Safe and Sound

“Make sure you have your twenty page research paper done for next Friday. Class dismissed.”
Thank goodness, Monday was over.

“Emily, can I speak with you please?” I stopped walking toward the door and walked back to Professor Smith’s desk. “Is something wrong?” I asked, expecting to be scolded for lazy work. My work in American History has not been up to the standards I usually work at because I have been swamped in all of my classes. Professor Smith smiled and chuckled, “Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to make sure you are managing all of your classes. I know you took a full load this semester, hoping to get your gen eds done with some of your history classes.” Professor Smith and I talk frequently about my classes and history. After he asked, I looked up from the floor and took in his concerned face. Professor Smith is the epitome of your university professor – glasses, wrinkled face, scruffy beard, kind eyes, and messy curly grey hair. I smiled at him and tried to reassure him, “I’m handling it professor, don’t worry about me.” He gave me a sad smile and said, “I only ask because I have noticed that your papers and discussion answers are starting to get less and less detailed. You’re a fantastic student, but I don’t think you should be taking so many classes at once.” I nodded. “To be honest, I don’t think I should be either, but it’s the only way to complete my double major of History and English in four years,” I admitted. He nodded and resumed packing up his materials from class. Without looking up from his briefcase, he said seriously, “Emily, I need this research paper from you to be exceptional. I know you want to intern for me next year, but I need an exceptional research paper from you in order to convince the dean that you can handle all of the classes along with an internship.” So this is what he wanted to talk about. “Professor, I know you have a class after this, do you want to walk and talk?” He looked at me seriously. “I don’t think there is anything else to talk about, unless you have questions about the assignment.” I shook my head as he started to walk out of the classroom. “I except big things from you, Emily. I know you can deliver. See you in class on Wednesday,” he called out.

I groaned and put my long, brown hair up in a messy bun before walking out of the classroom to walk home. University of Chicago was a fifteen minute walk from my apartment, and I needed to get started on this research paper. It was a crisp fall day, and my boots crunched the leaves as I walked along the sidewalk. I saw a Starbucks up ahead, and decided I needed to refuel before I started this monster paper.

The door dinged as I walked in, and the comforting and energizing smell of coffee hit my nose and made my smile. I placed my order of a caramel macchiato with a double shot of espresso, and stood near the counter to wait. I pulled out my phone and saw that the time was 3:45 PM. American History was my last class of the day, and once I got my coffee, I could go home, practice piano for a little bit, and then start the monster assignment.

***

Once I got to the building, I grabbed the mail and headed up to my apartment. All that came were the utility bill, the water bill, the heating bill, and a notice that a deposit for my tuition was coming up. I sighed and took out my phone to call my roommate, Alexa, who was studying abroad in London.

“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey Lex, how are ya?”

“Pretty good! You do realize it’s almost midnight my time, right?”
Shoot. “Haha, sorry… I forgot about the time difference again. I didn’t wake you up this time did I?” I have woken her up so many different times that it got to the point where she would turn her phone off so I wouldn’t get the chance to wake her up.

“No, lucky for you, I just got home from a dinner. What’s up?”
“Well, the bills came today and I forgot where you stashed the checks we wrote out together before you left.” We split the rent and all of the bills, so before she left for the semester, we made sure we had checks written out and sorted for each month so I could still pay them when she was gone.

“Silly, they're in the same place they were last month!”
“… That’s a long time ago,” I whined. She chuckled and reminded me that it was in the box on my desk. “Thanks,” I said bashfully, “I’ll let you get to sleep, but we need to catch up soon!” I haven’t talked with Alexa in a few weeks because of both of our course loads. She’s studying business, and will hopefully land an internship with a major company within the first few weeks she gets back from London. We said goodbye and hung up.

I grabbed the checks for each bill, and got them ready to be mailed. If I didn’t make sure it got done, lord knows they would’ve been forgotten. I set them by my keys on the table next to the door and make a mental note to drop them off tomorrow morning on the way to class.
I unpacked my notebooks and laptop from my backpack at my desk, grabbed some pretzels, changed into sweats, and prepared myself for a long night.