The Smith Family has moved in to a wonderful suburban home in Willow Creek. Richard has begun working at the local hospital and has moved up quickly to the position of Assistant Nurse. As Izzie was still young, Elizabeth had decided to stay at home in order to care for the youngster. She enjoyed the quality time she is able to spend with her daughter, as well as her other two children, even if William can be a bit of a handful at times.
Once Izzie entered school, Elizabeth found it hard to be at home all day alone, and decided to begin a career. She found out she loved painting while on a date with her husband, and that became her career. [more...]
After his birthday, and finally becoming a young adult, William figured it was time to move out on his own. Fortunately, Richard had spent the last weekend with William apartment hunting. They found a one bedroom apartment in San Myshuno that William found perfect for him. Now all he had to do was take his furniture and move in. Being so close to his sister, this was a bit hard for him, but he knew this was best for him.
Just as he was beginning to settle into his new place, William got a call from Cassandra. Apparently it was her birthday too. It had been a while since William had seen his girlfriend, so this was perfect. Unfortunately the party was less perfect, but it wasn't terrible. Now Cassandra was also a young adult.
William decided to give Cassandra a key to his place just as the party wrapped, however, he didn't expect it to be used so quickly. Cassandra decided to stop by just after the party. William wasn't going to stop her, and, in fact, asked her if she wanted to spend the night. She did.
After waking up, Cassandra stayed for breakfast, but left shortly after. William entered and novice Hillock II tournament, and won second place, giving him a little more money. Looking for a job could wait, for now all he wanted to do was have fun with "The Good Timers".
Though being only a teenager before never stopped him from trying some the bar drinks, it felt different sharing drinks with his friends now. After drinks the group spent the next several hours playing various pub games until it was time for William to head home for a shower and sleep, not that he had anything to do the next day, other than looking for work.
After his converstation with his father while visiting home, William decided he probably couldn't just live off his video gaming skills forever, or could he? Upon waking up William went straight to 'work'. He entered a novice "Density Effect" tournament and one second place. Though he keeps coming in second he wondered if this couldn't be his career. Once the he confirmed the money was in his bank he headed over to the computer. Certainly there had to be some career where he would be able to use his excellent video gaming skills.
Wouldn't you know it? There was! Well, sort of, the opening he found was for a code monkey, which, it turns out, was someone who was starting their career as a programmer. William had spent much of his teen years playing video games, but had never wrote a single line of code. He was assured, however, that he could learn on the job and that he could eventually become a professional eSports player. William's only question after that was, where does he sign up? The answer, right on the computer! With that William felt like a true adult as he entered the workforce.
Though William's girlfriend Cassandra had been to his place shortly after her birthday, it had occured to William that the two hadn't really been on a proper date in quite sometime. Fortunately William had heard a very interesting rumor. You see, not far from him was an old house. It had apparently been a salt warehouse and was converted into a residential home, well that house was now a nightclub and William couldn't wait to check it out. This sounded perfect for a date.
William met Cassandra at the entrance to The Old Salt House for their first date in the city. William expecting nothing but a bar and dance floors everywhere, but he was plesently surprised to find seating, and not just that, tables strategically placed to be part of the action, yet tucked away so he could have a nice chat with Cassandra.
Of course, William wouldn't go to place like this and not do any dancing. That just wasn't William. Fortunately Cassandra was keen for a bit of dancing as well. The two had a great time, and William had to admit the date really deepening his feelings for Cassandra. He couldn't speak for her, but he knew she enjoyed herself to. This got him thinking about what it might be like to live with her. Could he possibly ask her to move in? What would his father and sister say? Did it matter? He was an adult now, and this was his life.
During his legendary city date with Cassandra, William couldn't help but think of Winterfest. The special holiday was coming in just a few hours and this would be the first Winterfest he would celebrate on his own. Of course it didn't have to be. Shortly after he woke up the next morning, William got a call from his mother. The girls and his father missed him and wanted him to be a part of the Winterfest celebration. Well, who was he to say no to his sisters. With that he headed over to his old home.
Shortly after Winterfest came another holiday, the end of the year. While the girls had been looking forward to Winterfest practically all year, William had been looking forward to this day. The end of this year marked the beginning of William's first full year as an adult and his first full year in his own place.
While William hardly spent the day alone, his neighbor had stopped by, he didn't particularly care for the day. What was important, and the thing he cared about most was the night. There were new traditions to start and new people to start them with.
The first order of business, once he convinced his neighbor to leave, was to invite over his girlfriend, Cassandra. This night would be just William and his girlfriend, no mother, father, or sisters in the way. Seeing as he the two had gone out just a few nights before, William decided to just stay in for the celebrations. He snuggled up with Cassandra on the couch and they started up his small TV and tuned it to New Year's festivaties. The two just sat there for a few hours watching TV, but William wouldn't have traded these moments for any of the more exciting ones he would probably be having at home.
