Chapter 6.5 - May 2024 - Wolf Lake Whereabouts

Inge didn't really have that many options if they were to stay at this dorm. She had to ask one of their other dorm mates to switch places with Samantha and move to the sorority. If she were to choose freely, she would have chosen to get rid of the biggest slob in their dorm – Omar – but there was no way the sorority would accept him.. for obvious reasons.. so her only choices were the only two women at their dorm, Liz Taylor and Ayana Yuki.. 

 

Though Ayana had lived at their dorm since Inge and Oliver Freddy first moved in, they had never hanged out much together and so were still merely acquaintances to each other. Still, Inge had a good impression of Ayana as she was one of the few people there who actually cleaned up after herself, so she didn't really want to ask her to move... but her wish to help Samantha get away from Hannah weighed in heavier so there wasn't much to do but take a deep breath and bring up the topic..

 

Inge didn't want to lie to Ayana, so she figured her best strategy would be honesty and say it as it is, besides, pretty much everyone on campus who had heard the name Hannah Germanotta knew what a monster she could sometimes be.. not a strong selling point to convince Ayana, but it was the truth. Inge had no reason to hide why she was asking – to make sure that Samantha stayed in a place that was more likely to accept her for she was..

 

Ayana knew that Hannah wasn't the kind to change – once she had decided she didn't like someone, that was it. A common interest in arts wasn't nearly enough and wouldn't change anything – Samantha and Hannah would never become friends with how things had turned out.

 

"Look, I know Hannah can be a a little abonimable on occasion .. but you don't need to worry. I can handle her.. She's not the sharpest tool, people like that usually aren't... and I don't have a degree in communaction for nothing... I think I know what buttons to push should she try to start something. After all, I have dealt with her kind before..."

"..besides, I might not even stay that long if this job application to the Lake Post comes through... so in the meantime, sure, I can do you both this favour.."

Inges notes:

I couldn't believe it! I wasn't really expecting her to... I definately owe her one for this. I really hope she gets that job.. if only there was something I could do to help her get it. She deserves it, that's definite. Unfortunately I don't know anyone working at the newspaper or have any contacts that are journalists here in town... unless she would.. unless she would come with us to Sunset Valley...

Well, I'm thinking ahead, and perhaps a little to far... I'm sure she'll land this job. Now its time for me to act while the iron is still hot.. I told her I owe her one for this, before I had to head out of there to make the necessary arrangements with the university administration...

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Oliver Freddys morning had started much earlier than Inges, as he had gotten up to tend to his little garden – which he now didn't have to leave behind thanks to his girlfriend and the deal she just made with Ayana.

 

He was still in the dark about this deal as he was already at his lecture by the time it was being made – focused on relearning everything he knew about the human anatomy to pass his exams this semester.. so that he could one day combine his knowledge of plants... and humans.. to become one..

---------------

 

Inge was satisfied with her most recent achievement – getting Samantha out of the sorority and away from Hannah – and already felt she had accomplished a lot today already, but there was still a textbook to study and exams to prepare for... but alteast she could get it done feeling at ease out in the calm gentle spring sun...

..before heading over to the parking lot to place some more brush strokes on her painting as a protest against the dull, the grey, the dirty and the fossilized elements of the world, destroying everything that is green, pleasant and peaceful...

 

At the sorority Samantha had just received the message that Inges deal had come through, and was now walking the rounds to say goodbye to the other girls.. not everyone was happy with this...

...in spite of Samanthas promises that they would all (minus Hannah) still remain friends and see each other around on campus.... It was a sisterhood after all, and as freshmen way back then they had all made a vow to each other...was she going to break it now?

 

..how dared she!? After all this time, was she going to betray them for that loser and her nerdy weird boyfriend!? Out!!

Well.... she was definately getting out now... no turning back to this..

She would be getting out of there now as fast as she could, after she had given her replacement the proper introduction and a tour around the house and showing her where her new bed would now be.. no regrets, time to leave..

