, Austin Crowley. He was really nice and didn't seem to judge me like other guys did, nor did he seem to care that I was a little larger than the other girls when it came to my waist line. He was a lot like me; a little nerdy, didn't really care if he was the hottest guy in the world (he wasn't, but he wasn't hideous either), and cared more about his grades than parties. We hit it off, though it took from November to March for it to happen. He asked me out at the beginning of the month, and we started hanging out more and more often. By the end of the month, I'd had my first kiss (at 16).

I told Jillian, and she was more excited than necessary for me having my very first boyfriend. I invited Austin to my house one afternoon in April to do homework together (honestly, that's all we were doing!), and Mom, being the crazy one she is, thought it was so adorable that her daughter had a boy over, even though it was when I was a junior in high school. So she snapped a picture of us doing homework. You can tell I wasn't too pleased.

I finally gave in and smiled, although Austin was pretty shy in front of the camera so he pretended to be concentrating when this was taken.

After we finished doing homework we decided to watch TV. Mom just had to sneak in during this moment...

And then, even after I told her to get out, she somehow managed to get back in for this!

Sheesh! How does she time these things?! Anyway, Jillian and I both had boyfriends for one of the biggest events of high school - the senior prom! My relationship with Austin lasted through our junior and senior year, as did Jillian's. Two weeks before the big dance, all we heard in the halls were who was going to woohoo with who; thanks for sharing, I really wanted to know that. Not!

I even had pierced ears for the prom, which I'd gotten the year before when I turned 17 (hey, I have a low pain tolerance, but thankfully Austin was there with me)! I was very excited, because I'd never pictured myself going to the prom, let alone with a date.

Jillian asked me if Austin and I were planning on woohooing that night, and I probably turned about ten shades of red. Austin and I hadn't discussed any such thing; I don't know what she and Shane had planned but she sure gave me an idea.

Our prom theme was Cravin' Asian (who thought of these anyway?), so the gym of our high school (where else can we have a prom in Riverview?) was all decorated with Chinese and Japanese stuff, like cherry blossoms, paper fans, bamboo, orchids, and even some swords. The area where the couples got their picture taken had an actual sliding shoji screen and tatami mats on the floor. Here are the pictures of Austin and I in that area:

And here are Jillian and Shane:

Austin got this picture of me, Jillian, and Shane hanging out at one of the dinner tables, set up after the dinner and during the dance for when you just wanted to chill.

And here are some pictures of the dance floor taken by random students (Jillian and I asked for copies of the ones that didn't end up in the yearbook).

I was really digging the Asian theme of the place, so I got really into it; I guess I shouldn't have taken so many pictures of Jillian beforehand, because we started calling them "blackmail" pictures, and that led to what would turn into, for years to come, a "picture war", where we'd snap pictures of each other when we least expect it, like this (I took the Asian theme to heart!):

Of course, I got her back when I saw this going on:

That was pretty much the end of our prom; there was an after-prom party where students could go play games, but why would we do that when Jillian had such an awesome basement with a bar? Not that we were planning to put it to use or anything. Not at all.

So anyway, we went back to Jillian's house (Shane had a car so he drove us all) and snuck into the basement (it was well past midnight by this time, so everyone at the Swansen house was in bed). The four of us did drink from the bar, but only water or lemonade. Jillian swears her father would notice if any of his alcohol was missing; he's a fireman, so he's trained to be observant.

Anyway, after that, Jillian and Shane disappeared into Jillian's room and they shut the door. Austin and I sat on the couch and just talked, but it was pretty awkward; it doesn't take a top investigator to figure out what was going on behind Jillian's closed door. She'd told me a few weeks prior that she and Shane had discussed having their first woohoo on prom night; such a cliché, I know. But we had made an agreement that we'd tell each other everything if we ever went all the way with anyone. Austin jokingly told me to take a picture of that, but I couldn't bring myself to do it; some things are best kept private. Plus, I didn't really want to see either of them naked.

I got a little weirded out when Austin seriously asked if I'd like to woohoo. I'm blushing as I remember this conversation and record it here. Austin said he loved me and cared about me, and while I felt the same way (or so I thought, he was only my first boyfriend), I didn't feel I was ready. Not only that, but on Jillian's basement couch (there was nowhere else to go; her little sisters each had their own bedrooms since she'd taken Hunter's after he moved out and Alexis had taken her old one)? Kids sat on that couch! Gross!

Austin did seem a little disappointed but at least he was understanding. Thirty minutes later (yes, I timed it), Jillian and Shane both came out of her room, her hair all messed up and his tux jacket a little crooked. Thanks for that image.

