Kate would be on campus all day this Wednesday, between three classes and her work-study program in between. \u00a0Then she would be back on Friday morning for two classes, having Thursday off. \u00a0She usually planned Thursdays to be her homework day, the day that not only she would do homework and study, but also the chores around the house, since most of the time the other girls were gone. \u00a0They paid an extra part of her rent if she kept the house neat, which wasn\u2019t that difficult with Lynn making sure people at least picked up after themselves. \u00a0Niva was always meticulous; it was Ana who threw stuff around.<\/p>\n
She went the two doors down to the Scott Building, named after some obscure scientist who had probably donated half the money to the building of the site. \u00a0She never got a chance to look at the plaque under the picture of a balding man with glasses, and frankly, was never interested. \u00a0History was not her forte\u2019, and she knew that she was putting off the Western Civ class that she knew she\u2019d have to take next semester.<\/p>\n
Entering the Scott building, she saw one of the girls from her class, chugging down a Mountain Dew out of a can that must have come out of the vending machine before her. \u00a0She didn\u2019t know the girl\u2019s name, but knew that she was from her class. \u00a0\u201cHi,\u201d Kate said, not wanting to be rude.<\/p>\n
The girl turned to her and said, \u201cHi,\u201d then burped. \u00a0She put her hand over her mouth while Kate giggled. \u00a0\u201c\u2018scuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all right, I\u2019m used to raunchy burps with three brothers,\u201d Kate said. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m Kate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d said the girl, taking Kate\u2019s outstretched hand, after shifting the can to her other hand, \u201cI\u2019m Melissa. \u00a0Lissa for short.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNice to meet you. \u00a0Did you do that short program Jimenez assigned?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProgram? \u00a0No, I read the book. \u00a0I\u2019m not doing programming.\u201d \u00a0She finished the can and tossed it in the recycling bin. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m a Fine Arts major, at least until I figure out what I really want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kate smiled, maybe it would be a good idea to get on this girl\u2019s good side. \u00a0\u201cI might need your help with papers. \u00a0I\u2019m not very good with those.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you taking Comp?\u201d Lissa asked, as they walked up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. \u00a0Comp was short for College Composition, what all freshmen had to take in their first or second semester.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, with Professor White.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, he\u2019s just a post-grad,\u201d said Lissa, and they cleared the floor to the second level. \u00a0\u201cThey call him professor because he happens to be teaching the class. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t have anything special.\u201d \u00a0They approached the door to the class. \u00a0Lissa stopped and looked awkward for a minute. \u00a0\u201cWell, I\u2019ll be seeing you,\u201d she said, and left Kate there near the door.<\/p>\n
Kate\u2019s shoulders slumped without her realizing it. \u00a0She hadn\u2019t made any friends except for her roommates, and those were were forced to be together. \u00a0There was one boy in her work-study, but she thought he was gay or at least too geeky for her. \u00a0He kept going on and on about a Doctor Who, something she didn\u2019t know anything about.<\/p>\n
She went to a seat on the opposite side of the lecture hall, following Lissa with her eyes. \u00a0Lissa went over to a group of girls and all of them, laughing and joking, stayed at the top of the lecture hall. \u00a0Kate had never noticed them before, but they acted like a group of chickens on her farm – aloof and always talking to each other, not wanting to be bothered with anyone around them until, probably, someone decided to sit between them.<\/p>\n
Professor Carlos Jimenez came out of the side hall. \u00a0He was a handsome Hispanic, with dark skin and dark hair and eyes. \u00a0He had a beard but no mustache, and stood just slightly taller than Kate. \u00a0She knew this, because his office was next to her advisor\u2019s, and she had met him personally.<\/p>\n
Jimenez put on the wireless mike and Kate took out her iPhone. \u00a0She always made a recording of the lectures, sometimes transcribing them when she had the time. \u00a0She was an oral learner, she had found out years ago, learning better when things were read to her than when she had to read them.<\/p>\n
He tapped the microphone and, satisfied that it worked, he said, \u201cGood morning, everyone. \u00a0Today we\u2019re going to learn about [something about computers].\u201d<\/p>\n
Kate turned on her voice recorder option on the iPhone and quietly listened.<\/p>\n
[Find a lecture about computers and simplify it]<\/p>\n
Kate stopped the iPhone\u2019s recording. \u00a0She put that away first, and then her notebooks. \u00a0She decided, as usual, to wait for everyone else to hit the doors before she did.<\/p>\n
She glanced at her watch as she waited. \u00a0She already knew she had about a half an hour before her next class, College Algebra, and then it would be time for lunch. \u00a0She had maybe another half-hour between lunch and her work-study, and then an afternoon class. \u00a0She would be home by five.<\/p>\n
