For Bridge4382-My faithful cheese sister and editor

Look into your reflection and what do you see? Love? Pride? Kindness? Sorrow? Courage? All of these and more are included in this story of a girl trying to find herself.
Hope you enjoy this tale...

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Thanks to wcherly860 for creating the 'Marine Biology Lab' and to 'FARandBEN' for creating those fantastic Llama Creek Row Houses which you can see in this photo album!

She sat, cross-legged, on the edge of the tank. Her brow furrowed as she concentrated on her work. The dolphins in the the next tank over, light-heartedly playing, occasionally sent a few drops of water onto her notebook.

She was plainly dressed, with a simple cardigan and cargo pants. Her long, brown hair was carelessly tied back in a low ponytail and her thick eyebrows were almost obscured by her large, glasses. She tended to keep to herself, and her eyes to the ground. But if, by chance, one glanced into her sea green eyes, they would see a world of wonder, beauty and intelligence just hiding behind those black-rimmed glasses, and timid nature.

After finishing writing in her notebook, she briskly walked down to the labs and opened the door marked, "Emily Conway:Marine Biologist & Peter Matthews:Marine Biologist". She sat down at the computer and began the daily report on the health of the seals.

A heavy-set man with a beard, long hair and green aviator glasses came into the room. He joyfully said, "Good morning Emily!" as he strode over to the small fish tank and sprinkled a few flakes of fish food in. Emily told him hello as she typed her findings of the seals.

Peter Matthews was her other lab partner at SimCity's Marine Biology Lab and Research Center, and one of her closest friends. When they had first become partners, Emily had, at first, been a bit hesitant of the man wearing only "Greenpeace" and "Sim Wildlife Federation" shirts, but Peter's cheerful disposition quickly warmed their friendship.

Peter had been swiviling in his desk chair for the past half hour, waiting for Emily to finish her report so they could go out on the research boat. Finally, he rose and walked over next to Emily's chair.

"Emily, how long does it take you to type up data about seal poop?" Peter asked. Emily sighed and replied with, "It's about the bacteria I found IN their excremate." Peter rolled his eyes and stated, "Poop is poop." Emily shook her head in frustration, but gave Peter a smile and said, "Alright, alright. I'm almost done. Just...one...more...second......ok done." Peter whooped in delight and said, "Finally! I get too closetphobic when I'm down here so long". Emily rolled her eyes and said, "It's CLAUSTROphobic, not closetphobic". Peter gave her a sarcastic grin and said,"Potaetoe, Potatoe, let's go!"

When they climbed aboard the research boat and took off, Emily walked to the front of the boat and dangled her legs over the side. The wind whipped through her hair and some of the waves sprayed up on the deck, misting Emily's face. She could smell the salty scent of the sea and could taste the salt upon her lips. She was at home here. She closed her eyes and breathed a deep, relaxed sigh. This was where she belonged. She grew up beside the sea with her family and she had never left those blue-green waters.

Her serenity was interrupted when Peter called for her to come to the back of the boat. She quickly got up and followed Peter.

They had found the group of dolphins that the center had been tracking since last April. As Emily sat down and took out her notebook, she realized one of the dolphins had been injured. By the looks of it, it was from a speed boat. She slowly shook her head, no matter how hard they tried to keep them safe, there was always some fool causing them harm. Peter raised his hands in frustration, "Some days I just don't know why we even try. Do you think it's the same around the world? or is it just in America that no one listens?" Emily sat there silently, just watching the dolphins.

When they got off the boat, Emily casually glanced down at her watch. When she saw the time, her eyes widened and her mouth opened.
"Oh no! I'm going to be so late! I can't believe this! I promised them! Elizabeth is going to be so mad at me!" said Emily. When Peter got off of the boat and saw Emily's expression, he asked, "What's the rush?....Hey Emily! Where are you going?"
Emily had taken off in a sprint, she quickly called back behind her, "I'm to meet my new roommate!"

As she reached the townhouse that she shared with an old college friend, Elizabeth Whitefield, Emily was yanked inside by Elizabeth herself. As Emily walked behind Elizabeth, she watched Elizabeth's long, luxurious, red hair shining and gently swaying and they walked into the house. Emily and Elizabeth met while attending Academie Le Tour. Elizabeth came from a wealthy, prominent family back in England, while Emily was from a lower-class family in Maine. But the two were soon like two peas in a pod.

Elizabeth was the very definition of sophistication and elegance. She was courteous, kind and graceful. And when she entered a room, her presence caused all heads to turn. Emily always joked with Elizabeth, calling her a understudy for royalty. She certainly could pass for a queen.

Emily followed Elizabeth into the hallway, where they came upon Jen Fonte, their next-door neighbor, good friend and a gorgeous woman. She was primping herself in front of the hall mirror. She ran her fingers through her soft, golden-blonde hair and batted her long eyelashes. She smoothed the wrinkles in her tight sweater with her hands. The tightness of her clothes left almost nothing to the imagination. Her body was perfection, skinny arms and legs, with a flat stomach and a large chest. She was loved by men and envied by women. Her light blue eyes told it all, confidence and poise. She was the essence of beauty.

