Chapter 1: Exposition

Emmie has lived in Twinbrook her whole life, but she's never gotten along with the girls from her high school. So when she runs into Sofia Carlton while out shopping for produce, she confronts her.

"You invited practically everyone in our graduating class, why can't I come?"

Sofia scoffs. "Don't you know it's uncool to invite yourself to parties? You're always so pushy. We're adults now, I don't have to give pity invites anymore."

"I wasn't trying to invite myself, I just wanted to know why..." Emmie whines, but Sofia is already walking away, muttering freak under her breath.

It stings, but it's not something she hasn't heard before. It's fine. She'll just have to throw her own party sometime. Feeling embarrassed, Emmie flees to the library...

...But there is no escape from awkward situations today, it seems. A flirty older man approaches, and even if he weren't a well-known musician, this town is too small for her not to know that DeAndre Wolf is Sofia's latest romantic interest.

Trying not to step on any toes, Emmie attempts some platonic small-talk. "Isn't it warm out today? Perfect day for a pool party, not that I was invited to any, ha ha..."

DeAndre barely tries to hide his yawn. Cringing, Emmie changes tack. "But who needs a pool party when you can just stay home in bed? Am I right?!"

She winks jokingly. And follows it up with blowing a kiss. 

"Uh, what?" That didn't work; now he just looks grossed out. "Girl, bye."

Wait, did that sound like a come-on...? Emmie thinks belatedly, watching DeAndre leave. It wouldn't look good if this got back to Sofia. Stupid. Always putting my foot in my mouth.

She's so distracted, she doesn't notice Bill Racket approaching her until it's too late.

"I'll kiss you!" His voice sounds like a shout in the quiet room; his breath smells like flies. Emmie cringes away.

He retaliates by calling her a few very nasty words. "What's wrong?" he sneers. "You were practically throwing yourself at that guy. I was just trying to cheer you up." 

Thoroughly shaken, Emmie pushes past him, dodging looks from library patrons that range from blank to mildly concerned to judgmental and disgusted. 

One tearful cab ride later and Emmie's feeling a little better. Although she lives in the dirty, "poor" side of Twinbrook, the scenery never fails to comfort her. Something about being in the place you grow up will always feel right to a sim, and even the oppressive humidity and the slightly sulfuric smell of the swamp cheers her up. 

Gardening is nostalgic for Emmie. It was a hobby of her father's, and she'd spent many hours of her childhood happily helping out in his garden. When he got sick, so did the plants. And when he finally passed on, Emmie was too distraught to try to revive his beloved garden. As an only child to a single father, he was the only family she knew.

She doesn't know why, but now feels like the right time to start planting again. It's been a few months already, and there's no time like the present, right? 

At the last minute, she remembers her father saying something about watermelon needing special care, so she leaves that seed until she can read up on it. 

Dinner. Weird side note, I really missed that salad texture. I mean, it's just gorgeous, isn't it? One of my first thoughts when playing TS4 was, "Why does the salad look ugly?" But this... This is a salad I would eat. 

Delicious. Emmie tries not to think about the party she's missing out on, telling herself that a fresh, beautifully-rendered salad is an experience far superior to any drunken shenanigans her ex-classmates might be getting up to. Besides, you wouldn't be having fun anyway, she thinks. None of them understand her, and the boys only want one thing.

Still, the FOMO is strong, and she can't stop replaying the day's awkward conversations in her mind. Even with the comforting sound of crickets, frogs, and other swamplife singing in her ear, it takes her a few hours to fall asleep.

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Twinbrook is really quite scenic. I haven't played much in this town because all the townies are so ugly, but I'm loving all the detail in the world. The broken train tracks in the outskirts, the stars in the sky, the backstories in the premade sims... And there really are cricket and frog sounds at night! I don't know if it's just for this lot, or a Twinbrook thing, or something that's always been there and I just never noticed. I'm absolutely loving it, though.

I certainly have missed the open world aspect while playing TS4. It's a refreshing change, but there are annoyances in TS3 that I forgot about. Like I completely forgot how gardening works, and had Emmie buy all sorts of produce that she couldn't plant yet. D'oh. And I didn't miss sims getting stuck for no reason, or the inability to super-speed through nights. Still, those improvements don't make up for the complete lack of character, detail and depth in the Sims 4, and playing 3 again is reminding me why I loved this game in the first place. <3