Winter 2011 - Cormier

Winter 2011 - Rich (28), Tosha (28), Violet (17)



After what happened to Jessica Ebadi, the darkening storm clouds made Tosha apprehensive.  She was eager for these autumn storms to go away and hoped the weather this winter would be more peaceful.

Rich could tell how shaken his wife was about the accident and did his best to comfort her.  It came as a shock to him too.  He knew Jessica very well from teaching with her at the Jr./ Sr. High School.  She was only a few years older than he and Tosha, so the news of her unexpected passing hit close to him.

He knew with her death the school system would be lacking for teachers.  No one had approached him about getting his old job back, but he had a feeling that if he wanted it, it would be his for the taking.  He wasn't sure if he wanted to return to teaching.  He thought this might be a good opportunity to explore something different.

He was taking advantage of his time off, getting caught up on household chores that he never seemed to have time for during the school year when he was teaching, and getting ready for the new baby.  Their house was fairly small with only two bedrooms.  He and Tosha had the master bedroom of course and Violet had the much smaller bedroom.  She often complained about how cramped the space was, but there wasn't really any room to spare.  When the baby was born, he or she would sleep in a crib in the master bedroom.  By the time he or she was ready for their own room, Violet would be away at college (with any luck).  Still Rich was thinking about adding on to the house.  As he looked at the house and started to get new ideas, he started considering architecture as a possible career. With all of the building projects going on in the hood, he was sure James McMillian could use some assistance.

He also had a second possibility for his new career.  He wondered if he could make it as a writer.  So he sat down at the computer and started coming up ideas for a novel.  He knew writing a novel would take a lot of time, but he had time at the moment and working from home would be ideal with the new baby on the way.

Rich and Tosha were both really excited about the new baby.  They had wanted to start their family earlier, but getting pregnant took longer than they had anticipated.  Tosha was glad that Robin was pregnant again.  It was nice to have a friend who was going through the same thing at the same time to talk about her pregnancy with.

Things in the household were about to change in a major way, so the family took the time to enjoy the quiet moments before the baby came and before Violet left for college to watch a movie together.

Nine months of pregnancy went by quickly and soon it was time for the baby to come.

Rich was relieved that mother and baby made it through the delivery safely.

He and Violet were excited that the baby girl was finally here.  They named her Rosalyn after Rich and Violet's mother, Rose.

Tosha still had a few days of maternity leave left after Rosalyn was born, but being homebound during her pregnancy was giving her cabin fever.  She handed Rosalyn over to her daddy and ventured out to the grocery store to restock the refrigerator.

She was delighted to run into Robin while she was there and tell her friend how well things were going with the baby.

Things were going well for Violet too.  She had really hit the books during the last few years and managed to get her grades up to a passing level.  She had applied to New Eden University without high hopes that she would get in, but her charisma not only helped her ace her interviews and get accepted, but also earned her a scholarship as well.

She adored her little niece and offered to help out with the baby as much as she could.

But when it came to changing smelly diapers, she did not mind handing Rosalyn over to one of her parents.  She was learning first hand how hard taking care of a baby could really be.

Tosha seemed to come to motherhood naturally.  She enjoyed spending time with her baby girl, but was eager to get back to her work as an oceanographer.

It broke her heart anytime the baby cried or was unhappy.

Violet was nervous when Ms. Miguel called the house one evening to talk to her.  She was terrified that something was wrong with her grades and that she might not be graduating afterall, but she had nothing to worry about.  To her relief, Ms. Miguel was making calls to all of the graduating seniors to congratulate them and talk to them about their plans for graduation and beyond.

Violet wasn't sure what she was going to study in college or what career she would pursue after her education was finished.  She didn't know what the future might hold, but she hoped that Bryan would be a part of it.

As excited as she was about going to college, the achievement was bittersweet, because Bryan still had another year before he graduated high school and could join her at university.  She knew she would miss their lively discussions,

and being able to see him whenever she wanted.  She wanted to make sure he would never forget her.  She decided she was ready to take things to the next level before the next year would take them apart.

But their plan was not well thought out.  Rich couldn't believe they were stupid enough to try using their bed while both he and Tosha were both home and Rosalyn was sleeping in the crib three feet away.  He was just relieved that he caught them before anything actually happened.

He immediately sent Bryan home and decided it was time to have another talk with Violet before she left for school.

