Seattle was weird.

Nelson had come to this realization many times in his 17 years of living there. This time the realization hit while at the gum wall. Fifty feet by fifteen feet, much of the brick structure covered with the pre chewed wads of thousands before him. Nelson wasn’t so much studying the wall which was his assignment, he was however studying the photo shoot going on a girl who looked about his age was Posing on the wall, her back firmly pressed onto the sticky matter behind her, playing with a piece of gum in her fingers The Photographer with his remaining hair from his receding hairline stuck out in eccentric tufts, was shouting out directions

“Ya like that” and “Would you be comfortable with licking the wall? ”

she turned to comply with his suggestion when a voice near Nelson Muttered out

“Think of all the contaminants.”

Nelson turned to see the face behind the comment and saw Mavis. Mavis was his writers group partner. His mother had always liked the idea of homeschooling so after sending her two oldest children through the public school system she decided that Nelson was her grand homeschooling experiment. but as a single mother she would just drop him into any curriculum, co-op, or class she found cheap. This particular class appealed to her because all the instructors beside having teaching degrees also happens to have some qualifications in psychology or counseling. Nelsons mother was convinced he needed professional help, but in his mind he sometimes got a little over stimulated after all he was

a teenage boy who didn’t play any sports, work out or anything that would remotely get his heart rate up which is another reason why his mom liked this class they were outside most of the time and had to walk a lot of places. Today they had met at the Ivars on alaskan way when the lead instructor Lisa, she wouldn’t tell her last name, separated them all into groups of two. going through the alphabetically ordered list in front of her she called out names of two. Finally she called out

“Mavis Harper, and Nelson Croft.”

Nelson hadn’t happened to be paying attention at that moment until he heard his name. He had no idea who his partner was until he felt a jabbing in his side. a short girl with navy blue hair and eyes that looked like they were not often outside looked up at him with a blank face

“Sorry for jabbing you”. she said without a hint of sincere apology. Are you Nelson?”

“I assume your Mavis.”

“Are you Nelson?” she asked again unamused

Nelson was now confused he responded with a question laced “Ya?”

she heaved a sigh as if to say ‘ye of lesser intelligence’ “yes I am Mavis do you know where we have to go?”

“We have to go somewhere?” Nelson made a vow to pay better attention

“Ya I have this crappy map telling us to go meet Penelope. I was just wondering if you knew where this was.”

nelson studied the piece of paper printed of an internet map site with crooked marker leading to a place which the paper said was a seven minute walk from where they were standing Mavis was speaking again

“This says 7 minutes to get there Probably double that for me” she stated sarcasm dripping forth

“Lets go” nelson said Mavis silently nodded her head robotically and led the way.

    Now here they were at the gum wall watching the wannabe model licking the wall

“Holy crap shes desperate” Mavis said continuing her comenterry.

“I mean thats not even classy its all trashy from her outfit, her posing, and that creepy photographer. I bet she gave him a.. Never mind thats inappropriate.” Mavis hugger herself she was wearing a black coat that fell nearly to the hem of her dress. the dress was longsleeved, white with crossing black and gray lines the waistline was low and the skirt was a light blue. she wore black boots with no ties and wore a felt hat on her head. She wore no makeup Nelson could tell his mother was a hairdresser and makeup artist he knew more about makeup than most girlie girls. though he would never admit it. Penelope who they had just found had left to check up on another group. Penelope was in Nelson’s opinion was gorgeous he thought of himself as a man of high standards and he never used the word gorgeous loosely. Even though he a just made his ‘I will pay more attention and listen better vow’ he had been so entranced by her eyes he had not heard what their assignment was supposed to be he decide now would be a good time to break that news to Mavis

“So. Mavis what was the assignment again?”

Mavis heaved another one of her sighs and began to emotionlessly recite what they were to do “Write a page on what we see, hear, feel, smell, and, taste, without mentioning where we are. I guess someone will try to guess” coming out of her methodical trance she continued in a slightly more rounded tone “I for one will not do taste” Nelson just nodded his head in silent agreement.

The wannabe model had now left the photographer with her. People came and went while Nelson and Mavis stood pretending to observe.

Mavis walked as quickly as she could back to the Ivars. One reason it was cold and she had worn a dress which was stupid she needed to get her blood moving. And two she didn’t want to be left alone with Nelson any longer. She was uncomfortable around people, and she had felt she had been rude which was not her intention. She hadn’t wanted to do this class her mother had put her in it and for once in his life Uncle Edwin had agreed with her. Mavis’s mother was a nuisance really not exactly caring what mavis did and only showing up to wreak havoc on Mavis’s life like for example, plunking her into this writers therapy class. Why mavis had asked her mother said to help her get over the lasting effects of childhood trauma. Mavis had decided that her mother had done this out of guilt, which she had been the main force behind Mavis’s ‘trauma’ and if her mother had put her into a writers therapy class to help her cope with whatever her mother caused in her childhood could mean that her mother actually cared which if she did complicated Mavis’s perfectly still reality.

    She had reached the Ivars. So far this was the only thing she liked about this joke of a writers therapy they met at an Ivars Giving her easy access to her favorite stress food French Fries she ordered some and walked to the end of the open air seating leaving a lone fry as an offering for the seagulls that flew by. She had seen Nelson arrive while she was ordering her food she had wanted to stay hidden but then that accursed guilt crept into her being causing her arm to wave and her mouth to say

“Hey Nelson over here!” she squeezed her eyes closed she hated when her body did things even though her mind demanded that it not, rebellious body. Nelson jogged over to her table and sat across from her. He produced two marble notebooks, he handed one to Mavis saying

“Lisa was handing these out to everyone. but you had walked too fast, uh we are supposed to do our assignments in these.” Mavis gingerly pulled the notebook out of Nelsons fingers placing it in front of her she pulled out a meticulously well sharpened pencil and opened the note book and flipped three pages in she looked up and noticed Nelson wasn’t moving she reached back into her backpack and pulled another pencil out and handed it to him. He took it muttering a thank you. She replied with a “Next time ask”. She pushed the fries toward Nelson as a show of solidarity and he accepted her offering. She returned back to the notebook and wrote:

    Sticky wads of rainbow matter splattered over the brick expanse. Messages, marketing and proposals stuck in clusters pop out loudly against the smaller clumps behind. Many come and go some to gawk, and some to pose. A few even try to lick the Structure I haven’t yet decided if they are brave or repulsive...

Mavis was angry