Happy LDOC.
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It's the first day of classes of the new semester. Bookless, clueless, but with two new 3 ring binders, you walk from your dorm to your first class of the day, wonderfully starting at 11 AM. You wonder what you're going to do with your mornings as you pull your coat closer, trying to avoid the biting winter wind. You fully intend to sleep in until 10:30 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but perhaps something will inspire you to get up before then.
You make it to the lecture hall, a few minutes early because you had the building confused with another one and had no idea where the classroom actually was. You wait as the class before you files slowly out and smile and wave at a high school friend who is planning on dropping math logic. You exchange a couple of witty comments about the math department and the varying types of people in classes as you both swim through the sea of students in opposite directions. Upon entering the lecture hall, you sit down on the right side of the room. Your personality is such that you pick your seat carefully- you fully intend to sit in the same seat all semester. Not too near the front, not too near the back, against the wall so you're not blocking someone else who might come in late. You settle in, readjusting a few times because your back is protesting your backpack and really, existence. So the semester begins.
Two days later, armed with a syllabus and a better idea of the people in the class, you arrive a few minutes early to reclaim your seat. You see a friend of yours, one with whom you could sit, who would keep you focused, generally on task, and who would ensure that you'd come to class, since this class has an attendance requirement. You:
(a) wave to your friend and sit a row behind her, since she's already got a group she's sitting with. You have to move seats, but you figure it's worth the risk. Continue reading at Roman numeral I.
(b) wave to your friend but sit in your usual seat (you're much more comfortable there) and plan to just have several study sessions with your friend. You proceed to stay there the rest of the semester, mindlessly passing the attendance sheet to the people around you and Facebooking, with a slightly detrimental effect on your grade and a slightly improved social life. Fin.
(c) studiously look down, giving yourself time to think over the situation. By the time you look up, the seats around your friend are filled and you must remain where you are. You sigh and promise yourself you'll try again later. Continue reading at Roman numeral II.
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I. Your friend's friends are a little weird, maybe because you've just met them and they have absolutely no interest in knowing you. One of them talks incessantly about the Romans she knows, from Scipio to Pompey, and you're a little intimidated because the only Roman you know is Caesar. Other than that, you've got Hannibal, and he's Carthaginian. You're not really a fan of sitting beside them, but give it another day. At the end of that day, you:
(d) decide it's not really for you. Continue reading at choice (b) above.
(e) suck it up and sit there for the rest of the semester, make a couple new Facebook friends and have a good time studying for the midterms and finals, not to mention getting a great resource for proof-reading and bouncing ideas off of. All in all, not a bad way to spend the semester- you come to class and you have a new friend group for your next-to-next-to last semester of classes. Fin.
(f) really intend to sit with them the next day, but aren't disappointed that you're a bit late. Continue reading at III.
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II. You don't really try again later. In slight despair and with a lack of self-confidence, you start skipping class. Eventually, around the time that Scipio is mentioned for the first time, you decide that you don't really care about the Romans and drop the class. You plan on taking History of Sea Power the next semester. It fills the same requirement and has less papers. Fin.
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III. You run into class late. You've overslept because you have a Quantum Mechanics problem set due at 2 and you promised yourself that you wouldn't be working on homework for another class during this class so you stayed up until 6 working on it and "took a nap" that lasted until 10:50. You're still in your pajamas but you make it to class just as the professor starts talking. The seats around your friend are all taken. You:
(g) find a seat on the same side of the room, noting with a quiet despair that it's completely different than the place you picked for yourself at the beginning of the semester. You're so deep in sadness that you don't ask if you can sit in the empty seat, you just flop down. Continue reading at IV.
(h) whisper loudly to the boy who's sitting two seats down if the seat beside him is taken. He says no and you sit down, trying to minimize the sounds of pulling out your now slightly used notebooks. Looking slightly harassed, you try to pay attention but end up zoning out for most of the class and asking your friend, who you intend to sit with again. You go back to sitting with your friend, despite your earlier misgivings. Continue reading at (e) above.
(i) whisper loudly to the boy who's sitting two seats down if the seat beside him is taken. He says no and your sit down, making no effort stop disturbing people. He looks over, slightly annoyed and you shoot an apologetic look back, while noticing that he's vaguely attractive. You smile at him and he smiles back. Continue reading at XI below.
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IV. The same thing happens several classes in a row- you run in a little late and ask if the seat's taken, but get better at paying attention in class. You're actually a little fascinated by the Romans you're learning about, and are starting to do better on the papers. You're a little disgusted by proscriptions of Sulla, but admire him for trying to restore the empire. You slowly loose respect for Marius, though you're entranced by his name, being the same as your microwave and the character from Les Miserables, who you don't really like anyway because he should have picked Eponine. One day, you show up to class a little earlier (you learned how to do your homework before the night before) and you:
(k*) ask if the seat's taken as you have all the times before this. You continue in your routine and eventually start coming to class a few minutes earlier so you don't have to sign the attendance sheet at the end of class. You write pretty decent papers and have a good semester, feeling confident about your midterms and finals despite not really having anyone to study with. Fin.
(l) ask if the seat's taken as you have all the times before this. You're in a particularly social mood, though, and notice that you've been asking the same boy for these past few weeks if the seat's taken. It never is. You muse silently on this fact and show up early to class the next class. Continue reading at (k).
(m) ask if the seat's taken as you have all the times before this. You're in a particularly social mood, though, and notice that you've been asking the same boy for these past few weeks if the seat's taken. It never is. You strike up a conversation with the boy, asking for verification of these facts. He smiles and says that yes, you're pretty consistent. You laugh it off and listen to the now starting lecture, smiling and thanking the boy when he hands you the attendance sheet with the page that he has just initialed facing up. Continue reading at V.
