Hard work pays off

Tha loneliness left an emotional scar, one that drove me to become highly self-sufficient and to concentrate even more intensely on my studies. Luckily, all that hard work paid off, and I landed a full-ride academic scholarship to the local state university. State wasn't a prestigious college, but it was a good school that offered the nurse practitioner degree I intended to pursue. The scholarship covered the tuition costs, provided that I maintained good standing for attendance, grades and student conduct. However, I still had to cover my room and board, books and other miscellaneous expenses. My parents had started a college savings fund when I was young, but it would likely run out before the end of my first year. They agreed to help out later, but they also expected me to find a part-time job to help pay the way. To save money, I was extremely frugal and tracked down some great deals on several items I would need. Among them, I managed to get a used laptop really cheap from a Craigslist ad.

The first days at State went by quickly, as I spent much of my free time learning the layout of the campus. Most of my classes were relatively easy, almost like a repeat of stuff I'd learned in high school. My hardest class was actually the lab for Intro to Biology 101. The lab experiments were relatively simple, but the professor was a stickler on how we documented our procedures and formatted our reports. Each of us had a lab partner, and I ended up teamed with an extremely nervous, pock-faced, dark-haired boy named Jake. After completing the first lab, we needed to write a combined report describing the procedures, tests and analysis. He'd even tried to crack a joke about it. "If you do the procedures, I'll take the T&A".

Up to that point, I was such a shut-in, that I didn't realize that was intended as some kind of sexual reference. I nodded in acceptance of the division of work, but Jake seemed to be waiting for something.

Finally, he broke the silence, "T&A...that was a joke you know...Tits and Ass?" I wasn't sure if I should laugh or be mortified, but I made a nervous girlish chuckle that conveyed a level of uncomfortable understanding. From his dejected look, I had just crushed his attempt at being funny.

The report was due at the beginning of the next lab session the following Tuesday, and we agreed to send each other our report sections by the weekend to give us time to review and make any necessary changes. I got an early start and spent most of Wednesday night writing up the procedures. I emailed my final draft to Jake, and waited to get his sections. When they still hadn't arrived by Sunday, I began to get worried. I emailed him a few more times to inquire about the report, since I wanted to review it before we turned it in. Finally, I got an instant message from Jake. He said he'd tried sending it, but his email wasn't working. He offered to meet at the library on Sunday night, and he would give me the files on a jump drive instead.

After a light meal at the dorm cafeteria, I headed across the edge of campus to the library. Once inside, I proceeded to the back study carrels where I soon spotted Jake. He seemed even more nervous than usual, sitting hunched over his laptop, continually glancing back toward the doorway. As I approached, he quickly closed his laptop and pulled the jump drive from the USB port. "Here...here's the report" he mumbled as he thrust the small silver device toward me. As my fingers wrapped around it, I was surprised to feel several dents in the outer casing, almost like it had been run-over by a car tire. As I hesitantly looked it over, he continued "It's beat up, but it works. Um...did you bring your laptop?"