the artificial woman-pt 9

Off Rainbow went to the big bad world of college without so much as roller skating with a boy. University overwhelmed her on so many different levels. She might as well have been a bug on the wall of the big classrooms she sat in as a Freshman. And professors doled out homework as if theirs was the only class she had.

She had nothing but time on her hands to study interesting topics like Western Civilization, Literature and other classes that would prepare her for her major--Journalism. But where were the boys? Or men? Something in between? This topic had become perhaps too important to Rainbow, because of her lack of experience. Not that she was out to cause trouble, but there was a small part of her that wanted to have something to talk about in the metaphorical locker-room.

One afternoon, Rainbow and Lynn, her sister who was also her roommate, went to pick up Lynn's friend Ned to carpool home for the weekend. Ned's friend John actually spoke to Rainbow with unusual enthusiasm. But was John like James and Scott from high school and just playing some kind of joke? Rainbow pretended not to care.

Eventually Ned told Rainbow that John "liked" her. There was that word again-liked. Rainbow didn't believe Ned.

But then John called. He said he had bugged Ned for the number. Rainbow still thought this must all be a joke; Even that Ned and Lynn were putting John up to this to get Rainbow out of their hair.

It wasn't. John invited Rainbow out. But Rainbow found out that John had a girlfriend going to another school. Still he persisted to the point where Lynn gave Rainbow a talk about the dangers of HIV, and called the parents about John and Rainbow, as if there were actually news to report on that front. Rainbow had to tell her parents that she hadn't "done anything". She would "do something" between her birth and age 42, but at that time(age 18) had not.

Rainbow joined the only conservative paper on the very liberal University of Oregon campus. It was there that she met her first love Duane. He was a typical young redneck who hunted and liked to make farting noises, but Rainbow forgave him these quirks(for awhile) because he paid her attention. This was until she went to visit him over Summer Break, and she became disgusted with his hobby if shooting the raccoons that got into the dog food dish. Again. Redneck. Redder than blood.

Sad how the heart can blind one to what is straight ahead.

Other guys graced Rainbow with their attentions, if not genuine affections, Will the Drunk, Frank the Stoner. They all made Duane the Redneck look good.

Then she graduated college and left that world behind too.