Progeny

by Erik Schubach

  A guy in the front row stood up, looking at a sheet of paper he was holding and rapidly made his way out of the room to some chuckling from the other students. I gave him an apologetic smile as he scurried past. I caught the girl across the aisle looking at me again. She was infuriating. I started drawing her with devil horns and a demon's tongue on my sketchpad.

  The professor continued, “There is always at least one.” Everyone chuckled again. Then he looked around at us. “Art Theory is an almost confusing topic as you will find out over this semester. It is only because art is a subjective and fluid thing. What one generation, or even individuals, find as art, others may find as trash. What I like in art, may not be what...” he looked at a piece of paper on the podium, “...Steve Hendricks thinks is art.” He looked around scanning the room until a guy raised his hand and the professor nodded.

  “This is what we are going to be exploring in Art Theory. Forget about the textbooks for now. These first couple weeks I want you all to get some insight into modern artists so we can explore the myriad of styles and concepts to punctuate the point we have already made about subjectivity in the appreciation for the arts. Whether it is through painting, music, the spoken word, or whatever medium the artists chose to share their creation.” He paused and a young woman stood from the first chair and grabbed the stack of envelopes off of his desk and handed them the next person in the first row.

  Professor McGill continued, “Thank you Jennifer. That by the way is my grad student assistant, Jennifer, everyone. Think of her as my enforcer, all papers go through her to get to me. All meetings with me go through her, and she wields the power of Zeus to smite you, so please be kind to her.” Everyone chuckled to her blushing.

  He looked at the first student. “I want everyone to take a random envelope from the stack and pass the rest on. Inside you will find the name of a contemporary artist. Between all the other assignments this semester, I want you to write a paper on the artist contained inside. It will be due at the end of the semester and will constitute half of your grade. I want you to spotlight the artist's life, their medium, and their style. What inspires them and also the types of people who enjoy their art. After this exercise concludes, we will compare that to all the others in class.”

  There was some mumbling and grumbling in the class as the envelopes were passed around. There were four envelopes left when they reached the sparsely populated back row, I took one then handed the others across the aisle to the other girl, not making eye contact. Those are cute leather boots she is wearing today. Damnit me!

  She passed the last two envelopes to her left as I opened my envelope. Heather Simms. She was a poet if I remember right. I'm not familiar with her work because it is pretty dark and edgy stuff. This could be interesting digging into why she writes so darkly.

  Then the girl beside me spoke up, “Umm... Professor, can I trade with someone? I got Mia Jacobs. You can't do this to me.” What the hell? Entitled much?

  The professor squinted at her then his eyes went wide. “Oh, you're Abbey?”

  She nodded then he grinned. “OK, I guess that is only fair.” He looked to think for a moment. “Why don't you and...” he pointed back at me.

  Oh! “Ummm... Samantha.”

  Then he nodded and continued. “Why don't you and Ummm Samantha switch.” My heart sank. I simply LOVED Mia Jacobs and her art. She had such a unique style of art that always had me mesmerized, no matter what medium she used. She had even helped out our family once when my Aunt Bobbie went missing in the mountains. I vaguely remember seeing her that time, but things were so hectic I don't remember much.

  But the thing is that she is almost a recluse and virtually nothing is known about her. It was going to be hell just to find bloody scraps of information for this assignment. I would rather have had any other name, and here this Abbey girl was pawning it off on me because she didn't want the difficult one.

  The professor must have read my face and said. “Abbey, I'm going to assign you as a resource for Samantha there, you know how little information there is out there on Mia Jacobs.”

  I glanced over and Abbey seemed pleased, almost excited as she nodded in agreement. She shot me a cute smile then looked at Heather Simms on the paper I traded with her. She mouthed “Sweet!” down at it before she glanced back at me. I had to i douse my own smile at her reaction to Heather's name. Remember Sammie, she's a bully!

  Her eyes seemed a little hurt and confused at my reaction, but she didn't stop smiling. I had to wonder why she would be assigned to me as a resource on Mia Jacobs.

