Sim State U Ch.4 Melanie and Lori's Place Pt. 2

When the girls found out for sure that Elle Broke and Corky Lomax had rented a house on campus, they were excited and decided they must invite them over for dinner as soon as possible. Elle came to visit them before they even got a chance to ask them over, though. Lori was outdoors talking to the Cheerleader when she saw Elle. Calling to Melanie in the house to come see their friend, she hugged Elle warmly; she’d hardly seen her over the last two years.

Lori kept eyeing the cheerleader, though, who she felt strongly was in dire need of a makeover and had been for months. Lori loved doing makeovers. When Melanie arrived to talk to Elle, Lori grabbed the unsuspecting Cheerleader by the arm, 

“Come with me, darlin'.”

The cheerleader, who was delighted to finally be invited into their home, followed obediently. Before she knew what she was about, she found herself whisked into a bathroom where Lori brushed her hair up into a perky side ponytail instead of the old lady hairdo she’d been sporting. Immediately Lori began working with brushes, tubes, pots and powders as she applied makeup to a sputtering Cheerleader who’d never even worn Chapstick before.

“There!” Lori said triumphantly, “Now don’t you look gorgeous!”

Cheerleader was amazed as Lori pushed her before the bathroom mirror. She really did look pretty!

“Of course it would be better if I could get you into a more up-to-date cheerleader outfit, but Rome wasn’t built in a day! Oh, no, I’m late for class! Okay, now I have to rush--but be sure to come back for a wardrobe makeover tomorrow—there you go, sweetie!”

The girl found herself swiftly propelled out of the house and down the steps by Lori to where Melanie and Elle were still having an animated conversation.  She felt as though she’d been temporarily caught up in a tornado as Lori rushed off to class. Pausing, unsure of what to do next, she realized there was only one way to feel normal again; execute a fast and frenetic cheer. And so she did. That day the cheerleader got so many compliments on her new look that day, she decided to show her gratitude to Lori by raking their leaves that night. During an electrical storm.

 

It had been hard for bookworm Lori to be able to read for pleasure since she started college. Simply not much time between classes, term papers, tests, going to the Laundromat, getting at least some sleep and spending any time left with her darling Harvey. Now that they had their own place, however, she was only seeing Harvey two or three times a week, if they were lucky. More time on her hands meant Lori was able to read for fun.

She and Melanie also had more time to talk and it reinforced their lifelong relationship. Their personalities and styles were very different, but they had always liked that about each other. Melanie, for the most part, liked classic clothes and the colors red, blue and purple. She talked tough and was often gently sarcastic, but she was really tenderhearted and somewhat old-fashioned. Not surprisingly, considering her heritage she loved old movies and movie stars and was a walking catalog of information about both. Among her favorite things were dance, piano, games and charitable work. Lori, on the other hand, liked offbeat, sometimes sexy clothes and loved all vivid colors, especially if they were combined together. Her dad had always said she was born too late; she would have loved the tie-dye era. Lori replied no, that would not have included other later modes of dress including Goth and punk, so she’d stick with right now and borrow from all eras. The beach at Twikkii, piano, theater, reading, baking and cooking were some of the things she loved most.

Melanie often spoke on the phone to her middle sister, Lalique. Lalique had given Melanie some very interesting news a year ago; news that Melanie had not passed on to Lori because she didn’t want to cause problems for her and Harvey. Lalique had called her sounding mysterious back when they all still lived in Landgraab.

“Guess who moved into that empty house next door to me?” she teased.

“I don’t know—who?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Ottomas.”

Lalique Flynn:

 When Melanie didn’t say anything Lalique went on,

“Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Pete Ottomas? Brian Ottomas’ parents!”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. And guess what, Mrs. Ottomas, although she is nice, is a big blabbermouth. Whenever I see her she launches into news about her kids, sometimes it’s the one in high school, Damon, sometimes it’s Bridget, or Sharla or Dylan or even Tommy, and sometimes it’s about her son who’s on the road with his band,” Lalique paused significantly, “The one named Brian. The one who is, as far as I can tell; the secret apple of Mrs. Ottomas’ blue-shadowed eye.”

“I don’t believe it. I mean I believe what you’re saying, I just can’t believe—“

“That he dropped into our hands?” Lalique was laughing, “wait until you tell Lori!”

Melanie was silent.

“What?” Lalique prompted.

“I don’t want to tell Lori.”

“I thought you said she was ‘so in love with Harvey Ferguson and, oh, they are getting married as soon as they finish school, and isn’t it so romantic’ and all that good stuff.” Lalique was a bit of a cynic on the subject of love.

“They are in love and I want to keep it that way.”

“Melanie, I think it’s only natural that she would be curious for information about Brian and amused at how this happened. It doesn’t mean she’s going to cheat on Harvey or something.  If she’s so happy with him, why should you worry?”

Melanie sighed,

“You don’t know what she was like about Brian, just fixated, obsessed, he was her knight in shining armor.”

“Well it sounds like she’s over it now, but you have it your way. I’ll give you the information if you want it and you can keep it to yourself. Or are you not interested in hearing what I’ve learned of the mysterious Mr. Brian?”

“I’m interested. In fact, I just have to hear, Lalique. Even though I never even met the man.”

 

Next update: Sim State U Ch. 4 Melanie and Lori's Place Pt. 3