Everybody knew Debbie, but no one really knew her. If you asked her God-fearing parents, she was such a good, quiet girl who never put up a fight with them nor ever asked for anything. If you asked the neighbors in the small town she grew up in, she was the strange girl who never said much and refused to look you in the eye. If you asked her high school classmates, she was the weird girl in the big baggy sweatshirts who ate lunch by herself. But no matter who you asked, everyone would agree to tell you that while she may not interact with anyone, she was beyond smart. What she lacked in social skills, she made up for in brains. No one really ever knew what to make of Debbie Townsend, or as she was known to those that know her, "Debbie Downer".
Debbie was your typical 18 yr old closed off individual. Her jet black straight hair was worn down and around her face to hide the beauty beneath. At 5'2 and 104 lbs,, she had a small frame with 32B breasts and small hips, but you would never be able to tell under her oversized clothing. Devoid of any makeup except for the dark eyeliner she wore as she felt it further hid her bright blue eyes.
Both of her parents are your average "nerdy" parents, never caring for their appearance and strictly focusing on their respective careers, church, and raising their daughter. Now that Debbie was older, they did often escape on a Saturday afternoon to play Bingo with some friends and church events on Sundays. The rest of the week, they were caught up watching old Perry Mason shows or working on puzzles.
Her Junior year of high school, Debbie scored a 1554 on her S.A.T.... A score today that Debbie never would allow herself to live down missing the proverbial perfect 1600 by 46 points. She would often beat herself up about this, but it did open plenty of doors for her. Being a complete introvert, she did not do the community service many universities looked for as her dad put her as an unpaid intern working on the books in his accounting office for her hours. She completely failed the interview process with any Dean she sat with, but still, the offer letters came pouring in with full ride scholarships.
After sifting through the mountain of offers with her parents, she finally accepted an opening at Princeton University. And why not? Her parents were beyond proud to have their one and only daughter attend an Ivy League school only two hours away from home without paying a dime for it. They would beam to their friends and family, further embarrassing Debbie to the point she often would leave the room and hide in a bathroom adding to the mystique and awkwardness of her perception to others.
Come August, there was no send off party. There was no fanfare at all when she finally made her way to Princeton and the freshman dorm with her mom crying behind her as her father lifted whatever his weak body could to assist. She entered her empty shared room for her first time. It was clear that whomever her roommate was had been there for quite some time, but the girl had kept her room fairly tidy which Debbie and her parents were appreciative of.
With her roommate gone, her father left the boxes across the room one trip at a time while Debbie and her mom started to unpack. Lifting one heavy box off the floor, Debbie dropped it at the head of her roommates bed. The pillow jumped and shifted and out rolled a hot pink rubber cylinder with an apparent "+" and "-" signs on the top of the hard plastic handle. With her mom's back turned the other direction rambling on and on about her days at Rutgers University, Debbie reached down and picked up the 8" thick shaft and held it a foot from her face. She inspected it with both hands and flipped the switch on the top of the tube. Bzzzzzzzz! (oh shit!) She quickly turned it off before her mom even picked up on it as she is laughing at her own old tale. Curious for more, she tucked the item in the deep pockets of her pants and tried to hide the red coloring arising in her cheeks.
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Hours later, mostly unpacked, trip to the bookstore in, and lunch with the family complete, her parents leave with a tearful goodbye. She clutches her new Princeton Tigers hoodie as she watches them drive away. She has never been alone for more than a few hours on her own, and here she now stands outside of the busy dorm, alone. She has never been one to shy away from being alone, but this feeling was dark and scary. Debbie rushes to her still empty room and plops on her new bed... Unsure of what to do, how to act, she hugs the big soft sweatshirt. She sits in silence for a few moments staring at her new environment, taking it all in. She glances around realizing how empty she feels. She looks across the room at the stranger's belongings. Neat desk area with books on Photography strewn about along with a fancy Canon camera. Pictures of a blonde teen hugging an older man she assumes to be her father. No clothes on the floor. Half-made bed. This reminds her of her new found item still in her pants she had forgotten about.