Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
•.¸.•Reflections (Working title) pilot now up!•.¸.•
king_of_simcity7
Posts: 25,102 Member
A new series from me with a new set of Sims! 
Following my usual style with dramas and chaos the series follows two different sides of what was once a group of young adult Sims all looking for love with the main 'Simself' looking back on the past to see if he could rebuild his group but keep out trouble makers.
Main Sims so far:
Male
Carl
Russ
Duncan
George
Liam
Female
Natasha
Katie
Amy
Ellie
Lucy
Following my usual style with dramas and chaos the series follows two different sides of what was once a group of young adult Sims all looking for love with the main 'Simself' looking back on the past to see if he could rebuild his group but keep out trouble makers.
Main Sims so far:
Male
Carl
Russ
Duncan
George
Liam
Female
Natasha
Katie
Amy
Ellie
Lucy
Simbourne
1
Comments
It had been a hard night for Carl at work in the kitchen. Everything was as usual disorganised and no one got along with anyone. It was a Saturday so of course it had been busy and it seemed like everyone else was going out and enjoying themselves. Everyone except for Carl of course. It never used to be like this but this was the way things had been for a while.
When he finally left the kitchen after what seemed like hours with a mountain of washing up he noticed a few familiar faces. He saw his one time friend Russ with a couple of other people that he did not know except for Russ's girlfriend Natasha. Carl felt disappointed as it took him back to how things had been a few years before. As he walked passed them Russ completely ignored him despite Carl giving him a nod although Natasha did at least have the decency to smile at him.
Once Carl got home he decided to go online for a while. He had sent a few friend requests to a couple of girls online trying to get some dates but as usual his inbox was empty. Perhaps not having his own place and a car was not going to be too attractive and neither was the fact that he was in a low paying job. He spoke to one of his remaining friends named Duncan for a while and complained about Russ.
'He knows full well that I walked passed him,' complained Carl 'but he does not care,'
'Well that is just Russ being his usual self then,' agreed Duncan 'is he still with Natasha?'
'Yes he was,' replied Carl.
A few years before things had been completely different. Carl and Duncan where part of a group of guys who always went out together and had some of the best years of their lives together. They had been outcasts at school but as they grew older they got more confident.
Things started to change when one of the guys named Jake got a new girlfriend named Kelsey who seemed specialise in causing dramas and friction between people. Rumours had been going around that Kelsey had been cheating and when she saw a message from Carl to Jake on Jake's phone warning him about her she decided to try and turn people against Carl. Things had kicked off at an engagement party and the group had been divided in two.
A few weeks later Jake and Kelsey had invited a few people to their own party and Russ had been invited along with Natasha who both Carl and Russ liked and Natasha had stopped talking to Carl completely. Carl was convinced that Kelsey had been involved and Russ then ended up seeing Natasha. Prior to this Carl had thought that he was going to have a chance with Natasha as she had seemed interested in him but Russ had managed to get in their first.
Eventually Kelsey ended up leaving Jake for another guy anyway but she had left unresolved conflict within the group. Carl never forgave her for what she had done and he had not spoke to Russ that much since either. A while after the incident at the engagement party Carl had been invited to another party and Russ was there with Natasha and was showing off all night. He had gotten a new job and was bragging about everything. After that everyone started to go their own ways and things had not been the same since. Before this time Carl had been though a rough patch after a breakup with another girlfriend and was only just getting back on track but the incident with Kelsey had thrown him off balance.
He still thought of Natasha at times but he hated the fact that she was still with Russ. He had wondered that if Kelsey had not been there then things might have been different. There was only two other girls that had been loyal in the group and that was Katie and Amy but both of them had boyfriends during the time of the incident and they also seemed to have moved on as well.
'It is a shame that things are not what they used to be,' said Duncan in another message.
'I know,' replied Carl.
'We should do something again soon,' suggested Duncan 'maybe get a few people together?'
'I could ask around,' said Carl. There was not many people that they still spoke to but they had decided to get a few people together in the week. Carl seemed to be at work most evenings of the week but he was lucky to have Tuesday night off and was able to arrange a night with Duncan, George and Liam. Both George and Liam normally worked during the week but by chance Liam had the week off and was up for a drink while George had no problems getting the night off.
