He had cold cereal for breakfast—Corey’s Froot Loops, which were 97 percent sugar and stuck to his teeth—and a cup of warmed-over coffee Joanie had left behind. Maybe he was a bit tired, a bit sleep deprived, but he felt fine, better than fine—energized all over again. His trip had been glorious, heaven, all the heights, and only temporarily infested with what Charlie had begun calling “downers,” or negative thoughts and associations. He’d felt exceptionally close to Fanchon, and that was certainly a help, though he was fairly certain that whatever had passed between them fell into the category of mutual stimulation, of kissing—making out—and not anything more involved than that. Though really, all that was hazy, the least part of the experience, and there was no reason to mention it when he gave Joanie his rundown of the evening, which she was sure to demand when she got home. He spooned up the cereal, sipped the coffee. Unfortunately, he saw by the clock built into the stove that he’d missed his ten o’clock class, but if he got himself moving—and he felt chockful of energy suddenly—he’d make his noon class easily.

He dressed in a hurry, grabbed his briefcase and stepped out on the porch in a rising inferno of light, the sun somehow positioned perfectly to blind him though he turned his head aside and shaded his eyes as he went down the stairs and headed up the street to the bus stop. Joanie had the car weekdays because there was free parking for her at the library and her hours were more demanding than his, which was fine with him. She put in a lot of hours, never refusing overtime, and if it weren’t for her income—and what they’d put away for school the previous few years—he’d never have been able to afford the luxury of being a full-time student. He pictured her then, in her work clothes—skirt, blouse, flats, maybe a scarf or pin to lend a little color—and he saw the library too, hushed, reeking of floor wax, dust motes hanging in the air, and for an instant, just an instant, understood how dull her life must be, but then, gazing out the window as the bus lurched toward the next corner, he noticed a Rexall wedged between a shoe store and a diner and on an impulse pulled the cord and got out.