I took a Major in Journalism, and a Minor in English at UOQ, or University of Queensland. I knew this is what I wanted to do ever since I sat on her lap. To confront the evil and showcase it.
I wasn't interested in the college life, but making friends isn't something you can help. You are forcibly handed a roommate and a hallway filled with people your age. Plus, I'm not a hermit like how I may seem. I'm sociable, at least I consider myself to be. My roommate was named Riley, she introduced herself on the first day and complimented my septum piercing. She looked oddly familiar to me, like her eyes were the same, and yet the rest of her face was different. I squinted at her, and Riley flushed. It seemed to be out of embarrassment. She uttered the words: 'Oh, you probably recognize me. I'm the er- daughter of the Lord Mayor.'
I noticed my ticket before me and smiled wide, nodding not excitedly but as if I am simply accepting it. I didn't wish to make her uncomfortable, but I was certainly glad that I had someone so...knowledgeable before me. The Lord Mayor was a good man, but his time was over. I can just...give him that push.
As the days rolled past, I got closer to Riley. She introduced me to her friends, and we started an...odd relationship. She seemed to yearn for physical affection, it was as if she was never loved before. It was weird for me. I hadn't ever really desired romance, I found myself enjoying a romantic atmosphere more than kissing or holding and yet this girl wished to be by me. She spoke poetically to me, and other words were of a struggle and need. She would say I smelled like the forest, and then would speak of how she wished to be kissed. Her eyes looked into mine, and my eyes stared back blankly. Her blonde hair was curled, messy and her glasses were circular and black. Her skin was pale and blemished, her teeth gapped and her eyes big and bug-like. She dressed like a fairy who wished to become a librarian's assistant, and her voice was nervous and a slight nasally. I wondered if she read stories, or perhaps gotten advice telling her how to find a lover but it seemed desperate, if not a bit cute. It was just unfortunate I hadn't fallen into the trap I accidentally laid her onto. I saw her as an opportunity, rather than a wife.
During my studies, I found contact with my old High School teacher. We called him Mr. Dark, it was a nickname passed down from student to student recalling an incident where he dyed his normally blonde hair a jet black. He was encouraging, seeing my talent and noticing where I came from. I was a talented mind, he said. He gave me my first ever lesson, that to be truly great you must get uncomfortable. You have to dip your hands into filth and pull out the rusted treasure. He was even at my ceremony when I graduated. His hands gripped my shoulder as I was soon to walk away, and he said to me only a few words.
'Everything is a chance, and you must find where to reach.'
It came to a head on a Sunday. We dedicate these days to studying, to staying inside and making sure we don't slip and fall on our own socializing. Riley came into my room while I was writing and essay, sitting beside me. She stared into my face and I couldn't help but look over. Her smile appeared, and I couldn't help myself once again. Her hand reached over and held my jaw, leaving me to stare into her as she stared into me. An echo of uncertainty entered me once more. I thought of her as an opportunity to know about her father, and yet she treated me with such care I could not ignore. The night was the opposite of productive, and I stumbled out of the bed oddly warm. I hadn't expected such...feelings to overcome me but I didn't seem to regret it. I didn't look for romance, but she looked at me.
When you get a lover, you realize that you two are simply morphing for eachother. Trying things for the sake of one another's joy and learning things previously unsaid. She told me her favorite food, her favorite places to go out. She told me about her family.
Jameson has a secret son.
It was from an affair that the family knows about, but the general public doesn't. The son was put up for adoption and that was that. The lord's wife and he were put through counseling, and yet that secret so mundane was all I needed.
He didn't take care of his kids.
He's a deadbeat father.
If he abandons his own kids, what will he do to yours?
Through the grime and muck.
