Read Online Cecily Von Ziegesar by Cum Laude (v5) - Free Book Online Page B

orientation, not because you have anything in common, but because you don’t know who else to talk to besides the guys in the room next door who are both majoring in their favorite subject: beer. You enjoy your classes and lectures this first week because they are among the faculty’s best performances, their chance to win you over so you won’t drop the course before Friday’s add/drop deadline. Since most of the students are still in the process of buying their books, the workload is light, a false representation of what it will be like later on.
    Cut to Friday, the end of the first week.
    Just like all the other freshmen, Shipley, Eliza, Tom, and Nick remained clustered in their orientation clique, eating together in the dining hall, studying together in the library, watching TV together in their respective dorms, not because they liked each other particularly, but because they were being punished.
    â€œThe punishment must fit the crime,” Professor Rosen had said before giving the four miscreants “roaming restrictions,” which meant that for the first week of school they could not leave campus.
    By Friday morning, Shipley had had enough of that. Dexter’swelcome BBQ picnic was tonight, and she needed cigarettes, insect repellent, and if she could muster up the courage to buy them, condoms. She’d never even seen a condom out of its wrapper, but it seemed to her that every self-respecting college girl, however virginal, should have condoms on hand just in case the guy she’d fallen for during orientation stopped bickering with his roommate and started noticing her. Her first class didn’t start until eleven, and there was a gas station with a convenience store only just down the hill. The week was almost over. Surely Professor Rosen wouldn’t mind if she roamed to the edge of town for just a minute.
    The car should have been right where she left it, nose in the shallow dip of mown grass in the rear corner of the lot, tail sticking out onto the pavement, keys on the left front tire as was her family’s habit. She circled the perimeter of the lot, glancing back across the road at her dorm to make sure she was in the right place—the student parking lot across from Coke, where she’d left her car last Saturday. There were very few black cars in the lot at all, and the only Mercedes was an ancient beige convertible. Her car was gone.
    Shipley folded her arms across her chest and bit her lip. Who could she tell? Not her parents, and definitely not her advisor, who happened to be Professor Rosen. She’d seen a Campus Security car patrolling the road at night, but it seemed to be a oneman operation, and she wasn’t sure how to contact him. Perhaps it was best not to tell anyone. The car would turn up eventually—maybe. And it might be a good way to get to know people, having to ask for rides. Tom had a car, and she definitely wanted to get to know him. Blushing to herself as she played out a little fantasy of losing her virginity to Tom in the backseat of his Jeep, she traipsed down the hill toward town, flip-flops scuffing theloose stones on the shoulder of the road, early September sun baking her bare arms. It wasn’t long before a white Volkswagen pulled over to wait for her.
    Adam couldn’t believe his luck. He’d been looking for her all week. In fact, he’d seen her several times—at registration, buying coffee at Starbucks, in the library, in the computer lab—but she was never alone, and there was such a rush of blood to his extremities every time he saw her, he was afraid of what he might say. Tragedy wasn’t with him, but it was her voice he heard yelling, Stop, you wussy, stop! Pull over! So he mustered up his courage and stepped on the brake.
    â€œNeed a ride?” he called out through the open window.
    It was the boy from the farmhouse. “Oh, it’s you,” Shipley said, embarrassed that she