Checked for continuity, grammar, and spelling: May 3, 2011.
Chapter Ten: Frantic Preparations
It was 5:15 in the evening. Agnes was sprawled on the beat-up, old couch she had stuffed in the corner of her room watching the minutes tick by on her clock. She looked at her watch for the third time and synchronized the times. Again. Turning her gaze to the door, her eyes narrowed. "Hm," she said.
Another minute went by before there was a knock on the door. "Finally," Agnes muttered, grabbing her book from where she had dropped it on the floor and opening it to a random page. "Come in!" The door opened and someone came in.
"Hey Agnes. Do you know where the vacuum cleaner is?"
"The vac-" she broke off when she realized who she was not talking to. "Oh... it's you."
"Don't sound so excited. Sheesh."
Agnes grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that, Kara. I'm waiting for Williams. She has a date tonight that she is more excited about than she is willing to admit, for some strange reason I haven't figured out yet."
"Ohhh. And you're trying to appear casual as though you aren't waiting?" Kara, a sophomore who lived three doors down, shut the door behind her and leaned against it.
"Bingo."
"Well, you might want to try holding the book right side up."
Agnes looked down at the book in her hands and started chuckling. "Good idea, though she probably won't notice." She checked the clock again. "5:21. Man, where is she?"
"What time is the date?"
"They're meeting at seven."
"Hm." They both stared at the clock. After three minutes of silence, there was another knock on the door. Both girls jumped, Agnes grabbed the book again as Kara launched herself across the room, swept Agnes' feet off the couch, dropped down next to her, and pulled another book off the shelf.
"Come in!" Agnes said.
"Agnes, you have a screwdriver, right? Oh, hi Kara." The two on the couch looked up and, seeing a head poked around the corner, they sighed. "What?"
Agnes opened her mouth, but Kara beat her to it. "We are waiting for Sarah who, apparently, has a date tonight at seven and she hasn't come down yet. But we're trying to not look like we're waiting."
"Not look like you're waiting with Agnes reading a book upside down and you reading Jung even though everyone knows you hate psychology?" They both looked down at their books and exchanged glances.
"I forgot to flip it around," said Agnes.
"And I just grabbed the first thing off the shelf."
Annabelle, a junior and R.A. of the first floor, came all the way in and shut the door. "Why is it such a big deal that Sarah has a date, anyway? She's always played it cool."
"Good question." Kara turned to Agnes.
"Well," she said conspiratorially, "partly because of who she is going out with. Remember the flowers she got at the play?"
Kara and Annabelle's eyes opened wide. The whole dorm had heard about the flowers and the notes. "Him?" they said together.
"Yep."
"Is he coming here? Will we get to see him?" asked Annabelle in a rush.
Agnes shook her head. "No. I guess they're meeting there."
"Where, exactly?" asked Kara.
"Clancy's."
"Clancy's?" Annabelle's jaw dropped. "Wow. That's, like, the ideal first date restaurant."
"I know. Anyway, you should have heard her last night. I've known her for years and I've never seen her like this. She's completely distracted and nervous, but denies that it is anything special."
"Flowers, crystal ones at that, Clancy's, and it isn't anything special?" Kara shook her head.
"Wait, wait," Annabelle held up one hand. "If they're meeting there, and her car is in the shop right now, does that mean she's taking the streetcar?"
Agnes nodded. "Yep." All three looked at the clock again. 5:38.
"Where is she?" A third knock on the door stopped Annabelle from saying more. She threw herself into Agnes' desk chair and started rummaging through the drawers as the other two girls buried themselves in their books.
"Come in!" called Agnes. The door opened, then shut again after someone entered the room.
"What are you three doing?" Janet, Kara's roommate, looked at them with a dubious expression. "I come to see if Kara has found the vacuum cleaner and instead find suspicious activity." She gestured at Jung.
"Quick, sit down and look casual, Janet!" Annabelle waved her further into the room. "Sarah's got a date with her secret admirer at seven, is completely high strung about it, and has yet to come down."
Janet plopped down on the beanbag in front of the closet. "You mean that guy who gave her those gorgeous roses?"
"That'd be the one," answered Agnes.
"Dude..." She looked at the clock. "5:41? Agnes, you're her best friend. Why hasn't she come to ask your opinion yet?"
"That's what we're waiting to find out," said Kara.
"You know," said Agnes, "the vacuum cleaner is in the closet and Arnie has my toolbox. You guys don't actually have to wait."
