Sim State U Ch. 1 Mike Lomax and Lucy Burb Part 1

After hanging around Pleasantview for two years after he got his diploma and working at Simoleon Arcades before Bob Blackford bought it and renamed it, Mike Lomax was more than ready to get his education. Thus he went off to University three long years before Lori Lassiter and her friends arrived there. His parents, Jenny and Larry Max were still together at the time. Opting for the Landgraab dorm, he knew no one there at all and, in fact, only knew one other person at University. Alexander Goth was a senior and he was living in a tiny house on campus when Mike arrived.. He only ran into Alex once or twice. Usually they joked around a little and did the school cheer and that was it.

Often the kids at Landgraab Hall did their class assignments in the dining room. Joe Wade was one of the dorm weirdos who often decided to sit right next to Mike. This would not have been so bad, he didn't look odd or anything, except Joe tended to go forever without showering, sleeping, going to the bathroom or eating. He was very friendly though, and if you forgot to lock your door you would come back to find smelly Joe sleeping in your clean bed, saying he was keeping it warm for you. Frequently other students were seen yelling at him for just being disgusting in general. Many of the other kids in the dorm looked a little strange, mostly the guys, but, hey, these were the years to be a little out there and most students were nice. Or at least they bathed regularly.

In his first semester, Mike couldn’t resist the popular fad of “streaking”.  Admittedly he’d never been the shy type and he didn't really know any of these people anyway. The only person who paid a lot of attention was the old guy who ran the dining room and that kind of creeped Mike out. The guy never said anything to anyone except to moan continually as if something was causing him pain. He never smiled much, but he always laughed when someone farted or belched, and went on laughing for several seconds. Apparently, he had some sort of penchant for bodily functions. Mike thought he was freaky. So he never did streak again, which was a disappointment to a few of the girls in the hall.

In the second semester of his freshman year, Mike was happy to find out one of the kids from home had moved into his dorm. She was Lucy Burb; a very pretty, well-behaved and quiet girl. She’d always been a bookworm so it was not surprising to Mike that she was a Lit major. He’d chosen Mathematics for his major. They’d never been involved romantically, but it was just so nice to see a familiar face from home. She had a good sense of humor and they giggled a lot about the craziness in the dorm.

Everything began to change when they decided to do some research together at the library and somehow ended up holding hands…

When they both made the Dean’s List they wanted to celebrate somehow, but weren't sure what to do. Their exams had been late and they were walking home in the dark. Suddenly Mike was inspired to grab Lucy and kiss her.

They were actually somewhat shocked to find out they had these feelings. They were together all the time, and their rooms were right across the hall from each other, so they shouldn’t have been surprised, but they were, especially Mike. He didn’t think Lucy was his type at all. Lucy had always thought Mike was her type, but, of course, never said so. Anyway, she wanted him as a friend even more than a love interest. After some discussion they decided to go back to a platonic relationship.

By the time of their sophomore year they were both getting really tired of the dorm. So many freaks, no privacy or quiet, and Joe was still stinking up the place. But the worst of all was the food. The old guy put it out every so many hours and there it sat. Only 9 kids in the dorm, all on a different schedule so you could be eating the requisite mac and cheese and just as you finished it, the dish of food turned green and the flies came. For some unfortunately diners it happened before you finished. So, both Lucy and Mike got mini-fridges and were living on ramen, protein drinks, juice and instant meals. “I’m getting tired of this mostly liquid diet,” Lucy complained and Mike agreed, “I want a pork chop—or at least a cheeseburger. Let’s go out somewhere.”

Mike went to an all-boy grad party for Alexander Goth not long after. Really it was only three of them, Alex, Mike, and Colby, Alex’s teenage brother. Alex was a lot older than Mike, having gone into the service after high school, then to University and went on to get his Masters. When Alex showed Mike the house he’d been renting, Mike was impressed, although he’d like a somewhat larger one to get in a pinball machine. Still, he wouldn’t need the piano. But Alex’s dad was rich, almost as wealthy as Mr. Lassiter or Mr. Flynn. Mike doubted his parents could afford it.

