"So, I hear we're having a party?" Tom asked
"Yeah, we always have a welcome party at the start of each year to welcome our new students" Kerry explained "But its nothing like your frat parties"
"Well, that's a relief" Tom replied "How different are we talking?"
"Well, for a start, we generally serve wine, cheese, crackers and dips" Kerry explained
"And the music?" Tom asked
"Usually classical" Kerry replied "or sometimes easy listening"
"Well, that's certainly a change of pace" Tom observed, adding "and do people have sex?"
"Its rare, but not unheard of, but if there's anything untoward or non-consensual, the perpetrator will be asked to leave and not return" Kerry stated
"And what if its a resident?" Tom inquired
"Then they'll be asked to move out" Kerry said
"See, I knew I'd like it here" Tom said
"Compared with where you've come from?" Kerry inquired
"That, and just in itself" Tom clarified
There was a knock on the door of Will and Scout's dorm room. It was Gretchen.
"I have to go anyway. I'll leave you two to talk" Scout said, and left.
"I just wanted to apologise again about our last date" Gretchen said
"Would you stop apologising" Will said, slightly annoyed
"I'm sor..." Gretchen began, adding "It seems to be a bit of a reflex"
"Is there anything else?" Will asked
"Actually, yes. There's a party at the student housing co-op and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me" Gretchen suggested
"Like, on a date?" Will replied, semi-jokingly
"Yeah, I guess so" Gretchen said
"Actually, I was already planning on going with Scout and Bella. Why don't you tag along with us?" Will suggested
"It's a date" Gretchen said, cheekily
At the party, Kerry, Tom, Andrea and Jake were talking about the subject of how they came to be at Bromwell.
"In my case, it came down to here or Cornell" Andrea explained "Cornell had the better language program, but the better literature program was here"
"Well, I got in the old fashioned way. I was a legacy" Tom stated matter-of-factly
"One of my undergrad professors suggested Bromwell, and she wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation" Kerry stated "What about you, Jake?"
"Well, I told my mom I wanted to go here, and she pulled the right strings and greased the right palms" Jake said half-hearteldy
"Ah, bribery and nepotism, the old, old fashioned way" Tom joked
"Basically" Jake admitted, when he saw some familiar faces approachiing.
"Hey guys. These are my housemates, Kerry, Tom and Andrea" Jake explained, and each waved as their name was called.
"And these are my friends from Rawley, Will, Scout, Bella and…
I don't think we've met" Jake said, upon glancing at the unfamiliar face
"I'm Gretchen" she said
"I'm Jake" and they shook hands
"Oh yeah, I think Will's mentioned you" Gretchen replied
"And what has Will said about me?" Jake asked, curiously
"Just that you went to Rawley together, and you used to date someone called…
Hamming? Hemming? Something like that" Gretchen explained
"Actually, it was Hamilton" Jake clarified
"I'm assuming that was a last name" Gretchen replied
"Nope" Will interjected
"It was his first name" Jake said, and Gretchen felt uncomfortable, as though she'd said the wrong thing. But she suppressed the urge to apologise.
Then the tension was broken by a ringing telephone.
"I'm sorry, that's me" Scout explained, pulling the ringing cell phone from his pocket and walking over to somewhere a little more secluded.
At that moment, Upchuck approached the group.
"Andrea, may I have a moment of your time?" he said
"Alright" she said, reluctantly
"I've thought a lot about what you said. I realise now that I was being possessive and objectifying you, my sweet, when I should have been trying to help liberate you from the chains of patriarchal oppression" he said, in a fairly serious tone, but his Upchuck voice did creep in a little bit.
"Oh wow!" Andrea replied "You must think I'm really…" she waited for a few seconds while he tried to anticipate her next words
"… stupid if you expect me to fall for that misappropriated Feminist 101 bullshit. You're going to have to try a lot harder if you want to win me back" she finally concluded, and then cackled loudly. Upchuck for his part, didn't show any emotions. He simply said "alright. I understand" and left the room. Andrea almost felt sorry for him as he did. Almost.
"Hey everyone" the newcomer said, as he approached the group
"Hey, Hamilton, this is everyone, everyone, this is Hamilton" Jake said, not really feeling like introducing everyone individually.
"Oh, so this is Hamilton?" Gretchen observed, and then felt incredibly awkward
"Jake, can I talk to you for a minute?" Hamilton asked, clarifying "Alone?"
"I guess" Jake replied
"I know I asked for more time last time we spoke, and..." Hamilton began
"You want even more time, don't you?" Jake replied, impatiently
"No, actually. I came to tell you I've come to a decision" Hamilton announced
"And what is it?" Jake asked
"That you're still you and how I feel about you hasn't changed. So, I was hoping we could, you know, pick up where we left off..." Hamilton explained
"Your feelings might not have changed, but maybe mine have" Jake replied
"Meaning?" Hamilton asked, nervously
"Meaning, maybe we shouldn't just pick up where we left off. Maybe we can't" Jake suggested
Hamilton thought long and hard about what Jake had said, and what he should say next. Eventually, he stated "I'm sorry you feel that way" and left.
