Everyone is at Drew's house except me.
"Does anyone know what this is about?" Drew sked, then glanced over at Lewis.
"Don't look at me, Drew. I know as much as you do. Nothing," Lewis said.
I came in the front door.
"So, what's the big news?" Kate asked.
"Yeah spit it out!" Oswald added.
"If you guys'll give me a chance," I said, then paused for silence. "Okay, well, remember when I'd been applying to all those colleges? Well, I got a reply back today..."
"And?" Lewis asked.
"I was accepted to Kent State!" I said.
Everyone got up & gathered around me.
"Geez, it's a good thing I'm not clausterphobic!" I said, jokingly.
"So, how's this gonna change everything?" Drew asked.
"Well, I'm gonna live on campus..." I said.
Kate gave me a hug. "You're wonderful!"
"...And I'm gonna have to quit my job at DrugCo. My parents offered to pay for everything and I had gotten a few scholarships before graduation," I finished.
"Wow, my cousin, in college! I think I'm gonna cry," Oswald said, wiping an eye.
"You know what? We should celebrate!" Drew suggested. "I'll go order the pizza." He went into the kitchen.
"We're gonna need sodas," Kate said.
"I'll go with ya," Oswald said.
They left, leaving me & Lewis.
"Lewis?" I looked at him. Seeing the blank look on is face, I became weary of asking him anything, so I left it at that.
"It's great," he said, then forced a half smile.
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence," I blurted out before thinking.
"Oh, you're very welcome," he said, sarcastically, then left.
I took a stop after him, then stopped. 'Dammit.'
"Man, I can't believe they accept students up to a week before classes start," Kate commented, pulling some stuff out of a box.
"Yeah, I was pretty surprised mself. I mean, I'd pretty much ruled out college... atleast until next fall," I said, putting clothes in a drawer.
"How'd a get a room to yourself?" Kate asked.
"I just asked for one. Just lucky, I guess," I said. I went over and grabbed a few things from the box Kate was working on. "Geez..."
"What?"
I turned the frame I was holding around to show her the picture.
"Oh... well, just think, now you can focus your attention on your classes," Kate said.
"Hm," I replied, placing the frame back in the box.
That night I couldn't sleep. I clicked on the light and sat up. I rested my chin in the palms of my hands.
Moments later, I could hear a tapping. I looked over at the window, got up, went over to it, and pulled up the blinds, then the window.
"Lewis!? What the hell are you doing here?" I asked.
"Well, I was just passing through the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by..." he said.
"My window?" I asked.
"Okay, I made that up," Lewis said. "Listen, I realized I wasn't being fair earlier. You got a chance to make something of yourself."
"Other than a spectacle?" I asked.
"That's part of it..." he said. "Umm... you know, I was sort of hoping you'd let me in."
"Let me think about it," I said. "Only if you can get in through the window."
"YOu don'w want to make this easy for me, do you?" Lewis asked.
"No, no really," I said, then grinned.
I helped him in through the window--I was serious-- and we chatted until about 3am.
My clock came on the next morning at about 9am. I had two hours before my first class. I sat up, stretched, and saw Lewis asleep on the chair in the corner.
I rummaged quickly for some clothes, grabbed my key, and locked the door after me. My first day of college is not the day to earn a reputation... good or bad.
I came back in the room about 15 minutes later. I put the books I needed in my backpack. I walked around the corner of the bed and smacked my foot right into it.
"Ouch!" I said. So much for being quiet.
Lewis started to shift in the chair. I looked over. Heo pened his eyes.
"Ugh, morning already?" he asked, still half asleep. He saw me holding my foot. "What'd you do?"
"Just the usual slam my foot into the corner of the bed, that's all," I said.
Lewis stretched and yawned. "Well, if you can keep from inflicting more pain upon yourself, maybe I can get a little more sleep."
"I gotta get going pretty soon, here, you know," I said.
He closed his eyes. "Then lock the door after you. Take your key and I'll lock it behind me."
"Are you kidding? It's daylight! Leave through the window! Maybe that way fewer people will notice," I argued.
"Fine," Lewis said.
I glared at him.
Eventually, he peeked to see if I was still in the room. "What?"
"If someone sees you leaving my room, I'm gonna end up getting a reputation," I said.
"You guys still worry about reputations? Wow," Lewis said. "I never had a reputation. Matter of fact, hardly anyone knew I was alive..."
"You don't hafta tell me, I've been there! I just wanna be known as a girl who's quiet and kinda keeps to herself and hopefully make a few friends here," I said.
"Wait, so how does my being here affect that?" he asked.
"The night before classes start and I've already got a guy in my room the whole night?" I said, quietly. "Oh, yeah, that won't cause me a bad rep or start any rumors about me. Noooo!" I rolled my eyes.
"Oh... but it didn't happen that way," Lewis said.
"You know that and I know that, but the rest of the student body doesn't," I said, plainly.
"So, how can I leave without being noticed?" he asked.
"Just wait until we're in classes and sneak out the window when no one's around," I said.
"I can't wait until I get a real job," Kate said, putting the last bottle of Buzz Beer in the case.
"I thought this was a real job," Oswald said.
"Nevermind," Kate said. "So... where's Lewis? He should be here helping us."
"I don't know. I haven't seen him since last night," Oswald said.
Lewis came into the garage/brewery.
"Where were you?" Kate asked.
"College," Lewis said, then paused. "Wow, that sounded good!"
"Lewis," Kate said, getting annoyed.
"Okay, okay. I went and found Lauren last night and we ended up talking until 3am. You know, it's alot tougher trying to sneak around there in daylight," Lewis said.
"Obviously!" Kate said. She turned to Oswald, who was drinking one of the beers. "Can we fill the cases first before you drink our profits?"
"Man, you're worse in charge than Drew," Oswald said.
"That's why he left me in charge while he's in Toledo," Kate said, sealing a case. "Now, where does this batch go?"
"Some frat house," Oswald said, taking another sip. "Maybe we could crash it."
"No!" Kate siad. "We deliver and leave because we've still got more orders to fill. Now, do you think you can deliver these without drinking anymore?"
Oswald took another sip. "Okay."
Kate shook her head. "I give up."