The next few days had not been that eventful but Carl had taken a look at Natasha's Facebook which he still had her as a friend on and noticed that she had added some pictures from the Saturday night out in an album called 'dinner party' which featured her, Russ and a group of seemingly comfortable people of happy couples. There they were going to a dinner party while Carl was left to clear up after them. There was something about the whole thing that made him uncomfortable and he felt that there had been a lack of justice.
On Tuesday Carl met up with the others at a local pub and made conversation about the previous weekend.
'I wouldn't worry too much about Russ,' said George 'The odds are that Natasha might get bored of him eventually,'
'Well they have been together for a while now,' replied Carl.
'Well you never know,' replied George 'things do go the full circle eventually,'
'have you spoke to anyone else from back then?' asked Liam.
'Not really,' replied Carl 'everyone has gone their own way now,'
'I heard that Amy split up from her boyfriend,' added George 'she has moved away as well and living with her sister,'
'Really?' replied Carl.
'I was talking to her sister's friend the other night,' said George 'it turns out that the guy had been messing around with someone else,'
'Where is she living now?' asked Carl.
'She has gone to Simbourne I think,' replied George 'her sister lives there,'
'I remember when we all went to Brighton that time,' said Duncan.
'That was a good week,' added Carl glumly remembering the good times that everyone had.
'Yes, with Katie and Amy at that house party where her sister lives,'
'And of course Russ trying to get on Katie while he knew that I liked her,' added Carl.
'Things never changed much then?' said Liam.
'It was always like that,' said Carl 'any time that there was a new girl on the scene then Russ was straight onto them,'
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Carl had first met Amy and Russ when he had started secondary school. He was not part of the popular group and neither was Russ. The difference was that Russ wanted to be part of the in crowd but had been rejected by them so had to hang around with other people. Also joining their group was Katie who had been pushed out of another group. Katie had previously tried to fit in with the popular girls but got into trouble when a guy who liked her made another girl jealous. A guy named Reece had shown interest in her and they started seeing each other but after a while Reece would start making excuses not to see her. Katie later found out that he was also seeing a girl called Lakesha who managed to split them up.
Katie took the breakup badly and when she tried to ring Reece she had Lakesha answering the phone and she warned Katie off. It had not helped that Katie had been texting Reece warning him about Lakesha because of her reputation. As Lakesha had seen the texts she was not happy with Katie and after that she would gang up on Katie as much as possible.
Katie had a couple of other friends Louise and Jodie but they would soon be reluctant to hang out with her. She would sit with them in the canteen at school but they made it clear that they were reluctant to be seen with her.
'You need to be careful about what you say about Lakesha,' said Louise.
'Why what has she said?' replied Katie nervously.
'She said that you have been saying stuff about her in those texts that you sent Reece,' said Jodie.
'Why was she reading his texts?' asked Katie.
'Well she was with him and she told us to warn you that she is not happy,' replied Louise.
'And we are not too happy about either to be honest,' added Jodie 'we don't want any more hassle from her either,'
'We did try to warn you about getting involved with Reece but you did not listen to us,' said Louise 'and we are not going to deal with whatever happens,'
Katie felt nervous as she knew what Lakesha was like with people that she did not like but she did not expect Louise and Jodie to turn against her.
'They are coming now,' said Louise.
'Let's go,' said Jodie as they both got up and left Katie by herself.
Katie noticed one of Lakesha's friends point her out but she could not hear what was being said.
She would later see Lakesha alone when walking through the corridor and they had their first confrontation.
'What have you been saying about me?' Lakesha asked her bluntly.
'Nothing,' replied Katie anxiously.
'Don't lie to me, I saw what you was saying about me in those texts!' replied Lakesha angrily.
Katie felt frightened and started apologising.
'A bit too late to say you are sorry now,' snapped Lakesha 'but you will be sorry soon when I catch up with you again!'
For the next couple of days Katie would try and avoid Lakesha as much as possible and eventually managed to talk to Louise and Louise and Jodie again and they had decided to meet her and told her that Lakesha had split up with Reece and was no longer interested in fighting with her.
