It was funny how the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

Compared to the boy I had been at the start of summer, the one who refused to leave the house unless it was either on fire, or my mother's firm hand was shoving me out of it, I had come a long way. Now, I was out all the time. Now, I was out more often than I was home. I had a social life — did Blake count as being my social life? Because if not, then I just had a life instead of living vicariously through my Sims.

But at the same time, take...