Chapter 3: A Strange Request

It's Emmie's day to be a test subject. She's instructed not to eat or wear shoes at all that morning, which is inexplicable but fine. The wet dirt feels good against her bare feet as she tends to the new makeshift garden.

Feeling nervous about what to expect at the science lab, Emmie tries to think of anything Justin said the other night that might help calm her down. She can only remember his smile, and the way he looked at her; warmly, without judgment. She realizes that she's not only nervous about the experiment, but about seeing Justin again.

Fortunately, there was nothing to worry about. She downs the pills and leaves the lab with only a slightly warm-and-fuzzy feeling and a slightly thicker wallet. Unfortunately, she barely catches a glimpse of Justin as he's called from one room to another to administer the pills.

She exists the building with the idea to stick around and catch Justin after his shift ends, but stops short when she sees Sofia Carlton also leaving.

No shoes. Hmm. "Hey, Sofia! Did you sign up to be a test subject, too?"

Sofia seems somewhat more open to talking today. "Yeah, I guess," she half-scoffs. "It's whatever."

"Look, I don't know if DeAndre told you we ran into each other, but I'm really sorry if --"

"It's whatever," Sofia says again, affecting her signature Sofia thinks Emmie is being boring look. "De is pretty much a man-whore. I don't care. He's with Amy now, anyway."

"Oh. That's not awkward, huh? I thought you two were friends."

"...Ugh. Is there something you want?"

"No! I mean, it's just weird to see you, that's all. I wouldn't have thought you needed the cash. Aren't you, like, loaded now?"

Sofia just shrugs. "Yeah. I guess. Maybe I was bored or something. Whatever."

Despite Sofia's cool-girl facade, she's actually pretty standoffish. Emmie smiles awkwardly.

"Well," she says. "They told me we can come back and do more of these tests. So if you're coming back tomorrow, maybe I'll see you."

The taxi Emmie called pulls up. She thinks about offering Sofia a ride; it's raining, after all, and neither of them are wearing shoes - but the cab driver is already zooming away.

Of course Sofia doesn't actually need a ride - she drives an insanely pricey pink convertible.

Life settles into a rhythm. Emmie continues her new job at the science lab, if it can be called a job. The tests they perform on her are always inexplicable and varied; one particularly bizarre afternoon is spent solely on attempts to induce hiccups. The pay is steady, though, and weird has never bothered Emmie before.

One night, she gets robbed.

The thief makes off with the creaky grill collecting rust on her back porch, while Emmie snores obliviously inside.

She files a police report, but isn't too upset when the cops say there's nothing they can do. The old thing had been busted since she was a kid.

After-work cocktails at the Red Rendezvous. Alone, as usual. After being poked and prodded at work all day, she's exhausted and looking forward to a day off.

New owners have renovated the venue slightly. She heads upstairs to check out the new billiards room on the second floor, passing the newly-installed slot machines on the way.

It's Justin Kayes! He's too busy celebrating his sudden windfall to notice her, though, so she slinks up the stairs avoiding his gaze. He's been looking increasingly frazzled at work, and they've barely had the chance to chat; her paranoid side is wondering if he's avoiding her for some reason.

Cherish Curious is really bad at shuffleboard. Emmie wins five bucks off her.

She buys herself some nachos before heading home. Despite it being past midnight, the Bayless kid is here unsupervised, watching her from a corner.

"Go home, kid, 'fore someone calls the cops on ya," Emmie calls as she leaves.

At home, Emmie falls into bed with relief, but is interrupted by her phone ringtone.

"Emmie? It's Sofia."

"Sofia?? It's one in the morning, what is it?"

"Listen, I need a favor. I can't come in tomorrow, but I promised Kayes I'd do that sneeze-in-a-freezer experiment for him. Will ya come in for me? Please?"

Sofia's voice, usually carefully neutral and affectless, sounds excited, her accent seeping through.

"Aw, Sof, tomorrow's my day off! What're you doin' that's so important, anyways?"

"I can't explain everything right now, but I met someone. He's a real important man, and he's kind and I really really like him. But he's in trouble, and I gotta be somewhere tomorrow to help him out. Please, I'll owe you big time."

Still, Emmie hesitates. "This sounds really strange, Sofia. I don't know..."

"Emmaline, please! His life is at stake. We used to be best friends, remember?"

Emmie groans, says a mental farewell to the day she had planned relaxing and catching up with housework.

"...That was years ago, when we were children. I didn't even know you remembered..." She sighs. "But all right, I'll do it."

---

Turns out playing a socially awkward single sim is actually pretty boring. Time to spice things up juuust a tiny bit ;)