  We spent the rest of the class meeting with Jennifer one at a time to plan one on one meet and greets with Professor McGill during the upcoming days and researching possible reference materials for our assignments on our iPads and laptops. I found only a few magazine articles that had nothing but scraps of info on them and one or two photos of her from art exhibits in Seattle.

  Hmm... I wonder if Mumsy or Aunt Bobbie could help with any information about Mia Jacobs. I shook my head in frustration then that wonderful alto voice from across the aisle said, “Not much out there on her huh? She doesn't really like the spotlight, but have no fear, Super Abbey is here to help.”

  That was too cute. I caught myself grinning despite my own convictions. She offered her hand. I hesitantly took it and shook. I made the mistake of looking up into those spectacular eyes, and I was lost. Oh bloody hell! I looked away. It wasn't until she gently tugged her hand away that I realized I was still grasping it.

  She handed me her mobile. “Digits, Samantha. I'll call Saturday to get your dorm room number or we can meet in the library.”

  I took her phone and hesitated, then I entered my contact info into her contact list. I handed it back then she was wiggling her fingers at me for my mobile. I rolled my eyes at her playfulness and handed her my cell. She entered her info into it then immediately handed it back with a self-satisfied smile as everyone started heading out of the room at the end of class. She grinned, “Sweet, we can start your project this weekend Samantha.”

  Why was she so nice to me? Did I misjudge her? Then I shook some sense into myself, no, she's just happy she didn't get saddled with an impossible job.

  The rest of the day was a blur. English Lit, lunch, Calculus, Graphic Arts, and Music. My Monday, Wednesday, Friday Schedule. The exciting classes were my Tuesday, Thursday schedule, I couldn't wait for those. Sculpture, Painting, Japanese Language, and Freestyle Art.

  Abbey was in my Music class She waved at me cutely from across the room as we listened to a boring lecture about all we would learn this year. I stopped myself in mid wave back to her. It took a couple of seconds longer to realize I was smiling and I put an end to that too. I started sketching during slow times during the class.

  I was embarrassed at the end of class when Professor Zimmerman, a portly older woman with thick glasses who seemed to always be looking any place other than where she was speaking, had each person sing through the scales so she could assign us in our sections for the vocal portion of the semester. The professor gushed about how my low contralto voice had perfect pitch and how, “You sound just like your mother!”

  There wasn't a place I could slink away to and hide in. I caught that infuriating Abbey watching me as I sang, but finally the day was over. I couldn’t believe how exhausted I was and this was just my first day. I collapsed onto my bed but then just sat back up and pulled out my evil, evil calculus book to get started on the assignment.

  After a bit, I pushed my homework away and grabbed my sketchbook and started adding my impressions of the day.

  Chapter 3 – Party Night

  The rest of the week went by in a blur. It was mostly orientation stuff and lectures about what to expect this semester and meeting one on one with the professors so they could put faces to names and to get a feel for each person. People are already starting to joke about how my sketchpad seems to be a part of me.

  I simply adore my sculpting class, I have
never worked with any medium except pencils and pastels, and of course animation programs on my computers. My Aunt Kylee taught me how to animate my sketches. What? Fine, not my bloody aunt either. It is fun and different to work with my hands like that.

  Freestyle Art is like a dream come true. It is primarily a class open to your experimentation in any type of art, music, or spoken word. I'm working on animating my sketch study, showing each person as they are on the street and animating behind them, large as life, the way that I see them. Their pride and their stories, heartbreaks, and joys. I started at the end of my book with Leo. After Aunt Sandra shared his story with me, all I can see is the hero looming larger than life in his shadow.

  It is the only other class I have that Abbey girl in. I selected a workstation on the far end of the room from her. She was working with her headphones and an iPad in class. I think she may be doing some sort of spoken word project. I have to keep forcing myself to stop looking across the room at her, why the bloody hell did she have to be so... dishy? I got distracted from my project and sketched her as a monster pushing the guys from the courtyard around.

