Assistance Required

The Last Day

Mon March 8- Fri March 12

Virgil was glad he didn't have many midterm projects. His only midterms were the paper for his painting class and the final project for graphic design. It was weird to think he was finishing one class while halfway through all his others. He'd only have four classes the rest of the semester. He was going to miss graphic design. It was a fun class. He liked his professor and the other students and he didn't mind the work. He understood it and he actually liked doing it.

Even though he didn't have that many midterms, he still had extra work on top of his usual workload. He still had another graphic design project he needed to add to his portfolio and he still needed to get his geology reading done. He hated doing his geology readings. They just didn't interest him enough to hold his attention. Logan studying astronomy, though, made Virgil grateful he dropped before now. There was no way he'd be able to handle astronomy on top of everything else. He was glad his only reading was geology even if it was boring, at least he understood it.

Logan had helped him schedule out his time so he could work on these projects while getting his other stuff done. It was still hard, but he was proud of himself for getting it all done in the end. Luckily his painting paper was short so it took less time than he thought. His graphic design portfolio ended up being easier than he had originally thought as well since it was mostly just him putting all of his prior projects in one space.

He seemed to be doing somewhat better this week than last even with the added stress. Dr. Manning had said he seemed to be doing well on the medications and May even said he seemed to be doing better. She ended up giving him the number for the counseling office for over break though, just in case. She had told him she may not always be the one on duty, but someone would always be available to talk to him if he needed. If he needed her directly, though, he had her email.

He did feel somewhat happier than before and he couldn't quite figure out why. It wasn't like anything in his life had really changed. Logan said it was probably the medications finally taking effect. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it, but it was starting to improve his mood so he guessed it was a good thing.

Even with how surprisingly well the week turned out, it couldn't fix his mood when he went into work. This was his last day here. They were planning on leaving for the lake tomorrow and the business was closing next week while he was gone. Most of his other coworkers had already found new work and Virgil hadn't even started applying yet. He could probably look for work online tomorrow in the car or something.

Virgil was on dishes today leaving him time to think. He wasn't sure if he was really okay with being in his head, but there wasn't much he could do to prevent it. He wanted to come up with a painting or something he could do over break. He'd have a week to work on things and possibly get ahead in his classes. There was some Spanish stuff he could do. Not that he really wanted to do homework over break, but it might help him not have as much to worry about once classes started up again. He really wanted to try another painting though. He wasn't sure what to do, but he didn't want to just do one for class. He wanted to do something for himself. Something that made him happy.

After work, Virgil took a moment to look back at the building. He had a lot of good memories here. Even before he had worked here, he had loved the environment. He went here after losing his last job and they had offered to get him one. It was one of the few places that kept him from completely losing himself. They accepted who he was and they didn't even care about him having purple hair or being gay. They were supportive of everyone and they made him feel safe. If he were just losing his job, it might not have been so bad, but he was losing the whole place. He could never go back.

"Virgil?"

Virgil jumped as Logan approached him. He hadn't heard him arrive.

"Sorry, how long have you been here?"

Logan just gave him a small sympathetic smile before turning to look at the building.

"Do you need more time?" he asked.

Virgil turned to look at the building again. He didn't really want to leave knowing he wouldn't come back. But he knew he couldn't stay forever.

"No, I think it's time to go," he muttered quietly.

Logan nodded as he turned to walk back to the car. Virgil looked over the building again before following. He knew he had to leave. It was better he leave now when he was still mostly together. The longer he stayed, the more sentimental he'd grow before it became too much. He'd always have memories of this place. Maybe someday he'd be able to see his old coworkers or visit this lot again. It may not be the same but, at least he'd have the memories.