Emily looked around and asked,"So where is the new girl? And why are you over here Jen? This isn't going to be YOUR new roommate."

Jen just smiled showing her perfectly straight, white teeth, and said, "You'll see"
Elizabeth beckoned with her hand and said, "Please come Emily, Jen. Our new roommate is in the following room, waiting for us"

Emily was still confused as she followed Elizabeth and Jen into the next room.

There sitting on the couch was a man, no that would be an understatement, there sitting on the couch was a GORGEOUS man. Emily swiftly turned to face Jen, who smiled and raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows as if to say, "Oh yeah". Jen soon situated herself very close to him, and batted her eyelashes at least 10 times. Whereas Elizabeth smiled nicely towards him and Emily kept her eyes to the ground.

Elizabeth began speaking, "Emily, this is Blake, Blake Parrish. He's a friend of the family and is visiting the states for a couple of months and will live with us in the meantime."

Emily thought to herself, "Oh no, he's cute AND he's british...I think I'm going to faint..."

Elizabeth yawned and said, "Well I believe that is it. I think it's time for me to kip down......hit the sack" she added after Jen's look of puzzlement.

Emily was about to say something to Blake but then Blake turned towards Jen and asked, "So you live next door? How often do you come over here?"
Jen gave him a enticing smile and said, "As often as I want"
Blake's eyes gleamed with delight and replied, "Brilliant"
"I love the way you say things, it just sounds so...sexy" Jen said with a sultry smile.
Emily knew that was her que to leave, she grabbed a book to read and went up to her room.

All night Emily couldn't stop thinking about him, about Blake. She dreamt about his deep blue eyes and his jet black hair. She dreamt of his dimples and his deep voice. She dreamt of his soft lips kissing hers...and then she awoke. She left to work with only thoughts of Blake swimming in her mind.

All day she was in a daze. It took her 2 hours to type up a report that would usually take 30 minutes. Peter had a hard time talking to her, it took him about four times calling her name, for her to finally respond.

His patience finally burned out when he asked Emily to borrow a pen and instead Emily kept doodling hearts on her paper like a schoolgirl.

"Emily...what's up with you?" Peter asked.
Emily took a deep sigh and responded dreamily,"Hmm...?"
Peter closed his eyes in frustration and yelled, "Emily! This is what I'm talking about. What is going on with you? You sick?"
"Oh...no, no. Sorry Peter. I've just had things on my mind." As she doodled another little pink heart on her paper.
"Looks like you've got someONE one your mind." Peter accused her of, pointing towards the paper with Mrs. Parrish and hearts scribbled all over it.

Emily's face quickly flushed to a shade darker than her shirt, and slid the papers under a folder, "I...um...well..."
Peter rolled his eyes, sighed and said, "Can I just borrow that pen?"
Emily gathered her papers and left the pen on the table as she left the room, embarrassed.

Over the next few days, Emily tried with all her might just to exchange a few words with Blake, but he was always talking to Jen. Emily enjoyed watching him laugh and talk while peering over the edge of her book. Just seeing him smile sent chills down her spine.

Finally, one night, Blake was out in the dining room...alone. Emily mustered up some courage, took a deep sigh and walked over to him. Each step she took made her breath go shallower and shallower until she barely had any air left in her when she reached him. Her hands started shaking and she went into a cold sweat. She cleared her throat and was able to squeak two words out, "...hi, blake...".

Blake turned with an uncomfortable glare on his face. Emily could feel her knees shaking and her teeth chattering together. She thought to herself, "How could I be so dumb as to talk to Blake? He's obviously interested in Jen with her perfect skin and perfect body and perfect everything!"

But suddenly, Blake's expression turned from disgust to one filled with rapture and joy. Perhaps it was Emily's nervous smile that had changed his heart. Perhaps he had turned and looked into her sea-green eyes and fell in love with the enchantment that sparkled in them.

No, it was none of the above. When Blake flashed his heart-melting smile OVER Emily's shoulder, she knew who stood behind her.

She slowly turned around and was met by a pair of big, light blue eyes. It was Jen who Blake was smiling at.

Emily couldn't take it anymore, she hid her face as she ran out of the room and up the stairs. Her muffled sobs wracked her body and her tears coursed down her cheeks and spilled out onto her hands and onto the floor.

She ran all the way to the roof, to the small garden they had there, the one place where she felt truly relaxed and safe. There, she tried to calm herself and stop the tears. She soon got her breathing under control and felt one last salty tear slip down her face and land on her lips.