She wondered if she should pick up anything for dinner. \u00a0She had some hot dogs and mac and cheese with her name on it in the freezer – everyone thought she was weird getting frozen mac and cheese, but she liked it better than the florescent boxed stuff the other girls got. \u00a0She was starting to get a taste for Ramen noodles, something she\u2019d never had at home. \u00a0However, her parents gave her about $300 a month in spending money, all on a personal credit card that had exactly $300 on it. \u00a0At the end of the month, if there was any money left – and because she was very frugal there usually was – she would take it out as a cash advance and put it aside. \u00a0She wanted to go home to her parents on spring break, and she was saving enough money for that.<\/p>\n
Kate saw Lissa with the gaggle of girls again, as they headed down the quad toward the library. \u00a0She also saw Ana standing at the outside of the library, smoking a cigarette, blatantly against campus regulations. \u00a0Kate shook her head and walked on into the cafeteria.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t like the food there, because it was strangely ethnic. \u00a0There was one side for Hispanic food, another for Indian and Asian food, and another with hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. \u00a0She got a slice of greasy pizza, and paid for it with her card.<\/p>\n
Someone jostled her from behind, and she saw it was two boys who looked like jocks, both wearing letter jackets from their high school. \u00a0\u201cIs that your snack?\u201d \u00a0They both guffawed at their own joke. \u00a0Kate felt her face get hot, and she turned to ignore them. \u00a0One of them called \u201cBoom boom, ba boom, boom,\u201d at each step she took away from them.<\/p>\n
Kate wasn\u2019t obesely heavy, but probably compared to the anorexic girlfriends they probably had, she was. \u00a0It was something she had fought against all her life. \u00a0Nebraska was not kind to her in high school, either, and her whole family was a bit on the heavy side due to the rich food her mother made.<\/p>\n
She had thought coming to college would mean she was an adult and wouldn\u2019t have to deal with some of the stupid things kids did in high school. \u00a0What she had forgotten, and was painfully reminded at this moment in time, was that the first couple of years of college weren\u2019t that different than the last couple of years of high school. \u00a0Maybe if she stuck through it, by the time she graduated, she would be among adults and real people in the workplace, and would not have to deal with these kind of immature people again.<\/p>\n
She sat down alone on the third floor of the cafeteria, where no one else dared to go. \u00a0She sat and ate her pizza, going over her notes from the prior class in Algebra to get an idea of what she would be expecting in today\u2019s class. \u00a0Her syllabus also gave her a clue, but since she had barely squeaked by her high school algebra, most of it was arcane to her.<\/p>\n
After she finished eating her lunch, and it was her lunch, not a snack, she decided to head early to the class. \u00a0At worst, there would be people in the classroom and she\u2019d have to wait in the hallway. \u00a0There were plenty of places to sit in the hallway if she needed to.<\/p>\n
She walked half-way across the quad, passing the computer tutoring lab which was where her work-study was. \u00a0She wondered if Brian was going to be there today. \u00a0She\u2019d at least have someone to talk to, while people worked on their projects because maybe they didn\u2019t have computers at home or they couldn\u2019t get their computers at home to run some of the Linux or Windows or Oracle programs that they had.<\/p>\n
At the Hawes Building, she went into the first floor and glanced inside the classroom. \u00a0Two people were there already, either reading or writing in notebooks. \u00a0She opened the door and stepped inside, glancing around for her favorite seat – in the middle row, toward the back. \u00a0She didn\u2019t mind people sitting behind her.<\/p>\n
Soon enough, the place started to fill up. \u00a0A goth girl sat behind her, and a kid with a brown duster sat to the side of her. \u00a0She stared at him for a minute, thinking she knew him from somewhere. \u00a0Maybe he was in on of her other classes, she thought. \u00a0There was something about the canvas duster that he draped over the other chair. \u00a0Did her brother have one of those? \u00a0If not, he would want one. \u00a0They were pretty badass.<\/p>\n
The professor came in, and nodded to them all. \u00a0\u201cAfternoon. \u00a0Please pass in your homework.\u201d<\/p>\n
She already had it out and ready, and passed it to the boy in front of her, after taking goth girl\u2019s. \u00a0The professor gathered it up from each front-row student. \u00a0\u201cHm, kind of light here. \u00a0Homework that I request passed in is part of your grade and cannot be made up. \u00a0I expect you to do the homework in the order that I present in the syllabus. \u00a0Otherwise, you will learn nothing.\u201d \u00a0He turned to the front of the class and the boy with the duster covertly stuck up his middle finger at him. \u00a0Kate smiled and looked away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kate would be on campus all day this Wednesday, between three classes and her work-study program in between. \u00a0Then she would be back on Friday morning for two classes, having Thursday off. \u00a0She usually planned Thursdays to be her homework … Continue reading