The Wallis Legacy--Garrison

It had been a month since I moved into my house.  'My house'.  I have to laugh at it because no one in their right mind would call it a house.  It's more like a shed with a microwave and a toilet.  I still sleep at the library either on the couch or in my sleeping bag.  One in a while I'll sleep at my shed, I mean house, in my sleeping bag.  But more times than not, I sleep at the library.  I didn't really meet anyone new while at home either, and my urge to see and talk to Garrison was growing stronger.  I had to see him. I missed him.

I didn't qualify for a scholarship, so I had to save about fifteen hundred dollars so I could go back to University.  It took about two months, but I was able to get just enough money to enroll back into University.  I knew once there, I could ask for more money since my grades are good.

This time around, I decided I would try a unisex dorm instead of the sorority.  I wasn't really feeling the sorority the last time I was here.  The other students seem to be really nice.  Much more friendly than the sorority girls.  

After getting approved for some more money, three thousand to be exact, I went back to the dorm.  There were a few new people arriving when I got back.  Damn, I forgot to pick my room. I just thought that when a girl came up to me and told me she reminded the others that there was another girl.  I got the room on the top floor.  It wasn't bad.  Queen size bed, fireplace, and a desk.  This room didn't have a connecting bathroom like the one I had in the sorority, but it was definitely larger than my previous room.

After surveying the room, I went back downstairs.  Everyone seemed to have left, possibly to the student meet and greet.  Then I saw one man through the window coming in to the house.  He looked like a professor.  I thought maybe he was an administrator coming to talk to me about some problem with my loan I was just granted.  He came in the front door and I braced myself for the worse.

"Hi Rebecca." He said.  He said it so causually, like he was one hundred percent I was Rebecca.  Of course I  was Rebecca, but how did he know that? 

"Hi?" I said cautiously. "Sorry, but how do you know me?"

He laughed a little.  "You don't recognize me?"

I looked at him sideways, "No, I'm sorry."
"It's me, Garrison".

***

Oh my god!  Garrison!?  GARRISON! How had I not known it was him?  There was subtle differences and one obvious.  His glasses were gone, he had a light beard, and most importantly, he wasn't in the mascot suit.  But how did I not recognize his voice?  Was I so cautious about the man that had approached me that I didn't recognize it?  Yes, I believe so.

"Where are your glasses?  You mascot suit?"  I don't think I've ever seen him not in his costume.
"I have contacts and have been wearing them more and more lately.  As for the mascot, that was only during football season that I wore that.  I'm interning at the administrative office, so I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to be in the office in the mascot costume".
I gave him a "duh" look.  

I stared at him for a while.  After a few moments I started to see "him", even without the glasses and the costume.

Then without warning, I did something impulsive.

The Wallis Legacy--Going home

So here I am, "home".  Remember the big field I showed you earlier?  Yeah.  That's "home".  Not much here: some grass, rocks, not even a tree let alone a "home".  

I guess since I have nothing here, and since I have some money left over from school, I'll go to the local diner and get some food, maybe look through the paper for work. 

I was in luck while at the diner.  Although I didn't find any jobs, the woman that ran the diner told me her son was looking for an interior decorator.  She gave me his phone number and I gave him a call.  It didn't take much convincing to hire me, he hired me almost immediately.  Desperate, I guess.  My first job is tomorrow.  I know the library is open 24 hours, and has couches.  Maybe I can take a nap there before I start working.

The diner lady's son called me the next morning with the address to my first client.

I find out from the client he wants new doors and windows. Seems easy enough.  I was able to upgrade the windows and doors and keep him well under his budget.

Not a huge improvement, but you should have seen the place before!

I call the client and he tells me he will be there in a short while. About 20 minutes later he shows up.  We walk through the house as I show him the doors and windows I've replaced.  He's not happy because I stayed too far under his budget.

\
I still got paid but find out from my boss that I will get a bigger payout if I get closer to the clients budget without going over.  He sends me on to the next job, a rich lady who wants a nursery, laundry room, and some electronics.  I finish her request and get real close to her budget of $4,000.  When I am done I call her, and she says she will be there to go over the work with me soon.  Hours go by and still no client.  I call again, and she tells me the same thing.  Another few hours of waiting.  I finally call and tell her I will come to her.  When I get to where she is, she is no where to be seen.  I get a call from my boss.  There was a problem.  The client had just gone through a divorce, and to get back at her ex-husband, she was spending his money as fast as she could.  Weird part is though, she's fled town with the money in hand, we didn't get paid.

This job doesn't seem like it's up my alley.  I call my boss the next day and tell him it's just not working out for me.