"That was our detective" Scout explained "He says he's solved the case and wants to meet us in person to explain his findings"
"Scout, that's great" Bella cried out, and hugged him
"Good for you" Will declared
"What's going on? What were you investigating?" Gretchen asked, and Kerry was wondering the same thing.
"It's a long story" Scout said, in an attempt to shut down the topic
"Okay, well, I need to use the facilities" Gretchen said
"It's just upstairs on the right" Kerry explained
"Thanks" Gretchen replied, adding "Bella, would you come with me?"
"Okay" Bella replied, nervously
Hamilton found Charles sitting on the front step. He saw the look on his face and immediately realised what had happened.
"You too, huh?" he asked, sympathetically and place his arm around his friend's shoulder.
"Well, you can tell me all about it on the walk home" Hamilton declared, and the two started walking.
"Where's Jake?" Andrea asked, upon returning to the group, and Kerry pointed toward him and Andrea followed.
Andrea noticed Jake looked upset and put her arm around him.
"What happened?" she asked
"I just, broke up, with my boyfriend" Jake explained
"So did I" Andrea declared. Jake perked up on hearing this.
"Good. That guy was nothing but trouble. You deserved better" Jake declared
"Exactly. You know, I've never met anyone like you before. You're pretty amazing" Andrea replied
"Thanks. That's nice of you to say" Jake said, clearly embarrassed
Then Andrea tried to kiss Jake, but Jake pulled away.
"I'm sorry, I just can't..." Jake explained
"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that" Andrea said, nervously
"You don't need to apologise. I just.." Jake began, when they both began to hear panicked voices from the next room, and went to investigate.
Bella sprinted down the stairs like an Olympic athlete.
"Scout, call an ambulance!" she commanded
"Why what's wrong?" he asked, as he did so.
"Its Gretchen. She passed out in the restroom" Bella explained, in a panicked voice
"What were her symptoms?" Will asked
"I don't know. She was complaining about her stomach. Cramps, I think. She said she had cramps. Plus there was a lot of blood in the toilet bowl" Bella tried to calmly explain
Scout explained all this to the dispatcher.
"They're asking me where the blood came from" Scout explained
"It came from Gretchen" Bella explained, incredulously and not thinking clearly
"What part of her did it come from?" Will clarified, as he was able to maintain his cool
Bella thought for a few moments "Her butt. It came from her butt" she explained
"Did you get all that?" Scout asked the dispatcher
"Okay, can you pull up her pants and carry her downstairs for when the ambulance gets here?" Scout asked
"Not by myself" Bella stated
"I'll help" Kerry declared and a few moments later, Kerry and Bella returned, carrying the unconscious Gretchen down the stairs.
Then Jake and Andrea re-entered the room, wondering what was going on.
When the ambulance arrived, they only had enough room to take one person with them. Will volunteered and Scout, Jake and Bella followed in Scout's car. Meanwhile, Andrea, Tom and Kerry stayed behind and cleaned up the bathroom.
Eventually, a doctor came to the waiting room to address Will, Scout, Jake and Bella.
"Your friend is going to be alright." the doctor said
"What happened?" Bella asked
"We're not sure. We're going to have to run some tests, but she's conscious and she's out of the woods for now" the doctor replied
"Are you keeping her overnight?" Scout asked
"I don't think that will be necessary, as long as you take her home and ensure she gets a good night's rest. We'll be in touch when the test results come back" the doctor explained
"Hey guys, sorry to make you all worry like that" Gretchen said, as they left
Upon sensing the tension, she quipped "Jeez, who died?"
"That's not funny" Bella replied, angrily "You gave us a big scare tonight"
"I'm just glad you're okay" Will stated, and they all got in the car.
Scout dropped off Bella and Gretchen first.
"I think we can take it from here, fellas" Gretchen said, in an attempt to seem brave. In reality, she was terrified.
Bella helped Gretchen out of the car and into bed, saying "Let me know if you need anything, I mean anything"
"Would you relax? I'm the RA. I'm supposed to be taking care of you" Gretchen replied.
As Scout dropped off Jake, he asked "So what were you and Hamilton talking about earlier?"
"Actually, he said he wanted to keep going with our relationship" Jake explained
"And what did you say?" Will asked, curiously
"I said no." And it was clear from his tone, he regretted saying so. They decided to leave it at that.
As they got back to their dorm room, Scout decided to ask Will a question.
"Do you still feel like everything is pointless?"
"No, actually. For once, life seems interesting again. A little too interesting. I could use a little boredom" Will replied
"I know the feeling" Scout replied