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When I reach the door, Professor Froive you a tip Spend a little of your loan money on a neardrobe It will help you feel at ho field won’t seem so uneven You dress for the job you want, not the one you have"

I nod, hoping that ht the Humiliate Sabrina hour was over

On the walk across the ca looks a little duller This tie patches of lawn are really mostly brown and that the trees are naked without the leaves The students have an unrelentingly saet home, I toss the books on my dresser and lie down on the bed There’s a corner nearWater has been seeping in for as long as I can re a blank stare in return, I haven’t ain

I roll ontoThere are cracks in the plaster up there too, along with brownish stains that I’ve alondered about Maybe there’s a leak in the roof?

A rush of sha ashaly, rundown hoeneral?

Pity yourself later It’s tiht now is leave one place of shao to another one, but I don’t have much of a choice My shift at Boots & Chutes starts in an hour

I force rab the booty shorts and bra that serve asto have to do this for ten more months, I remind myself as I shimmy into my outfit and then apply my makeup I slip on my six-inch platform stripper shoes, throw on my tattered wool coat and head for the strip club Which, sadly, is the one place where I really do fit in

I’ in a trashy place

The question is, will I ever be able to rub off the stench of ht, I honestly don’t know

8

Tucker

"We suck," Hollis gripes

"We’re not great," I acknowledge

Today’s practice was another disaster, which doesn’t bode well for to the road trip to Boston would distract us fro in this bar for almost an hour, and so far all we’ve talked about is hockey The Bruins ga ood hockey is just the icing on the shit cake

I peer at nal the waitress I’ to need about five more of these if I want to snap out of this sourbesidesooodbye"

"It’s a long season Let’s not throw in the towel yet," Fitzy says fro on a Coke because he’s our DD tonight

"Are you guys going to talk hockey all night?" Hollis’ brother, Brody, coer with his clean-shaven face and backwards Red Sox cap

"What else are we gonna talk about? This place is a sausage fest" Hollis tosses a napkin at his brother