Curiosity Killed The Crow

Chapter 8

Monday mornings, it seemed it didn’t matter where you were, they were all the same: disgusting and too early.  I dragged myself from bed and to the shower before breakfast.  The nightmares had continued to haunt my dreams all weekend and I felt as tired now as I had when I’d gone to bed...maybe more so.  Not only that, but the howling had continued.  When I mentioned it to Lilli-Mae, she really thought I was nuts.

“Honey, you need to lay off some of the studying.  You’re starting to lose it,” she said as she teased her hair to gravity defying heights.  She began brushing it back down into a more realistic hairstyle.  “Why don’t you find a nice boy to have a little fun with?  I’m sure Ethan could find someone, after all you’re awfully cute when you put half an effort into it.”

“Thanks a lot Lilli,” I grumbled, pulling my hair into its usual ponytail.  I could only imagine Ethan’s reaction to being asked to find me a ‘boy toy’ as she was apt to calling them, besides that wasn’t really my style.

 I dropped the subject, finally deciding it must be some stupid fraternity rush or something of the kind.  After all, the mascot here was the lobos and that would explain why it sounded off.  A little voice kept whispering that it wasn’t the right time of year for rushing.  I ignored it. 

They freaked me out so much I just kept sleeping with my earbuds in.  Come to think of it, that might have something to do with why I was still so tired.  I was pretty sure I’d read somewhere that music could keep you from reaching your REM cycle.

The stupid crow continued to follow me as well, hopping along behind me as I walked down sidewalks, or flying from tree to tree above me.  I kept waiting for it to attack me a la Alfred Hitchcock’s Birds style. 

I was starting to wonder if my brush with death in the desert had done more damage than I’d thought.  Could the heat here actually fry a brain?  Lilli-Mae insisted there was no way I could tell it was the same bird, but I knew it was.  One wing looked ragged, like it might have lost a feather or two. 

I shoveled cold cereal down as fast as I could without choking.  It seemed it was Ethan Lilli-Mae had been sneaking off with over the weekend.  The conversation became so sappy it was nearly unbearable.  I did my best to ignore the whispers and giggling coming from their side of the table.

I envied Lilli-Mae’s ability to fall in and out of crushes so easily.  I might be able to find a boyfriend if I could do that.  Unfortunately I had a feeling I was more like my mom than my dad in that aspect of life.  She hadn’t even dated again after dad left.  I’d never fallen for a boy before and when I did, it would probably be forever…regardless of what kind of boy it was.  I’d decided early on I’d have to be careful.  I did not want to end up like mom: depressed and alone.

We ended up running a little late and the three of us raced across campus, dodging college students who shot us dirty looks.  Professor DeMille was taking roll as we skidded to a stop.  He glanced up from his clipboard, his muddy eyes narrowing as he took in our windblown appearance. 

“Nice of you to grace us with your appearance,” he huffed and marked us as present.  He flipped to a new page on his clipboard and cleared his throat, his hideous, plaid bowtie bobbing along.  He smoothed his greasy comb over and I shuddered. So gross.

“Tomorrow we’ll be heading out to another dig,” he waved us to silence as we all cheered. “But today we’ll be dividing into groups to learn some of the more routine jobs archeologists and anthropologists have to deal with,” Professor DeMille paused, letting us get our groans out and gestured behind him.  Someone stood and moved closer.  

“We have a new transfer student who will be assisting me for the rest of the summer,” the professor continued.  As the guy moved closer, my jaw dropped and so did every other girls’ there.