Chapter 0.9: Diamond Rings

Jedidiah becomes a young adult.

...Not much changes, really.

Except for one thing. After being rejected by almost every girl in Anne Arbor, he finally gets a girlfriend, Selina Starr.

They move in together almost immediately, but still Selina wants more of a long-term commitment out of him.

"I saw this beautiful engagement ring in the window at the mall yesterday," Selina tells Ryder, loudly enough for Jed to hear.

Jed buries his nose in a book as Ryder squirms uncomfortably. He's known Jed for long enough to understand that his friend suffers from commitment issues. He really likes Selina, and he worries that she'll push him too far too fast and drive him away.

Jedidiah decides to drop his own, not-so-subtle hint later that day.

...Selina's face speaks for itself.

The following afternoon, Ryder meets up with Jane outside the library for their usual Saturday night date when he hears a familiar voice calling his name.

"Ryder!" Shanna exclaims as she walks over to him. Ryder pretends not to hear, so Shanna yells louder. "Ryder! Ryder! RYDER!" She waves at him excitedly.

Ryder clears his throat uncomfortably as Jane turns around to see who it is. "Oh, uh, hi Shanna. Nice to see you again. Me and Jane were just leaving, right Jane?"

Jane narrows her eyes in an devious smirk. "No, let's stay Ryder. Shanna wants to say hello."

Shanna smiles halfheartedly at Jane before turning her attention back to Ryder. "So, Ry, there's this awesome new video game that just came out and I was wondering if you wanted to come over some time and try it out. My parents just bought a huge flat-screen, and since Jed is always so busy with Selina I thought you and I could give it a go..."

Ryder opens his mouth to respond, but Jane cuts him off.

"Aww! How adorable Shanna!" she says, her voice sweet as syrup. "Look, honey, everyone knows you have a thing for Ryder. I mean, I get it. What girl wouldn't? But," she pauses, lowering her voice to a chilly whisper. "He's my man and my man alone. And if you don't keep your nasty little paws off of him, I swear I will make sure you never show your face at school again. Understand?"

Shanna stares blankly at Jane, her eyes wide with shock. For a second, she looks like she's about to cry, but then the anger hits. "You're nothing but a two-faced bitch," she spits, her voice quavering with rage. "A lying, unfaithful bitch. The whole school knows about you and your "friend" Terrence, but everyone's too scared to tell Ryder. Well, you know what? He deserves to know!"

Jane's face turns red with embarrassment. "You little liar!" she shrieks. "Ryder, don't listen to her. She's just jealous." Turning to him, she yells, "Are you just going to stand there and let her speak to me that way?!"

Ryder doesn't falter for a second. "How dare you say that to Jane! That's it Shanna! Go find some losers like yourself to hang out with. Cause you and I are through!"

Jane watches gleefully as Shanna's face turns from complete shock to confusion and anger.

"I hope you two will be very happy together," Shanna whispers through her tears. "You deserve each other." And with that, she turns and runs away.

Through his blind fury, Ryder doesn't give Shanna's words a second thought. He doesn't think about the encounter again, too angry to actually process what she was telling him.

That night, Ryder can't sleep. His birthday is tomorrow, and he's not so certain he's ready to be an adult yet.

"So, you want to be an actor, huh?" his dad asks as they sit on the couch watching sports together.

"Yep..."

"Are you sure? It's hard to catch a break in that industry kid. I can easily secure you a position in law enforcement. You can become a cop, like me..."

Ryder smiles. "No. I don't care how tough it is, I want to act."

Brian sighs.

The next afternoon, Brian gives his son one final hug before he becomes an adult.

"You will do wonderful as an actor. I don't doubt it for a second," he tells him gently.

"Oooh. I am pretty."

Beatrix also has a birthday that night. Brian is very excited.

Ryder decides to pay Jedidiah a visit. He knows his friend has some news, but he wants to hear it first hand.

"...And she said we were just going down to city hall to file some tax returns. I didn't even think about why all her sisters were there, and why she was wearing a white dress, and-"

Ryder smiles. "Congratulations Jed! I'm so happy for you!"

"Dude! You don't understand! It's a conspiracy! These aliens planted a homing device inside her uterus, called a "biological clock". It's all she talks about, and now I'm pretty sure she wants us to spawn and use our children to take over the world..."

Ryder finds Selina and gives her a congratulatory hug.

"Is he still going on about the biological clock?" she whispers in his ear.

"Yeah. He's just kidding, right?"

No answer.

The three friends decide to celebrate the occasion by heading down to the tattoo parlor and getting inked.

Selina looks rather mischievous tonight...

She gets a cute little heart with Jedidiah's name tattooed on her shoulder blade.

...Jedidiah gets a post-it note with sparkles on his back.

"She said that it would look sexy!!" Jed replies defensively.

"Dude, you actually believed her?" Ryder laughs so hard he starts crying.

Angry face.

 Ryder gets one too. He thinks it looks neat.

Jane ages up a few days later.

"Why did you want to meet outside the old school house?" Jane asks innocently. "And why are you wearing your hair like that? Eww."

Ryder ignores her last question. "There's something I want to ask you," he says, his eyes bright and hopeful.

"Oh. I have no idea what you are talking about. What could it possibly be?" Jane tries to sound confused, but she's a horrible actor.

"Jane MuMacker, I've loved you since we were in elementary school. Will you marry me?"

She giggles excitedly. "Um, okay!"

"That's the ring you wanted, right?" Ryder sounds nervous. "My mom told me you specifically had to have that one..."

"Well, it's a bit small," she complains. "But it'll do."

Ryder pulls her into a hug. "I love you so much Jane. I can't wait to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you."

"I want a really big wedding Ryder." That's all she says.


Challenge Notes:

I squealed when I got the story progression notice that Jed and Selina were going steady. And then I squealed even louder when they moved in together a few Sim hours later. Then, they got married a couple Sim days after that and I almost fell out of my chair in shock. Jedidiah really does have the commitment issues trait, and I have found that those Sims rarely get married autonomously. But maybe that's just my experience. So yay. I'm really happy how that turned out.

And, this might be a total spoiler, but Ethan (Beatrix's ex-boyfriend) hooked up with Selina's evil sister Sharla Starr. Totally autonomously. I desperately want them to have a baby or two. They've been dating for what feels like forever, but still no kids. I might intervene. I don't know, we'll have to see. Oh, and Selina is Ryder's film co-worker and Sharla is his boss. <3 I haven't thought of any fabulous story lines yet, but surely I can do something with that complicated web of relationships.

Oh, and for whoever cares, there was a picture of Selina a few chapter ago, but I changed her clothing and hair once she started dating Jed because I thought it suited her personality better.


Outtakes:

One of the weirder glitches I've seen. Ryder got stuck in the elevator doors... after he was already out of the elevator.

Whee! I can fly!

Shanna, you are adorable.

Selina really is a good match for Jed. <3

I think Jed knows it, too.