Group X: Lotus: "Buick City Complex"
Author's note: I'm not 100% happy with this fic, but people have been wanting something new with Group X. Hopefully, the Group X/Gold Digger crossover that I've been working on will be better.
(Page 1, panel 1. Lotus is attired in a nice dress. She is standing outside a fence. On the other side of the fence is a dilapidated apartment complex. There is a sign on the fence that reads "Condemned" on it.)
Caption (L): I can't believe after all this time, they're tearing this place down.
(Panel 2. Lotus walks towards a sign on the other side of the fence. It reads: "Buick City Apartment Complex.")
Caption (L): I've had a lot of good times at this place. Buick City Complex was where I stayed when I went to college.
(Panel 3. Flashback to the past. Lotus, now 18, is arriving at an apartment with a suitcase in hand. Lotus wears a t-shirt and blue jeans. She is entering an apartment that is empty.)
Caption (L): Oh, I was young and somewhat naive then. I think in retrospect, everyone feels like that at some time or another. The year was 1990, and I was starting out in college.
Lotus: Ah, a new place, and a new life. We're going to have a great time here.
(Panel 4. Enter a young blonde woman about Lotus' age. She is in a nice blouse and skirt.)
Anna: Lecita, we've got a long road of a lot of work ahead of us. They don't just give out degrees to just anyone, you know.
Lotus: I know, Anna. There's going to be times that we're going to butt heads over various things. But what's the point of doing something if it doesn't challenge you? That's part of why you're here; to make yourself better.
(Panel 5. Lotus takes her suitcase into a side room.)
Anna: I wish I had your enthusiasm about this.
Lotus: Well, it was a long, hard road for me to get here, believe me. I had to work quite a bit to get to where I am now.
(Panel 6. Lotus returns to the living room.)
Anna: So how did you get here, anyway? I heard you were orphaned.
Lotus: I am. I had friends, and lot of scholarships won.
(Page 2, panel 1. Later on, the place is modestly decorated with a couch and a padded chair. There is a desk at one side on which sits a PC; there is a chair next to it. Lotus has just come in, holding several books in hand. Lotus is in a nice blouse and a pair of pants.)
Caption (L): I had just gotten settled in when I had my first challenge. The teacher I had for Social Theory 101 was extremely demanding.
Lotus: Of today.
(Panel 2. Anna enters. She is attired in a nice one-piece dress.)
Anna: What's up, Lecita?
Lotus: The professor for social theory has assigned me a 15 page report due next Friday. I'm supposed to write on how the democratic government structure impacts the people who live under it.
(Panel 2. Anna smiles at Lotus.)
Anna: Welcome to life, kid.
Lotus: They say if you don't like education, just try ignorance... I don't think I want that though.
(Panel 3. Anna stops smiling.)
Lotus: The whole point of life is to challenge yourself and become better in whatever you are and what you do. What's the point of doing the same thing over and over if you've already mastered it?
Anna: Whatever....
(Panel 4. Lotus sets her books down on the desk.)
Lotus: I know you don't believe in a lot of the stuff I do, and that's all right; enlightenment comes only to those who seek it or blunder into it.
Anna: I've given up trying to understand you, Lecita. I'm just glad you pay the rent on time.
(Panel 5. Lotus smiles.)
Lotus: Well, a good scholarship will also take care of your board as well.
Anna: So you say.
(Panel 6. Lotus picks up a book, and opens it up.)
Lotus: Well, this report isn't going to write itself...
(Page 3, panel 1. Pool side. Lotus and Anna are attired in bikinis, and sitting in chaise lounges. Both of them are on their stomachs and reading books.)
Caption (L): Like many Californians, I spent a lot of time in the sun, enjoying things. Little did I know it would lead to my first lover.
(Panel 2. A young, tall, handsome male enters, athletic but thin. He is wearing a pair of swimtrunks. He gives Lotus a look-over. Anna notices this.)
Anna (to Lotus): Looks like you've got an admirer here.
Lotus: Hmm?
(Panel 3. Another young man enters, also attired in a swimsuit. He is somewhat shorter but more muscular in tone. He is looking at Anna. Lotus looks up to see the first young man there.)
Lotus: Is there something wrong here?
Dennis (1st man): Well, only that I don't know you and I'd like to find out more about you. My name is Dennis, what's yours?
(Panel 4. The other young man goes up to Anna as Dennis comes up to Lotus.)
Lotus (1): Lecita.
Dennis: I see you're reading Scott. Is that for a project you've got going?
Lotus (2): Yea. You know about this?
Caption (L): He seemed nice, but I could tell he was not my one true soulmate. He was compatible enough for me to make a school year relationship work, though.
(Panel 5. Dennis sits on the ground next to Lotus, careful not to get into her sunlight.)
Dennis: I had social theory 101 last fall. It was pretty hard, and I ended up changing over to finance.
Lotus: What's the point of doing something if it isn't to challenge and improve you?
(Panel 6. Dennis smiles at Lotus.)
Dennis: You've got a point there. However, I've found that Finance is just as hard.
Lotus: Well, I'm not one to change horses midstream.
(Page 4, panel 1. Later on, Dennis and Lotus are walking side by side with each other.)
Caption (L): He was pretty good at conversing, and his aura didn't say player. I decided to give him a chance.