After school Katie went to meet them at the playground near to where they lived and spoke with them for a while and then she noticed Lakesha had appeared and walked towards them with some of her friends and she did not look happy.
'What is going on?' Katie asked feeling a sense of dread.
'Lakesha wants to talk to you,' said Louise bluntly.
'So you want to say stuff about me do you?' shouted Lakesha angrily.
'I am sorry,' replied Katie not sure what Lakesha was going to do next.
'I will teach you!' exclaimed Lakesha.
'Don't say stuff about me again!' warned Lakesha 'next time you meet up with my boyfriend I will come round your house and trash it!'
'Come on lets go,' said one of Lakesha's friends.
'I think that she has learnt her lesson,' said Lakesha 'no one else would want her anyway,'
'She looks so pathetic,' added another of her friends,'
'Reece told me she was a rubbish woohoo as well,' snarled Lakesha.
The gang laughed while Louise and Jodie looked on nervously.
'Thanks for telling us where she is,' Lakesha said to them 'just see that as a warning to you both as well as neither of you are anything special either,'
After Lakesha had gone both Louise and Jodie asked Katie if she was ok but Katie did not want anything to do with them.
'We did not know that she was going to do that,' said Louise nervously.
'Honestly she said that she wanted to just make up to you,' added Jodie 'we are sorry,'
'Just leave me alone!' sobbed Katie.
Louise and Jodie left her on a bench while Katie decided if she should go home or not. She noticed that she had mud on her clothes and wondered if she should tell anyone. Another girl had been watching the incident from a distance and went up to Katie to see what happened. The girl was Amy who was someone that Katie knew from school but hadn't spoke to much before.
'What happened?' asked Amy calmly but Katie did not say anything.
'Shall I get help?' Amy asked but again Katie remained quiet.
'I know what they are like,' said Amy 'they done it to me once,'
Katie remained quiet but Amy explained what had happened in the past.
'They used to pick on another girl I was friends with,' explained Amy 'I helped reported them to the school and they accused me of grassing on them. They caught up with me after school one day and tried to gang up on me,'
'What happened next?' Katie asked finally speaking.
'My parents got the police involved,'
'Should I do the same?' asked Katie 'would that not make them more angry?'
'Might not do,' replied Amy 'Lakesha warned me that her Dad is a hard man who would come for my family. It was scary at the time but it turns out that she does not even live with him and he lives nowhere around here,'
'Have you had any trouble from them since?' asked Katie.
'Not really,' replied Amy 'I get funny looks off them and overhear them say stuff about me. The school where not too bad with it and made sure that we were kept apart as well. The only problem was naggy Mrs Peck tried to make me and parents feel sorry for her,'
'Why would anyone feel sorry for her?' asked Kate.
'No idea I think that Mrs Peck is one of those people who just feels sorry for people. She put me in the learners support group as well,'
'They want me to join that group,' said Kate 'it is because I struggle in some lessons,'
'It is nothing to be ashamed of,' said Amy 'there are some nice people in my group. It is better than being in the behavior support group that Lakesha gets put in anyway,'
Amy and Katie talked for a while and Katie explained what had happened with Reece until Amy walked her home. Katie's parents had decided to get the police involved and the school ended up suspending Lakesha for the rest of term. Katie was also moved into the same group with Amy and Amy would invite Katie into her group of friends.
This part has been edited to make it more suitable for the forums
Carl had often wondered what would have happened if Russ had not tried to move onto Katie. Carl had liked her from the moment that she had joined there group. At first she seemed timid after what her former friends had done to her but she was much happier after being friends with Amy.
It was around this time that Katie had started becoming friends with Natasha when they were doing the same course together at college. Natasha seemed to be a bad influence on Katie and Amy was not sure about her. At the time Natasha had a boyfriend named Jay who seemed to be on something each time anyone ever saw her. As Natasha had a free house one weekend she and Jay invited Katie, Amy, Carl, Russ, George, Liam and one of her other friends Ellie and Lucy.
