the brick, four vignettes

November 2083 - James Porter is 26, April Hutchins is 20 // Mariah Buchanan is 25 // Berjes Monif is 38, Jodie Larson is 28 // Beau Jackson is 20.

*soundtrack: "Brick" by Ben Folds Five *

11:13 a.m.
This is only the second time James has been back on campus since he left it, and it's bringing back memories both good and bad. These apartments weren't here when he was, and neither was the sculpture park and coffee bar on the corner. They've still got the student pub though. And that building at the end of the street, that old stuffy Academy Hall, was where he spent his senior year with Mariah.

This is only the second time he's been back on campus, and the first time was for her, the girl with the warm dark skin and bright blue eyes, the first girl he ever loved. He loved her and she spun him for one hell of a loop. He doesn't do drama. He doesn't do games, and Mariah is the reason why.

Maybe if he'd have met April a few years earlier, he might be up for it, but not now. Not after Mariah. She broke him good and clean. It's a shame she never seemed to do the same for herself.

poll: low key couples you'd like to hear more from?

The low key couples you'd like to hear more from?

poll: LCU student least likely to make it to graduation?

LCU student least likely to make it to graduation?

LCU, landslide, part 4

November 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 4 of 4) - Vicky Garth and Summer Phoenix are 19, April Hutchins and Beau Jackson are 20.

* warnings: difficult conversations, and maybe a tissue or two? Soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

Close your eyes, she tells herself, don't look yet. It's what she tends to do, pretend things aren't really happening. Close your eyes and remember a time when things were simple.

The first thing she remembers is a fall day, seven years ago, playing basketball at the Lake City Community Center with Beau and Tyler, running through the crunchy fallen leaves, a crisp chill in the air. It was soon after she started working at their family's arcade, and their parents brought them all out from the suburbs to hear a concert across the street at the Sound Stage. Instead, Beau and Tyler chased her around the back of the concession stands. They were too old for tag, but those boys, silly as they are, took their sweet time growing up. She liked Beau better, even from the start, with that army-print fisher's hat, and an unspoken gentleness that he never wanted to admit. She always wondered, why should he be so ashamed of it? It was her favorite thing about him. Tyler gave her a bunch of noogies that day, but Beau gave her a kiss.

Of course that isn't the first memory she has of her life, but it's the earliest she can recall when anything ever made sense. It's the most beautiful, the one she wants to stay in, to let linger in permanence. She didn't feel like a child the way they were that day, but they made her feel childlike again. So that day, she began her life, as if she could press a reset button and start over from there, as if all the rest could be lost like an unsaved video game. She really thought that could work. She was barely thirteen years old.

LCU, landslide, part 3.5

November 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 3.5 of 4) - Vicky Garth and Summer Phoenix are 19, April Hutchins and Beau Jackson are 20. (Corbin Gray is 33.) * soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

Vicky actually waited until three months after the legal drinking age to have her very first drink. April made it for her, a sex on the beach. She didn't taste the vodka so much going down, but it she sure did feel it in her head about ten minutes later. It wasn't that she was afraid, or opposed, or even prudish. It was mostly that she just hadn't even realized she was old enough finally. 

LCU, landslide, part 3

November 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 3 of 4) - Vicky Garth is 19, April Hutchins and Beau Jackson are 20. (Heather Huffington is 37.)

* soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

April doesn't think she's ever had a friend, male or female, who she didn't want to sleep with. And Vicky? No, April doesn't want to get in bed with Vicky. Not in the least. The girl has a stick up her butt the size of an oak tree! But there's something in this poor, friendless girl, that April feels drawn to. She can't help but reach out to her. And honestly, she doesn't see why nobody wants to help the girl. She's in college, not a freaking nunnery! She needs to be saved!

So she digs her new friend out of her biology books and brings her to work with her one night. "So, you're not drinking because you're allergic, or because you're studying to become a nun?"

"Drink?" Vicky says. "I don't know, I've never had one before."

"Oh, geeze, you've probably never had sex before either."

"Sex? Well, if you mean, all the way-"

"Oh my God, I was right!" April says. "We gotta get that taken care of!"

LCU, landslide, part 2

October 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 2 of 4) - Dallas Deppiesse is 19, Fenton Dyer and Iris Barton are 20. (Lucy Harris is 17.)
* soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

The residence hall at Takemizu Academy has an ancient wishing well hidden among some trees, but Dallas won't touch it. He refuses to touch it! Because the first and only time he touched it was the first day he got here - the first hour he got here, before he'd even unpacked his bags - and this is what it told him: "The time will come for you to make a decision."

What the hell is that supposed to mean???

He also didn't know that a swarm of bees had taken up inside it. The coin he tossed disrupted their sleep, and in the space of seconds, they woke up and rushed toward him. He was stung thirty-two times.