-------

 

In the meantime Inge had attended another lecture in drawing outside by the fountain, before heading back to the dorm to watch her favourite cooking show alongside Oliver Freddy, who yet again had his nose down in one of his science books..

Just minutes later Samantha had arrived outside the De Anda Hall to walk in through the back door from the parking space to join Inge in watching another episode of her favourite cooking show..

 

Not necessarily Samanthas favourite show or activity, she would rather go fishing again, like they did last summer, and she said she knows just the place..

 

..now that they live under the same roof, they are as close to family as they could get, so she may as well just take her there...

Inge wouldn't mind going there, all three of them – to wherever it is – to try their luck and catch a few fish..

..but before she can show them the way, Samantha has to make sure of one thing... is Inge absolutely positive that she's going to marry Oliver Freddy to build a family with him once they've graduated? Because if not, he can't tag along... it's a place for trusted family only...

    "Do we both study art?" Inge asked rhetorically. "Of course I will.. that has been the plan since before we got here.. It was his idea for us to go to university in the first place. If it wasn't for that we might have been a small family already... but I'm really grateful for being here, it has been a blast so far and.."

 

    "Alright, then lets go" Samantha interrupted and lept up from the couch before Inge got to finish. "We'll take your car, but I'll be giving the directions, so hurry up!"

With Samantha as the backseat driver they were guided out towards the edges of the town, and then up towards the mountains...

 

"Just take a left before that old water tower and then keep going..."

    "This is it. Just stop right there ahead of that taxi..." Samantha said, still giving directions.
"Why?" Oliver Freddy asked a little nervously. "What is that taxi doing there, out in the middle of nowhere? Where are you taking us to?"

    "Relax.." Samantha said as Inge pulled the car over to the side of the road right in front of the taxi "It's just some family from out of town. They'll be leaving soon and we'll get the spot to ourselves."
"Your family?" Oliver Freddy asked again.

"Yes.." Samantha said. "Something like that."

"Our spot is just up the hill there to our right. Now that I'm with you, you can't miss it. Just make another right turn once your up top by the trees."

 

Inges notes:

For some reason Samantha let us run ahead up the hill. Just as I had come high enough to see the small lake ahead of me, I stopped to feel the rain and ponder if it would be good or bad for fishing – or if the rain having an impact on the fish was just a myth. It was raining pretty heavily so if it did mean something for the fishing, we should notice it soon enough. I thougt then and there that it had to be good for fishing. I mean, why else would Samantha take us up here on a day like this?

There was only one thing to do. Put on some warm, dry clothing and get the rod out.. and just hope that this rainstorm also didn't come with thunder and lightning... However, Samantha seemed to have another idea. so I guess fishing in the rain is not a good idea after all?

"Guys.. it's raining to hard to have any luck catching fish today" she said as she ran off. "It's gonna stir up the mud and prevent the fish from biting. Unless you want to dive in and catch them old school, follow me, I got a better idea..."

I was confused.. "Hey... where are you going?" I shouted after her as she disappeared into some shrubs. "You want us to follow you in there?"

 

"You'll see", she said from inside the shrubs. "There's a ladder here. Just follow me."

"A ladder...? In there...? Why... and where does it go...?" I asked, wondering if this was some kind of trick, or what it was..

"This place is secret, that's why." I heard her say from somewhere below me.

"Is there really a ladder here? Where did you go?" I called back to her.
"I've gone down the ladder." she replied from down below. "Just feel your way, you'll find it."

"Ok... I've found it... I think....but where does it lead to? What is down here...?" I asked, while grabbing on to what felt like it could be a wooden ladder, before slowly extending my right foot to feel for something to put it on..

    "Oh... not much, just a little.. family hideout let's say... I can see your foot, just a little lower and you'll find the step.." she called back to me from her hideout. "See, there you go.." she said as my foot landed on a step. "Now it's just like a regular ladder all the way down..."

 

    "Alright..." I said nervously while gently lowering my left foot hoping to reach another step. I would eventually get the hang of it – luckily this was one of those ladders with an even distance between the steps.. and I know I should have trusted Samantha more than I did, but she was acting so mysterious about it.. it's always a little unnerving to be led into the unknown..

