Trapped in the Sims (complete)

Part 9

The day seems to go past in a wild blur. I don't recall many of the details, but I remember meeting a lot of new people, learning new things that I dimly recognise from real life and laughing. Laughing a lot. We have Simlish (which I can apparently speak perfectly) then Science.

Melissa's friends are really good and I get a grand tour at break time. Fran points out Adam in the cafeteria with a giggle and Melissa shoves her, nearly sending her over onto Emily. He's fairly good looking, with short brown hair and deep brown eyes, though not really my type. I can see what Melissa sees in him though; they seem very friendly when he comes up to her later. It's lunchtime now, and we've all just eaten a very tasty meal. Better than the stuff they serve in my school cafeteria back home. Melissa acts very cool and barely blushes when he's talking to her, which is an impossible feat for me.

"What do you think of school so far?" Emily asks me with a small smile. We're standing in the cafeteria a little way away from Melissa and Adam who are chatting animatedly.

"Oh it's great! You guys have really helped me settle in here, thank you," I say.

Fran grins. "Oh it's no problem. We always take the hapless newbies; it seems to be expected of us now."

"Oh, thanks."

"No problem." Fran pauses for a moment, then continues. "Just remember, we're here to help you any time you need it. Any friend of Melissa's is a friend of ours."

"Whether they like it or not..." Emily says in a spooky sounding voice and we all giggle.

I so want to tell them. I want to tell them that I'm not a Sim, that I need to get home sometime. Could they help? Maybe. Would they be able to break their programming to help me? Maybe not.

Would they believe me?

Nope.

So I say nothing.

Melissa finally comes over, her face alight with happiness and her eyes still glowing with the animation she had when she was messing around with Adam.

"So?" Fran prompts her.

"He hasn't asked me to prom yet, but I think it's only a matter of time," she says happily. The words come out in a jumbled rush, but due to my apparent perfection of the Simlish language I am able to decipher her hurried speech easily.

"Great!" Emily agrees. "He'll definitely ask you. He has to!"

"After all, it is on Thursday," Fran says with a little giggle of excitement.

"We have to get dresses! And a makeover!" Melissa says. "You too, Rachel!"

"Me? Oh - okay." I can't help but get caught up in their infectious excitement, so I put on a smile as well and let myself drop into their conversation. "Prom is gonna be great with you guys! And Adam, of course." I wink at Melissa.

Just then, the bell goes for lesson and I follow Melissa, Fran and Emily off to the next lesson we have: Art, then Maths. Art has always been one of my strong subjects, so I am gratified to see that this hasn't left me in my Art lesson. And even Maths isn't as horrible as it usually is; I seem to be able to pick some information up and I am sitting next to Emily and across from the other two, so I feel very comfortable. I love Sim School, I can actually do some of the work and time seems to zip by faster than at home. Technically time is going faster, since we're in Sim time, but it still feels like a normal school day, just better. By what seems like no time at all I am waving goodbye to Fran and Emily, who both get driven home, and stepping out of the school doors next to Melissa.

"So - did you enjoy your first day?" Melissa asks.

I pretend to think. "Well, let's see... You and your friends were absolutely awful and horrible to me in every way, the lessons were really difficult and confusing and the cafeteria food was disgusting. I had the worst experience of my life."

Melissa grins. "We all love positive feedback from the Melissa School Tours."

The bus pulls up and Melissa hops on, followed by me. I am still amazed at the quality of the bus, but don't let it show on my face this time because people may think me weird. Sims are just normal people. They don't seem constrained too much by programming and they seem free to move and do as they please. If this is Sim life, I think, it might not be so bad.

Then I hear the terrible crunching creaking sound all around me, seeming to fill my ear drums and reverberate around my skull. The bus fades around me, going dark, blurry and out of focus. The noise is deafening and I put my hands over my ears, yelling at Melissa while I do so. "What is that?"

Melissa looks at me, and the sudden lack of emotion on her face or in her voice scares me. "It's the booting up noise. It's okay, you're new. You'll get used to it."

I'll get used to what? I wonder.

Then the world goes completely black and I know no more.