Beggars with Keggers (A Starving Students Story)

[simone23]

Hi!  Great to meet you! I'm Charlie McLean - that's me on the left with the gorgeous blonde.  On the right fooling with his new smartphone is my brother Hal (believe it or not the flash from this picture startled him, he dropped his phone and broke it).  And last but far from least is the ravishing, the intoxicating, the in-all-ways-darling Moira, our baby sister.  It's just the three of us, the Musketeers, one for all and all for Moira, as I like to tell her.


And Riverview's where our money pretty much ran out.

Don't worry though.  A guy like me can always find a way to make a buck.


A buck and a friend.  The ladies appreciate a man with kicky bag skills 



A little moving and shaking were necessary to get some ready cash.  I call this the "Anchovy Shuffle"



Don't know why people pay more for fish when they get them secondhand, but they do!

Caught up with Hal at the local Library and let him know that Operation Fish Market was underway and soon we'd have simoleans to blow - and invest!  Hal was working on learning pretty much everything you can learn at the library as our backup plan - and hey, it's always good to have one!  So I let him do his thing and checked out some cool vids on MyWire.



Turns out the Anchovies weren't as big sellers as I'd hoped.



Next morning, Hal woke up with sunburn.



I got more of a case of sun-oh-my-Watcher-I'm-on-fire!



Riverview's Finest (yes, she was!) were on the scene right away to help me out of this predicament, but all the same, ok, reality setting in, I need to get my hands on something besides day old fish if I'm going to put a roof over our heads.



As soon as I'd cleaned up and dropped Moira off with Hal (back at the library) I headed over to the local garden to see what I could scrounge.  Turns out, not a whole lot.  But every little bit counts, you know?



Or not.  Another night sleeping rough, this time with zombies.  Maybe it's time to check with Hal about that backup plan

[simone23]

Hal has been hitting the books - even I checked out a few.  I think in this picture we're both reading How to Make Friends and Influence Pixels.  Hal's found some great deals with scholarships and grant money and it's definitely worth checking out.  Something's gotta give, and fast if we're going to keep the World's Goofiest Girl safe and happy.



Speaking of Moira, haven't gotten enough pics of her in here.  Here she is in the library's new playroom.  Ain't she a peach?



I'll tell you, I just can't get enough of that cute little bugger.

I ran us pretty close to the wire the next couple of days, selling every last thing we had, running around town picking up rocks and buying all the stones I could find at the local thrift, plus getting a woefully inefficient patented transmogrifying doohickey with just enough left over for one shot at the big time.  I'm pretty sure I made Hal nervous.  At least, I would have made Hal nervous if he'd looked up from a book long enough to get nervous!  But in the end...



It paid off...

A quick cut and a quick sale...



And we could finally get in out of the weather.



Ok, so it's not Buckingham Palace.  But there's a door and a roof and a sweet baby girl, what more could you want in a house?



The next few days were sublimely happy for me.  We used the simoleans we had left over from the house to get another couple of gems to sell.  We had a nice nest egg, I bought into a local business - that's always been a dream for me.  Hal spent his time cooking - he's great at it, incidentally



And I spent my time the best way I know how, with the best girl in the world.



Life was getting pretty good.  Every time I turned around it seemed like, Moira had learned a new word or taken her first steps.  And just when it seemed like we could go on like that forever...

my baby grew up

[Tilia]

I'm such a sucker for guys like Charlie.  I love how adoring he is of his baby sister!  Can't wait to read more

[simone23]

Hal

I've been dreading telling Charlie the details of my plan.  I found a great program at a university, and we need this.  I don't want us moving around anymore, looking for Charlie's next get-rich-quick scheme.  He's found a bunch of gems and gotten paid for them, and that's great, but it's not a life.  I want more, for me, for him, and most of all, for Moira.



