[center][h3]Barney Rynsburger[/h3]
[b][i]8:40-9:55 AM[/i][/b][/center]

As the minutes passed by the gnawing feeling of wasted time eroded away what comfort the student center couch offered Barney, and as he grew more uneasy his little refuge lost its savor. He’d been able to rest for a little while, but without news or gossip to distract him from himself he’d started stewing in his own juices. Like the oysters in those sea life documentaries he’d seen as a kid, left out to bake on a rocky shore by the falling tide. It wasn’t doing him any good, and it sure wouldn’t leave a better impression of him on anyone who happened to see. It was time to leave.

But where to go? As he shifted his weight around again to fight off the numbness, his head couched in one hand, Barney thought about his options. It would be a good idea to use what little time he had left before the nine o’ clock classes started to get a bite to eat--they say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all. But right now, the idea of food sounded revolting. It wasn’t just that Barney wasn’t hungry; rather, he felt as if he wouldn’t be able to keep anything down if he did force himself to eat. [i]Stomach’s as upset as the rest of me,[/i] he thought with a painfully dry smile. Besides, eating when unhappy was what made him like this in the first place. And did he even deserve a meal in the first place, after the stunt he pulled? [i]Have a little discipline, Barney[/i], he chided himself. Might as well head back to his room to swap out his Calculus book for his other laughably overpriced text, then mosey on over to his second class ahead of time. Wouldn’t want to be late to that one, too. As he stood, he noticed a crack in the wall beneath the television, and his eyes lingered there for a moment longer than they should. Had that always been there...?

When he got back to his dorm he found it just the way he’d left it. No sign of his roommate Felipe. “Where’d you go, man?” Barney whispered, worried. He remembered arriving with his friends last night from the restaurant, everyone a little boozed up, but he didn’t recall Felipe dispersing along with him and Matt. Maybe he’d crashed at her place. As he put his Calculus book on his desk Barney made a mental note to give his bud a call before lunch, then reached and took the much fatter English book from the windowsill.

Immediately he sensed something wrong. The book felt cold, clammy. Barney gulped and looked over at the windowsill. Stale water pooled there, having leaked in from the window. A sinking feeling took hold of him. How long had it been there? Since…? As the realization hit, dread took hold of him. It had rained on the Friday of Thanksgiving break, at least two days ago. He plopped the text down on his desk and turned it over. The back cover was peeling. Not a good sign. When he tried to flip through the index he got hit by a funky, moldy smell, and the rumpled pages stuck together. Those he did tenderly pry apart he discovered to be blotched all over, a whole lot of ink ruined, entire pages unintelligible.

Groaning, Barney sank into his chair. If his early misfortune killed him, this was his soul leaving his body. Of course, losing the back of the book wouldn’t hurt his studies much, but there was no way in hell the bookstore would buy the text back now. Two hundred dollars, down the drain. Like he needed that right now. As he teetered, however, he pulled himself back. [i]Calm down, calm down. It’s a textbook racket anyway. No way those scammers would have bought it back for more than, like, forty anyway.[/i] Then it would go back on the shelf for two hundred dollars for the next poor sucker to be forced to buy. This wasn’t that bad, he rationalized. This was lose-lose from the start. He stood and slipped the damp book into his bag. Better get a move on.

A few minutes later he entered Principles of English Composition, coming in just as the previous class let out. Those students shared the same unamused look of suppressed annoyance he saw every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in his own class. Not a surprise--this gen ed course was, after all, about as required as it was useless to the vast majority of young adults obliged to plant themselves in its chairs. Which was to say, extremely. But everyone had to put up with it, so put up with it they did. While a lot of the students found some solace in the class’s aide, a very pretty senior who stood in stark contrast to the typical professor fare, the better saving grace for Barney was Felipe. Their friendship began with commiseration over this very course. After seating himself Barney kept an eye on the door, watching for any trace of his companion.

