FD #5: Freshman Dreams

Grade: A. Winnie is finally a sympathetic character instead of irritating, KC is less nasty, and Lauren has reached a turning point. Faith is not seen much; her story will be interesting further on. And Melissa is getting into the mix!

This is the Thanksgiving episode (although we’re only told about the day itself in flashback). KC’s parents are hosting dinner at the Windchime. Faith and Winnie’s presence is a given. Lauren is invited, if she’s able to go. Brooks will be with his own family. Melissa’s parents live in Springfield, and she gets very uncomfortable when Faith tells her she’s welcome in Jacksonville.

Winnie: Flashback to meeting Josh in Paris. Unlike Vincent Vega, she did go into Burger King, and according to her, some of the sandwiches were on baguettes. She was homesick, he was having culture shock, and they bonded. Now she’s meeting him at the bus station. He’s a classic grunge guitarist (blond, no comparison to Cobain, but the reader can fill that in if they choose). They kiss and the world falls away, yadda yadda. They wander around downtown Springfield in a romantic daze, but Winnie can’t forget she has a study session at 8pm. Travis lives in the moment and spends what he has on him, like he did in Europe. Winnie has settled down a bit since then. 

Travis may be around for a while, if he can find a gig. Winnie is trying to decide if she wants him to stay, or if she wants to pursue Josh. And does Josh want to be pursued? He’s not hostile, but he’s keeping Winnie at arm’s length, and it’s clear that unlike Tumbleweed Travis, Josh is focused and organized. Which may be what Winnie wants and needs. After the study session, she can’t sleep, so she knocks on Josh’s door, waking him up, and apologizes for standing him up (she refers to Travis as “…an old friend…”). Josh is largely unreceptive, but does squeeze her hand before closing the door.

The next day, Travis crashes her Western Civ exam. After a passionate kiss (in the classroom! during the exam!), he waits for her outside and they tour Springfield. He already knows more about the place than Winnie does, which underscores his decision not to go to college: he thinks it limits one’s education. Winnie doesn’t quite agree; she’s enjoying learning. She also won’t go into his rented room with him. (Although it’s not stated, she can hardly choose Josh if she sleeps with Travis now.) Clearly, things have changed. Winnie agrees to go to his performance at the Beanery on the day before T’giving; they’ll decide then where, if anywhere, this is going. She’s still trying to communicate with Josh,  who is super busy, but he agrees to meet and talk things out….Wednesday night at 10:30 pm. Winnie agrees, and is beside herself with joy, until she remembers that’s also her night to see Travis and decide about him. 

On the big night, Lauren lends Winnie her BMW so she can keep both dates. One of Travis’s songs is clearly about her, and how she’s taken herself away from him. He’s very perceptive, because by now, she knows she’s only there to say goodbye. Travis makes one last offer: will she come to L.A. with him? Winnie says no, she can’t. Not just for Josh, or her friends, but for herself. She’s got to settle down. They say goodbye as friends, and Winnie has plenty of time to get back to campus. Until a truck tries to run the red on a cross street and she gets T-boned. She’s hurt bad, the car’s hurt bad…

We also get Josh’s POV, for the first time since book 1. He can’t believe he’s getting stood up again. He’s been falling for Winnie, despite suspecting that she toys with guys for the fun of it, and now he feels like a chump. Also, we find out that he’s an army brat, and since his parents are in Germany, he’ll be spending T’giving with some unnamed friends. 

Winnie gets back to campus after midnight. No permanent damage to her, only to the car. And it’s too late to get a bus to Jacksonville in time for dinner at the Windchime. First she cries, then she calls home and leaves a message, then she falls asleep in the lobby. Which is where Josh finds her. Finally, they communicate. Is she self-destructive? “I probably try to come off more exotic and complex than I really am. I just don’t think sometimes and I get carried away and then I try to cover up for myself and I just make things worse.” Well said, and remember this later. She also comes clean about Travis, and tells Josh that’s over and she’s chosen him. They plan to drive (in his roommate’s car) to Jacksonville; for now they fall asleep together. Aw…

Thanksgiving goes well, and she and Josh are all cozy on Monday, but when she goes back to her room, there’s Travis. The Beanery gig is long term, and he’s going to stay and try to get her to give him another chance. Yikes! 

Lauren: We meet Greg Sukamaki, editor of the U of S Weekly Journal, who is reviewing and fact-checking the hazing article. It could be very, very bad or very very good, depending on how it’s received. Lauren is more laid back now, but her new wardrobe includes parachute pants: surely that’s an error? This will be her third piece in the Journal; what was the second? The housing crisis? She’s nervous about naming Mark; Dash warns her that if they don’t publish, with all relevant details, they’re part of the problem, not the solution. Greg is more worried about naming Hammond: how sure are they that he knew and didn’t stop the hazing? They’ve got until the day before Thanksgiving to submit the final draft. 

Lauren and Dash are doing approach/avoidance. Dash does not approve of Hammond and the “Inter-rat Council.” He asks Lauren out for the following night, but she has to attend a sorority dinner. Dash is suspicious: is she going to give Tri Beta a heads-up before their article is published? She can’t explain to him that she has to get kicked out, not quit. They kiss, lightly. 

Meanwhile, Hammond, Mark and Marielle have a powwow about the hazing article. (Hammond has a connection at the Journal who got him an advance copy.) There could be serious consequences (expulsion, Hammond losing his internship), and Mark wants to wring Howard’s neck. Thus proving what a thug he is. Marielle wants to suppress the story by suppressing Lauren. Which requires expelling her from Tri Beta, woohoo! (Also, they’re in the Beanery, where Travis is playing and singing; Marielle thinks he’s hot, which I find odd; I should think she couldn’t see past the flannel.) 