But to get that, we have to go away.  And we can't take her with us.  I found a great school for her, one where she'll get the kind of education we didn't.  They'll look after her until we get back.  So, when the time was right, I didn't even ask Charlie.  I just made the call.



And there she went.  He'll forgive me for this, some day.  I hope.



I got us away as quickly as possible, but Charlie was in such a daze from Moira being gone, I don't think he was even half aware of what was happening.  I signed us up, a full course load for me in the Fine Arts and a minimal load for Charlie in Business.  He really does have a pretty good head for it - hey, his latest Get-Not-So-Incredibly-Poor-Quick scheme is what's paying our tuition (I did not mention to him yet that we had to pay tuition...)



We moved into the frat.  I figured it would be a good place for Charlie to work his magic, get to meet lots of people, get back to his old self.  It may not have been the best idea - Charlie hanging out in his PJs getting juiced is not the Charlie I know.



I heard him that night calling Moira after he'd said he was going to bed.  Whatever she said to him did the trick.  The next day, he was actually talking to girls his own age again.



That's Dusty he's talking to.  I got a glimpse of her but I was mostly busy um... expressing myself through art!  Yeah! That's what we'll call it!



After she left I asked him who she was, and can you believe it, he was raving about her - isn't she nice, such a sweet kid, funny, practical, good head on her shoulders, and then the bombshell... he said I sure hope she meets a nice guy someday.  News alert, there is a smokin' hot girl in the picture, and my brother, who is always on the lookout for Ms. Right, Ms. Right Now and Ms. Fifteen Minutes After that, hopes there's someone out there for her.

I had to run to class.  When I left, she was hanging out at the frat, cracking jokes.  The whole way through class, all I could think about was that I hoped none of the other guys would be able to grab her before I had a shot.  I imagined that I'd get back just in time to see one of them asking her to go steady, that before I could even introduce myself, she'd be taken.  But instead, when I got back...

She was gone.

[simone23]

Thanks Tilia!  This is the first time I've done one of these stories - your Sims and Simsability thread was inspiring!

I'm wishing now I had worked out the picture uploads earlier - I'm wishing I could balance out the stories more.  Now that they're at university, Hal's going to get more of a voice (the first week was pretty much all about dumping Hal at the library and getting Charlie out to hustle up some resources.

[azokka361]

Bookmarked! (Even though I usually just surf the forum instead of actually checking my bookmarks . . . it's symbolic, more than anything else.) I love Hal's voice--he's so incredibly adorable in so many ways! I think Moira might be even cuter!

[Tilia]

Nice strategy with waiting until Moira was old enough and shipping her off to boarding school!  I was so anxious to get to university in my challenge, that I didn't even think of that!  Curious to see why Charlie didn't see the girl as a romantic interest ...

[simone23]

I have no idea why he didn't get the heart bubbles for her - the next chapter is almost entirely about Hal and Charlie's dating dramas (oh, and incidentally they also made friends and got skills and threw parties and even attended a class once in a while).  Charlie went gooey over every single insane, mean spirited, cheating, backstabbing, and downright evil girl he met, but Dusty, who is cute and has really good traits, left him cold.  I was afraid at first that Hal didn't like her either because she registered as an acquaintance without getting the attraction message, but later when I actually got him talking to her... well, you'll see 

[simone23]

Hal

SimU... you know how you can just find a place and you click with it?  You start to know in your bones that this is where you belong?  Well that's how it was with me and SimU.  This is where I'm meant to be.  This is where I'll make my mark.

Literally.



Charlie is doing great.  I knew he would.  He was everywhere, getting to know everybody.  He put together protests, fighting to put an end to the Rainbow-wigged Menace (you know them as clowns), and the other students loved him for it.



He was equally at home going bowling with the jocks



We found time to hang out together for it seems like the first time ever, too.  My brother, for all his crazy dreams, is a really great guy.



Things were good for me too.  I kept hoping I'd run into Dusty again, but we never seemed to connect.  Samantha connected, and she's a great girl.



