Assistance Required

New Canvases

TW cursing, self-deprecation

Tues Jan 19

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Virgil groaned as he rolled out of bed. He couldn't believe he actually had to wake up before Logan. Why did he agree to an eight am class? Why was some form of athletics necessary for his degree? He should have just told Patton and Thomas no. They hadn't even started and he already regretted it. He dug around for some sweat pants instead of his usual skinny jeans. He should probably get some shorts for when the weather gets warmer later in the semester. He wasn't really a fan of them, but they might be nice to just have.

Virgil yawned as he walked to the bathroom. He found Thomas brushing his teeth. He thought about doing his makeup, but he figured it'd get messed up pretty quickly. It felt weird going without it. He decided to at least do a little eye shadow. Thomas and Virgil walked out to meet Patton before walking to class. Virgil still wasn't sure how they talked him into trying a class in tennis.

He hated it. If he didn't need this class for his gen-eds he'd leave. He knew he wasn't going to pick another athletic course on his own and his friends would make sure he actually showed up. Why tennis? Why did they get him to try tennis? It was gross. All this movement and running. Disgusting. He could be sleeping right now.

After class he went straight to his next class, geology. It seemed like the most interesting of all the labs. He didn't want a science with a lot of math like chemistry or physics and he honestly wasn't all that interested in biology. Rocks are kind of cool. Although, he wasn't looking forward to the almost three hour long lab on Wednesday's. They mostly went over the syllabus and what to expect for the labs and such tomorrow.

Next, he went to his introductory painting class. He was excited to start painting. Maybe he could paint something for Grace as a thank you for letting him stay over break and getting him those paints. The class went over the syllabus and supplies they'd need to get started.

Finally, he went for his last class: Spanish. He set his stuff down and took a seat next to Roman.

"Hey! I haven't seen you all day!" Roman said.

"You saw me yesterday!"

"Yeah, but I didn't get to say hello this morning!"

"Then wake up earlier."

"What time did you wake up?"

"Seven. I hate it. I hate everything right now. Except last class. I get to paint things."

Roman laughed.

"Didn't you get paints for Christmas?"

"Yeah. I haven't had much of a chance to use them yet. I want to but not on paper. I'd rather paint on a canvas."

"Maybe we can go get some canvases later today? Do you have any classes after this?"

Virgil shook his head.

"No, I'm free for the rest of the day. It would be a good idea to get some of my Spanish done first, though."

"We can do that."

"Don't you have other work you need to do? I don't need to get canvases today. I'll be fine without them."

Roman shrugged.

"I don't know if my other classes are going to assign anything yet, but I want to do this. We can do Spanish and then go get you some canvases. You want to use those new paints of yours, don't you?" Virgil bit his lip before nodding slightly. "Then we'll go get them!"

The professor walked in and began the lesson. After class, Virgil went to the student center alone. He thought about getting lunch or something, but he didn't really feel like eating, so he decided to just sit and start on homework instead. He still didn't fully understand the astronomy reading. Maybe he could get Logan to explain it to him. He decided to just do his Spanish work for now.

It was a lot easier to get his work done now that he had the laptop Logan gave him. Did he ever really thank Logan for that? He paused as he thought it over. Did he? Oh shit. He didn't, did he? Was he a bad friend? Logan went out of his way to get him this and he never thanked him properly. He was a bad friend.

He stared blankly at the table trying to think of what to do. He didn't even notice the other people around him until he heard his name. He looked around to see Patton and Joan sitting down.

"Everything okay?" Patton asked.

Virgil nodded before turning to his work.

"Still tired?" Joan asked.

"A bit."

"Do you have anymore classes?" Patton asked.

Virgil shook his head.

"No, Roman offered to take me to get canvases later since I have the rest of the day free."

"Oh, isn't that cute!" Virgil heard Thomas say behind him. Virgil turned around to look at Thomas as he approached the table and took a seat. "Aren't you two turning into quite the couple?"

"Stop!" Virgil whined as he buried his face in his arms on the table.

"It's true, though. You guys are so cute!" Patton said cheerily.

"Thomas and I are cuter," Joan said.

"We aren't dating," Thomas said.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Joan said pretending to be hurt.

"Yes, I am," Thomas said.

"I can't even look at you right now," Joan said turning away from him.

"Don't be like that! I still want to be your friend! Our friendship just means so much to me!"

"I thought I meant more to you than just that! But fine! Whatever!"

"What did I just walk in on?" They all turned to the new voice to see Logan approaching them.

"Just Thomas and Joan being stupid. Don't worry about it," Virgil muttered.

"That's hardly anything new," Logan said as he sat down.

"Hey!" Thomas and Joan said in unison.

Logan ignored them as he pulled out his laptop. Virgil turned back to his Spanish homework as the others talked and worked on their own homework. Soon, Janus, Remus, and Roman had joined them.

After Virgil got his Spanish work done, he and Roman left to go look for a craft store. Virgil usually avoided going to craft stores because he always found supplies he wanted to try out but couldn't because he was broke and his dad would kill him if he found out. Virgil did have a little money now and this was something he really wanted and also kind of needed. He looked around for awhile and practically drooled over the 120lb-paper sketchbooks. He decided since he was here he should also get himself a palette.

He ended up finding a package of 20 large canvases for $40, which seemed like an absolute steal. Roman offered to help him pay for them but Virgil flat out refused. These canvases were going to be 100% his in every way. It just wouldn't be the same if he didn't get them himself. Especially when he gifted some of them to other people. Roman helped him carry them to the car and back up to his dorm. Virgil was smiling the whole way thinking about all of the projects he could start on.

It was hard to fall asleep that night. He had too many ideas forming in his head, but he didn't think starting on them this late was a good idea, so he just laid in bed dreaming until he drifted to sleep.

(A/N For those who don't know much about art, a paper's thickness is measured in "pounds." The higher the number the thicker it is and the more water it can hold. A standard sketchbook uses about 64lb paper.)