Really nice, Mike thought as Alex gave him the tour, but only room for one desk. He wished Lucy was here, he’d liked to have her opinion; she was very practical. He didn’t know if he could be ready to take this house when it was free…like later today.

“There are two more just like it along this street,” Alex said as though Mike had spoken out loud. “What do you need a second desk for anyway?”

Mike was startled; evidently he HAD been speaking out loud. And Alex was right. What did he need a second desk for?

“Anyway,” Alex laughed, “On to the party!” Between the bubble machine and the fruit punch, they boys grew very lighthearted. In fact they grew very light. Light enough that they nearly floated away a couple times.

Finally Alexander’s celebration was at an end and he was whisked off in a taxi, Colby caught a second taxi home, feeling rather ill, and Mike made his way to the dorm, giggling most of the way.

When he got back he wouldn’t tell which was worse, his crashing headache or his heaving stomach. He lounged around Lucy’s door, looking miserable. She had been reading on her bed and looked up.

“Why, Mike, what’s the matter?” he didn’t notice the very slight smile playing at the edges of her mouth.

“I think I’ve got the flu or something. I don’t feel so good and my head hurts. I think my eyebrows hurt, too.”

“Poor thing, go sit on the sofa in the lounge and I’ll get you an aspirin and an ice pack for your head.”

Lucy brought both as well as some alka-seltzer. It seemed to Mike that when she put the ice pack on his head she almost slapped it on there.

“Better?” she smiled sweetly into his face.

“Um,” he mumbled and tried to take the ice pack back off.

“Oh, no, Mike, it has to stay on there,” He took the aspirin and the alka-seltzer and after belching several times he felt much better. He could hear the old man in the dining room laughing.

“Now leave that ice pack on there until your headache is better.” Lucy headed toward her own room.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I have to work on my term paper, you know that.” She waved amiably and disappeared into her room.

When the sweat from the ice pack dripped down his forehead, Mike figured it was now okay to take it off, even if his head did still hurt a little. He decided since Lucy’s door was firmly shut, he might as well go to bed. You’d think she’d have wanted to keep an eye on him.

The next day sweet Lucy seemed to go a little wild. Lots of kids streaked in the dorm and out of the dorm. Mike never batted an eye. Oh, all right, he'd been known to look at some of the prettier girls from time to time. But Lucy had always been such a sedate girl. A modest girl. So when Mike walked out into the lounge and saw her totally in the buff running down the hall he couldn’t have been more surprised if she done a double back flip. He wondered irrationally if she’d got into the bubbles at Alex’s house or something when she came over to him and shook her stuff right in his face.

  

He couldn’t think of a word to say to show his shock and, well, frankly, his disapproval until he saw she was sailing off toward the front door and the public sidewalk. Then he roused himself enough to call after her hoarsely,


“Lucy, don't go; come back! We could do some studying in my room, if you want!”


A couple of the kids nearby laughed out loud and one of the guys called in a falsetto voice,


“Ooo, Lucy, honey! You can study in MY room!”.


Mike frowned and hurried to his room where he fumed and tried to study for several hours.

The next day Lucy didn’t even mention it. They were both taking their chances: eating cereal for breakfast in the dining hall, but Mike couldn’t think how to open a conversation. They never had this problem as a rule, they were always at ease with each other. Lucy had a textbook next to her that she was reading as she ate. She had a class in two hours and his was two hours later so they wouldn’t see each other for a while after she went to class. Finally Mike blurted out,

“You should have seen the house Alex was renting,”

Lucy looked up, “Nice, huh? Was it expensive?”

“I guess. He said there are other houses and some larger with two bedrooms. I was thinking of calling my Mom to see if they could afford for me to rent a house on campus.”

“Why would you need two bedrooms? Wouldn’t that be more expensive for you?” Lucy asked, looking concerned.

Mike glanced around the dining room trying to seem casual, “Yeah. Well, I was thinking of asking someone to go in on it with me. You know.”

Lucy looked down and nodded, then turned to peer at her study book again, 


“Wow, I sure will miss you when you leave here,” 


She peeked over at him and teased, “But I bet you won’t miss the food!”

Mike was still nervous, “Yeah, the food; pretty obnoxious all right. Ha ha.”