While the pair sat and watched the countdown began. Cassandra stood followed by William and they counted along. William could feel his excitement building with every passing moment. He thought of his new job, his new place, and everything he could do in the coming year. Finally the countdown reached zero the New Year began.
William instantly leaned and and kissed his girlfriend. The kiss was surprising, but not entirely unexpected. This was apparently a New Year tradition in a far off land. For William, it was something he always wanted to do on New Year, but never had anyone to do it with.
After the kiss William, noticing how tired Cassandra was, asked if she'd like to sleep over with him. She didn't object and the two headed to bed.
After waking up William watched Cassandra sleep for a few moments before heading over to make the pair of them breakfast. He had to admit he enjoyed her company last night. In fact, he enjoyed her company everytime she slept over.
Sleepily, Cassandra entered the kitchen just as William finished making breakfast. She grabbed a plate just after him and the two sat down and William's sorry excuse for a dinning table. Cassandra was not two bites in when William asked if she wanted to move in. She was so surprised she dropped her fork, but she didn't say no.
Emilie decided to drop in suddenly while Cassandra was practicing piano on William's electric keyboard. William had heard her come up and met her in the hallway. She became the first to find out that William was now no longer living alone.
After a bit of a blow up at home, Izzie showed up at William's door. She explained that she had been going out at night and skipping school. William was a bit shocked that she admitted everything to him, but she also explained that she did it because no one seems to pay attention to her.
William tried to tell her that she was still loved even if it didn't seem that way right now. He wasn't entire sure he believed it himself, and it was pretty evident Izzie didn't believe him. She asked if she could just stay with him. He was honest and said he probably couldn't spend as much time with her as she wanted him to either, but she said it was fine she just didn't want to go home.
William agreed to let his sister stay the night, but told her he would be calling their mother in the morning. Izzie supposed that was only fair. It wasn't as if she cared if Elizabeth or Richard knew where she was, but William cared that they knew, so she agreed. With that a matress was laid out for Izzie and she became a member of the William Household, temporarily.
True to his word William did call his mom. He let her know that Izzie had snuck out, but she was safe at his place. Their mother was furious! William told her what Izzie had told him, but it seemed she wouldn't listen. Well, William wasn't just her son anymore, he was an adult now. He told his mother he would let Izzie stay as long as she wanted, and, if she wanted her home sooner, she could come get her herself. Naturally this didn't go over well with Elizabeth, but Izzie was utterly thrilled. Sure he worked and probably wouldn't spend much more time with her than anyone else had, but at least he had her back, at least he thought about how she felt.
Though the conversation wasn't what he hoped, he had to end it where it was and let Cassandra know they'd be having a guest for a while. Cassandra at least listened to her boyfriend. She might not have been happy about it, but she was supportive, which was far more than Elizabeth had been.
Both Cassandra and William had to go to work sortly after talking. William couldn't help but notice Izzie was skipping school today too. He really didn't feel it was his place to force her to either. He just asked if she would be fine alone, he could call in if she needed him to. Izzie said she would be fine.
Truth was it was kind of boring. Izzie had brought her laptop and few other things with her, but there just wasn't a lot to do in the apartment. She didn't want to risk making her brother made, so she didn't want to make a mess or anything in the apartment. Of course nothing was stopping her from doing her art project outside the apartment. After all, William had neighbors, they could clean up after Izzie.
It was only a few hours before Cassandra got back. The pair ate lunch and played games together until William came home. She had only been gone a day now, but already felt much better than she had at home. There was this nagging feeling that William wouldn't let her stay forever, but, she would cherish whatever time he would give her.
Unfortunately for William and Cassandra Izzie couldn't have picked a worse time to run away from home. You see the next day was Love Day, a day William had been hoping to spend every waking moment with Cassandra. Technically nothing was stopping him from doing that still, but, as he sat down at the breakfast table and looked across to Izzie, he knew things would be just a little more awkward.
Cassandra, on the other hand, took everything in stride. Growing up she only had her younger brother. Though Alexander really wasn't that much older than Izzie, it was different with her somehow. She was far less annoying. Part of that could be because she's a girl, the other part may be that she really wasn't related to Cassandra at all. As the two spent more time together, another part of Cassandra started to come out. This part saw Izzie kind of like a daughter and was starting to nag Cassandra to have children of her own.
Though William had originally planned on calling in that day, and convincing Cassandra to do the same, he decided, with Izzie there now, that he would just go to work. Of course, when eight rolled around Izzie still didn't go to school. Maybe that was something he could talk to her about, but he wasn't sure exactly what their mother had said on the subject, and was even less sure how Izzie would react. He'd leave it alone for now. Of course, he couldn't help but notice how close she had gotten to his girlfriend and wondered if maybe Cassandra would have better luck.