 

She didn't even have time to wait for me at the bottom of the ladder.. and I know found myself in this room with stone walls, floor and ceiling, almost like some kind of.. tomb or whatever this is supposed to be..
    The room I now found myself in was only lit up by two torches on either side of a door on the wall farthest away from me. For some reason on either side of the door were two big rocks.. If I didn't know any better I would almost have thought that the rocks were delibaretly placed there to guard the door and whatever was behind it.. but rocks are just rocks... dead and immobile objects that can't guard anything.. unless they were arranged in a way to create a trap.. but this didn't look like a trap.. I hoped...

    "Samantha...? What is this..?" I tried to call for her, assuming she had just gone through that door.. because where else could she have gone? There was no other way to move forward..

    "This isn't funny..." I said, realizing just how much I sounded like a character from a movie that was either going to walk directly into some kind of trap... or a surprise birthday party or something.. except today wasn't my birthday and I can not imagine that Samantha would set up a trap for me.. and I thought we were supposed to go fishing...

Maybe this was a test of some kind... well, I couldn't look like a coward so.. I slowly walked my way up to that door and tried the handle to carefully open it...

..only to find another dungeon like room, kind of sparsely furnished with a dining table and four dining chairs, some old couch,, a coffe table, a bookshelf and a refrigerator, meaning that this place must have some electrical wiring. Not what I expected, but then again.. I didn't really know what to expect..

 

"Welcome, have a seat" Samantha said while sitting on one of the dining chairs and turning a page in the book she was reading. "This is our little.. place. I thought I could show it to you know that we've become family.. this little cave is a little hangout in case of bad weather, that's all" she said without lifting her eyes from the book "It's also a perfect place to retreat to study, quiet and peaceful. I have always gone here to study for my exams when things got to noisy in the dormitory..."

 

    "Yeah, I can see that....this place could certainly be useful. It looks.. cosy.." I replied, doing my best to sound like I meant what I said.. I didn't want to say anything upsetting. It was different, charming maybe, but I wouldn't call it cosy.. not to much, but I understood so much that this was a place that felt important to Samantha, and I was appreciative of her showing it to me, to us..

    "Well, I don't know if I'd call it cosy... but it is practical, you know." she said "It has been so for a few generations.. like a den that are close to good fishing and huntig grounds, atleast that's how it used to be.. Nowadays you can sort of think of it as a... cabin, or just a place to retreat to get some peace it and quiet.."

 

    "I see.. we don't have a cabin, but I think it's kind of like how my parents decided to move to Sunset Valley from the city.. to live a more relaxed life, like 'medicine for the soul' as my father called it.." I said, knowing that there were a few more reasons for us moving, such as mom needing a change of environment to cope with her addiction, and me.. having exhausted every opportunity to fit in and not be an outcast at any of the nearby schools in the city.. I could definately understand the need for a safe and quiet retreat for when things got rough..

 

It couldn't have been better.. the three of us now agreeing to form our own little study group down here in this little hideout. All of us a little weird in our own ways... we spent the entire afternoon and evening there studying for our exams, in complete silence (ignoring the low hum from the refrigerator) only on occasion interrupted by pages being turned and the low rumble of some distant thunder from outside...

 

..until it became to hard to focus on reading due to a different kind of rumble. I didn't want to raid the refrigerator there, I didn't even know what was in it, so I suggested to Samantha that we should head back to our dorm and order some take away, maybe some chicken or pizza or something..

We hadn't done any fishing and there was no oven down here.. and the weather outside wasn't excactly barbecue weather.. and this place didn't look like it had a bedroom, even though Samantha had sort of referred to it as a cabin, so we couldn't spend the night here either.. and even if we could, I don't know if I would have.. yet..

 

Luckily everyone agreed and thought my suggestion was a good idea.. they must have been as starving as I was, if not more.. so it was back past the guardian stones as they had now become in my mind, up the ladder, through brambles and down the hill to my car who was still parked along the side of the road to drive back home to our dorm now, all three of us...