Everyone in the group felt excited while listening to music. Carl was sitting on the floor with his back against the sofa which Katie, Amy and Ellie where sitting on while Russ was sitting on the floor with George and Liam while Natasha sat on another sofa with Jay. Carl had his eyes closed while listening to music and started to find himself feeling relaxed. He was breathing in and out and starting to notice that the music was sounding better and better. Everyone else seemed to experience this at the same time and Carl would notice that everyone would also look better. The girls especially looked really good and everyone seemed to feel a slight attachment to everyone else in the room.
Throughout the whole evening everyone would be talking amongst themselves and would feel connected. Carl managed to get along well with Katie and Russ got talking to Lucy.
For Carl he had felt a strong sense of passion for Katie and she opened up to him about a lot of things. He now had a feeling like something might actually happen between them one day and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He had never been too successful with girls before but this time something felt different and they would stay close together for the rest of the night.
Russ had started meeting up with Lucy a few times and would soon start a relationship with her. It seemed to have started okay but Russ was a bit unsure about a few of her friends. She seemed to know a lot of guys and always seemed to be texting someone. Like Carl Russ had never had too much luck with girls so with Lucy he was very keen to making things last. He had gotten suspicious over one person that she seemed to text a lot but she ended up staying around his that evening.
Things had felt awkward when they got into bed and she soon feel asleep. She left her phone on charge and Russ took the opportunity to have a quick look through. Strangely enough a lot of recent messages had been deleted although a new text had come through from a guy named Julian asking if she was asleep. Curious Russ decided to text back to work out who the guy was and had started a conversation.
'Are you staying at your boyfriends tonight?' asked Julian.
'Yes I am,' replied Russ while pretending to be Julian.
'How are things going then?' replied Julian.
'Good thanks,'
'Are you still up for meeting in the week?'
'Not sure,'
'Well if you are up for coming around then I have a free house,'
'I am okay thanks,'
'You seemed up for it earlier,'
'What do you mean?'
'Well you said that you wanted to meet up,'
'I am happy with my boyfriend thanks,'
Russ would see no more texts from Julian and had hoped that Julian got the hint but was still worried about what Lucy must have been saying to him.
When Russ woke the next day things still seemed off with Lucy but he had brushed the texting off as a misunderstanding and later in the day after Lucy had gone home she seemed to be more friendlier towards Russ by texting him more often. Russ had wondered if he had saved their relationship from a potential trouble maker or perhaps it had just been a misunderstanding all along.
The problem that Russ had was that Julian was actually gay and was no threat towards him whatsoever. Julian had just got out of hospital after visiting his mother who had been in a small accident which was why Lucy had been quiet that evening and Julian become suspicious of the texts himself so had asked around thinking that Lucy was not the one sending the texts.
Soon word would get back to Lucy and she worked out that Russ must have been using her phone while she was asleep. She then started to question if it would be safe being in a relationship with Russ and stopped talking to him for a few days. This started to make Russ paranoid and he would start texting her and ringing her trying to find out what was going on between them.
He then started thinking that maybe something was going on with her and Julian and gave himself away by texting her asking if she was seeing Julian behind his back. Lucy then broke up with Russ the next day and explained the real reason she had been texting Julian but has Russ had been creeping she could no longer trust him. He felt pretty foolish and had thrown away what could have been a pretty good relationship.
@king_of_simcity7 Catching up here finally. Poor Katie was just trying to be nice and warn Reece about Lakesha, and Lakesha is playing on Reece's phone and see's the texts. duh!
lol at Louise and Jodie being so honest about not wanting to be friends with Katie since she made Lakesha mad.
oh that was mean of them to have her meet them just so Lakesha could find her and beat her up.
Yeah right, they didn't know. Looks like Lakesha has got their numbers anyway...wanna be followers and no one special.
Nice that Amy came over and talked with Katie and befriended her and told her about what happened to her.
Good that she decided to tell her parents and that Lakesha got what she deserved.
Is the gang doing drugs? Shame on them if they are.
Oh dear, another silly boy messing around with his girls phone. He's gonna be sorry! lol
And, he got caught and now is sorry. Well, hopefully, lesson learned. Trust is a two way street.
