Chapter 5.6 – Hormones

Tinkering with cars isn’t exactly Faith’s idea of fun.
 
But since becoming a teen, Jimmy seems more interested in keeping his head under the hood than in video games. Faith does manage to keep herself interested though, and she learns quite a bit about the mechanics of his vintage land yacht. Besides, by helping him finish his car early, she takes away his excuse to skip the Final Warcraft raid party tonight. The guild really needs his Dwarven Scout to help in the boss fight.
 
After some creative searching on the web, she is able to find the part he needs at a local scrap yard. The place is in a really remote area, far from town. It seems hardly worth the effort for Faith, but Jimmy can barely contain his excitement.
 
She pokes a finger in his chest, and announces that he owes her for driving him out to the sticks for a greasy hunk of metal. This immediately begins a banter of who actually owes whom, as they pile into her car and head out to the little shop, about an hour from Sunset Valley.
 
The drive is good for both teens as they enjoy time away from daily distractions. Jimmy teaches her a good bit about automobiles, and once he gets her to see each one like a puzzle, she becomes a bit more interested. Oddly enough, it is exactly how she sees computers. With other teens, this kind of interlude would prove to be irresistibly romantic. Not so, in this case. They both laugh at the drama that unfolds at school whenever hormones take control, and neither want any part of it. Jimmy has been a big brother and best friend to her, and even just the thought of kissing him seems gross.
 
The two friends become so engaged in their conversation, that they nearly miss the tiny salvage yard. Faith raises an eyebrow and wonders if she has been hoodwinked by a small-time junk vendor with visions of grandeur. Jimmy leads the way into the shop to speak with the owner about the part he needs. Faith tells him to go on while she looks around.
 
Carefully navigating through the junk inside the shop, Faith finds her way outside to the main yard where various heaps of discarded “stuff” stretch before her in uneven rows. There are several people here digging through the piles, looking for who-knows-what. One sim in particular catches her eye. She is not sure why at first, but then she recognises the same odd behavior that transfixed her nearly a year ago.
 
 —
 
 —
 
While the others dig haphazardly through the junk, this particular sim carefully examines each piece, jotting a note on a pad, then placing the pieces in some kind of organized system of smaller piles. She approaches him slowly and tentatively calls out his name.
 
Doc stops writing on the pad, and seems to cringe as if being caught for doing something wrong. He peers suspiciously over his shoulder, almost as if to gauge whether or not to make a run for it. He sees Faith and immediately furls his eyebrows in confusion. Faith giggles at the cartoonish range of emotion that plays out on the odd man’s face; which causes yet another animated facial expression of bewilderment.
 
Faith asks whether he remembers her from the church soup kitchen or the gym. His left eyebrow jerks up, seemingly of its own accord. He nods, and observes that she has undergone a stage of rapid growth and maturation, initiated by certain hormones being released from the pituitary gland; typically signaling the ability of a sim to reproduce. Faith chuckles, wondering whether he is being serious, sarcastic, or just plain odd. She settles for the third, which is just fine by her. In a weird kind of way, it seems a little bit flirty.
 
Jimmy emerges between two junk piles with a broad smile on his face, holding some kind of widget. When Doc’s eyebrow shoots up again, Faith finds herself blurting out that Jimmy is not her boyfriend. Her statement causes unreadable expressions of confusion to appear both on Jimmy’s and Doc’s faces.
 
Faith blushes with embarrassment and curses silently to herself. Without saying another word, she quickly collects Jimmy and jumps into the car, letting him drive. The trip seemed innocent enough. But she realizes now, that she has unwittingly unleashed the most evil and sinister creature of legend; so vile, as to turn strong sims into viscous puddles of goo. It has driven countless sims mad with its cunning powers to inflict stupidity.
 
 It is a cruel and heartless beast; and its name be Hormones.

10 thoughts on “Chapter 5.6 – Hormones

    1. I think what’s best about her is that she realizes what’s going on and will try to fight it off like a debate opponent. Hormones are NOT logical. Hehe.

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    1. I totally agree! I taught at an inner-city middle school for 8 years before changing professions and becoming a programmer. It was a magnet school, so we had quite a range of kids from beyond-gifted to beyond-apathetic. Faith and Jimmy personify some of the kids I taught in one particular gifted class.

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  1. Really can’t wait to see more about Doc! I’m very intrigued by his character. And I definitely wanna know what Jimmy thinks about Faith despite Faith’s figuring that neither of them wants anything to do with hormones.

    Additionally, in this line: Hope blushes with embarrassment and curses silently to herself.
    You called Faith Hope ^^;

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  2. Oooh – Hormones. They were certainly playing out in my seventh grade class today. And, let me tell you, they certainly were a beast 🙂

    Hmmm…so, Faith has a bit of a crush on Doc? A little strange, I must admit, but can you really help who you like? It seems infatuation has no basis (while true love does, in my mind). I also sense that Jimmy would like to be more than friends with her – if only she’d let him.

    Loved this update, and I’m off to read the next one!

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  3. Loving it so far! I thought Faith had a little attraction to Doc from her constant intrigue and remembering him and wondering where he went etc.
    And I agree, although Jimmy believe in the stupidity of hormones taking over, I do wonder what he thinks about Faith as well. :}

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