"No, mum, I- No, I- Trust me, I-" I sighed, standing on the porch of the two story, three bedroom, mostly furnished apartment that was five minutes from the community college campus, where I'd be attending classes that were a bike ride and an Imagine Dragons' song away from the university where Wilson and Harrison were enrolled in the premedical program.
"Darling, I..." She paused, as I stared at the foggy Saturday morning landscape. Harrison had been living in the house with Wilson since early August, since they were both doing projects that required them to be close to campus over the summer, I'd moved in on the first of September, since the community college's classes weren't technically starting until the second week of the month and filming for With Love didn't start until October. "I'm sorry. I, I... I know I smothered you a bit as a child and, I'm sorry."
"Mum, it's..." I trailed off. It wasn't okay that the only way I'd been able to have some bloody freedom was to move away, it wasn't okay that I'd be constantly living in the shadow of someone who never lived. I wasn't going to tell her that it was okay, that I truly hadn't minded any of her parenting, when I had. "Thank you, for apologizing."
"I love you."
"Love you."
"Be safe, and remember what your father told you."
"No drinking and tell any boys that I'm a minor and my father's been to prison multiple times and doesn't mind going back?" Mum had been reluctant to see me go, she'd bawled her eyes out for days when Harrison and I had announced our plan, she was hesitant to let me be in a movie about grandma's life, since she'd read the script and the letters and knew that the story by heart.
Dad had reacted a bit better, he was sad, though he seemed to understand the wanting to be away from your parents. He dealt with his apparent sadness by giving me lots of fatherly and unsolicited advice, such as: "Make sure you have enough underwear and socks to last you an entire month. You can wear jeans, sweats, and shirts multiple times, you can't do that with underwear or socks." and "If any boy fucks with my little girl, I swear to God I'm going back to jail, only this time I won't be the person escorting the person into their cell."
"Yes. I..." She trailed off, as if trying how to figure out how the hell to finish the last full conversation she'd have with her daughter until Thanksgiving or Christmas. "Bye."
"Bye." I hung up, staring at the misty morning. I suppose I was suppose to be filled with some philosophical feeling of nostalgia, my childhood was technically over, I was turning over a new leaf, I'd left the nest, all those shitty metaphors, though I didn't. It just felt right. I wandered inside, grabbing a root beer from the fridge and throwing myself onto the sofa. "So I'm a college student..." A community college student who was technically finishing her high school diploma, since she didn't qualify for early graduation, though still a college student nonetheless. I stared at the water stained ceiling, sipping my soda, until I heard the front door creak. "Hey, Harri-" I paused, sitting up, staring at the handsome raven haired man in the red t-shirt you wasn't my brother. "Wilson?"
"Yeah... Vivienne?"
"It's Veronica." I stood up, sticking out my hand for him to shake, like my ever so polite British father and clingy mum had taught me to. Wilson ignored my gesture, so I instead picked up my bottle from the side table and took a drink, wishing root wasn't in the name.
"Like Mars?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Like Mars."
"Sorry, for not remembering your name, Harrison mentioned something about you moving in today, I thought I'd swing by, see if you need anything."
"It's fine and think I'm okay." Harrison had helped me move most of my things in, I hadn't bothered unpacking any of the boxes, though I didn't need help hanging curtains or posters or assembling my IKEA desk chair.
"It wouldn't be a problem."
"Er, my bed... It's in this really awkward position and it's blocking the vent, could you help me move it?" He agreed and within a few minutes, my furniture was in its proper place, he then offered to help me unpack and I agreed.
"Thanks for helping."
"No problem." He shrugged, playfully smiling. "I figured since we're going to be roommates for at least a year, might as well bother being nice towards one another."
"True."
"So, if you don't mind me asking, what type of rules has Harrison tried to enforce on you?"
"Rules?" My parents had plenty and Harrison halfheartedly supported them when they were around, when they weren't he was pretty lenient when it came to most things. "No coming home smashed, I guess. He said he did a shit ton of research so he may not be home at conventional hours."
"Mmkay."
"Why?"
"He fucking loves pretending to be pristine, but after like two shots he's an animal; he's such a lightweight and has no fucking authority to tell anyone about drinking... Er... Not that I'm recommending it to his seventeen year old sister." He paused, realizing that he may have just inadvertently encourage a minor to drink.
"Really?" I snorted, ignoring his babbling about underage drinking and how he was premed and all the shit alcohol did to you. "Two shots?" I knew nothing about alcohol, though that seemed proportionate to what most high schoolers downed when they bad too much for a terrible fake ID and snuck into bars that didn't give a damn.
"So what are you taking at the community college?"
"English lit, Civil War history, college algebra, the basics." I shrugged.
"I took some classes over the summer, if you need any help."
"What in?"
"It'd be easier to show you"
"Alright." He led me out of my room, into the hallway that was cluttered with an easel and paint splattered rug and Costco sized crates of ramen and beer that hadn't been moved to the pantry.
"I took art 100, the 2D and color foundations design course." He gestured to some sketches pinned to the cork board.
ART 100 - 2D Design & Color Foundations
ART 100 - 2D Design & Color Foundations
"Jesus Christ, these are gorgeous." Sweeping charcoal lines, the shading, the delicate outline of the human body, and the sharp, yet delicate angles of a woman's face; the drawings that were pinned to the cork board were wonderful, I liked doodling in notebooks, though I wasn't nearly as skilled as him.
"Thanks." His cheeks seemed to flush. He tended to bounce from nonchalant openness to distant discomposure, as he shuffled his feet. "You'll probably do the same assignments, if you have the class."
"I think I do, I signed up for theater and art."
"Well, if you need any help let me know."
"I will." With that, I returned to the my room and Wilson went into his. Freedom to do whatever the hell I wanted, a film that would begin filming in October, I'd already received the script and we were having a reading next week, and Wilson... How lovely this school year would be.
Two things:
1. I'm sorry it took me ten years (or three months... two months? four? eh, it doesn't matter, I mean, time is relative #StuffYouLearnInPhysics) to publish anything and the thing that I did publish is high-school-English-essay-that-someone-did-the-night-before or amateur-tumblr-smutty-fanfic shitty, I could easily blame it on my August stuff, though in reality I've been rather anxious and overwhelmed and this led to me procrastinating instead of, well, actually doing the productivity thing. I'd promise you something, though I'd feel guilty as hell if I didn't follow through, though I won't, I'm simply going to say that I'm trying, which may not mean shit, but I am.
2. I'm going to be narrating generation two from Veronica+Harrison's POV, right now odd chapters will be Veronica's and evens are Harrison's. If you forget, all the chapter titles will be somehow incorporate their name.
xx,
Jill
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