Courtney calls Lauren in to interrogate her about writing a piece that “cruelly and falsely maligns our Greek system,” and Lauren doesn’t dare apologize or ask for clemency. She’ll have to depledge; Courtney seems to hate that it came to this, while Marielle brays about what bad news Lauren has always been. So she’s freeeeeee! Except, when she calls her mother to tell her this, Maman sees right through her. She had to have “really [asked] for it” (true, of course), so she’s cut off financially after all. (It doesn’t help that Lauren forgot about the time difference, and it was 1 am in London.) She can get back in the will if she leaves “that cowboys-and-Indians school of yours” and transfers to an approved Eastern college, but no way is Lauren giving up what she’s gained so far. But as far as giving up, that’s what she’s doing with her gadgets and a lot of her mom-chosen wardrobe. Which shows how sheltered she’s been: she should be selling this stuff, because now she’s gonna need cash. 

And sure enough, Hammond tracks her down outside the Journal office and tries to sweet-talk her. First he gives her basset-hound eyes about not asking for his side of it, and when Lauren doesn’t give in to that, he starts macking on her. She resists that, too, but not fast enough to keep Dash from seeing it. Oh dear. He won’t let her get a word out; just wheels and tells her to f off back to her sorority. (Okay, he doesn’t drop an F bomb.) Lauren blames herself for not slapping Hammond away as soon as he approached her. Winnie suggests that she give Dash time to cool off. “If you’re patient enough, anything can work out.” Which can also be passive aggression, hm? 

We’re told that Lauren flew to San Francisco for T’giving with her uncle, who was in favor of her getting out of the gilded cage: being like her mother would be a waste of potential. Monday morning, Winnie takes her down to Mac’s Foreign Auto to see what the mechanic calls “the sardine can”. Ulp. But it’s another symbol of how free Lauren is now. “Driving it was like wearing a badge with Rich written across it.” She plans to get it fixed, then sell it and buy a used car. Except, wait for it, mom had cancelled her car insurance the day before the accident. Well, she wanted to make her own way in the world…

Faith: She’s feeling very in control of her life. The AiW rehearsals are going well, she cut loose from Hammond, and she’s on good terms with Brooks. Then she goes to see Brooks play soccer. Melissa is also there, and Faith introduces them. Melissa smiles! She makes conversation! She acts like a girl! Faith feels uncomfortable, for some odd reason.

We also get Melissa’s POV for the first time since book 1. She’s in the weight room, and Brooks offers to spot for her. They have an undeniable connection, and Melissa can feel her facade starting to crack. But when he asks for a date, she turns him down, because “getting close to people could only mean pain.” Melissa is a rock; Melissa is an i-i-i-island. Later, when the others are sighing in anticipation of T’giving. she gets more and more tense, and finally storms out of the room. She wants to be alone so she can cry out her misery, so of course Brooks shows up. He prods her to open up, and she finally crumbles and tells him how miserable holidays, and for that matter, regular days, are at her house. Mom will be working, Dad will be drunk, and brother will most likely be absent. Brooks listens without judgment, then invites her to his house for T’giving. She doesn’t have to answer right away, but the offer is there. 

On Thanksgiving Eve, Faith and KC are at the bus station, waiting for Winnie, and since this is before cell phones, they have no way of knowing she can’t show up. Brooks does show up, and Faith is looking forward to spending time with him as a friend, until Melissa arrives just in time to get the last seat on the bus. She’s still uncertain about being Brooks’s guest, but he reassures her, then KISSES HER, in front of Faith. Faith wants to disappear, but figures it’s what she gets after Brooks had to watch her losing her mind over Hammond. 

KC: Aces the Intro to Business exam. She’s coming to terms with not being a Tri Beta. It’s less easy to come to terms with always being short of cash, so she starts job hunting. No luck, until she gets an unusual break. Matthew Kallander (Winnie’s one-date wonder from Intro to Film, remember?) is putting together a calendar: U of S students costumed and made up to look like golden-age movie stars. KC will be his Katherine Hepburn, if he agrees to let her be his business consultant, for 20% of the profits. Her suggestion are quite good: have six boys and six girls instead of twelve girls, shoot the photos in a mini-studio in the Creative Arts building, instead of renting a studio downtown and so forth. Guess KC is learning a few things in her business classes! 

The photo shoot is eventful: KC crosses paths with Courtney, who is posing as Grace Kelly, and we and KC meet Peter Dvorsky, photographer. And when she gets back from Thanksgiving, there are several letters waiting. The calendar has already been previewed (that was fast, especially for back then) and now she’s being wooed. The Gammas want her to come to tea and share beauty tips. So do the Epsi Phis, who sound like a bunch of muffinheads (“Could you please, please come!”) and one personally from Courtney Conner, basically apologizing for “misunderstanding and ignorance” and asking to meet one-on-one. Well well. 

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We’re told that Winnie is known for slacking until the last minute, then rolling in and getting an A on the exam. Faith’s theater skills come in handy when she has to make up KC for the calendar. We’re told the BMW is white. Was the color ever mentioned before? I hate white cars: totally impractical, and not nice to look at even when they’ve just been washed. Lauren’s reasoning is that if she hadn’t been forced to pledge Tri Beta, she would not have met Hammond, and would not have messed things up with Dash. Could be, or maybe if she hadn’t been a Tri Beta, she wouldn’t have been able to get the hazing story and wouldn’t have impressed Dash. Who can know when and where the thread is cut?