LCU, landslide, part 1

October 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 1 of 4) - Beau Jackson and April Hutchins are 20, Summer Phoenix and Vicky Garth are 19. (Lucy Harris is 17.)

* soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

Summer doesn't know much about college yet, but she does know that Lucy is going to love it! They've somehow convinced her mom to let her stay for the weekend. Lucy's mom teaches computer science at LCU, so she knows the campus is largely safe, but she's still worried about the co-ed dorms.

"Don't worry Mrs. Harris," Summer says. "I'll bring her back safe and sound." Then she adds, with a wink, "And not pregnant."

"What?" Lucy's mom says.

"Kidding," Summer says. "I mean, my floor is all girls. We've got an RA - she's a girl. Keypad access and everything."

Lucy's mother is paralyzed.

"Rape alarms?"

"Bye mom," Lucy says, tugging Summer by the arm, pulling them out of the house before Summer can convince her mother to change her mind.

and one for the happy...

Because these people are breaking my heart around here lately. (Just wait until we get to the next chapter - it's like everybody decided to fall apart at the seams simultaneously.) So I decided to do a collection of happy and uncomplicated moments from happy and uncomplicated couples. Okay, so maybe not all of these couples are (or will be) completely uncomplicated, but they're all very happy together, for sure!

A lot of these were going to go in my extras at the end of the chapter, but it feels called for now :)

pressure points

October 2083 - Stephanie Day is 23, Willow is 1. (Jeremy Nova is 68, Riley Hathe is 34, Justin Kim is 23, Corbin Gray is 33.)

She feels looked after like a child. Her father drives back and forth from the city. He says he's just prepping for the move, but he never seems to be moving anything. Justin calls her almost every day after work, and he and Lily come over when they can. Her Aunt Sophie comes by from across the street. "Oh, honey," she says, frowning at Stephanie's scorched attempt at pork chops. "You should have let me bring you something."

And then there's the real, actual child. Willow. Aunt Sophie scoops her up in her arms. "Oh, isn't she just precious?" she says. "What a doll."

one day, an earthly goddess is born...

October 2083 - Fiona McCullough is 16.

One day, Fiona McCullough, our (not-so) friendly neighborhood Wiccan, finally feels ready to try her hand at some of these things she's been studying. She's been waiting for the moment to feel right. She's a very careful and calculating girl, and she wanted all the pieces in their right places. After all, when one is plotting world domination, laying a perfect groundwork is essential!

bad karma

October 2083 - Chad and Riley Hathe are 34, Liza is 14, Shaun is 6. (Fiona McCullough is 16, Robbie is 13.)

Chad found this one morning, a ratty old vest he used to wear in high school. Yes, high school was fifteen years ago, but it still fits, and it helps him to relive all those long-forgotten days, before children, before marriage. He can hardly remember those days as it is. But his wife is not nearly as amused.

"Oh hell," Riley says, twisting up a scowl at him.

"What," he says. "It still fits. You remember this? I wore it all through high school. It was rad."

"It was not rad, even in high school. You look like a fool."

Behind them, Liza is laughing.

a poem about a freckle

October 2083 - Amelia Bradshaw is 28, Drew Bruty is 27.

* Warnings: NSFW/kids - and unabashed poetics! Soundtrack: "Colorblind," by the Counting Crows. *

She smells like organic lemongrass and ginseng, which leaves her skin soft and milky smooth. Did he know that natural soap is gentler on the skin than even the most moisturizing body washes? No, he didn't know that. But he does now.

She eats zucchini. He ate french fries before he met her, and now he knows that red bell peppers contain more antioxidants than green ones, green tea more flavanoids than bottled beer. She buys fresh fish for its omega-3. Now he knows what omega-3 is - he never knew he needed it, but she insists that he does. He doesn't need to know why, but she'll tell him anyway.

It's not about ideals or glamour. It's science, she tells him. "Because it'll make you live forever," she says. "Or at least a really long time. I want you to live a really long time."

prequel stories #8: reconstructing the founders, part 2

In April of 2006, a group of young college graduates decided to start their brand new lives by settling in a once-quiet little town called Lakeside Heights. Until now, there has been little record of who these people were, apart from a few aged photos and the basic public record of their family tree. This effort is to reconstruct their lives as best we can, through their family who might remember them.

family trees and photoshoots

*the family photoshoots are a work in progress*

The Brant/Harris Family:
(gen 0, 1, 2, 3, 4: includes Fortney, Bradshaw)

The Bradshaw/Riley Family:
(gen 1, 2, 3, 4: includes Gibson, Buchanan, and Kim)

The Nova/Phoenix Family:
(gen 1, 2, 3, 4: includes Collins, Hathe, and Day)

The Ramirez/Shaw Family:
(gen 1, 2, 3, 4:)