up to a vicious headache. It involved the kind of pain brought on by a bad mix of tequila and beer. In the dark of her room she remembered dancing on the shuffle board table at P & G's bar with her roommate, Moe, and doing upside down margaritas. She groaned as she also remembered making out with Dennis Matthews from class and letting him feel her up at the bar. Ughh . She pulled herself up and staggered to her dresser mirror.
She switched on the light and groaned more. She also remembered she had let him give her hickies all over her neck in the quest to make the coolest shaped one. She didn't even like Dennis. She groaned again. The only two guys she had been with in college weren't memorable. One she lost her virginity to in a walk-in closet at a house party. The other one she dated for a few months, but he went in pursuit of other girls.
Then she remembered that Moe's parents were coming over that night to take them out for dinner to celebrate their college graduation tomorrow. How could she hide these hickies? She couldn't wear a turtleneck because a May heat wave had settled over New Paltz, hanging in the air like a fire-breathing cloud.
Coffee, croissants, and water. Lots of water. And then more coffee. That's what she needed. She pulled on a T-shirt and jean shorts over her trim, and aching body, and inched her way to the kitchen. On the way she peered into Moe's room. The light from the hallway settled on a covered up lump in the darkened room that shifted in bed. Yep, dead to the world. She was better off not feeling this hangover. The microwave light blinked 11:15. They had five hours until Moe's parents hit town.
She chugged down the last two aspirin she could find with a glass of water and sat down on the ragged, brown-plaid sofa in the small living room. She closed her eyes to wait for the throbbing in her head to go away. Then she would force herself to walk to The Bakery down the street to get strong coffee and croissants. It was Laura's favorite food spot in town. She craved a carb-fest of feta-spinach croissant and pesto tortellini. Then she might have the energy to clean their dirty apartment before Moe's parents came.
The place wasn't much, but it was heaven compared to living in the dorms for two years. Her scholarship paid for most of her tuition along with her job at the campus bookstore and small student loans. The money saved from the sale of her parent's property helped pay for her living expenses.
But in three weeks they would be moving out. Laura, to North Jersey for a job in communications with a large corporation, and Moe, to New York City for an advertising job. They would be peons making peon money to start.
Moe and her parents had been her family for the last four years, ever since she met Moe as a roommate on her first day on campus. She had been a couple of days late getting there, still in shock over her parents' death. Then Moe strolled into the room all tall, blonde, and bubbly. She was built like a football player and just as loud.
"Hey, it's the late arrival. You got a fake I.D.? Man, do I need a drink! My brain is already fried from trekking across this dinosaur of learning!"
Laura smiled for the first time in days and found herself chugging down a pitcher of beer at P & G's bar with Moe an hour later, after forging the worst fake I.D. in the history of the school. They became best friends from the beginning.
But on the big campus of New Paltz University Laura found herself having panic attacks getting to class. She felt terrified of crossing the campus amongst thousands of other people. Sitting in large lecture halls freaked her out. She felt trapped. The sweat would trickle down her armpits and the tickle in her throat would rise to a crescendo of spastic coughing attacks.
She would then flee the classroom as hundreds stared at her. Many days she retreated in her dorm room to eat Ramen noodles and watch Mr. Ed and The Addams Family on Moe's little black and white television
She switched on the light and groaned more. She also remembered she had let him give her hickies all over her neck in the quest to make the coolest shaped one. She didn't even like Dennis. She groaned again. The only two guys she had been with in college weren't memorable. One she lost her virginity to in a walk-in closet at a house party. The other one she dated for a few months, but he went in pursuit of other girls.
Then she remembered that Moe's parents were coming over that night to take them out for dinner to celebrate their college graduation tomorrow. How could she hide these hickies? She couldn't wear a turtleneck because a May heat wave had settled over New Paltz, hanging in the air like a fire-breathing cloud.
Coffee, croissants, and water. Lots of water. And then more coffee. That's what she needed. She pulled on a T-shirt and jean shorts over her trim, and aching body, and inched her way to the kitchen. On the way she peered into Moe's room. The light from the hallway settled on a covered up lump in the darkened room that shifted in bed. Yep, dead to the world. She was better off not feeling this hangover. The microwave light blinked 11:15. They had five hours until Moe's parents hit town.
She chugged down the last two aspirin she could find with a glass of water and sat down on the ragged, brown-plaid sofa in the small living room. She closed her eyes to wait for the throbbing in her head to go away. Then she would force herself to walk to The Bakery down the street to get strong coffee and croissants. It was Laura's favorite food spot in town. She craved a carb-fest of feta-spinach croissant and pesto tortellini. Then she might have the energy to clean their dirty apartment before Moe's parents came.
The place wasn't much, but it was heaven compared to living in the dorms for two years. Her scholarship paid for most of her tuition along with her job at the campus bookstore and small student loans. The money saved from the sale of her parent's property helped pay for her living expenses.
But in three weeks they would be moving out. Laura, to North Jersey for a job in communications with a large corporation, and Moe, to New York City for an advertising job. They would be peons making peon money to start.
Moe and her parents had been her family for the last four years, ever since she met Moe as a roommate on her first day on campus. She had been a couple of days late getting there, still in shock over her parents' death. Then Moe strolled into the room all tall, blonde, and bubbly. She was built like a football player and just as loud.
"Hey, it's the late arrival. You got a fake I.D.? Man, do I need a drink! My brain is already fried from trekking across this dinosaur of learning!"
Laura smiled for the first time in days and found herself chugging down a pitcher of beer at P & G's bar with Moe an hour later, after forging the worst fake I.D. in the history of the school. They became best friends from the beginning.
But on the big campus of New Paltz University Laura found herself having panic attacks getting to class. She felt terrified of crossing the campus amongst thousands of other people. Sitting in large lecture halls freaked her out. She felt trapped. The sweat would trickle down her armpits and the tickle in her throat would rise to a crescendo of spastic coughing attacks.
She would then flee the classroom as hundreds stared at her. Many days she retreated in her dorm room to eat Ramen noodles and watch Mr. Ed and The Addams Family on Moe's little black and white television
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