I round out the first week of the new year with my new housemate. It turns out that Marjorie has some hidden talents. She can play the piccolo. She is an excellent cook. And she never loses at cards—because she cheats.
She has had a pretty interesting life.
It’s interesting to get to know her, but after four days, I’m feeling ready to get back to school.
I’m still spaced out, but I think a routine might help me. Sometimes acting normal is the best way to get back to being normal.
And, of course, I’m beyond thrilled to see my friends again. They seem happy to see me, too.
At lunch, I get a few cubes of fried tofu and something that I think is spinach before joining my friends at our usual table.
“Hey, Tebow,” Zitsy is saying as I plunk down my tray, “I never heard how your trip to Guatemala went.” Tebow and his church youth group spent Christmas building a library for some teeny-tiny town where there’s nothing but coffee beans and Mayan ruins.
Tebow shrugs. “Got a nasty tapeworm. It was, like, five feet long when it came out.”
“No good deed goes unpunished,” Eggy says darkly.
Tebow seems unbothered by the fact that a giant worm was living in his gut. “Meh. It was kind of interesting. In a disgusting way.”
“If you think that’s disgusting, you should’ve seen the pipe I helped my dad clear on New Year’s Eve,” Zitsy announces.
Flatso holds up a hand. “I’m eating.”
There’s no way Zitsy’s going to stop, though. “The clog was the size of a Chihuahua, and when it came loose, it spewed sewage everywhere! My dad looked like the Creature from the Crap Lagoon.”