Waking up was disgusting. There was a frog in my throat, bloating in my face, and zero comprehension in my mind. In this disoriented state, Maddie and I met Tori for lunch at Chick-Fil-A, which made it all the more disorienting. The last time we were there together, Tori was our boss, and we were preparing to be in the office into the wee hours of the morning on publishing night. But it was lovely to hear about Tori’s summer, and it brought a smile to my face to hear country music on the radio, as much as I don’t tend to seek out that genre of music on my own.
I spent the rest of the afternoon fighting malaise and working on a manuscript project for Medieval Literature. We’re supposed to go back to the Old or Middle English of a text we’ve read in class, and copy down several lines in the original font to step into the shoes of a scribe (just with much more advanced writing utensils than were available to them). I got frustrated very easily, despite my voluntary choice to freehand the entire page. Still, it made me wonder what I would have been if I had been born in a different time.
A storm brewed in the air as we ate dinner by the window and sipped tea while eating the most delicious shortbread cookies half-dipped in chocolate. Our conversations circled around London fashion, cafeteria food, high tea, and other odds and ends. We made a break for it right before the clouds opened up with heavy sighs.
Kailin and I wandered around the apartment basement, taking photos and experimenting with the storage cages and laundry machines. It was beautiful. It was the best way to channel angst. Two friends creating art together: a dream.
We gathered around the coffee table to watch “Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again.” I didn’t like it as much as I liked the first one. Perhaps my expectations were too high. But Lily James will always be my hero.
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Eliana Chow 
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