Seeing as Cassandra got home before William she had some time to chat with Izzie. She tried bringing up school. Izzie wasn't really interested in talking about it at first, but she eventually opened up. She told Cassandra all about her frustrations. Cassandra explained that school was kind of like that for her, but she still went because there were things she learned at school that teacher never taught her. She asked Izzie if she would try to go back to school. Izzie said she would try.
William had planned on taking Cassandra to the same place where they had their first real date for this Love Day. Even though Izzie was there now, he didn't see any reason to change that plan. It just meant he would have to spend a little extra. Fortunately Cassandra didn't really mind having Izzie there.
Izzie might not have exactly been on her best behavior, but William didn't mind. Sure it was a bit embarassing that someone eating at his table was making a mess on the floor, but no one seemed to notice, so all was well. Aside from this the meal went well, and Love Day was far from ruined.
Izzie was so tired by the end of the meal William was lucky she was able to make it to her matress without being cared. She was fast asleep by the time her head hit the pillow, and this was very good for William, because there was still one thing he had to do before Love Day was over just to make it that much more special.
What William didn't know is Cassandra had something on her checklist he didn't. After there little session in bed, Cassandra headed to the bathroom. There was something she just had to check. She sat on the toilet and a grin soon materialized on her face. Cassandra was now eating for two.
To be honest William had forgotten he had given Emilie a key to his place shortly after he moved in. She hardly seemed to use it lately, at least not since Cassandra moved in. However, this time she was far more welcome than any of these times she had previously used it. At least to William, that is. Izzie was a bit indifferent at first. However, Emilie instantly ran over and hugged her sister just as soon as she saw her sitting on William's bed. She expressed how much she had really missed her sister, and not her editor. It was true that she hadn't been able to get much done of late, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting her sister back even if that meant Izzie would never edit another video again.
Truth be told Izzie actually liked editing Emilie's videos, but she didn't want that to be the only time the two sisters spent together. Emilie understood and promised she would make more time for Izzie. Of course she couldn't speak for their parent's, but, to be honest, Izzie really just didn't care about them any more. She promised she would come home, after the weekend. Emilie said that was fair and promised she'd at least talk to Elizabeth for her. Izzie said she would talk to their mother, but it would be nice if her sister was there too. Emilie agreed.
Having decided she wasn't going to stay at William's forever, and seeing as summer was just around the corner William decided it best to celebrate Izzie's short time with them with a trip to Windenburg's pool. Sure there were closer pools, but this one was the largest. Izzie was far to excited to contain herself and jumped into the pool. Sure they had a pool at home, but this one was huge. She swam around for a bit while Cassandra watched and William just floated.
Eventually Cassandra got in the water. She was now pregnant and didn't feel much like swimming, but floating was something she could do. When Izzie saw her brother, and future sister in-law (she had a feeling William was planning something for later) floating, she eventually decided to stop swimming around and join them.
Of course the downside to a public pool was the fact that it was public. Soon the size of the pool wouldn't even matter as more and more people showed up. Izzie normally didn't mind crowds, but, with crowds came noise and that broke the serenity of her floating. She soon got out of the pool.
Of course crowds did mean lots a people, and for Izzie, a lot of people meant a lot of potental new friends. She may have gotten out of the pool, but she didn't go far as she sat and chatted with another girl who had come to go swimming, but didn't like all the people in the water.
William knew the best way to finish anything, anything at all, was dancing. There was music playing the pools lounge area and that could only mean one thing. Swimsuit dance off! Well no one really wanted a dance off, but they also didn't mind joining William for some non-competitive friendly dancing. Other pool patrons even joined in. Of course this wouldn't be the only dancing William would do today.
After a fun day with his sister, William sent the girl home with a wink. Izzie had an idea what William was planning and offered a coy smile before heading back to the apartment. Cassandra was completely oblivious to the exchange. In fact she had thought the pair was heading home too. Only they stopped at the Old Salt House first. Cassandra sighed as William headed for the dance mat. Really more dancing? Cassandra knew he liked to dance, but she was kind of tired and not really in the mood. She followed him nonetheless.
It was a good thing she did too. William did dance and Cassandra half-heartidly joined, but he wasn't a few minutes in before she suddenly fell to one knee in front of her. Even as the ring appeared in his hands Cassandra still wasn't sure what was going on until William popped the question.
What better way to answer than to surprise William too! In reply Cassandra leaped into the man's arms, looked into his eyes, and said yes she would love to marry him. With that the two were now engaged.
Izzie had promised to go home on Monday. Sunday was spent playing video games with everyone. Izzie had to admit it had been nice to get all this attention even if her brother and future sister-in-law had to work they spent far more time with her than anyone else had in the past few weeks. Unfortunately Monday came around and it was time for Izzie to go home.