New story-A/U, so no, it's not necessarily going to stick to the Major Crimes storyline. These characters are not my own; I"m just borrowing them. I have had this idea because I've been talking to a lot of teenagers over the last month or so about their college plans. Many are heading off to college soon, while others are touring potential schools. Anyway, expect this story to take twists and turns as our characters all navigate various "College Experiences."
"Okay, here we are! College tour number two!" Sharon exclaimed to her son as she pulled into the parking spot at UCLA. It was 8:00 AM, early for Ricky's standards, and his mom was a little too excited about the day. He noticed as she glanced over to him, eyes sparkling as he avoided eye contact and looked around.
"It's hardly a big college visit when we live right here in the same town, Mom," Ricky replied. "I mean, this is most likely my backup school. You are the one who wanted me to check it out."
"Ricky, this is a very good school, and as much as you want to roll your eyes, it has a great reputation for math, computers, and business, all things you are considering. Now, let's go. You are out of school for the day, and we are going to take this tour. Please," she nodded to him sternly, and he nodded getting out of the car.
"Well, it's the complete opposite of where we were last weekend," he explained as they walked toward the building they had written down on their information packet. Ricky and Sharon had setup tours at several schools here in the spring of his junior year, and they were making the most of their spring break time to visit several of the schools. Spring break was going to start next week, and they'd jumpstarted their tours with a visit over the previous weekend, now UCLA during the week, and once the weekend hit, they were going on a road trip to visit several other schools. "I mean, Northern Arizona was so small compared to UCLA, and don't even get me started on the setup. UCLA is in LA-where I live. Northern Arizona, well, it's close to skiing, and you know that's a consideration. Plus, this is in a huge city, and that was, well, surrounded by a lot of pine trees and mountains."
"Richard," Sharon turned to him, rolling her eyes, "please do not base your college choice on skiing. Yes, location can be a huge factor, but let's look at all the schools on your list before you rule out any. Small, big, schools of all sizes have things to offer. No school is perfect, either. Northern Arizona didn't necessarily have the computer program you were wanting. We have a lot of schools to tour. Let's enjoy our day here at UCLA," she smiled. Ricky sighed, nodded, and he followed Sharon.
It was a half hour later they were in their group and being given instructions for the day. Ricky surveyed the crowd, noting that on his paperwork, he was asked if he had any college majors in mind. They'd then grouped people by that, not that it was any requirement, but it did help for the campus tour to receive information on areas they were most interested. He was with others interested in a wide array of programs to include math, computers, business, and several others he'd not paid any attention to as they called out groups.
"Mom," Ricky nodded to Sharon, as he whispered, "that guy and his son were on the tour with us over the weekend," he nodded to Sharon's right to indicate the man and son standing there.
"Hmm," Sharon nodded too, not paying much attention. "I expect that will be the case all next week. It's almost spring break time, and as much as I hate having to do these tours when everyone else in the state of California is, I guess it's to be expected."
"Yeah," he nodded. "Small world, I guess."
The tour continued, and Ricky seemed to get more and more excited about UCLA as the day went on. It was progress as far as Sharon was concerned. She was excited for her son to figure out his path in life, but she couldn't help but admit she would love for him to choose UCLA, to stay close to home. She'd already sent her daughter off to school, to Arizona State, and while she knew Emily was delighted to be in school there, it still was hard. She rarely saw her, and the trip there, while it could be worse, it wasn't just an hour or so away. It took time, effort, and planning, all which were difficult with her demanding job. With Ricky now, her baby, she hoped he would find the perfect school, but in her own secret way, hoped that perfect school was right here in town.
"Mom, they really do have a lot of the programs here I was wanting," Ricky grinned, as he walked up to Sharon. They had been walking around campus for quite some time, Sharon already having made a mental note to wear better walking shoes on the rest of their campus visits. She smiled at her son, nodding.
"I'm glad you are enjoying the campus. Yes, the school has a lot to offer. I know it happens to be right here where you have grown up, but Ricky, people from all over the world want to come here to study," she pointed out.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Oh, the dining hall," he smiled. "Now, I've got to check out this place," he grinned, moving closer to the front of the group to get all the information. Sharon chuckled, as she dropped to the back of the group to hang back. To her, a cafeteria was a cafeteria; she knew wherever her son ended up at school, he would be well fed.
"Is your son as interested in the food as mine is?" a voice next to her leaned in and asked. Sharon jumped slightly, not expecting anyone to speak to her. "I'm sorry to frighten you," he smiled. "I realize I must have alarmed you."
"Oh," she shook her head, "umm, it's fine. My son?" she looked a bit puzzled, trying to compose herself. "Yes," she chuckled again, "my son might be more interested in the food than what he studies." She rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Yeah," he chuckled, "mine too. Can't say I blame him on some level. Growing boys and all. My son plays a lot of baseball too, so I guess his obsession with food stems from the fact he's very active and always hungry."
"Oh," Sharon smiled, "sounds about like my son. He plays baseball too. I know what you mean about the growing boy part. He can eat a meal when he gets home from school, and then when I get home from work and fix dinner, he can completely eat another meal. By 10:00 each evening, he's ready to eat again. I swear my daughter never ate like that."
"Mine too," he agreed, nodding. "I mean, my daughter. Sounds like we have a few things in common. I'm Andy," he stuck out his hand.