I mean, she's really great.  She's nice, she's pretty, she's not insane... and the truth is, I don't know that much - or anything at all really - about Dusty.  Love the one you're with, right?

Anyway, that's Charlie's motto.  Of course, what Charlie seems to find most attractive in a girl is how much trouble she can cause him.

[simone23]

Charlie

Sometimes it almost seems like what I find most attractive in a girl is how much trouble she can cause me.

Take Pat, for instance.  I was walking into the coffee shop while she was walking out.  Literally did a double take.  She was gorgeous.



Which I let her know in the most clear and direct way I know how.



Pat is also very good at clearly communicating her attraction.



I asked her out right away, of course.



We went to the bowling alley and while I was checking out a lane for us, would you believe it, she hooked up with someone else?



I never even got my coffee.  There's only one way to get over a night like that.  Work out until you're ready to fall down



And then be a dope and call her the next morning.



What can I say?  I thought we might have a chance at putting it back together.

After that, I buckled down and concentrated on my schoolwork.  I aced my exams



and celebrated, Charlie style!



We'd been hitting the books pretty hard and the term was almost over, so I decided that it was the perfect time to throw one last blowout party.  But as soon as I'd sent out the invitations, it was one disaster after another.  First, the kitchen caught fire:



Luckily, Hal's the sort who always keeps his head in a crisis.  Put that out and replaced the stove, but before the first guest arrived it seemed like every single plumbing fixture in the house broke at the same time. 



But hey, when things break, that's just an opportunity to meet someone new, and the repairman was happy to stay for the party afterward.



Somehow we got it all cleaned up in time for the party to start.  It was a pajama party, but soon after it started, I caught Hal sneaking out with that sweet kid Dusty.  Something about an art project.



He came back inside afterwards like a man on a mission and ended it with Samantha.



Don't know what's going on there, but I made a mental note to ask him about it later.  Much later, as it turns out, since right about then a cop showed up to shut the party down.  We talked for a bit and instead of kicking everybody out, she kind of got into the spirit of things.  A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, so I'll let these pictures do the talking:













Let's just say that more got wrecked in our bathrooms that night than sinks and toilets.  Girl. wore. me. out.



Hal and Dusty were spending more time together too.  I finally asked him what was going on there and he got all cagey about it.  Said that, for this one, if he fell, he'd fall hard, so he wants to make sure he finds out as much as he can about her before he tries to take it to the next level.  I told him that made no sense to me whatsoever, but if it makes him happy... we all always knew he was the smart brother, so who am I to argue?

[simone23]

Charlie (cont.)

The next morning, grades were in.  I wasn't worried about Hal



But for me, that one course, it's a challenge.  Still, should have had more faith.  What has two thumbs, straight A's, a stereo in his room and frat mates who like to dance at 6:00 am?  This guy!



Hal was graduating that afternoon.  We'd heard horror stories about other Sims not being able to graduate even though they'd gotten all their credits, so Hal went down to the annex early, to make sure he had a spot near the front of the line.  While he was there, he figured out some interesting ways to celebrate.



He's recreating a scene there from Streaking in the Rain starring Gene Kelley, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.  When he got cold, he settled down into a more productive way to pass the time.



Here he is in his gown, ready to get his degree.



And here I am, kinda feeling sorry for myself.  We sent Moira off to boarding school and came here and what did I really do with my time?  I took a few classes, but mostly partied and went bowling and met girls, and even though police woman chick was pretty amazing, really none of the girls I met really made my heart pound, you know?  I was feeling like I'd really wasted my time and opportunities.  I was feeling really bummed.



And then suddenly, there she was.



My best girl.



And if a kid like that can love a guy like me, I figure maybe I'm doing something right, after all.

[MarianT]

Aww -- I think it's great that Moira is Charlie's and Hal's best girl. Looking forward to seeing how the three of them do.