But first she let her walk Bryan out and say goodnight, provided that she was back inside in five minutes.

Once Bryan was gone, Violet was safely alone in her room, and Rosalyn was asleep, Rich and Tosha decided to put the bed to good use.  It might seem a little soon to start thinking about baby number 2, but with as long as it took for them to get pregnant with Rosalyn, they decided not to wait.

Fall 2011 - University

Felicity London is a 1st year graduate student, Davis Vanderburg and Genesis Sartor are Seniors, Maia Hayes and Derek Todd are freshmen.

This school year the students were treated to a brand new college dorm to call home, designed by James McMillian.  It features a formal entryway,

downstairs entertainment lounge,

kitchen and dining area,

four bedrooms that can accommodate either one or two students and include personal computers for each student,

a second upstairs lounge located between the bedrooms,

and an extensive in-house library for quiet studying.

As upperclassmen, Felicity and Davis took their studies very seriously, but not all of the other students were as studious.  The freshmen especially seemed to forget they were there for an education.  The new young adults seemed to lack the ability to properly take care of themselves,

and even Genesis, who was entering her senior year of undergraduate studies, seemed to have the same problem.  Lured in by the lifestyle of late night partying and all night SSX tournaments,

she was just as bad as the freshmen.

One day she and freshman, Derek Todd, spent the better part of a day passed out in their plates at the cafeteria.

Felicity had taken a liking to one of the other new freshmen, Maia Hayes.  She noticed the girl had great taste in pajamas.  Maia seemed to keep her partying under control unlike some of the other dormmates. She seemed a little naive and Felicity wondered if the girl needed someone older to take her under their wing.

Maia had admitted to Felicity that she hadn't even had her first kiss yet and she wondered what it would be like.  Felicity was happy to talk to the girl and assured her it would happen at the right time and it would be wonderful.  The conversation ended when Davis sat down at the table. 

"So what are we talking about?" Davis asked.

"Oh nothing," Maia blushed deeply.  "I was just about to go."

By the time Genesis and Derek woke up, their food had gone bad, but they were just in time to catch a visit from the campus streaker.

Maia's questions about kissing turned out to be more than hypothetical.  Determined to get her first kiss out of the way, she summoned up her courage, grabbed a hold of Davis in the hallway and planted one one him.

Davis was in shock.  His heart raced.  Where was Felicity?  Had she seen what had happened?  He looked around and was relieved that she was no where in sight.  She was still downstairs playing the piano.

"What was that?!?"

"I just wanted to see what it was like.  You're a very good kisser," she said shyly.
"Thanks . . . but I have a girlfriend.  Felicity and I are kind of an item."
"Don't worry, she won't have to find out."

But it didn't take long for Felicity to find out.  Maybe it was carelessness on Maia's part or maybe it was deliberate, but she let the news spill when Felicity was close enough to hear.
"Are you sure you don't want to try kissing again?" Maia flirted.  "I had fun trying it last night."

Felicity stormed over.  "You kissed her?  How could you?"

And after she was done with Davis she turned to Maia.  "And you?  I thought we were friends, but you're nothing but a conniving two-faced slut!"

Felicity was so confused.  Had Maia tricked Davis or was he just as party to what had happened as she was?  The way he looked at Maia seemed to give her the answer she needed.  Just as her heart was breaking, it started to hail.  It was as if the smustlers behind her had been doing a rain dance.

Just as Davis and Felicity's relationship was dissolving, a new romance was forming.  With all the time they'd spent together this semester, Genesis and Derek had grown closer and shared their first kiss.

As finals loomed closer, they decided it was time to get to work.  They spent the morning before their finals cramming to write a last minute term paper.  Felicity felt that it was unfair that students who did nothing all semester were able to still score a place on the Dean's List and a 4.0 gpa by cramming at the last minute.  It didn't seem fair.

She thought it was time to have a talk with Davis about what had happened, so she sat down with him while he was at the chess table.  She hoped having the distraction of the game would help her keep her emotions in check.

In the end she decided it was going to take awhile for her to regain her trust of him and to get back to where they used to be.  In the meantime she wanted some space to sort things out in her own mind.

Finding space was going to be hard though, when they all shared the same dorm.  Felicity really wanted to go as far with her education was possible, but she wondered how she was going to get through three more years of living in such close proximity to Davis and Maia.