"Sharon," she nodded, taking his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," he nodded, "but you look familiar."
"Well," she thought a moment, "oh, were you at the University of Northern Arizona over the weekend? My son mentioned one father/son combo in the group had been on that campus tour with us."
"Ahh," he nodded, putting his finger to his mouth, "that must be it. Yes, I had him there over the weekend. He is looking at business, marketing specifically, or computers."
Sharon let out a small chuckle, "Computers or math," she nodded. "He says maybe even business, but I think that is a very distant third to the others."
"Mom, this place has so much food," Ricky smiled brightly as he rejoined Sharon. Both Sharon and Andy started to laugh, Ricky looking between the two, wondering who the guy was and why they were both laughing.
"Honey," she smiled to Ricky, "this is Andy, and his son, oh gosh," she blushed, "I didn't get your name."
Andy patted his son on the shoulder, "Nathan, or Nate really," he nodded, turning back to Ricky. "Your mom and I are laughing because we got to talking about how both you boys were probably more interested in the food rather than the programs you could study."
"Oh," Ricky turned red, shrugging, "well, they do have a lot of food options and meal plans."
"Unlimited," Sharon rolled her eyes, getting a confused look from Ricky. She patted his arm, "Don't' worry; whatever school you pick, we're getting the unlimited meal plan. It might be expensive, but for you, it's the only way you won't starve. You will have access to food all day long."
"I like that idea," Andy nodded. "Oh, the group is on the move," he nodded to them. The four started walking to catch up to the group, both boys moving to get closer to the front.
"So, is Nate putting UCLA at the top of his list?" Sharon asked, as she and Andy continued to walk together toward the back of the group.
He shook his head, "I don't think so, but quite frankly, I am not sure. His mom has been helping him narrow things down. Nate lives with his mom, and I'm only helping him this week because she can't," he offered and then corrected himself. "Oh, not that I don't want to go on these," he held up his hands. "I'm really excited to share this with Nate, but he hasn't involved me in the process much-that's all I meant."
"I see," Sharon nodded as Andy explained. "So, it's a father/son bonding trip?" she asked.
"I hope," he nodded. "We've been on the outs for awhile, but I really love my son, my kids," he corrected himself. "My ex-wife can't get time off work, and I could, so here I am. I'm taking him on a trip all next week during spring break."
Sharon smiled, "That sounds familiar," she nodded. "We are doing the same."
"Really?" he perked up. "Where else are you going?"
"Let's see," she started to think and tick off the visits. "We are going to Stanford, Arizona State, USC-which I know is local, but that's when we could get a tour, and Oregon State. It's going to be a long, but fun week."
He nodded, smiling, "Well, several of the same schools. We are also going to USC next week, Stanford, UNLV, Arizona State, Cal State, and San Diego State. It's a lot for about 10 days, but we'll make it."
"Oh," Sharon's eyes grew wide, "I forgot that one. We're going to San Diego State too."
He chuckled, shaking his head, "My daughter goes there."
"Mine goes to Arizona State," she grinned. "I guess you have plans with your daughter when you visit?"
"I do. Same for you?" he asked.
She nodded, "Yes, I do too."
"So, Oregon State?" he questioned.
Sharon hummed, "Yes, his best friend goes there," she shrugged. "I'm not sure it will be anywhere he's serious about attending, but it will be a nice trip, and we can take his best friend out to dinner. They have been friends since they were in the church nursery together," she smiled.
"Ahh, I understand. Nate's girlfriend is at UNLV, so that's partly why he wants to check it out. Personally, I'm not a fan of the girlfriend, so I hope he doesn't like the school."
Sharon chuckled, "I understand. I refused to take Ricky to tour the campus," and when she glanced at Andy, he had a strange look on his face. She shook her head to continue, "Sorry," she offered a smile. "My ex-husband apparently lives in Las Vegas with, well, who knows where he lives or with whom, but I didn't want anything to do with Ricky going to school there, no offense at all to the university. I'm sure it's a lovely campus."
"Ahh," Andy nodded, "no apologies necessary. I take it your ex is a gem," he flashed a smile. Sharon rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Mom? Did you hear what they said about the rest of the day?" Ricky dropped back to speak to Sharon.
"Sorry, honey," she offered a small smile. "I was speaking to Nate's dad here about other schools. What did they say?"
"Oh, we can go get lunch, and after, we have a schedule for the day."
Sharon nodded to Ricky, "Sounds good." She turned to Andy, "Well, it was very nice to meet you. Good luck on your college search."
"Likewise," Andy nodded. Nate had joined him too. "Maybe we'll see you on another tour."
"Oh, we're going all over the place this next week," Ricky groaned. "I'm excited to check out schools, but at the same time, it's spring break, and we'll be at school, learning all about them."
"That's exactly what I said!" Nate exclaimed, and the two started to laugh. Sharon met Andy's gaze and chuckled too.
"Well, best of luck to you," Sharon nodded again. "Let's hope that both boys not only find their school, but they get into the school they want."
"Agreed," Andy nodded. "Let's add then that hopefully we can all afford the tuition bills," he chuckled. "Safe travels, Sharon."
"Same to you," she waved, as she and Ricky headed off in search of lunch.