Trapped in the Sims (complete)

Part 25

Sims feels kind of strange to play now, perhaps understandably.

Hannah opens her bedroom door and grins when she sees me; I return her smile more hesitantly. "You turned up, then?" she inquires teasingly. "Thought you chickened out on me again."

"I turned up this time," I confirm.

"Bet Sims seems a bit weird to play now," my best friend guesses as I follow her into her room, flopping on her bed while she plugs in her laptop at her desk.

"Just a bit." Melissa's face pops into my mind as it has every time that I think about the game for the last week, and I blink her away. I haven't felt like playing Sims ever since I came back from the game itself, although Hannah offered to go on it for me and I gave her a few explicit instructions over text detailing some changes to make to the family. Eventually, however, curiosity won out over my reluctance to control anyone again, and I agreed to come over to see Melissa's updated family one last time.

Hannah looks at me, taking in my faraway expression with sympathy in her own. "You sure you're okay, Rach'?" she asks.

I nod. "Yeah."

"Hmm." Hannah doesn't look like she fully believes me, but turns away to start up the game nonetheless as I bounce experimentally on her bed while we wait for the Sims theme music to start up.

"You know, Mum and Dad didn't even realise I was gone!" I say a moment later, mock horror in my tone to brighten the mood somewhat.

Hannah gives a gasp, catching on immediately. "Parents! They don't even consider the possibility that their daughter might have been sucked into a simulation game while they forgot her existence completely. It didn't even cross their minds. My mum forgot you literally within a day."

"That's just rude," I grin. "I'm considering taking that personally."

"I think you should," agrees Hannah seriously.

"Though it did take me writing your name and my situation on a Sims easel to get you to remember me," I point out as the loading screen disappears and the game graphics start up on the screen. "I was worrying for a bit there, I have to admit. Forgotten by my own best friend! Your mum - who has known me since we were both three years old, let's not forget - is bad enough, but you?"

"Rubbish! I remembered you all along," Hannah dismisses teasingly. "I was just playing with you, you know that really. Playing with you. Get it?"

I roll my eyes at the expense of bad puns. "Shall we?"

Hannah grins. "Let's."

Kyle strides into view on the screen, a young adult clad in a smart suit. His head twists as he looks around, taking in the city view of Bridgeport, and although the screen isn't highly defined enough for me to properly make out his emotions, I can see the slight smile on his face.

"You aged him up and moved him into that high-rise apartment in Bridgeport centre?" I ask.

"The very same," Hannah confirms. "Right next to a popular hotspot nightclub, too. Your boyfriend will be happy."

I shove her shoulder. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Right. I guess it's just my incredible matchmaking skills putting you two together," Hannah comments. "And literally making you kiss. Whoopsies."

"Did you use your 'incredible matchmaking skills' to get Kyle's girlfriend back with him?" I ask pointedly.

"Yeees," Hannah replies slowly. "Though secretly I still ship you and him. Kychel, I'm calling it."