The Perk, Thursday Afternoon
There were nine different colleges and universities in the city of Baltimore, and several more in the surrounding county. Kathy had gone to the Baltimore Public Library that afternoon and gotten brochures for all of them, bringing them back to the island to browse through. She didn't know if she was actually going to go to one of these colleges. She didn't even know if she wanted to go to college at all. But it was--something. A small acknowledgement that she had a future and maybe she should start thinking about what she wanted to do with it. And looking at colleges...going to college...that was a plan for the future that she could make for herself and by herself, instead of hinging it onto something anyone else was doing.
She wasn't in great shape by any stretch of the imagination. But she was better, at least for now. A little calmer, a little more near an equilibrium. She had no idea how long this would last, but right now, drinking an elaborate concoction that only barely had the slightest resemblance to a proper coffee and going over course listings to see if anything leaped out at her (figuratively! for a change), Kathy was more inclined to enjoy the feeling while it lasted, instead of worrying about its inevitable crash.
She wasn't in great shape by any stretch of the imagination. But she was better, at least for now. A little calmer, a little more near an equilibrium. She had no idea how long this would last, but right now, drinking an elaborate concoction that only barely had the slightest resemblance to a proper coffee and going over course listings to see if anything leaped out at her (figuratively! for a change), Kathy was more inclined to enjoy the feeling while it lasted, instead of worrying about its inevitable crash.