If it comes from my heart

Round 12: Summer 2018


Cal and Elissa Cooper are 56 and Josh is 13.
(Lilly is 13.)

Narrated by Josh Cooper

Lilly's been my girlfriend for a few months now. It all kind of started last summer when we kissed for the first time but then she got grounded and I wasn't allowed to see her for a long time.

We've been seeing each other a lot during this summer. We usually meet at Generation X because it's so close to our homes.

She's so much fun to be with. We always have a good time when we're together.

My parents bought me a cell phone because they got fed up with me hogging the phone all the time. I have a lot of friends and Lilly and I also call each other every day - even if we've already seen each other that day.

We went on holiday at Kayuanbua Village. Nobody in our family has ever travelled anywhere except for Ben who went camping in the mountains when he was in college. It was pretty cool to get on the plane. If only mom and dad would behave. It's so embarrassing to see them cuddling all the time.

We stayed at Jade's Exclusive Villas. Mom and dad were really stoked about the hot spring. I found it a bit boring. I mean, it's nice to soak in there for some time but it gets old really fast.

We had dinner at this posh hotel on our first night. The food was really fancy and the portions were ridiculously small but at least I got to taste champagne! Mom said I'm old enough to taste it but she took away my glass after I had taken a couple of sips.

I was really anxious to explore the area so I asked mom if I really had to spend each moment with them. I was really surprised when she said I could visit the different sights by myself. She even gave me some money for food and some little souvenirs I might want to buy. She did give me a speech about safety before she let me go.

”Don't talk to strangers and look at both directions before you cross the road”, you know, that kind of stuff.

I picked up my guide book from our room and off I went!

I wanted to suck in as much of the culture as I could. My first stop was the food stand. I definitely wanted to taste the local food and also try to eat using the chopsticks. Most of my first meal ended up spilled all over the counter but I got pretty good after a while.

I threw a coin into the wishing well or whatever it was. I don't really believe in that stuff but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try.

I even signed up on a tai chi class. The teacher was really good and he made it look so easy.

It was a lot harder than I thought! I probably looked like a drunken duck wobbling around.

I went to the Zen Garden with mom and dad and as soon as we got there I remembered why it was better to see the sights without them. Honestly, do they really have to keep touching each other non-stop?! You'd think that they'd want to see the sights as well since they can keep touching each other at home!

We took part in a tea ceremony and it was really great. I never thought I'd have so much fun but now I've started to think that I definitely want to travel abroad again.

We went shopping for souvenirs at the market on our last day. I wanted to get something for Lilly and mom and dad bought souvenirs for Ben, Sam and Danny.

It was time to go home - way too soon. I could've stayed a lot longer.

I called Lilly immediately after we got home and she came over right away. It was so great to see her again even though I was away for only a few days.

I gave her my souvenir and she seemed pleasantly surprised that I had bought her something. I got her an asian doll and she seemed to really like it.

Dad was really against me having a girlfriend. He thought we were too young but he seems to like Lilly now. I guess he just freaked out that we might do something stupid like go to bed and get pregnant.

Honestly, he doesn't need to worry. The only thing that's even remotely related to bed that we do is pillow fighting. Lilly has said she's way too young to have sex and I have to admit that I kind of agree with her.

It's not like I see this as a life-long commitment but I do think that she's the sweetest and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. None of the other girls come even close.

Notes:

• Title from "If it comes from my heart" by Rödsögården.
• I haven't sent a family on a vacation for a very long time so I thought it would be fun to send the Coopers. They've got the money and I had nothing fun scheduled for them anyway.
• Josh and Lilly are going steady now. They have a whopping 158 raw attraction points (3 bolts). Josh is Romance so he has the massive attraction bonus but even without that their chemistry is really high.
• I've been talking about building a hospital and I'm glad to say that about 75% of it is finished. I still need to decorate some of the rooms but at least I can use it for some updates if necessary.