I'm both excited and nervous for the first day of school. I'm worried about the unspoken questions my teachers and friends may have about why I've disappeared since last fall. I walk to Savior Man's house right around the corner from the hotel but I have to make two trips to carry all my stuff and Spencer. This makes me late and Savior Man snaps at me that he's now late and it's my fault. In my defense I called him twice.
Then when he can't find something it's just his exboyfriend/boyfriend/roommate waiting for him. I ask if Savior Man is having a bad morning and informs me they got into an argument and he's worried about not getting signed into a speech course. I nod, sympathetic.
I have two hours to kill before my classes after we finally get to the campus. I visit teachers I've missed in the months I've been gone but feel awkward. I feel them wondering but not asking where I've been all this time. I haven't quite decided how honest I'm going to be. I've always been an upfront and honest person, too much so, but this is just different. In recent weeks I've gotten more open about it. The more open I am the more empowered I feel, but I know it wouldn't take too much to take that empowerment away. Though I know my teachers would most likely be accommodating to my situation, I've had all but one (who is new to campus) of my teachers before and I took their classes because I adore them. (Technically, I haven't taken my photo journalism teacher's class before, but he is a friend to me.)
I walk to Kmart to find a few things I forgot to grab before class. I stop by Dutch Brothers on my way back to campus. When I rode with my friend to classes before I would treat him to a coffee every morning for giving me a ride. At the time I had money so I was able to do so without it being an issue. Now, not so much but since I know Savior Man is having a bad morning and I didn't help I buy him a latte. I find him on the way to my political science class and give him the latte. He smiles surprised and thanks me.
I head to class and get there a few minutes before it starts. I find a seat in the back and settle in. While I wait for the teacher (who comes in late) I fill out my productive time sheets for my housing application. Political Science is the one teacher I don't know. I had been wanting to take a political science class since I graduated high school but didn't because there was only one political science teacher on campus and he started a political cult on campus. (I'm not even joking.) He sued the campus and teachers on it and I believe another teacher is suing him. Anyhow, he was a crazy guy I heard a lot about working on the paper. His scandals were in the paper just about every week so as a result I waited until he left campus to enroll in political science.
The political science teacher to replace our former one also teaches at the state university which makes me happy, hopefully it won't be nonsense. He assigns us chapters out of the text book to read which sucks for me because I never buy the book until the first day of class. He wants it read by Wednesday so I'm screwed if I don't buy it today. Fuck. My. Life.
After class I stop by the newspaper lab to see everybody. There are hugs given out and "how was your summer"s. Our classroom has been changed around and the semen couch has been removed, much to all of our dismay.
My literature class in the afternoon is taught by one of my favorite teachers on campus. Her Creative Writing Nonfiction class was one of the classes I took the first term I was on campus. I adored her and trusted her enough to submit a 145 page final (it was supposed to be 12 pages) at the end of class. She read the whole thing and edited it for me, pushing me to consider publishing. I appreciate her doing that and will list her in the gratitude list should I ever publish, as I promised her on the first page of my manuscript I turned in almost two years ago.
As it turns out Savior Man's boyfriend is in my class. I kick the back of his chair as a greeting on my way to a seat in the front of the classroom. She goes over the syllabus and takes roll. We look at a short story online that was written in the 1800's. She gives us a list of books and holds a small discussion. I slip out to go to the bookstore and buy my political science book. $96 used. I hate myself for spending that much at the student bookstore but I can't go without it. I cannot get behind.
Savior Man drops me off at Clackamas Town Center after his boyfriend and I get out of class. I run to Target to get some school supplies then take the max to downtown. In shelter I put on music and try to tune everything out so that I can focus on homework.
Yougio and McDonalds Buddy in shelter help by not letting people distract me and intervening when the Ginger Clan start to pick on me. I appreciate them so much. I'm up until one in the morning working on political science before I take a shower and stumble to bed.
--mm
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