Chapter Ten
Lucy and I have known each other since high school. Kind of. We met junior year at Stanley. We were in the same tour and it was just us, our parents, and the tour guide. The tour guide wasn't very interactive, he basically just took us to different buildings and set us loose. Most of what we learned about the college we picked up from plaques, brochures, and the odd professor who took pity on us.
The best part of the tour was when we got to Reed Hall. Reed is the psychology building and it's basically starting to fall apart. I have a friend who had Stats in there, and once while the professor was teaching the ceiling caught on fire. The sad part is, the professors are used to that kind of thing so he kept right on teaching.
It was this professor, Dr. Brown, that found us wandering around Reed. He came hustling around the corner as we walked down one of the long, skinny corridors and ran straight into my father, spilling coffee all over my dad's favorite silk tie. Dr. Brown, completely oblivious to the cloudy look on my dad's face, actually laughed. He laughed! At my father, the corporate lawyer.
"Mind squeezing your tie into my cup?" He said. "Some of that coffee might be salvagable."
"Hilarious," my father muttered, swiping at his tie with a handkerchief.
"I didn't burn you, did I?"
"No," my father said. "You merely ruined a 400 dollar tie."
The frazzled professor's eyes widened. He whistled and said, "400 dollars, you say? I don't think my entire wardrobe costs that much."
"Astonishing," my father sneered. Dr. Catastrophe was wearing a tie with a picture of a rat running through a maze.
"I'm Dr. Brown, professor of psychology." He held out his hand and, after glaring at it for a moment, my father shook it. My father's a big one for judging a person based on his handshake (among other things) and I'd love to know what he made of Dr. Brown's vigorous, circular method.
Throughout this entire debacle, I could feel the icy waves rolling off of my mother. I looked over at her and saw she had her mask on. Stiff smile, wide eyes, crinkled forehead. I gave it 4 minutes before she had to excuse herself. I looked at Lucy's parents, and saw they were trying to hide their laughter.
"We're perspective students," Lucy announced, gesturing toward me. My father turned around and looked at me as if he'd just remembered I was there. Lucy gave me a sympathetic smile and I knew right there that we'd be friends.
"Oh, perspectives! Would you like to sit in on one of my classes?" Dr. Brown asked.
"No," my mother answered. "We really should be moving on."
"Too bad," Dr. Brown looked genuinely upset. "Well, I hope you both decide to come here!" With that, he squeezed past us all and continued down the hall, whistling loudly.
Our tour guide chose that moment to materialize.
"Do you guys, like, wanna see the library?" he asked.
We all nodded and smiled politely, except for my father, who simply strode off in front of us without even looking to see if we'd follow.
The best part of the tour was when we got to Reed Hall. Reed is the psychology building and it's basically starting to fall apart. I have a friend who had Stats in there, and once while the professor was teaching the ceiling caught on fire. The sad part is, the professors are used to that kind of thing so he kept right on teaching.
It was this professor, Dr. Brown, that found us wandering around Reed. He came hustling around the corner as we walked down one of the long, skinny corridors and ran straight into my father, spilling coffee all over my dad's favorite silk tie. Dr. Brown, completely oblivious to the cloudy look on my dad's face, actually laughed. He laughed! At my father, the corporate lawyer.
"Mind squeezing your tie into my cup?" He said. "Some of that coffee might be salvagable."
"Hilarious," my father muttered, swiping at his tie with a handkerchief.
"I didn't burn you, did I?"
"No," my father said. "You merely ruined a 400 dollar tie."
The frazzled professor's eyes widened. He whistled and said, "400 dollars, you say? I don't think my entire wardrobe costs that much."
"Astonishing," my father sneered. Dr. Catastrophe was wearing a tie with a picture of a rat running through a maze.
"I'm Dr. Brown, professor of psychology." He held out his hand and, after glaring at it for a moment, my father shook it. My father's a big one for judging a person based on his handshake (among other things) and I'd love to know what he made of Dr. Brown's vigorous, circular method.
Throughout this entire debacle, I could feel the icy waves rolling off of my mother. I looked over at her and saw she had her mask on. Stiff smile, wide eyes, crinkled forehead. I gave it 4 minutes before she had to excuse herself. I looked at Lucy's parents, and saw they were trying to hide their laughter.
"We're perspective students," Lucy announced, gesturing toward me. My father turned around and looked at me as if he'd just remembered I was there. Lucy gave me a sympathetic smile and I knew right there that we'd be friends.
"Oh, perspectives! Would you like to sit in on one of my classes?" Dr. Brown asked.
"No," my mother answered. "We really should be moving on."
"Too bad," Dr. Brown looked genuinely upset. "Well, I hope you both decide to come here!" With that, he squeezed past us all and continued down the hall, whistling loudly.
Our tour guide chose that moment to materialize.
"Do you guys, like, wanna see the library?" he asked.
We all nodded and smiled politely, except for my father, who simply strode off in front of us without even looking to see if we'd follow.
posted by Jennie at 11:40 PM
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