This whole thing is so much easier than I thought it’d be.

Like, almost TOO easy.

All it took was a few trips to the gym and a little name-dropping… Oh, and a couple last-minute football lessons with Bryce.

I guess part of me feels kinda bad… ish. Like, I keep remembering what Jasper and Meg said. About lying to try and get a girlfriend. Or not being myself…

But like, I didn’t really lie, did I? I was still myself… in a way.

Like, I told Amna I work out all the time… And lately, that’s been totally true! I’ve been going to the gym like, every day. And when I told her I love it, well… I think I can learn to? I’m still sore as hell after my workouts, but it’s kinda fun too, now that I’m getting the hang of it…

And I am related to Tobias Rosebrook. That part wasn’t a lie either! And thanks to Bryce, I do play a little football now. Like, very very little. But it’s something, right?

And once I brought Amna over to Mama’s house for the first time, things got way easier. It felt a lot less like pretending after that.

The first time she came over, basically all she wanted to do was look at those old trophies in the library. It was like she was hypnotized or something. But the way she was looking at them was pretty cute.

She even asked if she could touch them… but I had a feeling my Opi would probably kill me if I let her. Luckily Amna didn’t push it too much. She was fine with just looking. And uh, I had a nice time doing some looking of my own too…

Then we went outside and played a little football. I volunteered to be goalie, and she didn’t seem to notice how much I sucked… I’m pretty sure she thought I was trying to be nice or something by letting her get all those shots in? I dunno. Either way, it was awesome!

Then the next time she came over, I got out the basketball (since it’s like, way more my thing). I was kinda nervous I was gonna choke again like I did in front of Tam though… But I didn’t.

And all I had to do was make a couple baskets and she was so amazed! “You never told me you played basketball too.” She got all goo-goo eyed over it… Score! It was so crazy how easy it was. I never thought I could ever impress a girl like Amna…

I know we just met like two weeks ago, but damn. She’s just so awesome. She’s funny and beautiful and really nice too. And like, so passionate. About football, mostly… And okay, I’ll admit it’s definitely not my favorite. But I love hearing her talk about it, even if I don’t totally get what she’s saying all the time.

And when she came to Papa’s house this afternoon, she showed me she can be passionate about other things too…

Ahhhh it was so freaking awesome. Thank God Rubi and Papa weren’t home. I mean, we barely did anything except kiss. But damn… She was so good. Maybe even more into it than Hallie used to be.

And I just can’t wait til she lets me kiss her again… And maybe do some other stuff too?

But it’s not like it’s JUST about that kinda thing. It’s not.

Honestly, it’s just nice to finally feel like I’m hanging out with a girl who’s actually interested in what I have to say.

I mean yeah, I can’t talk to her about most of the stuff I want to. Most of the time it’s sports stuff… But like, I actually know enough that we can really have a conversation about it (Playing is a whole different story… but I’ve been pretty good at dodging that bullet so far!).

But that’s not the only thing we talk about either. I mean okay, maybe like… 80% of the time? But sometimes we talk about movies and stuff. Or we play with Mayonnaise and Fiona too. Amna loves animals. And she’s so good with them!

So yeah, I guess that’s pretty much it.

So far so good, right?

Not that things are perfect or anything... But hey, nothing ever is, right?

Like, I wish I was brave enough to remind her my name’s Phoenix. But it just feels too awkward to bring it up… I’m kinda kicking myself for letting it go on so long. What the hell was I thinking? But it’s too late to do anything about it. So I guess I’m ‘Felix’ now.

But it’s not like she’s the first person to mess that up anyway. As all those jerks at school love reminding me, Phoenix is a weird freaking name. I’m used to getting called “Felix” on like, a daily basis. It’s just usually a lot easier to correct people.

But Amna’s just so cute when she says it. And honestly? She can call me anything she wants. I wouldn’t care.

Other people might care though. Like, Mama and Dev looked at her like she had three heads when they heard her call me that… But they didn’t say anything about it. And luckily she hasn’t said it in front of Papa or Rubi yet.

I did tell my friends about it though. Bryce thinks it’s hysterical, of course. And Tam and Jasper say it’s ‘fitting’. “New character, new name!” They told me.

And I guess they have a point. If you were re-rolling your D&D character, you’d never give them the same name as your old one. So if you think about it, it kinda makes sense, almost? Well, as much as anything about this can make sense. Like, I know it’s super weird or whatever…

But hey, at least it’s working!

And the best part is, Amna doesn’t go to my school. So when I’m there with my friends, I can still be myself. I can talk about video games and D&D and be the same boring old Phoenix I’ve always been.

But whenever she comes over, well…

I guess just call me Felix.

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Those of you who follow my thread on the Sims Forums might have already seen this announcement, but just in case… Both this week and next, Ashes to Ashes will be featured in the Book Club thread on the Sims Forums. ^_^

The focus of the discussion will be the first half of Harper’s generation (from her birth til when she ended up in jail). The first week (this week) is for general/open discussion, as well as time to submit some questions to the “Coffee Hour” host, SimsLover163 🙂 (I think he might explain this process in more detail in the thread!)

Then next week (starting on the 18th) there will be Q&A/discussion questions for both myself and you guys 🙂

I’d love it if some of you with accounts on the forums stopped by to check things out. Thanks, guys! ❤