Chatoyant College, Book 1: New Student Orientation

Chapter 18: Memory & Dream

Friday, August 29

Corrie, of course, had been up for a while and was on her computer. Edie yawned, decided it was much too early to speak even to her roommate, and headed to the shower. When she returned, she felt considerably more cheerful. "Good morning. Have breakfast yet?"

Corrie looked up and nodded. "Sorry. I was hungry and I figured you'd want to be left alone to sleep."

"That's okay. I'll see if Dawn wants to go with me." Both Dawn and Naomi did, and despite Naomi's chatter, breakfast seemed a quiet affair: neither Edie nor Dawn had much to say. It was still nicer for Edie to have breakfast with people than alone, even if she would have been alone in a large room at least half-filled with people. Despite the fact that many of the members of her large family kept different hours from each other, there were always a few people wanting to eat at the same time as she did, so meals were never lonely. While she enjoyed the relative solitude of the dorm room she shared with Corrie, she would still be uncomfortable being alone all the time.

When they finished eating, Dawn followed Edie into her room while Naomi vanished to parts unknown. They came upon Corrie talking on the phone. "Oh, my friends are back from breakfast. Yes. Sure, I'll ask them now." She moved the receiver away from her ear. "Hey, my mom wants to come take us out for pizza tonight. You guys want to do that?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Dawn. "Free pizza is always good."

Edie nodded enthusiastically. "That's so nice of her! I'd love to."

Corrie grinned. "I thought so." She turned back to the phone. "They said yes. I told you they would. Why would they argue? Yeah, bring them. Okay, Mom, I'll see you tonight. Make sure you get here before it gets dark. Love you too." She hung up. "I didn't think you guys would object."

Edie laughed, sitting down at her chair. "Hardly! Doesn't she know we're poor college students?"

"Well, she thought we'd still be so excited by the dining hall food that we wouldn't want to try anything different for a while."

Edie rolled her eyes. "She has some strange ideas. I guess it's pretty good for dining hall food, but it's still not exciting!"

"Can't argue with you there," said Corrie with a grin. She then turned toward Dawn, who was standing in front of the bookshelf that Corrie had set up at the foot of her bed. "See anything you like?"

"Yes!" cried Dawn. "You have the entire Sandman collection! One of my friends in high school had the first three and I loved them. Mind if I borrow the rest sometime?"

"Of course," said Corrie, gesturing toward the bookshelf. "Anytime. I love sharing good books with my friends."

Edie stood up and walked over to the bookshelf, curious. "What's Sandman?"

"Only the best comic series in the world," Dawn said almost breathlessly, already pulling out one of the slim, tall volumes.

She raised her eyebrows. "Comics? Like superheroes and stuff?"

"Oh, no!" cried Corrie. "Well, there are a few superheroes, but it's not like what you're thinking of. It's just like really good novels, except they have pictures too, and the pictures totally make the story even better."

"I have to admit I'm curious," said Edie slowly, picking up one of the books and looking at the cover. It was all purple, with a strange face on it. "I read a few of my brothers' comics, and the stories weren't good, but I liked the way they were done."

"Read it," said Corrie, standing up and walking over to her. She took the one that Edie had in her hand and handed her another one: Preludes and Nocturnes. "This is the first one. It looks like Dawn's got the fourth." In fact, Dawn was already laying on her stomach on Edie's bed, apparently absorbed in the book. "Try it, you'll love it!"