Great updates, will try to stay caught up now.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Carl and Duncan had often wondered how long it would have been until Russ had ruined his relationship with Natasha. They would often mentioned about how foolish Russ had been throwing things away with Lucy. Duncan had also been envious of how Russ happened to be successful with the girls. Duncan was once the new comer of the group and Russ had sometimes been cold with him while Carl was more accepting. Duncan had actually met the group by chance on a night out once after what would have been a disappointment when he got let down by someone else.
A couple of years before Duncan was friends with someone called Dean. He used to have some good times with Dean but since Dean had started a relationship with a new girlfriend it seemed that even he had ignored Duncan at times. Duncan had managed to get the weekend off work though and was looking forward to a night down town that he had arranged with Dean but after trying to ring Dean once he got off the bus, Dean was being difficult again. They had arranged to meet at a bar called the Brass House and Duncan didn't fancy going back home disappointed straight away so whilst waiting for Dean to show up, he went to the Brass House by himself.
Once he arrived he had felt somewhat like a loner again; a lot of people where out with friends having a good time while Duncan was waiting at the bar by himself. He was used to this, always the one on the outside looking in at everyone else having fun. It had been the same when he was at secondary school, people did like him, but no one ever really included him in anything.
See more:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/971296/reflections-working-title-pilot-now-up#latest
It was just as he was thinking about school he then saw a familiar face, a guy called Bill who Duncan had known since he was younger but was another familiar face that he had lost touch with.
'Duncan? Long time no see!' said Bill as he walked up to him 'Who you down here with tonight?'
'Alright? I'm just meeting a friend, you?' replied Duncan feeling slightly pleased to see someone that he did know.
'I am down with a few people from school,' replied Bill 'loads of people are out tonight!'
Duncan thought that maybe he could perhaps tag along with Bill and some people that he went to school with and then maybe he could have a good night out for once. Dean was not even replying to his text messages so Duncan knew it was a case of either staying out and hoping for the best or go home disappointed.
'So where are you going tonight?' Bill asked Duncan.
'Not sure yet, where ever is good,' replied Duncan not actually knowing which clubs where good on a Saturday night.
'You should come to Lava Ignite,' suggested Bill 'we are all heading there later,'
'Is it any good?' asked Duncan knowing that he had heard of the club before.
'We they have good discounts on if you get there at the right time,' replied Bill enthusiastically.
A couple of other guys from Duncan's old school had also come over and greeted Duncan and joined in the small talk for a while until they headed back to the dance floor. Duncan then went outside to try and ring Dean one more time but as expected there was no reply. There were a few other people outside smoking and talking as Duncan sparked up a cigarette and overheard a conversation between one of the group.
'I heard they have cheap drinks at Lava before twelve,' said one of the guys.
'Maybe we should head there in a bit?' suggested another guy in the group.
One of them turned to Duncan and asked him for a lighter.
'Have you got a lighter mate?'
'Try this one,' replied Duncan handing the lighter over.
'Cheers,' replied the young guy as he sparked up a cigarette.
'You going anywhere good tonight?' asked Duncan trying to make conversation whilst noticing a few people from his school coming outside into the smoking area.
'Might be hitting Lava later,' replied the guy.
'Is it any good?' asked Duncan.
'You never been?'
'No, I just turned eighteen,' laughed Duncan.
'Oh, happy birthday!,' replied the guy shaking Duncan's hand.
'Yeah, it is good, some cheap drinks on before twelve,' added the guy 'who you heading down there with?'
'Just a few people I know,' replied Duncan trying to not make it sound like he wasn't by himself.
'Nice, any girls?'
'A few,' joked Duncan.
'Sounds like we should staying here then!' joked another guy from the group.
'What's your name by the way?' asked the first guy.
'Duncan,'
'Nice, I am Carl and this is George, Russ and Mick,' replied Carl.
'Cool, good to meet you,' replied Duncan who continued to make small talk with the group for a while until they headed inside.
'See you in a bit,' said Carl as the rest of his group followed him. Duncan remained outside and caught the attention of a girl that he had also gone to school with named Sian. Feeling slightly relived that there was another familiar face Duncan decided to make conversation with her, luckily she remembered him and started talking with him.
'So where are you going tonight then?' Sian asked him.
'Going to Lava, it is meant to be good apparently,' replied Duncan hoping that maybe he could tag along with some of his old school acquaintances.