Dennis: I really sense something special in you, Lecita. You seem to have some kind of aura that makes me want to be around you. Do you follow the pathway?
Lotus: Oh yes. I can sense that in you as well.
(Panel 2. Dennis smiles.)
Dennis: Guilty as charged. So would you like me to treat you to dinner?
Lotus: Ok
(Panel 3. Later on, Lotus and Dennis are arriving back at her apartment.)
Caption (L): Dinner was pretty good. It wasn't great food, but the conversation was pretty good. At that point I thought that I might be able to turn Dennis into a soulmate.
Dennis: So did you like tonight?
Lotus: It was pretty good.
(Panel 4. The two of them stop in front of the front door.)
Dennis: Good enough to want more?
Lotus: Well.. Yea...
(Panel 5. Dennis and Lotus embrace each other.)
Caption (L): Maybe it was the heat of the moment, but I knew that I would have him around for a little while at least.
Dennis: It makes me wonder what else we can do together.
Lotus: Well, let's just keep this on a romantic level for now.
(Panel 6. Lotus and Dennis kiss.)
Caption (L): I hoped he wouldn't interfere with my school work, and maybe help out now and then... well, what few classes we could book together we did. I got to know him better and vice versa.
(Page 5, panel 1. Lotus enters the apartment. Anna is sitting on the couch, reading a book and taking notes on a notepad.)
Anna: Well, nice of you to come back again.
Lotus: Well...
(Panel 2. Anna sets down the book and smiles at Lotus.)
Anna: Uh-oh. I sense juicy gossip. Spill it, Lecita. How did things go with you and that guy?
Lotus: Dennis was nice...
(Panel 3. Anna grimaces at Lotus.)
Anna: Come on, I want details, girlfriend.
Lotus: We had dinner and some pretty good conversation. Dennis was a gentleman to me.
(Panel 4. Anna looks at Lotus deep into her eyes.)
Anna: So how far did it go?
Lotus: We just met, Anna. He didn't get far.
(Panel 5. Anna shakes her head and smiles a naughty smile.)
Anna: You let him kiss you, didn't you?
Lotus: Under advice from my lawyer, I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it ma incriminate me.
(Panel 6. Anna giggles.)
Anna: Hehehehe. That's what I thought. So was he good at it?
Lotus: I wouldn't have kissed him if he wasn't.
(Page 6, panel 1. Lotus walks towards her room.)
Lotus: Well, I've got to be up bright and early tomorrow. See you then.
(Panel 2. Lotus exits.)
Anna's thoughts: Nice to see she found someone to love. Why did I get stuck with the idiot guy?
(Panel 3. Later on, Lotus is in a class sitting next to Dennis. The teacher is writing on the board.)
Caption (L): Well, Dennis and I continued to see each other and have a good time.
Teacher: Thus a slippery slope fallicy is where the writer argues that taking one step will lead to a second, less desirable step without making a valid point to support it. An example of this is when the legalization of interracial marriages would lead to the legalization of homosexual marriages and polygynous marriages. While this argument was made, it was not supported. After a while, people realized that the argument was invalid - and thus discarded it.
(Panel 4. The teacher stops writing on the board.)
Teacher: The legalization of interracial marriages did not lead to the legalization of polygyny nor the legalization of homosexual marriages. It did lead to more people getting married. Well, that's it for class, Read the story "Cocksure Women and Hensure Men" by D.H. Lawrence in your book. It's the subject for the next lecture.
(Panel 5. They gather their books, and stand.)
Dennis: Well Lecita, what do you think about that lecture?
Lotus: It was interesting...
(Panel 6. Lotus and Dennis walk down a hallway juxtaposed.)
Lotus: It's amazing how someone could put out an essay that was so full of holes and expect people to believe it.
Dennis: That's why we have to use our brains when we read something.
(Page 7, panel 1. Later on, Lotus and Dennis are in her room. The two of them are in each other's arms, and sitting on her bed.)
Caption (L): I had been dating Dennis for a good while, and we felt the time was right. Both of us had wine with dinner and were pretty relaxed. It was spring break, although we couldn't afford to go to some place like Panama City, we could be with each other...
Dennis: Lecita, I can't describe how much joy you've brought in my life. I never thought I could make a relationship truly work until I met you.
Lotus: Well, I fell the same way too...
(Panel 2. The two of them kiss.)
Caption (L): That night was my first time in bed with a guy. I started cramping up and it hurt so much that afterwards, I swore never to do it again.
(Panel 3. After the fact, both of them are under the sheets. Dennis is massaging Lotus.)
Dennis: I had heard how much this was so good, but I never thought it would be this bad for a woman...
Lotus: It's all right, Dennis. Supposedly the first time is the worst for any woman...
Caption (L): I ended up breaking up with him several months later after another tryst in bed. It wasn't as bad as the first one, but it didn't completely satisfy me - or him.
(Panel 4. Go back to the present. Lotus is standing in front of the gate of the Buick City Complex.)
Caption (L): I guess Oliver Wendell Homes was right...
(Panel 5. Lotus puts her right hand on the fence.)
Caption (L): "We shape our buildings, and then, our buildings shape us."
(Panel 6. Lotus walks away from the place.)
Caption (N): Thus closes this chapter on her life.
-End-