***

So now what?  My first job, as an interior designer, was a flop. I still have no house to call a home.  I'm pretty much homeless.  I find out through talking to towns people, that the owner of the library knows of my situation and has offered to allow me to stay at the library for as long as I need to to get myself on my feet.  Since I pretty much don't have a pot to piss in, I take him up on the offer.  I'm sleeping on one of the couches on the second floor.  It's not bad, but at least there is a roof over my head.  There is also a small kitchen next to the room I'm staying in as well as an art easel in the room.  I'm painting using the skills I learned from University.  Before long, I'm selling my paintings.  I've started building my house.  It's not much now, but it's enough to allow me to move out of the library.

***

I lived in the library for 2 months. It wasn't pretty, and I'm sure you don't want to see it.  Lots of dumpster diving and selling my paintings to get money.  Once in a while I had just enough money to eat at the diner.
When I had enough money, I started building my house, and had enough provisions to move in it.  I even bought a guitar and started teaching myself how to play it.

Still,  I was missing being at school.  It's been a hard few months at home.  And I was missing Garrison.  We talked once in a while, but with it being long distance, the chats were short. 

The Wallis Legacy

The Wallis Legacy--Going to University

Hi there!  My name is Rebecca Wallis, and I'm about to tell you the story of my life.  Let's see, where to start; once upon a time?  Nah, to cheesy.  I'll just jump right in.  I'm 19 years old, fresh out of high school and getting ready for the next chapter of my life: University.  My major is 'Fine Arts', and I'm going to be living in the campus sorority.  I chose the sorority because ever since I decided I wanted to go to University, back in my sophomore year of high school, I said I would only take up residence in a sorority.  I can see myself in a dorm room, I would much rather live in a house and have my own bedroom.

So I'm off to University!  Oh, see the area behind me in the picture?  Here, I'll show you a better picture.

That's better.  This is land that was left to me in my grandfathers will.  This is where I will be building my dream home.  It's scary, especially for a 19 year old with no income, but that's why I'm going to University.  Anyway, we'll come back to that later. Right now, I gotta leave for University.

***

Here we are at my Sorority house.  I'm so excited, and can't wait to meet my sisters.  

First though, I need to pick my room. It's first come, first serve.  I seem to be the first one here so that's good.  After looking at a few rooms, I decided on this one.  I love the brightness of it, the view out the windows.  It also connects to one of the bathrooms.  I'm crazy about the guitar since I'm concentrating more on paintings, but maybe one of the other girls will want it. 

I heard some voices from downstairs and decided to go introduce myself. The first girl I tried talking to was a disaster.  I don't remember her name, did she even tell me?  I was given the cold shoulder when I tried to talk to her.  She was rather snobby.  

My goodness, were me and my friends like this to others?  I decided to not push my luck with her.  She clearly didn't want to talk to me so I went to find the others girls, only, there didn't seem to be anyone else in the house yet.  Who was she talking to then?  I know I heard voices.  Oh well.

I decided the tension between me and miss "I'm too good for you" was enough for me to go check out the campus.  I was about to walk when I noticed a couple of cars in the driveway behind the sorority house.  I pulled out my key chain and saw three keys.  I knew one key went to the front door of the house, I wonder if the other two were the keys to the cars.

I checked one car, the cute one, first. The first, non-house, key didn't start the car up, but the second key did! Woohoo! I now have wheels!

I made my way to the student building.  The setup was sort of...lame.

I scanned the room for someone to talk to.  There was one person that caught my eye.

His name was Garrison, and he was the mascot for the school.  From what I could see of his face, he was sort of cute!

We talked for a bit, but the hunger pains made me forget most of the conversation.  At least I got his phone number.  I asked Garrison if there was somewhere close by to get a bite to eat.  He said there was a little concession on the second floor that sold some bakery items and drinks.  He also told me there were some video games and table games up there.  I asked him if he wanted to join me, but he had a job to do as the mascot and introduce the new students.  I told him I would talk to him later and made my way up to the second floor.

Garrison was right.  At the far end of the room was the small bakery concession. I made my way over and ordered a bagel from a pleasant man working at the counter.

After I was finished eating my bagel, onion-yum, I noticed a photo-booth.  Since the second floor was practically empty, I thought, "why not, no one is around to see you take photos of yourself alone". It was rather fun and the pictures came out half decent, but then....

tragedy.

And it just figured, there was someone at the art easel.  Luckily, she had her back to me.  I had to make my get-away and fast.

I ran quickly, and quietly, down the stairs.  Uh-oh...Garrison was near the door.  I didn't want him to see that I had just pee'd myself.  I hung back for a few minutes then when I saw my chance, I bolted for the door.

I think I made it my car without anyone noticing!  But now I had another problem...wet pants.  This was humiliating!  I popped the trunk, and to my delight saw a blanket.  I folded it up to about the size of the driver's seat and sped home.  Now to make it upstairs without any of my sisters seeing me.  I poked my head in the front door and listened.  Silence.
"They must all be at the meet and great at the student center". I ran upstairs and threw the blanket in my laundry hamper.  I stopped, and listened.