'It is really good, I have been there three times now,' replied Sian 'I guess that we will see you down there?'
'I will see you there then!' agreed Duncan before Sian went back inside.
It had always been like that with people from his school. They had gotten along with him but he was never really part of any group as such. It seemed that everyone would make plans with their friends and Duncan would have to try and follow people around just to get noticed although he remembered that at school some people hadn't taken too kindly to that. It had only ever been one or two people that ever really had a problem with him but that small one or two were reluctant to let Duncan hang out in their circles which meant he became weary of people and careful who he spoke to. Maybe now he was older things could be different this time now that people would have matured?
Amy was sweet to Katie and seems like a nice girl. Maybe they can become true friends.
So... Did they all get high, or drunk, and that's why the music sounded so great and everyone was looking hot to each other?
I hope Carl has good intentions towards pursuing Katie.
Okay, personally, I don't think anyone has the right to look over someone else's text messages without them knowing, but I'll admit I'd be tempted to if I felt I was being cheated on, especially by my husband. Communication is the key here, talk things over and find out why your partner is acting a certain way. That's what Russ needs to do with Lucy and be calm about it. There's way less trust issues when you communicate. Anyway.
Well...... Can't say I didn't see that coming. I kinda feel sorry for Russ, but don't. Hopefully he learned a big lesson. This is why it's important to communicate and not snoop! Sorry, I'm done.
I feel for Duncan... Being ignored by your best friend and not feeling included anywhere else. Been there.....
Yay a friend from school found him.
So Duncan is gonna go to that bar with Carl and the others? What about Bill? (Duncan won't be having a drink right because he's only 18?
Sadly I don't think the group has matured much and Duncan will be disappointed.
I look forward to reading more.
As Duncan went back inside the bar he had managed to make small talk to the people he recognised without making it seem like he was actually by himself as well as managing to make small talk with Carl's group who had occasionally come back to the bar for another drink. After about an hour of casual conversations and buying a couple of drinks for himself, Duncan decided to head to the second club. He knew where it was and he knew that some people where already heading there, he just had to make sure it didn't look like he was trying to tag along with anyone so outside in the street he decided to take a different route to everyone else. He saw Carl's group walking towards the club straight ahead of him but hoped that they didn't see him as some tag along. Luckily when he got to the queue to get into the club he saw Sian and Bill along with a few others waiting outside.
'So you made it then?' joked Bill as he saw Duncan arrive at the queue oblivious to the fact that Duncan was by himself.
'Just about,' replied Duncan.
'Who you down with again?' asked Bill.
'Meant to be meeting my mate but he stitched me and is inside already,' explained Duncan.
'I know that feeling!' laughed Bill 'no one ever keeps anyone up to date with anything,'
'I have got a few other people coming down later though,' Duncan added just as Carl's group reached the queue.
'Alright mate?' asked Carl as he saw Duncan.
'You made it here then?' joked Duncan pretending that he actually knew Carl.
'Where are all of these girls then?' replied Carl jokingly.
'Everywhere I guess!' laughed Duncan.
His plan was to pretend to Bill, Sian and the others from his school that he was with Carl's group and at the same time he would pretend to Carl that he was with Bill's group. It was a sad thought but it actually seemed to be working as so far no one seemed to have a problem with Duncan being around and at the same time, no one had yet clocked that he was even by himself at all.
The queue to get into the club quickly went down and once inside Duncan went straight to the bar to buy a drink. It was the first time that he had ever been inside of a proper night club and he had always wondered what it would have been like. At the bar he ordered a drink and was pleased to see a few other people from his school again who didn't mind talking to him as Carl's group had also joined the queue to buy drinks.
'Cheap drinks here, apparently,' Duncan heard Carl saying to Jordan as they stood next to him.
'Should be a good night, then,' Jordan replied 'any girls you got your eye on?'
'One of these birds that other guy knows seems alright,' said Carl who then turned to Duncan.
'Do you know if anyone of the girls you know are single?' he asked him 'I don't want to try it on with anyone else's girlfriend,'
'Don't know really,' replied Carl feeling glad that he was still in conversation.
