The Chronicles of Kelvin Johnson: Episode 1

By Matthew Proffitt on February 12, 2016

Kelvin Johnson woke up to a familiar but distant sound, the blaring of a vacuum cleaner somewhere between the rows of books adorning John C. Hodges Library on the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus. Kelvin checks his phone, a Motorola flip phone passed down from his older brother, Jacobsin. “8:03 AM, Tuesday, February 4th”, Kelvin read as he slowly straightened up in his cubicle and prepared for his daily trek to the Hill. His routine is pretty simple: Starbucks, Class, Lunch, Library, Sleep, Repeat. With 7 minutes to spare before class, Kelvin strolled into Starbucks and ordered his regular morning coffee: double-shot espresso mocha frappucino with whip cream and carmel drizzle. Pearl, a beautiful blonde barista, greets Kelvin with a smile,”Well how you doin’ this mornin’, Kelvin? Spent another night in the library, I see.” “Good morning to you too, Pearl. You guessed it, theres just something about my cubicle that beats my bed any d-…” Before Kelvin could finish, Pearl had already moved on to the next customer and inaccessible for at least another few hours. “I always mess up my chance, geez”, Kelvin sighs as he checks his phone again, “8:07 AM.” Plenty of time, he thought, as he strolled out the door and onto Volunteer Boulevard. Kelvin made it to the Pedestrian Bridge when he realized something was amiss. He checked his pockets, nope. Backpack, nope. Once again, Kelvin had misplaced his Vol Card. With a shrug the shoulders, Kelvin whirled around and headed back to the entrance of Hodges, casually observing for his card on the floor all the way back to Starbucks. “Missing something?”, Kelvin heard as he turned around to see Pearl standing and smirking with his Vol Card in hand. “You know, I could have kept this and made you look a little bit longer.” “Well, I’m glad you didn’t.”, Kelvin replied as Pearl handed him his card, “I’ve got to head to cl-…”. “Do you wanna get some breakfast?”, Pearl interrupted,”I know you just had coffee but I’m starving.” “Sure, that’d be great.”, Kelvin responded as the last thoughts of his 8:10 calculus class drifted off into the murmers of students starting the daily grind in the North Commons.

Breakfast with Pearl was great, Kelvin learned so much about her and even aspects he never thought he would have the chance of knowing. Conversely, Kelvin skipped his first two classes of the day that he needs to graduate in the spring. Regardless, Kelvin found himself back in reliable cubicle 5076A. The best parts of Kelvin’s days were spent watching the sun roll across the skip, casting shadows across the colossus Neyland Stadium and disappearing into darkness. The day, mostly gone from a productive point of view, wasn’t successful on the academic front. Musicology class, Kelvin’s last of the day, resulted in a missed quiz because Kelvin once again misplaced his clicker. However, one accomplishment reigned above all: Kelvin managed to get Pearl’s Snapchat name and insisted that he should “hit her up later”. It was 8:49PM and Kelvin had waited as long as he could, he pulled out his phone to send her a snap and then…”Wait, I don’t have Snapchat. I have a 16-year old flip phone and the slightest idea of Pearl’s actual cell number.” Kelvin kicked at his cubicle for several minutes before a chorus of “shh”s finally calmed him back down. Kelvin laid his head down on the desk and closed his eyes, but just to rest his mind before finishing up his calculus homework. Nevertheless, Kelvin dozed off into a deep sleep and dreamt oddly of Starbucks coffee, clicker questions, and a ghost chasing him between the rows of books in Hodges library yelling “Snap me, snap me, snap me!” Kelvin woke up to a familiar but distant sound, the blaring of a vacuum cleaner somewhere between the rows of books adorning John C. Hodges Library on the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus. Kelvin checks his phone, a Motorola flip phone passed down from his older brother, Jacobsin. “7:59 AM, Wednesday, February 5th”, Kelvin read as he slowly straightened up in his cubicle and prepared for his daily trek to the Hill, ultimately a trip he most likely won’t even make.

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