Slow motion

Round 16: March 2026

Dawn Whitfield is 22, Finn Harris is 21, Shea is 6 and Josh Cooper is 21.

(Lilly is 21.)

Narrated by Josh.

Dawn and Finn asked me to live with them this year so I could get out of the dorm. I didn't have to think for long before I accepted their offer. I was surprised but Finn explained that Dawn felt sorry for me after hearing the whole story about my roommate-from-hell situation. As much as I hate feeling like a charity case I'm still happy to be able to breath again. Dawn works long hours at her mom's restaurant so it's not like I'm in her way a lot anyway.

She made it pretty clear that if I moved in I would have to live by their rules. No alcohol in the house and I'm also not allowed to bring over my "lady friends" when Shea is home. Living here also means that I get to hear about Lilly every now and then. Not that I really want to hear about her dates with other men but Dawn obviously likes to make sure I know Lilly's moved on.

I'm trying to keep things very casual nowadays. I never see the same girl twice because I don't want them to get any ideas about becoming my girlfriend or something.

I'm not particularly proud of myself but I always make it clear from the beginning that a relationship or even a second date is out of the question. Luckily there are girls who are not looking for a relationship either so I never have any trouble finding company for a one night stand.

I was talking to this girl one night at a club and I just felt so exhausted at the thought of having sex with yet another stranger and sneaking out in the morning. I never thought I'd say this but the whole routine of one night stands and casual hook-ups can become very boring.

And then I bumped into Lilly at the Circus one night. She was alone and so was I. We started talking and it was almost like in the old days.

Don't get me wrong. I love sex and the constant attention from girls is quite an ego boost but talking to Lilly just made me feel stupid for ever letting her go.

We ended up singing karaoke and I was just standing there and looking at her with this totally goofy smile on my face. All the reasons she broke up with me still exist though. The thought of a big commitment scares the shit out of me but being with her feels as natural as breathing and I don't think I'll ever feel that way about anyone else.

I've been avoiding the social scene now and just reading for exams. Just because I'm a mess doesn't mean my studies have to suffer as well. I really want to get good grades which would help getting a job after I graduate.

I've also been babysitting Shea. She's a great kid and we often go outside and play catch. It's insane to think that my best friend has a kid who's old enough to play catch with me!

I've been photographing a lot in order to have a good portfolio to show to future employers. Sometimes I take a bus to Exmoor and just wander around the city for hours and snap pictures of everything I see. There's only so many photos you can take on campus because everyone takes pictures there so it's very difficult to find a unique angle to anything anymore.

Finn noticed that I was feeling a bit down so he sat me down and we had a good talk. I told him about how conflicted I feel. Part of me wants to be with Lilly and another part of me wants to be free.

"Sounds to me like you want to eat your cake and keep it too" Finn said. "Get your head together and don't even think about making a move on Lilly before you know what you really want."

I know he's right but I'm nowhere nearer to making any kind of decision.


Grades, spring semester 2026

- Josh: photography (art), A+, GPA 3.8
- Finn: entrepreneurial studies (economics), C+, GPA 3.6


Notes:

• Title reference: Slow motion by PHOX.
• Oh Josh, poor confused Josh. The poor guy doesn't know what he wants. Or better yet, as Finn said, he wants to eat his cake and keep it too. He rolls the generic romance sim wants "Make out with 5 sims" and "Woohoo with 5 sims" (both which he accomplished during the play session) but then he rolls the want to call Lilly. I honestly have no idea what will happen to Josh and Lilly but I'd hate to see them get back together only to break up again because he decides he doesn't want a relationship after all. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
• Finn and Dawn's living arrangements next year are still very much open. I had an idea about where they could live but it's been so long since the last time I played them that I've forgotten what my idea was... I really need to start writing things down!
• I'm on summer vacation now and the weather forecast doesn't look too good so hopefully I can crank out more updates in the next few weeks. I wouldn't mind getting some sunny days though because so far this summer has been rain, rain and a little bit more rain.