The shower.  Someone was in the shower that was in the bathroom that connected to my room.  I knew there was other bathrooms, so with clean clothes and towels in hand I ran across the hallway to the other bathroom.

Ah, so much better.

Time for bed.  Tomorrow is the first day of classes, and I want to sleep off this humiliation.

***

I woke up feeling refreshed and wide awake.  The morning light brightened up my room even more.  

I opened my door and peeked out.  I heard no one, I saw no one.  I made my way down stairs and into the kitchen.  I was never a big breakfast person so I had a bowl of cereal.  It seems my sisters are a bit messy.  Last night's plates were still on the table.  

After eating, and cleaning up, I saw that I still had about 3 hours before my first, and only class, for the day. I ran upstairs to my room and grabbed my sketch pad.  I decided, since it seemed no one was home-or still asleep-the living room would be a nice place to practice my sketching.

Cute puppy!

I sketched some more and then showered.  It was almost time for my class.

My class was surprisingly close to my sorority house.  It was "Art Appreciation 101".  It was an interesting class that I think I will like a lot.

  As I was leaving I noticed some art easel's set up just outside the building.  No one seemed to be interested using them at the moment, so I decided to make use of one.

Meh.  I wasn't liking the picture I was drawing and decided to scrap it.  That's when my phone rang.  It was Garrison!  We talked until the sun went down.  It was a good conversation.  I enjoy talking to Garrison, he's easy to talk to.

When I hung up from talking to Garrison, I realized how tired I was, so I rushed home.  It was an early night for me. Too tired to eat tonight.

***

I woke up the next day still very tired. I really wanted to skip class, but I decided it wasn't a good idea.  I skipped class a lot my senior year of high school, but managed to keep my grades up, but it was a struggle to do so.  My first, and only, class for the day was a lecture.  It was about half way through the lecture when I realized the professor was a fairy!

My first supernatural being! I was so excited I had to talk to her, so without thinking, I threw my hand up in the air.  She took another students question then her gaze made its way over to me.  

"Yes. Miss.....Wallis?"

Shit, was my hand still up?! Think of something fast!!!!

"Uh..."

Nice, you idiot. 

The professor's gaze started to turn into a glare. She turned to walk back to her podium.

"What is the importance of art appreciation?!"

What the hell was that?!  'What is the importance of art appreciation?'!  Why not just go up there and slap the professor!?

The professor stopped in her tracks.  Her wings stiffened up.  She turned only her head to look at me sideways, but said nothing.  Then finally, "Miss Wallis brings up an interesting question."
I did?
"In fact, it is the same question I am asking you all to answer as your homework assignment.  I want each of you to tell me what YOU think is the importance of art appreciation."

She dismissed the class after giving us a few more instructions for our assignment.  I sat at my table, alone, trying to make heads of what just happened.  Was she angry that I asked that?  Did she do that as retaliation for asking that?  I was so deep in my own thoughts I didn't notice that she was still in the room with me.  I looked up, not fully lifting my head to look at her, as she walked pass me.  She said nothing, but gave me a nice pat on the shoulder as she passed my seat.  I looked back at her as she walked out of the class.  Her wings, no longer stiff, were relaxed and lay loosely down her back.  As she reached the door, she turned and gave me a smile, a smile that told me, 'you got this'.

I finally pulled myself out of my seat and headed to the main hall of the building.  The entrance was buzzing with students coming and going.  I stood there for a moment when I saw Garrison near the door talking to another student.  He looked over the students shoulder, and seeing me, gave me a smile.  I walked over to him, and waited politely for him to end his conversation with the other person.
We had such a good conversation.  I found it extremely easy to talk to Garrison.  He was nice, very informative, and it didn't hurt that he was sort of cute.  After our conversation I headed back to the sorority house.

***
The rest of the semester flew.  I couldn't believe finals were just around the corner.  I still haven't gotten to know my sisters, but one did convince me to grow out my bangs.  What do you think?

I'm rather liking the new look.  Not having any bangs in  my eyes makes it easier to see what the professors put up on the dry-erase boards, when they use them that is. Garrison didn't recognize me and walked right by me the first day I went out with my new look.  He said he can now see my pretty face.  Wow!

My professor, the fairy, turns out she absolutely adores me. She and I have even gone out for coffee a few times, and she has given me some tips on assignments and stuff.

I haven't gotten to know my sisters very well.  All I can really tell you is that most of them are, well, slobs.  The only one, other than myself, that cleans is this red headed girl, whom I hardly see in the house.

I spend a lot of time practicing painting in my art.  I was granted more money from the college so I was able to purchase an easel.

This was my first painting:

The next few days were spent studying for finals, and sleeping.

Then the day I worked so hard for was here.  Finals.

It was exhausting, but I passed with flying colors.

This was an experience I will never forget, and I can't wait to return to learn more.  I can't say I will miss my sisters, but I can say I will miss Garrison.