'I haven't seen some of them for a while,' he added.
'No problem,' replied Carl 'we might have to stick with you,' he joked.
'Fine with me,' said Duncan feeling that his plan seemed to have worked.
Throughout the rest of the night he had managed to rotate between Carl's group and the people he knew from school and ended up having quite a good night. It seemed that after everyone had gotten drunk no one really seemed to be too bothered by who was talking to who and Duncan managed to blend into the background quite well. Duncan had even managed to get a seat sitting at a table with Carl and his friends who were trying to talk to another group of different group of girls.
'I don't think that the girls are interested in them,' Carl called out to Duncan over the music.
'Do they always try it on with girls?' Duncan called back.
'Sometimes, they never get too far though,' laughed Carl.
'So, how is your first night out in town?' he asked Duncan.
'Good so far I guess, lot of people around,' Duncan replied. 'Do you come here often then?'
'Some weekends, but if they have good deals on we might have to come back next week,' said Carl.
'Well I might see you next weekend then?' added Duncan hoping that he could maybe link up with Carl's group again. He liked them as they seemed to be a good fun group of guys and where the type of guys that he wish that he hung around with.
'Well if you know the girls then you are welcome to join us!' joked Carl.
Duncan found it amusing that Carl thought of him as the type of guy that knew loads of girls when he actually knew hardly any girls at all. He had been with a couple of girlfriends on a few occasions but it was nothing series. He had been lucky to meet a few when he was hanging around with Dean but as Dean had settled into his own relationship Duncan had then found it hard to meet anyone new.
'Well maybe give me a text or something and maybe we could get groups to link up?' Duncan suggested to Carl.
'I am up for that,' agreed Carl and they swapped mobile phone numbers which left Duncan feeling pleasantly surprised that his plan had actually worked out. The main thing that he needed to do was to find out if the group from his school where going out the following weekend as well and then maybe his plan could work out again without anyone thinking that he was actually a loner.
Eventually as it got later, people started to leave the club and head towards the take away that was across the street. A few of the group that Duncan knew from school where already there once Duncan quietly followed Carl's group and then managed to talk to Bill again.
'How was your night?' Duncan asked Bill as Bill just ordered food.
'Yeah it has been good thanks,' replied Bill 'good to see some people out,'
'There are some people here that I haven't seen in ages,' added Duncan. He had noticed Carl's group sitting down at a table and ordered some food himself.
'So you out again next weekend?' Duncan asked Bill who was still standing at the counter.
'I should be,' replied Bill 'we usually meet in the Brasshouse,'
'Cool, I might see you around next week then?' said Duncan feeling that he could easily pull his plan off which could mean that he could actually go from being a loner to a clubber quite quickly.
'Well I might see you next week then?' agreed Bill before he headed off with a few others. Duncan decided to risk it and try to sit at Carl's table.
'You alright, mate?' Carl drunkenly greeted Duncan.
'Just got some food before I head home,' replied Duncan who then realised that he was feeling drink himself.
'Which way are you going?' Carl asked Duncan.
'Probably back to Wealdon,' replied Duncan 'I think that most people I know have gone now,'
'We should be heading that way as well,' said Carl.
'Maybe you could share the taxi with us?' suggested Jordan 'it could be cheaper?'
'Fine with me,' replied Duncan enjoying the fact that he would even be able to get a cheaper taxi with people as well.
After they left the take away the group headed towards the taxi rank which was busy with people waiting to go home. Luckily there was a continued feel of taxis arriving so no one had to wait too long.
'So you cool to share with us?' Carl asked Duncan.
'Fine with me if it works out cheaper,' replied Duncan.
'Well there is a taxi here,' said Jordan as a car had stopped and the driver opened the window to asked them where they were going.
After reaching the Wealdon area where Duncan live he said farewell to Carl's group before heading up the street towards his house. It had been an interesting night, he had gone from being stitched up by one of his few so called friends and had practically convinced several people that he was popular and even got a cheap taxi ride home as well.
Once inside though he felt anything but popular, he was still just a loner who had to tag along with as many people as possible just to try and fit in. It was just by chance that this happened to be a lucky night that had allowed him to get away with it.