Last Leaf on the Oak Tree by Adrianna Cohen

CHAPTER ONE
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    Paulette went skidding into the very large classroom just as the bell rang overhead. Professor Kincaid reached for the door behind her and pulled it closed, remarking, "When the bell rings, the class begins. I close the door, and no one shall enter after the class has started. Is this understood?" he remarked to the class but was very clearly looking at Paulette when he made the announcement.
    Paulette was mortified in embarrassment for being singled out from the rest of the students on her first day of college. As tears welled in her eyes, she nodded at Dr. Kincaid and frantically looked around for a chair in the overcrowded classroom. This classroom was equipped with chairs that had a desktop attached, and they were aligned in straight rows of 20 across and 50 back, on risers. The only chair available was on the front row, right in front of the lectionary. Paulette groaned to herself. Not only was she personally humiliated in front of her peers, she now had to look at her torturer's face for the next three hours.
    Paulette pulled her blonde hair back from where it had drifted out of her bun and onto her shoulders. She was sure she looked silly with half her silky blonde hair down her back, and the other half up in a fashionable topknot. No matter how much hairspray and gel she used, the Memphis heat and humidity were guaranteed to melt the stiffest collegiate style.
    Paulette was a classic beauty, the untouchable kind that was an artist's dream for a model. She possessed a long neck, fine, delicate features with sculptured cheekbones, and a dimple in each of her cheeks when she smiled. She sported a wide, expressive mouth with even, white teeth. Unaware of her striking beauty, Paulette was very shy and kept to herself. Others saw her as aloof, but instead she was insecure and unassuming.
    This morning had been a culture shock for Paulette. She had risen at her usual early hour of six; On Monday it was a chaotic mess of disrobed girls running to the showers, people calling to each other, and a bathroom mirror that had not one extra inch of space for a small town girl anxious about her first day of class. Paulette dressed as quickly as she could in a short denim skirt, a blue striped top that brought out her unique turquoise eye color, and a pair of turquoise leggings patterned in a Native American print. She had purchased the leggings while visiting the Choctaw reservation in Mississippi, where she was working on a Volunteers in Mission trip with her local church in Arkansas. She liked the way the outfit emphasized her bright colored eyes. She didn't even notice her long legs were enhanced, also.
    The zoo and crowd in the bathroom were nothing compared to the teeming crowds of the U of M campus trying to make the first 8:00 class of the Fall Semester. The walkways were overcrowded with the largest incoming freshmen class in ten years attending. Paulette had run, skipped and hopped from place to place trying to avoid being run over and to reach her class on time. She had failed miserably on the punctuality part but did manage to arrive at class intact and in one piece.
    Paulette looked around the classroom as best she could without drawing the attention of Dr. Kincaid. She had heard that Psych 1010 was a very large class, but she had no idea it would be in an auditorium with over 1500 students. She was grateful for her front row seat so that she could hear the lecture but it required craning her neck to watch the accompanying PowerPoint demonstration on the screen. The pictures were a little blurry from her awkward viewpoint, but she had read the chapter assignments beforehand on Sunday and was familiar with the material.
    Her next class was English 3010, but it was only two hours long. She was grateful because breakfast in the cafeteria had left something to be desired. There was plenty enough food, but the lines were so long she grabbed a