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V. Several weeks go by with this routine. The Republic dies (gee, thanks, Julius) and some great Shakespeare happens. One day, back when Cicero is still spending his days bad mouthing Antony, you have to miss class because your back is acting up again. It's gotten worse- either you have to choose between being in pain or being able to pay attention and you really can't sit for more than half an hour, at absolute best. On top of that, you lifted some cases yesterday and it was a terrible plan. You can't walk down the hall, much less make it to class. The next day, though, you're doing better and though you wince excessively, you go out to dinner with your roommate and her friend. It beats watching a basketball team screw up.
Surprisingly, you see History of Rome guy, as you've dubbed him among your friends, sitting at the bar. You:
(n) look down and pay attention to your friend's conversation (inconveniently, she's seen a friend of hers and is now engaged in a discussion that you have nothing to do with) and studiously avoid looking over at him. You succeed and finish out dinner regretting the fact that the game is playing on a TV right above where HoRg is sitting. Continue reading at (l).
(o) look down and pay attention to your friend's conversation (inconveniently, she's seen a friend of hers and is now engaged in a discussion that you have nothing to do with) and studiously avoid looking over at him. It's a failure, though, because he says hey and mentions that he didn't see you in class the other day. You:
(oi) smile and explain about your back quickly, finishing your order and saying that you'll see him at the next class before fleeing to a table, slightly embarrassed and not sure why. Continue reading at (n).
(oii) smile and explain about your back in some detail. He mentions something about those little handicapped golf carts and you smile and agree and say that you'll see him in class. You fail to listen to your roommate's conversation at dinner because you're looking at the bar but only slightly regretting that the TV is playing the game right above where HoRg is sitting. Continue reading at VII.
(oiii) smile and choose not to say a word about your back, instead fabricating on the spot a wonderful story about something exciting that has not happened in your life. He smiles and doesn't really believe you, but you've started a good conversation. You ditch your roommate, who is much more interest in conversation with her friends and sit at the bar for the rest of dinner. Continue reading at XI.
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VII. You muse to your friends about HoRg but nothing really comes of it. You start saying hey to him at the beginning of class instead of joking around about the seat being open. You notice that he keeps on passing the attendance sheet over to you with the page he just initialed facing up. You can't find a good way to look without being conspicuous so you:
(p) fail to ascertain what his name is. Continue reading at VIII.
(q) ask him what his name is and he tells you. You exchange names and laugh that it's taken this long for you two to introduce yourselves. After class, he asks if you're going anywhere for lunch. You ditch the plans you have and agree. Continue reading at XI.
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VIII. You've made it almost all the way through the semester by talking about the class before class starts. You mostly say that you don't really read the book, that the lectures are pretty much the same as the book and that one of the TAs is super chill (yours) and one is a pretty terrible and biased grader (his). On the next to last day of class, you:
(r) wear a T-shirt. Nothing much happens. Continue reading at IX.
(s) wear a low cut shirt (boobquake day!) and:
(si) spend the entire class self-consciously worrying about the choice and what HoRg is thinking about it. You avoid looking at him and hurry out at the end of class. You go home and change. Continue reading at X.
(sii) feel very manipulative and hope he puts no store in it. You don't really worry about it, though. The whole purpose of boobquake day is prove that, contrary to a recently made statement, low-cut shirts do not cause earthquakes by increasing lust, because we all know that men lust enough without the aid of low-cut shirts. Continue reading at IX.
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IX. It's the last day of classes, holler praise. You wake up a little late, happy because you've finally understood a problem set for quantum. You:
(t) put on some make-up because you're convinced that today is going to be the day and whatever that means, you want to look lovely for it. Not a lot of make-up. That requires effort. Just some. You head out the door in time to be there a few minutes early. Continue reading at X.
(u) stay in bed because you understand everything and have already read the chapter (yeah, right). Why go to more classes than you have to? You sit in the back for the exam and call the class a success. Fin.
(v) put on some make-up because you're convinced that today is going to be the day. As you leave your room, though, a friend from down the hall has been locked out of her room. You:
(vi) help her out. After all, what are friends for? You didn't want to be on time for class anyway. You go in and sit down and make some small talk, hurrying out after class. Continue reading at XII.
(vii) say that you're running off the class and apologize and hope it gets better. You head out the door and get to class just a few minutes early. Continue reading at X.
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X. You enjoy learning about the end of the empire, feel prepared for the exam and come back on the last day of class on time, listening to the professor, laughing at his random, probably not that funny, jokes. You give the class a great evaluation. At the end of class you:
(w) introduce yourself. The two of you laugh that you've never done this before and he asks if you want to go out to lunch. You say yes. Continue reading at XI.
(x) take too long filling out your evaluation. Continue reading at XII.
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XI. You really start to like this guy and large amounts of time walking around and humming, to the point that one of your friends asks you who he is and you say, "No one." "And yet it is hum-worthy? You know, it's none of my business. I'm just happy that you're happy about something other than quarks... Not bad, with the quarks?" "Excellent." Continue reading... or not, because at that point in time, you've got a life to live. Messy and complicated and beautiful, so go live it.
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XII. You go out to lunch with some friends who convince you that you should look up HoRg's name (you think it starts with a D or maybe a B...) on the blackboard roster and invite him to a party that night. You:
(y) do. He agrees. Continue reading at XI.
(z) don't. Life goes on. You find someone else to hum about. Tomorrow.
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