As she breathed in a heavy sigh, the roof door was opened by Jen, with Elizabeth right behind her.
"Emily? Why did you leave?" asked Jen.
Emily whispered,"I don't feel like talking about"
Jen declared, "Well you're gonna have to. I want to know what's up with you."
Emily silently said, "no..."
Jen, tired and frustrated, yelled, "Emily! I'm sick at playing this game, just tell me!"
Emily screamed back, "Blake! That's what's up with me! I love him so much I feel as if thought my heart could burst into a million pieces. But he's disgusted by me! He only has eyes for you! Alright?! Happy now?!"
Jen shifted uncomfortably and said, "Emily...I..."
Emily quickly dismissed her, "Forget about it, there's nothing to done about it so why waste time talking about it"

All the while Elizabeth had not said one word. Jen glanced over to Elizabeth to see her with a mysterious smile upon her face.

Jen peered over at Elizabeth and asked,"Elizabeth...? Why are you smiling...?"
Elizabeth replied, "I have an idea. It will involve all of us, but it all depends on Emily's decision."
Jen raised her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "Which would be...?"
However Elizabeth directed her gaze towards Emiliy and said,"Emily...what would you do to have Blake notice you?"
Emily sighed and said, "Oh, absolutely anything"
Elizabeth stared straight into Emily's eyes and asked, "You promise me that? That no matter what we do, you'll agree to it?"
Emily sat in silence for a couple of seconds before replying, "As long as it guarantees me Blake"
Elizabeth smiled and replied, "Most definitely"

And with that Elizabeth escorted Emily by the arm to the bathroom, with Jen following behind.

"Now whom do you see here?"Elizabeth asked as she pulled Emily in front of the mirror.

Jen, who had sat upon the toilet seat, raised one of her eyebrows and looked at Elizabeth as if she had 3 heads. "What ARE you doing?"
Emily turned towards Elizabeth and asked,"Yeah, what are you getting at here?"
Elizabeth made Emily turn back towards the mirror and said, "Just look into the mirror and tell me who you see."
Emily rolled her eyes and looked into the bathroom mirror.

"And..."said Elizabeth.
Emily squinted at her reflection and said,"I see...me. Elizabeth this is stupid--"
"You said you'd do anything..." replied Elizabeth.
"Alright,alright. Well I see myself looking back at me."Emily took a deep breath and continued,"I see..someone who has been heart-broken.I see this ugly,boring person staring back at me.I see someone who wants to be the one who is the center of attention,who wants to be the pretty girl. But all I see is this shy,horrible person!I hate myself!!"And with that she started crying again.

Jen rolled her eyes and said,"Nice Job Liz. What are you trying to do to the girl? Make her suicidal?"
Elizabeth replied, "I just wanted her to recognise her old self, because soon it shall be all different."
Emily sniffed and said,"Different? How?"

Elizabeth gave her another one of her mysterious smiles and said,"Can't you see?...A makeover, inside and out."
Emily's eyes widened in shock whereas Jen squealed with delight.
Jen squealed, "Oh this is going to be awesome! I think we should start with--"
Emily yelled, "No! Are you crazy! That's way too...life-changing for crying out loud! And It's gonna require way too much time"
Elizabeth simply replied, "Nothing is ever easy"
"Oh stop whining Emily! You'll just be sitting there while we do all the work, and besides you promised!" Jen said with a smirk.
Emily turned her gaze towards Jen and whispered,"Just make Blake like me..."

Jen immediately began critiquing Emily's appearance,"Ok, so let's see here. We're gonna have to definitely ditch these 'Harry Potter' glasses. I think they should just stay at Hogwarts." Jen took her glasses off and broke them in two.
Emily exclaimed,"Jen!"
Jen replied with,"I'm removing your temptation for evil! You've got contacts anyways, use them."

Jen continued, "Alright, moving on. Oh wow Em, you've got really pretty eyes! Except they're hidden by these mammoth sized eyebrows! They're like big, scary, hairy monsters! Ah! Run away! Those babies are getting tweezed, that's for sure."
Emily whispered, "They aren't THAT bad"
Jen replied sarcastically,"Of course they aren't....ok and we're going to have to style your hair. Cause this Amish motif isn't really flying with anybody."
Emily stated, "You know Amish women put their hair up in a bonnet."
Jen looked disgusted as she said, "Ugh! Please don't give me nightmares. Ok and your clothes...I've got a headache just thinking about you're wardrobe. Ok so let's start with your..."

And so it began and went on through the night...

After hours of brushing, powdering, smoothing, and cutting, Emily was finally finished.The clock struck midnight and Emily looked into the mirror. She froze in utter shock.She had become a beautiful princess...at the strike of midnight.

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Questions that will be answered in the sequel(if I get feedback...read below)!
What will Emily look like?
Will she get the guy?
Will Emily be able to save the dolphins?
Will Peter understand Emiy's new love?
And many more!

Thanks so much for reading!I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed creating a whole new story!Please feel free to leave comments/questions in my guestbook or you can e-mail me at Cutiepie3084@aol.com.I hate to do this,but If I don't get any feedback,I'll assume that no one likes it and I won't make the sequel. So if you like it or even if you don't(tell me ways of how I can improve it),leave a message and I'll make sure to write you back!
Happy Simming!
-Cutiepie3084