October 2004
Fallen leaves
lined the concrete path that led from the main road to one of the old residence
buildings at the university. My feet kicked them away as I walked briskly down
the pathway. Panting as I rushed, my breath created smoky billows into the crisp
autumn air. Looking up, I could see that the trees had already begun changing
colours to a wide spectrum of red, orange and brown.
I entered the
lobby and into the activity room that was directly adjacent to it. There was no
way I could have missed it – the music and conversation blasted out of that
room like an uncontrolled children’s birthday party, breaking the
silence of the lobby. Walking tentatively into the cacophony, I searched for a
familiar face, finally finding Madison after a quick circle around the room.
“Hey Ellie,”
Madison greeted me, all smiles. “Meet Dean – we have Biology together.”
Madison’s cheeks were red, and her breath smelled like the beer that she held
in her hand. Looking at Dean, it seemed like he was as tipsy as Madison.
“Hi Dean,” I
quickly said before turning back to Madison. “Sorry I’m late, Mad – I was held up at
the Chem lab. I had to put in an extra hour because the stupid experiment
didn’t work….” My voice trailed off. I realized Madison wasn’t even listening.
Her attention was focused on Dean and whatever he was saying to her. I
placed my hand on her arm to get her attention. “I’m going to get something to
eat. I’ll be right back.”
“Mmm hmm,” she
replied with a distracted smile.
I walked to the
food table and analyzed the scraps that were left – nothing looked particularly
appealing. I reached for the last can of Coke that was left on the table.
Another hand got
to it first, and I pulled mine back.
“Sorry,” he said.
He offered me the can. “Do you want it?”
“It’s okay. I
guess I can just find something else…” I said, looking at the table to see what
else there was.
“Here, you can
have it,” he said, handing me the Coke can. “There’s not much else left
that’s…edible.” He was eyeing the empty table too.
“I guess that’s
what I get for being late,” I muttered.
“Yeah,” he said
slowly, nodding and studying me. “You must be a first year student. Otherwise
you’d know that food goes fast around here.”
I smiled and
shook my head melodramatically. “Busted. So much for pretending to know what I'm doing.”
He smiled at me. “Looks like you missed
the BYOB memo too.”
