Stumbling (H.S. / A.U.)

Chapter 49

Friday, September 29th Continued...

Autumn's POV

I swirl the melting cubes leftover in my iced caramel vanilla almond milk latte while listening to my advisor chat on the phone. He was finishing up the last few details of setting up the program I was in, but I had mentally checked out. I was ready to head over to Dante's to score some wings, douse them in a pile of buffalo sauce, and start my weekend early.

I roll my neck to relieve some budding tension. I need to tell myself to sit in the hot tub tonight at the boys party or something, because I feel like death warmed over. I pull my phone out of my bag and hear the clink of the charms against the phone case.

Autumn to Riley: Hey boo, tonight you got any plans?

I drop my phone back into my black Michael Kors bag on the floor and start to shift around in my seat while fiddling with my earrings. I could also blow off some time today with a shopping trip maybe. I really want a new bracelet, and maybe get a matching one for Riley. That would be really cute. Or maybe get my nails done. I look at the cuticles on my right hand and notice the chipped polish on two of my fingers. My French manicure is no more and now it is a bit of a mess that definitely needs to be touched up.

I listened in on the phone call that Mr. Monogranth was ending while he endlessly scribbled notes on a pad of paper on his desk. His office was full of dusty books, worn down chairs, and every single surface was covered in a notebook, stack of papers, yellow legal pad, or some sort of folder. This man could be the poster for "someone hire me an assistant to organize my life" because he is a full on mess.

Oh my gosh, I swear he has said "uh huh, yes, okay, that's fine, I understand, yes, okay, affirmative" like thirty times now. This phone call will never end really.

I pick up my purse to sit in my lap and start digging around as quietly as possible till I find a pack of gum. I always get sugar-free gum, but find the one that is still bubblegum flavored so that I feel like a kid. I pop two pieces in my mouth and wad up the wrappers to get lost in the bottom of my purse forever.

I check my phone again, nothing new from Riley, dang.

Finally I hear the sound of my advisor setting his phone back on the receiver. "Soooooooo," I implore impatiently.

He continues writing for a moment, flipping to a new page to make more notes. When he sets down his pen and takes a deep breath he looks up at me. "Miss Lory, you are -"

"Autumn." I pop a bubble at the end of my name to accentuate my point. I'm not an oldie and don't wanna' feel like one.

Mr. Monogranth clears his throat and furrows his brows, "Mhm- okay, yes, uh, Miss Autumn, you were approved for the program. You will be part of the Tutoring program and it will go towards applied credits for your degree. If you change your major though, this will forfeit the credits keep in mind."

I follow along and acknowledge his words. "Sounds cool. Anything else I gotta' do then?"

Mr. Monogranth starts flipping through the three pages of notes he has taken today then starts sifting between the folders in front of him. "You are living off campus correct? Do you have a way too and from the program, as well as the means to do everything required?"

I know it is a nasty habit, mom has probably yelled at me like ten thousand times about it, but I start to twirl the gum outside my mouth on my fingertip. "Uhhhh yeah I am good. I got a sewing machine, I have swatches, I have a car, I got all the things I think I would need honestly."

The tutoring program was learning to work with different textiles for interior designing programs across the United States. We just learn the basics of what works well with what, how to refinish pieces that seem like a lost cause, we bring together different items to combine and make them into one new things, junk like that to make a whole new vibe and make it really cool.