Can't stop the feeling

Round 16: October 2026

Ben Cooper is 48, Denise is 40, Riley is 16, Liam is 14, Brady is 7 and Tate is 5.

Narrated by Liam.

I've been kind of slacking my way through school for the past two years since I started high school but I try much harder now that I kind of know what I want to do when I grow up. I think I want to become an architect but I need good grades to get into uni. Dad's really happy that I want to follow in his footsteps and mom just happy that I'm interested in my homework for a change.

I've also been wondering about starting a chess club at school because I really like playing but I don't know if anyone would be interested in joining so for now I've just invited friends over to our house to play.

Dad lets me use his draft table sometimes and I've been working on my drawing skills. He's been giving me some useful tips too so that's cool.

In the girls department my life is in a total slump but what else is new! I'm allowed to go to Generation X on my own now but it's not like I get more action than when I went with Riley. I always thought having my big brother as a chaperone was cramping my style but it seems girls just don't like me.

Not that I like any specific girl... except for Julia. She and Riley broke up a couple of months ago and I think she's really pretty but I doubt she's be interested in me. They didn't exactly end up on good terms - lots of screaming happened - and she's three years older than me so she probably thinks I'm just a stupid kid. Plus I'm sure Riley would kick my ass if I made a move on his ex-girlfriend.

Even my 5-year-old little brother seems to be getting more action with girls!

Brady and Tate are a lot younger than me and Riley so we don't hang out so much. They're pretty cool kids though even when they're pillow-fighting and yelling like deranged monkeys. They were super-excited about our cousins party. I got the idea to invite some of our cousins over, mainly anyone who goes to school with me and Riley. Mom thought it was a good idea but she made me invite everyone. We have a lot of cousins!

It was nice to hang out with all of them, even the little kids.

Mom and dad were pretty cool though, they got us good food and even though they stayed in the house they pretty much left us alone except when they came to the kitchen to grab a bite.

The younger kids played some games together and even managed to convince some of us older kids to join in occasionally.

I haven't spent a lot of time with my younger cousins so it was nice to get to know them a bit better too.

Riley and Jesse pretty much occupied the chess table all the time. They seem to have a lot in common because they kept yapping on and on about something.

Riley's a recruit in the Army junior troops now and he's even talked about going to college on the ROTC program so that mom and dad wouldn't have to pay for his tuitions. Mom's quite freaked out about it and says she'd rather take on another loan than let her son go to war. Riley keeps telling her that we're not in a war right now but she has really put her foot down on this.


Notes:

• Title reference: Can't stop the feeling by Justin Timberlake.
• Poor Liam, he's most attracted to his brother's ex-girlfriend. I took him to the teen hangout to see if he would maybe like some other girl but no, he still fancies Julia.
• Liam also rolled the family reunion ros this round. I figured that a 14-year-old boy probably wouldn't want to meet his aunts and uncles so I had him invite his cousins over.
• I don't know what happened but when I loaded up this household I noticed that Riley's relationship points with Julia had plummeted. Hence the break-up. They would've broken up soon anyway since he's going to college in a couple of years. This was his last update as a teen! I haven't decided about the ROTC yet, I figured Denise would be against it but they could really use the free ticket to university since they still have a lot of mortgage to pay.
• I'm on my summer vacation now and hope to get a few updates done during the next few weeks.