Seeming to concentrate on her book once more, Lucy barely looked up as she asked him,

“So, who you going to ask, then? Someone from Landgraab? You don’t know anyone at Pinenut, do you? Of course you could just put an ad on the bulletin board at the other two dorms.”

“Um, no ad, no. See the thing is, Lucy, I was wondering if you might want to go in on it. I mean if you thought the place was okay and all.”

Lucy looked up slowly, “Me?”

Mike shrugged and hurriedly explained, “Well, we get on pretty well; we could find a place with two separate bedrooms. And we’re good friends who are already used to practically living on top of each other here. It’s not like we’re dating, so it would be strictly for our convenience. I thought I could get half the rent on loan from my parents and you…” Mike dragged to a stop.

She was still gazing at him, her mouth slightly open.

“No good, huh?” Mike worried.

“Will your parents still loan you money if they know I’m the room-mate?” she asked. Mike could see her mind clicking away.

“I’ll ask my Mom first, she’s a little more…But what about your folks?”

Lucy smiled, “I have my own money. My grandmother left it to me and it’s been building up. Mom said I could use it for extra expenses while I’m here. I can cover my half of the rent easily.”

“Yeah, but, when your parents find out…”

“Don’t worry, my dad has a job working all night at Club Dante—it’s driving my mother crazy, meanwhile Mom is taking care of the twins at home; they’re four. So my mom and dad don’t have time to worry about it. Of course,” she paused then said shrewdly, “I’d have to see the place first.”

Mike smiled, “I think you should change your major from Lit to Economics or Math.”

“But we still have to keep our relationship platonic,” Lucy said sternly, “Especially now.”

“Right,” Mike nodded, "Absolutely."

But on the last night before they moved out of Landgraab they were seen out on the deck by one or two people, deep in conversation. It was as if the moment they agreed there would be no romance; they were more attracted than ever. The lure of the forbidden it would seem.

The house they chose was badly designed with stairs right in front of the entrance. When you opened the front door you practically stumbled on the first step.  These stairs led to the second floor, but their placement cut the room in two sections that were hard to use. However; it was sturdily built and nicely, if sparely, decorated. Mike’s mom, Jenny, came over to take a look before she added her half of the money for the deposit to the landlord and signed the lease.

“What did she say?” Lucy asked Mike that night. She hadn’t gone with him; she'd had a class then, anyway.

“Well she said it could use a few touches so I went with her and we picked up some stuff,” Mike told her, “She’s shopping again today, she didn’t say for what, though.”

“But you told her we’re just friends and not going to be ‘living together’ in the usual sense, right?” Lucy was anxious.

“Yeah, but…”

“But, what? What did she say?”

Mike smiled and shook his head, “You don't know my Mom...”

“Mike you’re killing me here.”

“She smiled and said, ‘Uh-huh, that’s nice’ and then she said, “I expect you to use common sense and safety precautions, Michael.”

Lucy groaned, “Oh great. I wouldn’t mind if we really were, you know, doing anything, but we’re perfectly innocent.”

“Oh, I know, perfectly innocent,” Mike agreed, “But she added some good things like better towels and new sheets, a microwave and she got us a newer TV. So, frankly, I didn't want to argue with her. She also bought us our first groceries and put them in the fridge.”

Lucy bit her lower lip, “Now I feel bad I didn’t meet her. What do you suppose she’s buying today, though?”

“Who knows? But obviously she’s not angry anyway.

When they arrived the following day with their all their stuff in boxes and looked in the apartment, Mike crowed with happiness.

“She bought us an exercise machine! She knew I wanted one, but they’re way too expensive—now we don’t have to go to the gym to exercise!”

Downstairs bathroom

Mike's room

Upstairs Bathroom

Lucy's room

Mike and Lucy encouraged each other all the time and without the distractions of the dorm their grades improved even more. They both made the dean’s list every semester.

They had developed a household routine, early breakfast together most days (when they didn’t have a class too early), Mike cleaned the kitchen, Lucy made the beds and cleaned the bathrooms. They took turns cooking, but Mike knew Lucy did more of it; her cooking was better, he reasoned.

Next update: Sim State U Ch. 1 Mike Lomax and Lucy Burb Pt. 2