“The security guards will bring you here after your shifts,” Bunny Starr said. “You should never, ever walk back alone, especially when it’s dark. You never know if some stalker might follow you. Play it safe. They’re happy to shuttle you over in their carts. And if you want to go into town to do laundry or meet with friends, they’ll drive you there, too, if they aren’t busy. No need for a car, but if you have one, you park it over there, in the employee lot.”

The rooms were simple and nondescript, with twin beds on opposite sides of the room, matching desks in the middle, and institutional chairs one might find in a dentist’s waiting room. Not everyone would live there; Gwen commuted to work from Milwaukee, and Lucy and Maryellen rented an apartment in town. Sherri’s heart was set on rooming with Ginger, who’d played competitive volleyball in high school and seemed like she was used to being around other women. Already she made Sherri feel like they were on the same team. She also would have been OK with mousy Rhonda—anyone but Val, so of course that’s exactly who she was paired with. She couldn’t believe it. Rhonda, sorry for Sherri but clearly relieved at her own good fortune, told her how sorry she was. “Val,” she whispered. “Ugh.”

And in no time at all, Sherri discovered that Val was ugh. She snuffed out her cigarettes in the cans of Tab she’d left on every countertop, and Sherri almost broke her wrist when she fell after tripping on the shoes Val had kicked off and left in the middle of the room late their first night there, when she’d breezed in after partying and threw on the lights. She didn’t care if she woke Sherri up. One morning, she left her wet towel plopped right on Sherri’s bed. The only good thing she could say about Val was that her boyfriend Curtis supplied them with a huge purple, orange, and red shag remnant, which made their corner room with two sets of windows the largest, brightest, and most inviting of all the dorm rooms. If only Val’s personality weren’t so acerbic. The other women quickly learned to keep their distance.