LCU, normal, simple, happy, part 1

LCU, spring semester, 2081 (part 1 of 3)

May starts out chilly this year, so with thoughts of warm apple cider in her head, Keri is inclined to plant an apple tree. Of course, Keri didn't actually plant the tree. She hired gardeners to do that. She just likes to lounge underneath it. And Mariah has some sun-ripened tomatoes in mind for a nice juicy salad, but she does plant those herself. Keri doesn't lift a finger. We really shouldn't be surprised at that.

"I miss Justin," Keri says, and she says this, or its equivalent about five times an hour. She slumps around the house. She wears pajamas past noon. She sighs often.

She's getting testy! She's critical of everything, especially her sister's cooking!

And she especially doesn't want to hear all the raunchy stories of Bella's sex life, as translated through her sister, who is actually having sex with someone. Everyone's having sex with someone. Even Chandler is having sex with someone! Keri is not having ANY sex. AT ALL! It's been eight months, twelve days, and fifteen hours since Keri Riley had any sex! And it's honestly making her a little bitchy, if Keri Riley could get any bitchier than she already is.

Mariah says, "Maybe you should watch a porno or something." Keri is shocked. This from the pristine Mariah Riley, who held on to her virginity until she was twenty! What has Bella Bradshaw done to her big sister?

Keri is actually taking a business class with Chandler this semester, which she thought would be awkward, but actually turned out okay. He's finally gotten over her, it seems. "I'm moving in with Jane," he says.

"That mousy girl?"

"Um, yeah. Jane. We're getting a condo in Lakeside Heights. I think I might ask her to marry me."

"Good for you," Keri says. "No, really. It's great." And she's not even being sarcastic. She's really glad he seems to be happy. And she's even happier that he's not trying to hit on her anymore.

All of the seniors are finding their future living arrangements this month, at the tail end of their college career. Luke and Jim are going to rent an apartment in the City Park building. Mariah wants to live next to them in the lofts. Chandler and his mousy girlfriend are putting a downpayment down on a condo in Lakeside Heights. All of them seem pretty sure of where they're going after the semester except for Micah. It's not that he procrastinates, exactly, it's just that he and Mariah are in a strange place right now, close enough to care what the other thinks, but not ready to make mutual life decisions together yet.

Micah is looking at apartments online from the Riley Hall computer lab. Riley Hall, you know, Mariah's dad dedicated this building. Micah asks Luke, "Hey, those City Park Apartments, does her dad own those too?"

"Yup."

"And the lofts?"

"Yup."

"And the Oak Grove on the South Side?"

"Uh-huh."

"And the Lakeside Circle ones out in Lakeside Heights?"

"Those too."

"Is there anything they don't own?"

"Hmmm..." Luke is trying to write a paper on sound system mechanics.

"Do those apartments have a grill?"

"I have no idea," Luke says.

Micah calls Mariah over since he's bored and wants to blow off his late class. And maybe somebody HAS been spending a little bit too much time with Bella Bradshaw - Mariah and Micah make good use of a lone couch, in what they thought was an empty hallway. Poor Luke gets quite the eyeful!

But poor Micah too. From outward appearances, you might never know, but Micah knows her, and he knows she's not entirely there. She's obviously very attracted to him, and obviously very fond of him, and she wants to be right here where she is. But she's torn. And as she kisses Micah, she's thinking of James. She just can't help it. James was her first love, and he's still there in her heart no matter how she tries.

***

Justin and his roommates are studying yoga this semester at Takemizu Academy. Red-headed dude is studying the blonde girl's "form".

Corbin Gray is the local yoga and tai chi master. He's been teaching here for about five or six years now. He says, "I see a lot of you kids come through here. Where are you from?"

Justin tells him about Lake County. "A lot of rich people," he says. "Lakes, cold winters, you know."

"There was one girl who came through about five years ago, from Lake City, she had the most amazing red hair, golden red, like a sunrise."

Justin says, "Yeah, I'm more of a brunette kind of guy."

"Anyway," Corbin says. "I wonder, do you guys have many yoga studios out there?"

"No, I don't think so," Justin says. "You know, my fiance's uncle is always talking about starting up some fitness studio. I could try to put you two in touch."

Session two - their tai chi is a little less graceful.

And Justin's biology tutor looks a little unsavory. Better watch your wallet, Justin!

***

Mariah started calling James again last semester. It started with one phone call, asking him to come over, asking him to swear they were truly over, which he did. What she wanted was some kind of closure, but what happened is that she only made herself more confused.

She startled herself the other night with Micah at Riley Hall, and right on the tip of her tongue was James' name. It's not fair. She wants this to be finished more than anything in the world. But given that seeing James once had only instigated her problems, she doesn't know what this meeting will accomplish, except make her problems even worse. She doesn't know what else to do anymore.

She calls James, and he gives her an address, the South Side Mobile Village. Mariah has never actually been to the south side of Lake City before. "So this is where you're living?"

"Yeah," he says. "I'm kind of hard-pressed to find a place your dad doesn't own, you know, given my line of work and everything."

"The smokestacks and cooling towers really complete the view, don't you think?"