Jillian kept her word and told me all about it the next day (Shane and Austin had left shortly after Jill and Shane came out of her bedroom), since prom happened on a Saturday night and I just spent the night there (that was the plan to begin with, so thankfully my parents didn't need to worry).

Unfortunately, a week later, Shane left Jillian, and I quote in Jillian's words, "he said thanks for the fun but I've met someone else." If Austin hadn't been there to stop me, I would have slugged him. Seriously, I passed him in the hall one day looking all smug and I stomped toward him with my fist clenched. I didn't even care if I got expelled at that point, despite being a student in good standing. Luckily, that never came up since Austin reminded me that he was a jerk anyway and not worth it. He was right; why should I throw away my future for some low-life, even if he did use my best friend for woohoo and take full advantage of her? Makes my blood boil just thinking about it now.

The next big event for us in high school was our graduation. I was still on the honor roll, Austin right up there with me. I was worried about Jillian, fearing she'd let her mind go into the clouds having a boyfriend and all (I used to think I'd be the same way; of course, I did find a guy who was also serious about his studies like I was), and while she wasn't exactly failing, she could have done better. But at least she graduated, despite having a broken heart (I was afraid her grades would slip after that too, which they did, but at least she passed).

Austin or I should have been valedictorian, but you know how that goes - the popular ones get all the votes. Jillian should have been prom queen easy, but she wasn't "popular", so some idiot cheerleader got it. Valedictorian went to some jock who was a big football star (surprisingly he got good enough grades to qualify; don't get me started on sports). Whatever.

Anyway, after the ceremony, the Swansens and Austin went to my place for a post-graduation party. Here's a picture of me and Jillian (again, Jillian wore something very flattering while I wore something...not very flattering, but I was used to that):

Here I am with my very proud parents:

Here I am with Austin:

And here's Jillian with her parents:

I had some pictures of Jillian with her sisters, and even her brother came back (he lives in Bridgeport now, serious about music, whereas when I first met him he was a sports buff) for the occasion. Unfortunately, I guess they got misplaced.

Graduation night also brought on more changes in my life - promise to keep a secret? Remember that subject Austin and I discussed on prom night? Well, that sort of happened on graduation night...I guess it can't "sort of" happen, it did happen. I had no regrets, and to be honest, I still don't; Austin wasn't using me, I know it.

But I guess some things just aren't meant to be. I had applied to various colleges previously, as had Jillian (she'd always been very artistic and wanted to go into architectural design) and Austin (he wanted to be a teacher), and had finally heard back from some. Among the schools I got accepted into was Twinbrook. I decided to go there, since it was said to be the best college to go to for following your ambitions. Jillian also got accepted there and eagerly agreed to go there with me. Austin also made it into Twinbrook, but he decided he didn't want to go there; he wanted to stay in Riverview with his family and help take care of the farm while going to school. We considered a long-distance relationship, but we both mutually agreed we'd be better off as friends. We just didn't quite have the same chemistry as before; it kind of died off when we learned we wouldn't be going to the same college. Austin was my first love, but he wouldn't be my last.

That happened in July. When August rolled around, before college was to begin, my parents said they had a surprise for me. They were pretty shook up that I was going to leave Riverview, but I promised to stay in touch and visit as often as I could. Jillian promised her parents the same thing; Hunter didn't come around much and she didn't want to be like him.

Anyway, my mom led me outside one day with my eyes closed. She steered me toward the garage (although at the time I had no idea where she was taking me), and then she told me to stand still and hustled off somewhere. Then, she said to open my eyes, and my parents both yelled, "Surprise!"

I opened my eyes and this is my first reaction to what I saw (Dad made sure to have a camera ready):

My parents had given me a PLUM colored car, and not just any car, but a Requiescence! Not only was that my dream car, but several detectives drove the same type of car! Granted it was a used car, but I didn't care; it was my dream car, and in PLUM, my favorite color! I could hardly stop shrieking long enough to pose next to it for a picture.

My parents said they got me the car because, if I was going to college, I'd need some form of transportation, especially if I wasn't going to be in Riverview. They also said it was a graduation present, for making the honor roll and being their valedictorian (technically I should have won, but again, I'm not popular enough).

In addition, they gave me a cell phone so I could keep in touch with them anytime, anywhere. That was a real luxury; most kids got cell phones at 16, but I got mine at 18. But I was grateful to have one at all, and it would be nice to be able to talk to my parents wherever I was, as long as I wasn't driving (I didn't even need my parents to tell me that; I can't stand people who drive while talking on their cell phones, so there's no way I' d do it).

So that's that. That concludes my teen years, from when I was 13 to 18. Next up are my college years! Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

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