Original Commentary

Emily, who hasn't shown up in a while, was Kimberly's friend in high school. They hadn't seen each other for a few years because Emily went to college and Kimberly couldn't. Then Emily showed up again, acting as if they were still fast friends. She doesn't like Brisbane much, for a variety of reasons. She's generally cheerful and mean-spirited - Terrence

Modern Commentary
It's funny how Kimberly's best friend (who isn't really her friend) and Kimberly's worst enemy (who isn't really her enemy) ended up spending so much time together. - Terrence

Original Commentary

Have you ever had someone come by when you didn't want any company, and refuse to leave? Now Sofia has - Terrence

Modern Commentary
It's funny how we went from one Sofia storyline to another. Usually we'd switch to another character for a week or two to imply the passage of time.

Did she move right after she got back from seeing Caleb? I guess she did. That moved her schedule for everything forward a few weeks. She needed a change of scenery and he wasn't it- Terrence

Original Commentary

And no, Kimberly and Emily don't really talk. That's kind of why Emily hasn't shown up lately; she's not on speaking terms with either of the main characters. Does Sofia really dislike Kimberly? That remains to be seen, but I'm sure they'll get along much better now that they don't live in the same household - Terrence

Modern Commentary
It's not that Sofia dislikes Kimberly. Their relationship requires boundaries and distance, and living together they weren't going to get along. - Terrence

Original Commentary

Isabel is writing this arc - I love how she captures Emily's utter lack of cluefulness about Kimberly. Sofia had been Emily's main source of information on her for the last few months, and Sofia isn't always that reliable - Terrence

Modern Commentary
That's the thing about Sofia being your only source of information. Half the time you get tne answer that will make the conversation end sooner. The other half of the time you get the answer that will get you to buy her lunch... - Terrence

Original Commentary

What Emily wants to say, of course is "She's not pregnant, is she? She'd better not be pregnant. ...I mean, she wouldn't actually sleep with him, would she?" - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Emily is convinced this is part of some greater plot that suddenly happened because the alternative - that Kimberly is cutting her out - is worse.

Sofia keeps running into self-centered weirdos, doesn't she? - Terrence

Original Commentary

It's hard to tell of Sofia genuinely likes to be mean to Emily or if she's being meant o her out of necessity (ie. to make her go away). She doesn't particularly like Emily and sees her more as a meal ticket than a friend or companion. I'm sure Emily was the kind of kid in elementary school that would give people her lunch money to make them like her. In one sense that makes me feel a bit bad for her, but in another sense I want to say "She's how old and she's still doing that?". Hopefully even though it's still not too great, she understands that she's being used and doesn't mind and, in fact, feels that the information she gets is worth it. Besides, she doesn't strike me as the type to stick around in a situation where she wasn't getting anything in return - Isabel

Modern Commentary
It's a thought bubble. I've always considered them a bit of a cheat, but it's always best to be immediately clear when a character is being deceptive. Otherwise, when all you have is what people say, it's hard to make sure everybody understands that Sofia is putting Emily on - Terrence