And just before the cut-off, Felipe did appear. Small and lean, with a perpetual five o’ clock shadow and disheveled look that rode the line between confidently carefree and sloppy, he slouched into the room with a terribly overcast expression. [i]Uh oh. Not good.[/i] He sat at Barney’s left as usual but kept his eyes focused ahead. Something was eating him, too. Barney decided to respect his privacy for now so things wouldn’t get awkward right before class, but it was hard to hide his troubled expression. Just two dudes, falling apart together. [i]We must make quite the pair.[/i]

The class seemed to pass quickly. Barney had a hard time focusing. If either the professor or Harriette called on him he knew he wouldn’t be able to answer, but luckily he seemed to escape their gaze. Pretty soon the students were shifting their sorry carcasses to make for their ten o’ clocks, but neither of the sorriest moved just yet. A few moments passed of silent, mutual companionship before Barney took a deep breath in through his nose. “Hey, man,” he said softly, his first words to another human all morning. “You okay? I didn’t see you this morning.”

“Naw, man.” Felipe shook his head. He turned to his friend, revealing for the first time a blackened left eye. “Things...things went bad last night.”

Barney’s heart sank once again. “W-what happened? Are you hurt?”

“It, well, I mean, this is nothin’.” As he reached up and touched his eye he winced. He let his arm fall back to the table and continued in a hushed voice. “Thing is, last night, me and Maria got into another fight.” He hesitated, but the sympathy in Barney’s eyes assured him that he wouldn’t be able to get away without spilling the beans. “Okay, well, here’s what happened.”

“After you guys went in, she stops me in the parking lot, all pissed. Starts goin’ off about me goin’ out to drink all the time, never tellin’ here where I am, all that stuff. And I know she’s got a point, y’know, but I wasn’t thinkin’ straight and I started talkin’ back. Sayin’ she’s always too controllin’, demandin’, can’t just be there for me without makin’ a fuss. Then we’re pretty much shoutin’, and this asshole pulls up.” Felipe’s face turned angry. “Cole Baby Face Steiner. This goddamn white knight walks over, says I’m botherin’ Maria and ought to leave her alone. She turns on him sayin’ to mind his own business and I join in and give ‘em a little push. Just to say, y’know, back off, dude. Next thing you know this guy’s on the ground, howlin’ like I broke his ribs or something. He comes after me sayin’ some crap about self defense and not lettin’ me harass Maria anymore.” Leaning back, Felipe shook his head. “So I slugged him. Maria did, too. He runs off cryin’ somethin’ or other. I turned back to Maria, all happy we pulled through against this asshole, but she just gives me this look…” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Told me I’m hopeless. That I never think about anythin’ before doin’ it. Then she just...goes.”

Barney rubbed his head. “That’s really bad. Cole’s in the SGA. If he whines about you...it could be really, really bad.”

“I know.” A despondent nod told Barney that his friend knew what penalties might await him. “It’s not just that, though. Maria...she looked at me like I was trash. Like she never wants to see me again. I know I’m not the greatest guy ever, but...but man, she’s like, the best thing that ever happened to me. She’s all I got! If she leaves...man, I don’t know what I’ll do. Might as well kill myself.”

This wasn’t the first time Felipe whipped out a line like that. As inappropriate as it was, he issued remarks like that habitually when faced with all sorts of misfortune, from bad grades to sucky cafeteria food. But given the current situation, something about the way he said it chilled Barney’s spine. “Hey, don’t joke like that. Not when it’s serious.”

Felipe laughed once, abruptly. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry, man. Just got a lot to think about.”

Unconvinced, Barney decided to play a risky card. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I’m pretty much screwed, too. Missed a big test this morning. Only a matter of time ‘til I’m out.”

“Aw, bro. We can share a cardboard box together. Roommates for life!” He held out a hand for a fist-bump. Barney didn’t give him one. After a moment Felipe cleared his throat. “Uh-hmm. Well, uh, later, man.” The weight of Barney’s lightless eyes on him sent him on his way in a hurry. After he disappeared Barney turned to face forward again, drawing his feet across cracks in the tile beneath him, to stare straight ahead at the classroom’s smartboard. Other students would be arriving in a few minutes, but until then he figured he could take a moment to try and swallow the lump in his throat.