For the first weekend being a extremely slow, the first week of classes felt like a decade in time. Cain did sort of expect that to happen as it always did when he was in high school. Why would he expect college to be different? As far as the subject of John Hooper went, Cain had might as well have had a room to himself as John was never there. Cain imagined he saw him once enter at three in the morning of the first day of classes but he later found out that it was another guy who lived on the floor who had stumbled into the wrong room, drunk. His name was Lyle, or maybe it was Kyle (Cain wasn’t particularly sure as the man was slurring his words), although the exchange was more memorable than the name. Kyle or Lyle, had stopped Cain in the middle of the stairwell and asked him for a “smoke”. Cain had never smoked in his life and had always actually looked down upon people who did, so naturally he had nothing for the kid. Lyle (We’ll stick with the latter) was about to persist, as if Cain was actually lying about not having a cigarette, until he recognized him as the boy “who was sleeping in my bed when I came home” the night prior. Cain was quick to correct him and remind him that Lyle had left the room two minutes after entering. The memory cleared and he eventually came round and left him alone.
Cain’s classes were bearable. His two favorites were Intro to Communication, and Journalistic Tools and Management. Both of which Cain had with a boy named Aron who had begun to spend a considerable amount of time with Cain. The two were both Journalism majors and they both were interested in editorship and thus their “friendship” started. They both worked on homework together and talked mainly about music and each other’s lives. Aron was a shy one who until recently had been home schooled. He wasn’t too talkative which allowed Cain to lead and control conversations which was how he liked it. The only thing that bugged Cain about Aron was the fact that he would rather be alone than hang out with him. He supposed that loneliness was to blame for his frustration. Everyday after classes, Cain would part with Aron and end up in his room, alone, with his homework. Had this been his life in Albuquerque, this would be the time when he would call up Foster and he would vent about his frustrations and excitements. However in this small town in Indiana, Cain had no Foster to turn to. There was no one. Aron was nice to have to be able to talk to about meaningless things, but there was that part missing that mattered more than that.
Cain’s parents would check in every Sunday. Their calls usually came in around 4pm, this only went noticed for what else did Cain have to look forward to? His parents would ask about classes and life, and Cain would lie. "Classes are interesting and my life has never been better. I have many friends and my professors appeared to favor me the most." The hour long conversation was maybe the only thing that moved slow around that time. Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months.
October had rolled in and the colors were changing. The ground, once an open canvas, was now splashed with an assortment of rustic orange, deep red, and soft yellows. The life of the past year had been struck down and smeared on the winding sidewalks. Cain just sat by the pond and watched the colors. He gazed understandingly at the trees falling away. Cain had found himself facing midterms. Supposedly, at this time, students dealt with stress and heightened anxiety however Cain found it very tolerable seeing as though most of his time (being free of distractions) was spent on his studies and gazing at the weather. He maundered through midterms effortlessly and with little scarlet ink.
After midterms, life settled down and spirit was in the horizon. It was the week of halloween and Aron was going home for the weekend. Cain was really not looking forward to this weekend. Some events had been planned for halloween day and Cain imagined he would attend them. However most likely he would find himself alone in his room as always. This was troubling and didn’t make sense. In high school, he was a socialite and tried to be friend to all. He considered what people though of him and acted to win as many hearts as he could. However small, there was always that fear of rejection. Things were different at college though. Cain still had that desire for everyone to accept him and to love him, but now that fear for rejection choked his life. He noticed this on Halloween day, while sitting by the pond. He came to realization that, like the trees, his life and vivacious color had been stripped by this unfounded fear. Things had to change and his chance was about to arrive.
Every halloween, at home, Cain and his mother would watch horror films and eat candy together. This was a memorable pastime and Cain decided he would continue it even though he would spend it alone. He decided on “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, a personal favorite of Cain. The movie always inspired Cain to be different, to accept himself for what he was. Tonight seemed an appropriate night to turn again to the vulgar, perverse, and the “different”. The movie was just starting and the deep red lips appeared on the screen. Suddenly light flood across the screen and who stood in the door? John Hooper had forgotten something. He was throwing things around his desk and emptying his cabinets. The opening song still played over the sound of various items, books, cans, and bottles were being thrown around the room. Cain sat motionless on his bed, a little frightened and curious. It had been two or three weeks since Cain had last seen his roommate. Now he was violently turning his stuff upside down, swerving and tripping from bed to desk, to dresser, to bed, to desk. He was drunk and helpless. Cain decided to act.
“Can I help you?” Cain asked, his voice a little shaky. He was embarrassed instantly.
“Who said that?” John almost screamed, pleadingly.
“It’s me, John, Cain.” he replied now finally moving out of his bed towards the TV to turn off the film.
“CAIN! HA!” John laughed loudly and high pitched. He stared crazily at Cain who was now extremely tense.
“What’s the matter.”
“I found you!” John half screamed. “Come with me now!”
John Hooper took Cain by the hand who let out a little yelp of fright, now he was really embarrassed. John was pulling Cain to the door roughly when he finally realized what was happening he yanked his hand out of grasp.
“Where are you taking me?” Cain asked tensely.
“It doesn’t matter. Wait, you need shoes.” John pointed at Cain’s abdomen with this last statement. He was really off.
Cain snapped.
“Leave me alone!” Cain yelled. “You’re drunk! Go and leave! Get out! You don’t live here anymore. (As if you ever did)”.
John flinched and was taken aback. However, still he reached out his hand (Of course he was aiming for Kevin’s chin but still-)
“Just come with me tonight. I just want you to meet some friends of mine. We are going to the city. Just come, Cain.”
Cain gave in almost as fast as he had snapped. He pushed John’s hand away from his neck and got ready for a night he would most definitely forget but never let go.
continued on Dec 1st on winkplot.posterous.com
me to switch to the other side. The intricacy of stop motion makes me melt. The cleverness of the dialogue and the color of the story makes me feel extremely warm inside. Now to you skeptics or otherwise lazy artists ;), this movie is bloody brilliant. It's based on the book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and it is put on screen by legendary Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums). This movie is art! The detail, the colors, the dialogue, the characters, all of it! is artistically laid out in a quirky way for your entertainment! The actors (Brilliantly chosen) are as follows; George Clooney (Cool), Meryl Streep (Cooler), Jason Swartzmen (Coolest), and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore, nuff said). Oh well I'm done ranting about this movie, but if you won't watch this amazing movie then at least watch the twenty minute special feature special on it just to watch how this movie was put together, thats fantastic in itself! Love all!
