That Complicated Connection, Part 1

Fall 2032 - Britechester, Illinois
University students: Charlotte Craig is 22, Adam Smith is 22, Ethan Smith is 22

Ethan is working hard at the project he has to present for one of his classes this semester. It's his third year at Foxbury Institute and though he thought he'd feel more relaxed as the days went by, he's feeling himself getting more and more stressed. He can't have another bad semester. He can't fail again.

Denise comes to the student commons to give him some advice. "Maybe make it a little more fun to look at," she says. "It's kind of boring. Add some color. Maybe even streamers or balloons."

Ethan frowns, not sure what to say in response. "You think it's boring?"

But Denise laughs. "You couldn't tell by my tone that it was a joke? You didn't need to ask me here to look at your project. It's perfect as it is."

Ethan lets out a long breath. "Thanks. Maybe I can get a little more confident before I present it to my professor."

Over at University of Britechester, Charlotte isn't worried about her classes this semester. She had failed once, but she's put her focus on her work and is doing great again.

She's even made a new friend and they go to workout in gym at the student commons together.

It's fun having a female friend who she can talk to about the thoughts she has about her relationship with Adam. Which are all good thoughts. When they were younger, she hadn't really thought about kissing him, but now they're attached to each other all the time. And definitely doing more than just kissing.

Just as she's telling Rose about the latest night with Adam, he arrives at the gym to find her. 

"How was your workout?" he asks.

Charlotte groans as she tries to stretch her muscles. "It was definitely a workout. All of my muscles are crying in protest."

Adam turns her around to massage her shoulders. "Here, I'll get them to loosen up for you."

Rose gives a knowing smirk. "I'll leave you two alone for your private moment."

***

"So how did you do?" Denise asks the next afternoon.

"Good, I think," Ethan says. "I hope anyway. My professor seemed happy with my work."

"I told you that the presentation was in great shape before I got there." She holds her arms out and gives him a wide grin. "And you wouldn't have done it without me, right?"

He laughs with her. "Of course, you're definitely good luck."

She hugs him before he can do or say anything else. "Glad I could help," she says. "If you need help again, you know where to find me."

Ethan isn't sure what to think about her getting close to him like this. Are they just friends, or does this mean she's hoping for something more? And why is he even thinking about this when he loves Lily and wants to spend his life with her?

***

"Because you're a guy," Adam says later that day when they meet for lunch. The waitress delivers their food and then Adam goes on. "Sometimes we can't think straight. That's what Charlotte told me anyway."

"And so Charlotte is your teacher about the male life?" Ethan asks.

"Charlotte teaches me a lot of things," Adam says with a grin.

Ethan isn't sure that he should ever really follow his brother's teachings and advice. "I still love Lily," Ethan says. "I can't love anyone like I love her."

Adam shrugs. "You can still love her even if someone else has your attention right now. You're in college and miles and miles away from each other. Who's stopping you from getting to know someone else?"

"I'm stopping myself," Ethan says. "I'm the brother who can control himself better."

"I'm controlling myself and don't think about getting hot showers with anyone other than Charlotte," Adam tells him.

***

Ethan needs advice from someone else who will actually listen to him. He can't call Lily, not about something like this. So he tells his phone to call someone else that he's close to.

His mom answers right away, always happy to talk to him. But at the sound of her voice, Ethan can't find the courage to say what's going on. How can he tell his mom that he wonders if a girl in his dorm might want to be more than friends with him? That he's not sure how he's feeling and if it's all just the way a lonely college guy feels when he's too far from his girlfriend to get in bed with her?

And so he just asks his mom how she's doing, and Carol asks her son the same questions. She can tell something is bothering him, but he never goes farther than small talk between a mom and son. When he says good-bye and "I love you" and hangs up, Carol looks at her phone with sadness spreading through her. Being so far from her kids has been hard, and the moments like this make it even harder.

"That was Ethan?" Zared asks from behind her. "How is he?"

"Good," Carol says as she puts her phone down. "He says he's doing good in his classes and thinks he'll pass with no problems this semester."

Zared grins with confidence. "I knew he could do it. Adam and Isabella too. They've all inherited their mother's intelligence."

Carol makes herself smile at his words. "Maybe a part of their dad's intelligence too."

***

Charlotte has more confidence this semester than she has so far in her college life. She's gotten her grades back up and she feels that she can relax in between classes rather than stress herself.

Adam finds her, carrying a cupcake he'd just bought from one of the street vendors. "Hey," he says. "Want to share this with me?"

"I ate my lunch already," she says. "And it was more than just a cupcake."

Adam eats his cupcake in two bites and then lays down with her. "Why do I always find you laying in the grass?"

"Because I love being outside like this," Charlotte says. "I love relaxing and just not worrying about anything."

"I could make you relax in other ways," Adam says, turning his head to grin at her.

Charlotte laughs. "And that is one of the reasons I need to relax on the grass in between my relaxation with you."

Adam grins wider as he rolls over and moves to her, looking down with that sparkle in his eyes that gives tingles through her. Maybe relaxing with him is the way she really needs to spend her afternoon.

-------------------------

All of them passed! 

This is actually just one part of my Britechester/Foxbury updates. Olivia, Matthew, James, Emily, and Isabella have now graduated high school and have come to college. Caleb is also here, though he really is a year above them, only the jump in time here on the blog didn't show his freshman year. So I'll have an update for James, Isabella, and Caleb who are all at Britechester, and then Olivia, Emily, and Matthew who are all at Foxbury. I went back and forth playing between Foxbury and Britechester during this semester, but their stories have too many changes in life to combine all in one post, lol. And then there will be the college updates coming for PSU and Windenburg. College updates are certainly taking quite a bit of focus right now! But this will be the last year for PSU so it will remove one part of the college updates after this one.