"Sure we do," countered Annabelle. "The more the merrier, and we wouldn't want you to wait alone." Agnes shrugged in assent and they all went back to watching the clock. Another ten minutes passed.
Suddenly, the door was flung open. The four girls jumped and looked up to find Sarah standing in the doorway, completely drenched. "Williams! What happened to you?" Agnes jumped up and pushed Janet out of the way to get a towel out of the closet. She grabbed Sarah's arm and threw the towel over her head.
"I was in my bathroom, brushing my teeth, and I heard shouts through the wall. Well, of course I went out there to see what was going on, and they were coming from the girl's bathroom on my floor. And when I went in there, one of the sinks was overflowing. Something to do with a prank, I guess. So I went to try and see what was clogging it, and the whole thing exploded! I've been trying to sort it out for the past two hours. And when I went in my room, I found the pressure had caused my sink to explode since it is right next door. The water somehow got into my closet and everything's soaked! I don't know what to wear and I haven't even taken a shower yet and I have to leave in half an hour or so! This is a disaster. What am I going to do? I knew this was all a big mistake and -"
Agnes cut her off. "Shut up, Williams. You obviously knew what to do if you came here. Luckily, Kara, Annabelle, and Janet happened to all stop by. Between the four of us, we'll figure it out."
"But-"
"No buts," she pushed Sarah through to her own bathroom. "You can take a quick shower in there. We'll sort out the rest." Shutting the bathroom door, she listened to make sure Sarah got the water running then turned to the room.
"Aren't you glad we waited?" Annabelle asked with a grin.
Agnes chuckled and shook her head. "Don't even start." She scratched her head, thinking for a moment, and then clapped her hands together. "Right then, we need clothes, shoes, the lot. Let's go to Williams' room and see if anything is salvageable. Then you three run around for the odds and ends; there has to be someone in this building who is her size, has relatively the same taste, and has not gone to the Caff for dinner yet." Agnes glanced at the clock as they scrambled through the door. 5:56. This guy had better be worth the hassle, Williams.
6:33, Agnes noted with a sigh as she slumped back on her couch. She had just returned from shoving Sarah out the front door, extracting the promise for a late night chat as soon as she returned. Her thoughts turned toward the events of the past half hour.
The situation in Sarah's room was not as bad as it could have been. The four girls had found a soggy floor, and equally soggy shoes, but most of her clothes were ok. Some things were wet, but she had just done laundry. It was sitting folded in baskets on her bed. In short order, they had selected a number of outfits for Sarah to try. Agnes took them downstairs while the other three went looking for shoes.
Back in her room, Agnes found a slightly calmed down Sarah wrapped in towels and brushing her hair. As she was getting dressed, the other girls came back laden with extras. It took another fifteen minutes for her to be mostly put together, what with all the running for 'perfect' bits and pieces someone had in her room or had seen on another girl down the hall. Agnes then sat Sarah down and did her hair. The entire time, Sarah kept insisting that they did not need to go through so much trouble, it was not that big of a deal. The others in turn kept telling her they knew that and they were not going to any trouble at all.
Finally, she was ready to go and the others had returned to their rooms, leaving Agnes and Sarah alone. At that point, Sarah began to have second thoughts, wondering if she was doing the right thing by accepting dinner. Agnes simply rolled her eyes and guided her to the door. With a shove, she got her outside and looked at her watch. "Oh, look at the time. 6:27," she had said nonchalantly.
Sarah's eyes widened at that. "Oh no, I'll miss the tram!" Shouting goodbye over her shoulder, she broke out into a run. Agnes stood watching at the door until Sarah disappeared around the bend. Shaking her head and chuckling to herself, she went back to her room.
Now all I've got to do is wait, she thought. With another sigh, she looked up at the ceiling and cracked a grin. Getting up, she took off her socks, donned her flip-flops, and grabbed her keys. When she opened her door, Kara was poised to knock with Janet and Annabelle standing behind her. "She's gone. Finally."
Janet snorted. "I should hope so. Actually, we forgot the vacuum."
"And the screwdriver," added Annabelle. "Where are you going?"
"As I said before, vacuum is in the closet and Arnie has my toolbox. I'm off to get a mop from the custodial closet and then up to Williams' room to clean the mess before water starts seeping into more areas. Want to give a hand?"
The three girls looked at each other and shrugged. "Sure," said Annabelle.
As they walked down the hall, Kara grinned and looked at her companions conspiratorially. "So," she said, "what do you think this mystery man of Sarah's is really like?" Giggling, they spent the next few hours making various wild guesses as they returned Sarah's room to a less aquatic state.