...In which our heroine goes with the flow.

Illegal paraphernalia from a dead man in Maine. Looking up the admission guidelines for North Carolina A&T College. I'll explain.

Telly got back home from Maine on Monday. Heidi had expressed some concerns to me about the future of their relationship, and I assumed a storm was brewing. I was correct. I spent most of Tuesday afternoon consoling each of them individually, letting their tears dry on the front of my shirt, saying things that should have been comforting, but I don't know if they actually were. Telly was leaving the next day, dropping out of Columbia, going home, she said...and she did.

She was increasingly unhappy here, despite Heidi, and I think the break will be good for them. I knew they'd be okay when after two hours of fighting, there was a knock knock knock on my door, and they were asking me if I wanted anything from Dunkin' Donuts, together for the last time. Telly said no tears, and there were no tears. I was left with the bowl her dearly departed best friend gave her and its cute little hemp carrying case and her copy of Into the Wild. Like that, she was gone. I will miss her, one my favorite people I've met here at Columbia, but I hope Maine makes her happier, I really do.

And on to better news: I am officially employed! Today I worked for nine hours at CCAP, the Center for Community Arts Partnerships where I've been volunteering since summer. Now I just get a paycheck for it. On paper, I'm an "administrative assistant," but I'll basically be doing whatever needs done - like looking up admissions guidelines for various colleges and documenting them on a Google site so that the kids you're mentoring can have the process streamlined. They're all lovely, giving people, and I'm glad to be getting paid for a job that legitimately does good for the world.

Now there's some upheaval. I might move in with Heidi which would a. keep her from getting a random roommate and b. gets rid of my horrible roommate issues. And the semester hasn't even started! Change is good. Change keeps things interesting. Change is the way things go in the world. New Year, new life, new madness. Yes.