Patron Saint of Lost Causes

chapter 8: don't carry it all

And you must bear your neighbor's burden within reason
And your labors will be borne when all is done, and nobody, nobody knows
Let the yoke fall from our shoulders
Don't carry it all, don't carry it all
We are all our hands in holders
Beneath this bold and brilliant sun

-"Don't Carry It All" by the Decemberists

Alex jumped as a wadded-up piece of paper bounced off the back of her head. "What the fuck, Emily, what was that for?" she said, twisting around in her chair to glare at her roommate.

Emily was sprawled out on the floor, her homework in piles around her but every textbook left closed. "I've been trying to get your attention for the past twenty minutes," she complained. Alex tossed the crumpled paper back at her. "Thank god you're an academic type, you'd never make it in athletics." Alex picked up an eraser and chucked it, bonking Emily in the nose. "Hey!"

"What's so important that you needed to get my attention?" Alex asked. "Is there someone on fire? Are you bleeding?"

"No, I'm just bored," Emily said. "Can we please get out of here?"

Alex frowned. "And go where?" she said, gesturing towards the rain tapping on the window. "You really want to go outside in this?"

"Honestly, I would go anywhere," Emily said.

"You can go," Alex shrugged, turning back to her homework.

Emily scrambled up from the floor. "Please?" she said. "Coffee. Let's get coffee. I'll pay. Please, I just need to get out of here."

Alex paused. "Seriously?" she said.

"Absolutely serious," Emily said. "I'm so tired of sitting around in here."

"Have you even started your homework?"

Emily glanced down at the piles on the floor. "Yeah, sure," she said. "I've...opened a book." Alex raised an eyebrow. "Don't start with me, Miller."

"I'm not starting anything," she said, raising her hands in surrender.

Emily rolled her eyes. "We'll pretend you weren't about to lecture me about the importance of the junior year GPA for college applications," she said.

"Well, since you brought it up-" Alex started to say. Emily crumpled up another piece of paper. "All right, all right. Never mind." She looked down at her Russian textbook, and then sighed heavily. "Fine. Let's go get coffee."

"Thank you!" Emily said as Alex closed her book. "Let's go, let's go, let's go. I'm going stir crazy."

Alex switched off her desk lamp and dug around in her side of the closet for her trusty rainboots. Today was the kind of day for practicality over any kind of fashion sense; leggings and one of her older brother's oversized tee shirts were a better choice than a cute dress.

Emily, on the other hand, had gone back to full punk, and was busy touching up her eyeliner in the mirror on the back of the door. "We can't get dresscoded on weekends, can we?" she asked.

"Not as far I know, but if it happens to anyone it'll be you," Alex said. She grabbed her raincoat off its hook, and after a moment picked up a book from her desk. "Come on, let's get this over with." She locked the door behind them and dropped the key in her pocket.

Their RA was in the common room, lounging on the couch with her laptop. "What's up, nerds?" she said, biting back a yawn.

"Hey, Elle," Alex said. "We're going to get coffee."

Elle sat up, looked at the window, and looked back at them. "Seriously?" she said. "What's wrong with you? It's disgusting outside."

"I don't know, it's Prentiss's idea," Alex sighed.