Oh, we were definately hungry... and yes, the obvious idiom did spring to mind, but even if nobody else but me will read this... I don't want to use it, not here in this setting.. so, either way, pizza it was..

 

..and we need not worry about anything. There would always be plenty of opportunities later to spend a nice day outside fishing, as Samantha said... the lake, the fish and the secret refuge, none of them were going anywhere...

...good night. ;) 

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Chapter 6.4 – April 2024 – The Art of Unnecessary Drama

 

Oh yes, lovely spring time. It is the season of where romance and plants begin to blossom... where some people are able to see past the prejudices that have ravaged this town for so long and see someone for what they really are... and where it is time for others to get their hands dirty and do some... gardening...

 

Oliver Freddy had waited all winter for the ground to thaw and for the plants to come to life so that he could resume his work of tending for them... He could not wait, and was up already before sunrise...His little garden wasn't much yet.. just an apple tree and a simple tomato plant, but it was a start. Good for practice to learn the basics of plant nature...

 

Inges lecture started early this morning, and when Oliver Freddy was done with his plants and contemplating his science-y stuff, she was already out the door and on her way.. This looked like it could be a promising spring day and Inge wanted to continue her painting of the parking lot outdoors, but alas.. while she was at her lecture it started raining, so any outdoors painting would have to wait..

Oliver Freddy spent his time wisely, studying his curriculum in complete silence alongside Jonathan Dirk, who didn't bother putting on clothes nor to read anything other than a simple sports book..

 

Oliver Freddy waited and waited for the weather to let up and sunshine to return so that he could comfortably go outside and work on his garden, but the rain proved to be relentless this month... so when he couldn't wait anymore he got in his car and went to the grocery store and bought a kona bean, a cortado bean, some mary grass and a buzzberry to try and plant them, only to discover that he didn't know enough about how to plant the mary grass and the buzzberry..

With such relentless weather outside, now was the perfect time to write down a few more chapters on her romantic drama novel, with an emphasis on drama for todays sections..

*************

..or head to the library to expand ones knowledge of gardening. The library was packed, relatively speaking, so Oliver Freddy wasn't the only thinking this was a perfect day to spend some valuable time indoors..

..but at least the dreary weather provided the watcher with a somewhat nice view of the rainbow.. so there must be some sun light coming in from somewhere still... The De Anda Hall where Oliver Freddy and Inge lives is at the centre of the picture near the bottom.

 

By the time Oliver Freddy went to his lecture it looked like the clouds was about to give way, as big patches of the sky was now displaying a bright blue colour.. though it was still raining.. and someone had conveniently abandoned a radio broadcasting station right by the front door, not wanting to do a radio broadcast in the rain, or maybe being fearful of a lightning strike, which there also were quite a few of this morning..

 

Inge didn't want to spend any more time at the dorm, and was desperate to resume her painting, however even though the skies looked like they were letting up it was still raining with an unchanged intensity.. The spring weather was just not being very kind, and she had to cry a little over it as she entered the Super Bean Café to hang out for a while and grab something to eat..

 

..which was easier said than done as the baristas at this particular café were pretty notorious for skipping work.. It served more as a library for simple literature or a place to study more than a café.. and for smelly students to make unsuccessfull attempts at flirting.. a shower is always a good place to start..

Inge wondered how that place could still be in business as she ran over to The Grotto for a quick lunch and a strong brew of those energizing kona beans to keep the day going..

The barista at The Grotto is present atleast 7 times out of 11, which is a lot better than that other place...

**************

Energized, yet tired, Inge returns to her dorm to rest on a murphys bed, which almost squishes her, before she gets an invitation to a party by Samantha, but its an invitation a little bit outt of the ordinary. Not because she was told to put on a swim suit, but because Samantha told to meet her at the bowling alley.. for a pool party.. Inge was always excited to get an invite from just about anyone, but especially one from Samantha, even though it seemed a little.. weird..

