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Violet

The end of su temperatures and a thunderstorm The temperatures I knew about and dreaded because it’s been in the 90’s all week But the storm, as they tend to do, comes as an unwelcome surprise

Clad in shorts, flip flops, and a tank top, I’e that coh!” I cry as the first fat droplets hit my face A flurry of the towardsfruitlessly overto recover well from this

At least I’ in the rain as well At a school as large as NYU, you’re never really alone

When I get to the dor onto the building’s welcome mat I scrub atmakeup lately Summer classes aren’t very well attended, so I haven’t had to worry about iins toame a little

I frown atthe frizzy disaster that is , that’s for sure I try fluffing it up somewhat, but it’s hopeless The strands stay stuck to ive up

As I slink towards gy flip flops, I try to muster up some kind of excitement for my sophomore year I’m not very successful Last year was fun, and I did relatively well ina major yet I just can’t decide what I want to study Why, at twenty years old, am I supposed to knohat I want to do for the rest ofweek Choosing a ht onoff

I arrive atin my backpack for es on the floor, all of them with my name on them I can’t help but ses?

As I pick one up and inspect the label, ht, but none that I’reen labels read My rairl but have always been happy withwrong with me Worse still, they entertain the outdated notion that woularly insist that if I just lost soreat wife material for one of the male students here

With a heavy sigh, I bring the armload of boxes into my dorm room and lock the door behind me My roommate and best friend Kristy is out, so it’s just me alone with my diet supplements I tear open the boxes and stare at the contents with a frown I’ve been trying them for about a month now, and they universally--protein bars, protein shakes, and “desserts”--taste like chalk Worse, they’re supposed to completely replace reat, but it’s definitely better than this stuff

My storab one of the meal replacement bars The wrapper says “salted caramel,” but it will probably taste more like concrete I eye it with distaste Maybe I could just have a sandwich, or a bowl of mac and cheese, just this once No one would ever know…

At that s, and I jump It’s the jaunty tune reserved for my mother’s calls I blanch How did she so from my meal plan?!

I answer the phone and try to uileless as possible “Hello?”

“Hi, honey!”every couple of days It’s at least an ile day my fresh NYU is the farthest away from home I’ve ever been

I sit down ona pillow toto match her level of cheer “What’s up with you?”