  There was one girl in the class that was amazing, Robin Hartford. She was capturing the essence of things with single swoops of some sort of blackened paste on her canvas, that she embellished with color afterward. The fact that she was blind didn't even register with me until much, much later. It was the simplicity of her artwork, and the complexity of the emotion it captured in that same simplicity, that had my attention.

  June and William hang out with me in the coffee shop across the street from the campus at lunches, comically named Campus Grounds. Friday, June put two and two together and figured out who I was. I asked her to put it on the down low. She nodded and blurted out as she laughed, “How many times have you been down to Vancouver and saw my mom, Hank?” William rolled his eyes at my nickname which only got a squishy eyed glare from his girl.

  I snickered at her and smiled as I responded with, “Well JW, probably two or three times, and I never once saw you or your little sister. My parents dealt with your mom mostly when I was younger and living in London.”

  She reached out and forced me to lower my sketchpad. Then her patented evil look crossed her face. “Remember, tonight is party night girl! It is just off campus so we don't have to worry about Academy rules except curfew.” She raised her hands and swayed and banged her head to some rock song that only she could hear.

  “Damn.” William said with a smile on his face. He was right, she made it look sexy. I had to chuckle at how cute of a couple they made.

  Then she squinted at me and nodded down to my sketchpad. “And leave that in your room girl.” I rolled my eyes playfully and set the pad down. I could take a hint... kind of.

  Then she looked across the cafe and moved her hands gracefully, signing to our favorite server, Kathleen. She was deaf, but had no problems reading lips and speaking to the customers here at Campus Grounds. I got a kick out of her sly humor that was more then a match for June's.

  I smiled softly at June, “I really need to learn how to sign, you make it look so effortless.”

  She shrugged, “Well, with my other mom being deaf, it is all I have ever known, so I have a lifetime of experience. I can teach you some. There is even an American Sign Language course here at the Academy. You get credit for foreign language with it.”

  I nodded. “That's brill! I think I'll sign up for it once I finish Japanese 101.”

  Kathleen motored over to our table with our bill. We rock paper scissored to see who got to pay. I won, ha, take that June. Then Kat asked in her slightly monotone, chopped voice. “So what are you hooligans up to tonight? No good I would assume, since JW is involved.”

  I chuckled as June gave her a playful, mocking look then spoke and signed, “We're hitting the Beta Psi party tonight. You coming?”

  She shook her head and said, “No, I told Rebecca I would cover her late shift tonight. I'm trying to pick up a few extra bucks.”

  I said, “Bummer. We'll miss you tonight.”

  She smiled and took my card with the bill. June bumped her shoulder with William's. He got the hint and dropped a five dollar tip on the table. Our unspoken code is that whoever doesn't pay, gets Kathleen's tip.

  After Kat returned and gave my debit card back we told her goodbye and headed to our various classes. June called back over her shoulder as she walked off, “Remember, eight sharp Hank!”

  I shook my head and laughed, “Yes Mum.” As I wandered off sketching my impression of Kat.

  The rest of the day shot by and I ate a light dinner and worked on my assignments. Before I knew it, it was seven o clock. Bugger! I prepped for my first college party. I had no clue what I was supposed to wear. Bloody hell!

  It was a senior party, there was no way I'd pass myself off as that old. So I settled for taking Mum's advice that she gave me whenever I wasn't sure what people expected of me. “When in doubt. Be yourself, then you can't lose.”

  I dressed in a cute yellow top with a white, open half jacket and a yellow skirt. White tights and some low white Mary Jane's. I looked in the mirror and did my makeup. Just slightly heavier than my normal understated style. I brushed out my hair and let it drape over my shoulders. I pulled some to the front to backdrop my wavy pink lock. Taa daa! Samantha, party version 1.0.

  I stared at the mirror, seeing every blemish, every imperfection. Hmmm... am I cute? I made some faces at myself then struck a silly pose. I guess I look OK, not like I could pick up a senior anyway. I'm just going for the experience and the fun.