Oliver Freddy received a phone call from his aunt Monica after his lecture. She was curious of course about how his studies went, and in particular his research on plants.. had he made any progress on cracking the code on how to make plant sims? Unfortunately, he had to tell her, he hadn't... he still had a long way to go to put all the pieces together, and he wasn't even sure if he would be able to figure it out during his time there.. but he was hoping that once he returned to Sunset Valley to, hopefully, get a full time job at the Landgraab Research Institute, that they would be able to figure out something by working together..

Monica couldn't promise that they would ever figure it out, as the idea was considered to be pretty far fetched and inconceivable by the scientific community at large and getting funding for it was a challenge to say the least, but she could comfort him that he was pretty much guaranteed a position there after he graduated either way.. she would make sure of that...

Inge showed up at the bowling alley, but didn't put on her swim wear, as she was a little skeptical and thought it didn't quite make sense.. and she figured her decision to not do so was correct as Samantha too wasn't in her swim wear.. instead she was, as perhaps expected, bowling.. and seeming very focused and competitive as if she was trying to win against someone, yet she was playing all by herself..
Inge tried to talk to her and ask what was up, but was told to wait.. she just had to finish this game first, it was important.. Deadly important...

 

When the game was done – and she appeared to have won against whoever she was competing with – she quickly turned to Inge and undressed to reveal her bikini. Inge thought there was something weird about Samantha, but didn't feel like asking straight away.. but it was something there, it was if she wasn't being quite herself and this made her concerned... Clearly there was no party here, it was just her and Samantha..

Inge knew from previous experience that some of Samanthas dorm mates could be a handful, especially that foul Hannah Germanotta, and figured that might have something to do with Samanthas somewhat peculiar behaviour as she started to complain about her one room mate who never did the dishes, or doing anything at all except being a total.. *cough* .. you know the word...

Samantha had wanted to host a party, but she didn't want to do it with Hanna in the house.. she knew she would just ruin it and pick fights with everyone over the tiniest most insignificant thing, especially today as she had just had a fight with her already..

 

The reading at the library had paid off for Oliver Freddy, and after discussing how to plant his mary grass and buzz berry with his aunt as well, he was now ready to plant them.. This should be plenty of plants for him to analyze when they were ready.. and maybe one of them could be.. merged with human DNA to create a plant sim.. somehow...?

The issue with Hannah wasn't really about the dishes though... Hannah had of course "stumbled" upon Samantha painting one of her naturalistic paintings – a style which Hannah said she hated – and then had began to criticize Samanthas painting in the worst way possible... She had even used the g-word... that's when Samantha knew she had to get out of there for the night, to prevent any more trouble from happening...

There was no doubt Inge was going to defend her friend in this matter. They were all art students – the three of them – and Samantha should know better than to criticize someones art simply based on style like that.. Everyone, whether they were this or that, had the right to paint in whatever style they wanted, and though paintings of course could be criticized, the attacks that Hannah had provided were completely out of line, especially when she had used such foul, offensive and discriminatory language as she had..

Inge wanted to offer Samantha a place to stay at their dorm to get away from that, but unfortunately their dorm was full, and in addition the university had set a rule that they were not allowed to move from one dorm to another mid semester...

However, this was a pretty special case, Inge thought, and she suggested, and promised as they parted ways for the night, that she would have a talk with the university council the next day to see if some arrangement couldn't be made.. She was sure there had to be some available slots somewhere in town for the three of them, that is Samantha, Inge and Oliver Freddy, to move to a new dorm.. and she was sure Oliver Freddy would agree and understand..

*************

Oliver Freddy was already in bed by the time she was home, and he must have been really tired, because he had even forgotten to feed his anchovy, Ansgar.. and that's when she started thinking.. what about his projects? Sure, taking the fish along if they were going to move would be an easy task.. but what about the plants...? Would he be willing to leave them behind? Or.. could she somehow convince another one of her mates to make the move instead...?

 

Suddenly the issue who she thought was straight forward, given that they could get permission from the university council to make the move, became a little more complex.. this required some thinking.. and talking to people to find a solution.. she had made a promise to Samantha, so a solution either way had to be found...

Let us hope it can work out for the best.. Good night..

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