it’s almost like it happened yesterday, that first class with the vodo. i remember it so clearly. the twins were in the playoffs, the weather was kinda cold and rainy, we had just buried my grammu that morning. i debated not even going to class, having been so exhausted by the all the work it takes to mourn.

but i sucked it up and changed out of my funeral clothes, fought the metrodome traffic, and after nearly giving up due to the lack of parking, arrived for Intermediae Fiction a mere 20 minutes late.

as i sat down my breath caught in my throat. sitting across from me was a glossy-haired beauty with geek classes and hair so goergous alll you could think about was petting it. as soon as i saw sweet rob my heart started to beat a little wonky and i was launched into glorious crushland. i cannot deny that a large part of the vodo’s allure was his long, beautiful hair.

so on thursday, when class started, i was most excited to spend goodly part of the classtime daydreaming about brushing those luscious locks. but, but, but that was not to be.

since i was starting to annoy myself checking the clock every 10 minutes seeing if it was time to go to class, i just left at an ungodly early time. sitting in the coffee gallery, with another classmate Michael, i spied a rob-like creature coming in the back door. when he stopped to say hi, the bottom part of my face fell right off. because, well, all his hair was gone.

GONE!

in it’s place was some carefully messy boy hair. adorable, yes. stunning? breath-taking? not so much. but then again, it was the vodo and he’s got some kind of irresistable charisma. so i quickly recovered from the hair shock. well, kind of, because as soon as i saw the hair i had to run and hide to call FFJ and share the news. i am that dorky.

but then class started and it was FABULOUS. kelly and i sat in the back giggling like 8th graders and doing our best to avoid the eyes of our friend Ken (who sat in the front of the class). everytime i looked at Ken i busted into giggles. it was so ridiculous. and so fun. but at one point i even started to annoy myself.

but i didn’t get too annoying because the role as most annoying creature was played by Miss Beadle, at least that’s what i’ll be calling her. she was the woman who spent some 10 years teaching English to 10th graders. Miss Beadle went on and on about how her writing had become so sparse because she spent so much time reading really bad 10th grade writing. after she said that, she turned to kelly and apologized, which then gave Kelly the chance to have the line of the night.

“i’m not a 10th grader.”

miss beadle is gonna be a tough one to love. but not as tough as the researcher. he’s back. the researcher is the man who could not believe a 29 year old would use words like barf and loogie. lucky for him, he gets to read the unbelievable story all over again.

and of course, that’s only the firs week. at grumpy’s after class, i promised michael, ken, and kelly that i’d have all our classmates nicknamed by the end of the next week (because i’m doing good so far with Miss Beadle, The Researcher, and Harry Potter (the neil gaiman fanatic who wore a giant scarf all through class).