  Then I grabbed my purse, stopped myself from picking up my sketchpad, then headed out the door and down to the courtyard. I was half way to the address of the party when I heard, “Hank, hold up woman!”

  I smiled and turned to see June and William motoring their way down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. They crossed and I got a good look at the two. Whoa, they were right brill! June was... wow. And William cleaned up quite nicely, I eyed him up and down and June playfully said. “Rein it in there Hank, this one's mine. But...” She was looking me up and down now. “...You looking all Miss Sweet and Innocent like that is almost enough to make me switch teams. You should let your hair down more often.”

  I could feel a blush burning across my cheeks and down my neck. I bumped hips with her to shut her up. Then I took the focus off of me by saying, “That looks like the place up ahead.”

  There were lots of people standing on the lawn of a large house with a Beta Phi sign hanging off of it. We made our way inside and June looked at William, “Could you muscle your way over and get me a cola please Will?” She looked over at me. “And a... beer, cola, water?”

  I looked at William. I would have been embarrassed if June hadn't just asked for a cola since I don't drink and don't think I will when I am twenty one either. “A cola please Will.”

  He saluted us both, “You got it, be right back ladies.” Then took off with a wink.

  I looked around, the music was loud and people were already in various stages of inebriation and not many people were dancing yet. William returned with the colas for us and two beers for himself.

  I was looking around at the people at the party. There was one dishy redhead girl just sort of swaying to the music as she spoke with a small group of people. She was petite and had the cutest nose covered in a heavy helping of freckles.

  I caught myself biting my lower lip and smiling as June bumped my hip lightly with hers. “Oooo, nice choice Hank. Didn't know you were a switch hitter. Marie there is a sweet gal. A junior. I wonder how she got in here.” June was nothing but smiles as I just blushed and shrugged and gave her a shy smile. Then some guy asked the redhead to dance, so I turned away and started looking around with a smile on my face. I was excited. My first college party!

  I saw someone familiar sitting upstairs by a railing looking down into the party. I tapped June on the shoulder and spoke loudly over the music. “I'll be right back. I
saw someone I want to say hi to.” She nodded and then dragged William out to the dance floor.”

  I made my way past the throng of people then up the stairs where a few guys stood looking down. I walked up to the railing and bumped hips with the lanky redhead I had recognized. “Hi Brent!” I gave him what I hoped was a cute smile.

  He grinned and blushed. “Hi Samantha! You look... you look great!” Bloody hell he was cute. Then he asked, “How did you get in? This is a senior party, that's why us lower classmen in the frat have to stay up here.”

  I tilted my head. “You're not a senior?”

  He shook his head bashfully. “Nope, just a junior.”

  I shrugged and looked down upon the party with him. Then I realized I also recognized the small guy standing next to him. It was one of the guys that Abbey had bullied on my fist day here, he was the fourth guy. I put a hand on Brent's shoulder and looked past him to speak to the other bloke. “I saw what happened Sunday. That's just not right.”

  He shrugged, with what I am sure was years of practice of letting things roll off his back, and said, “No worries. I get used to the gay bashing. It comes with being out. Nash and his goons have it out for me already.”

  Now I was furious with Abbey, she was a bully AND a bigot? I can't really handle bigotry, I have seen how it can taint and strain relationships from my own family and my extended pool of aunts, most of who are gay, as well. I have experienced some of it in high school, being bi myself. I was going to lay into Abbey when I saw her tomorrow for our study session.

  I almost couldn't form coherent words. I took a deep breath. “That Abbey girl was gay bashing?”

  He looked confused for a minute. “Huh?” Then his eyes went wide and he asked, “Oh, that tough girl that stepped in? No, she grabbed my backpack back from those three. Then laid into them for picking on someone smaller than them with three to one odds. She dared them to try it with her, Nash tried and she almost knocked him on his ass with a really cool move.” The guy was grinning now.