“Yeah, come about…three-ish?” said David Garvie, twining the cord of the phone around his finger.
“Okay - but can Yasmin leave about seven? You know she’ll get all wound up, poor thing,” commented Kara Garvie, David’s mum.
“Sure, that’s great. Is Dad coming?” asked David, miming ‘Go away!’ at a student trying to tell him somthing.
“Maybe. He’t got his job to think of. Poor Dad’s been working overtime lately,” sighed Kara, leaning against the wall.
“Yeah, yeah, poor Dad, what a shame, get the violins out…just get Yasmin to stop ringing me up, I’ve got a ton of work to do.”
“Don’t be like that, honey. She just misses you.”
Of course, David didn’t really have any work to do - he foisted it off on any freshmen who happened to appear in the dorms. He just strummed tunes of his guitar. He’d bought the gutiar out of the money he’d earned in the cafe. Unfortunately, he hadn’t made quite enough money to rent even a modest-sized house to turn Greek, so he could only fantasize about being the Big Guy on Campus.
“See you, Mum. Bye!”
“Bye, darling. Remeber to do your work!”
David pressed the ‘end call’ button on the phone. He couldn’t wait until he had enough money to buy a cell phone.
“Yasmin, David says you can come to his party!” yelled Kara up the stairs to her daughter.
“YAY!!” came the reply.
Yasmin ran down the stairs.
“What shall I wear, what shall I wear?” she shouted, jumping up and down, arms raised.
“I thought maybe your special yellow frock, that lovely one. I bet Davie’s friends’ll love you in that dress!”
“YES!” Yasmin loved her yellow frock. It flew out when she twirled around. She could pretend to be a fabulous princess!
“Can I wear make up, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaase?” she pleaded, clasping her hands together.
“Okay, just a bit. Some eyeshadow maybe, that nice pink one. And some lip gloss?”
“Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!”
David sighed. He didn’t really want to invite his family, but he’d passed his finals and had become a somophore. That needed celebrating. And little Yasmin would like it. As long as she didn’t turn up in that HIDEOUS custard pie thing she wore.
He’d have to work extra hard in the cafe to get presents for his family. He knew what they’d want - a posh bottle of champagne for his mum, ‘101 Ways To Become a Millionare’ book for his dad, and a pink dress for Yasmin. The last present would cost the most. He sighed again. A couple of seniors playing chess looked up curiously at him.
He’d made friends, of course. Actually, he’d got engaged. He didn’t want to tell his mum that, though - she’d go through the roof. But Jennifer (a CAS-made Sim) was respectable, and from a middle-class background. She was nice.
“DAVID!” shouted Yasmin, running through the dormitory door. She enveloped him in a big hug, her yellow frock splaying out.
“Hi, little custard pie,” said David, forcefully brightly. He ruffled Yasmin’s hair.
“Hi, Davie,” said Kara. She shook his hand.
“Come on, through to the lounge. I’ve got some music on. We haven’t got a TV, but we got a really cool bubble blower that little Jazzy Yazzy could play on.”
Jennifer followed David through to the lounge.
“So this your family?” she whispered.
“Yeah. Look, could you play with little Yaz for a bit? She’s sweet, she’ll love you.”
Jennifer walked off to see Yasmin.
“Nice place here, Dave. Are you doing much studying?” nagged Kara, tapping her son’s arm.
“Course I am, who do you think I am? Look at me, am I the kind of guy that skips work, foists it off on other students?” said David. He held out his arms, posing for his mum. His t-shirt was black, with a fancy design on the back in white. He had a small tattoo on his arm. He had a henna design on his face - he’d had it done on a culture trip. His faded jeans clung tight to his legs. His shoes were splattered with stains - coffee, blood from the time he cut his finger slicing leaves for chef’s salad.
“Yes you do, David,” muttered Kara sternly. She dragged her son to one side.
“David, your father and I have paid for you to go to college, out of our own money. Dad can’t be here today because he’s working to keep you here. You look a right sight, David. Why can’t you wash your clothes like any normal guy? You better clean yourself up, David, otherwise you’ll be back home. Got that?”
David posed his fingers in a ‘whatever’ sign and walked back to Jennifer and Yasmin.
“Look, Jennifer! You’ve got a ring!” shouted Yasmin. “You’re David’s girlfriend, right? Does this mean you’re en…engaged?”
“DAVID!” roared Kara.
“
