Word: roomful
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...TELEPHONE sat on the floor in the center of the living room--black, mysterious, almost untouchable out there all by itself. Martin, however, sat in the far corner of the room in the armchair that he knew he and his roommate had bought from a smiling sophomore for twenty dollars. He was daydreaming; his dark hair had fallen over his forehead and now partly concealed his empty eyes, but it could not hide the wanton slant of his grin. He had not moved for half an hour when he decided to make the phone call...
...FUNNY, the way Martin talked himself out of having a good time on that date. Delighted with himself, he had gone back to his room and had plopped into the armchair, all set to fantasize endlessly about this new girl. Susan. There was no doubt about it: she was tough. Short, slender, pretty, and so serious she was funny. Yeah, and probably popular too. Martin wondered if she had dated a lot. Probably. No reason why not. Hmn, probably some upperclassmen too, damn them--that biology lecture was filled with nothing but juniors and seniors...
...time he reached the Square, Martin realized he would not have to worry about buying tickets. By the time he had reached his room, Martin knew he would not even have to worry about calling, Susan, for she was going to call him. Tomorrow, as a matter of fact...
Martin was up on Sunday by eight and in the living room, waiting, by nine. He sat in the hazardous old armchair and mediated upon the telephone. It reminded him of something biological; what? Yes, that picture in his tenth-grade biology book. A whole lot of snaky little cells and some great fat black ones. What the hell were those cells, anyway? Jesus, Martin thought, I can't remember anything any more. But it doesn't make any difference. Whatever that little one is, it sure looks comfortable lying up there--right in the groove." I mean a gross...
MARTIN began withdrawing from things after that. He didn't date any more for the entire semester, or work, or play, or even go to biology lab. All he did was sit in the living room in the old chair and stare at the telephone, which seemed to be afraid to touch. His roommate sensed that something was bothering Martin and alerted Martin's parents, who agreed that their son seemed to be having troubled adjusting to life at Harvard. They took Martin to see the Dean of Freshmen, who, being a man of diplomacy, suggested with a frown that...