She laughs. He was kind of funny, in his own dark way. "We used to laugh together, didn't we?"

"We had our moments," he says. "So what are you doing here then?"

"I just wanted to see how you're doing," she says. "Believe it or not, I did actually care about you."

She was the one who went to the bedroom first, since that was the only place they ever did work together. She didn't exactly intend to do anything there, but it just felt comfortable. It felt inviting, but she gave him the wrong idea. And this isn't why she came here.

He tries to kiss her, and she scoots across the bed. She says, "Wait, no."

"It doesn't have to mean anything, if we did," he says. "I meant it, when you asked me to say I don't want you back. I don't think we should be couple."

"I know," she says. "We shouldn't."

"Then why are you here? We're not friends, so if you're not here for anything else, then maybe you should leave."

"I don't know why I'm here," she says. "I guess I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Trust me, Mariah, I can take care of myself."

Mariah would love to say she's figured anything out, at all, but she hasn't. She doesn't know exactly what it is she's clinging to with James. He isn't clinging anymore. Is there some glorified image of him she remembers? The reality is they could never even have a conversation together without fighting. Or is it just that he was her first love? That young innocent full-hearted love, and trying to recapture something that could never be recreated again. That's why they call it a first love - it only happens once.

When she sleeps that night, she has nightmares. She dreams that she chose differently. She stayed with James and they were married. She moved away with him, because she could never have him meet her family, doing what he does. And then there was Micah, who she never became friends with, and he was back with his ex-girlfriend, Blossom, that belly-button hippie tart!

But it was just a dream. Micah never thinks about Blossom. Keri never thinks about Chandler. Luke never thinks about Kevin. Even James never thinks about Mariah. So why is Mariah so broken and destroyed, so different from the rest of them? Why can't she just move on like she should?

She wakes up just before dawn and runs across the street in her bare feet and pajamas. Whatever independence she thinks she wants, she has to admit that she always feels assured knowing Micah is close when she wants him, always within reach. It would be selfish to keep him like that if she didn't think anything would ever come of it.

Micah sleeps outside some nights, underneath a warm spring breeze and the stars. It's not as pathetic as it seems - Luke and Jim's couches really aren't any more comfortable than this bench. That, and Chandler always steals the big couch, and he snores like a train.

Maybe Micah isn't at all dark or mysterious. He's not hard, or sarcastic, or dangerous. He's soft, and funny, and ridiculous there sleeping on a park bench, and just the sight of him makes her smile.

"Micah? What are you doing out here? I have a perfectly good bed, you know, I don't need to have my boyfriend sleeping on a park bench. That's so, homely."

Micah is just stunned that she actually called him her boyfriend. He doesn't want to say anything though, like if he acknowledged it, it might vanish into thin air. "No, it's not bad," he says. "It's like camping or something."

But she isn't there to criticize his sleeping habits. She's anxious and scared still, fidgeting with her fingers and moving from side to side, a little bit cold since she's hardly wearing anything. "I thought maybe you might come over," she says. "I had a bad dream."

"What about?" he says.

"Oh, I don't want to talk about it. It was stupid," she says.

He pulls her down to sit next to him, and she feels better already. The two of them, out underneath the stars, just like the night they met. Only closer. She hasn't forgotten any of that. But he isn't her soul buddy. He's her soul mate. She knew it from the start. She just wonders if her soul is hers to share right now.

She's nervous and rambling, but he just listens, because he knows she's been off-edge lately. She says, "I don't know, I just think I need to live alone for a while, have my own place and everything. I'm not seeing anybody else, and I don't even want to see anybody else. You could live in the City Park building. It's really close. And I promise I'm not stringing you along or anything. We'll live together some day, and we'll be normal and simple and happy."

"Okay," he says. "But, just so you know, I am happy."

"The City Park building," Mariah says. "It has a grill. I could come over and make you ribs some time, if you want."

"That would be awesome," Micah says.

The sun comes up finally, and the paper boy delivers the paper, staring in utter confusion because from this angle, he swears she must be naked! A girl walks by and pulls down the rim of her hat to avoid staring. But Mariah and Micah remain, happiness by their own definition is talking until the sun comes up, together under an open sky.

*** to be continued... ***

notes: this is a three-parter, because it was SO long, even for an LCU update!

*sigh*, Oh Mariah... EVERY time she goes on a date with Micah, she wants to fall in love with James. I'm trying my hardest to make sense of her. I haven't had a girl this difficult since Charlotte!

But any time I actually let her see James, they don't roll any wants for each other, and all they do is argue, which was just how they were when they were together. Maybe she'll get the hint eventually. She and James are only two-bolts now. Micah is three-bolts and her perfect match. Head-case, I'm telling you!

James, on the other hand, is quite happy to move on. I guess she broke his heart clean and solid, but didn't do such a good job of cleaning up things on her own end. But James is kind of casually dating Dana Gilmore now (the blonde he graduated with last year), and he never thinks about Mariah anymore. In fact, he must be getting sick of her dropping in to fight with him and not even getting any ex-sex from the deal, lol. So I don't think he wants to hear from her again.

I just had to zoom in on the face on that paperboy, lol! He stared at them forever! The shock! The horror! :)