It was his salvation, his distraction. Every idle moment was somehow filled up with the image of Dot. She was the first thought that entered his mind when he awakened in the morning and the last, heartbroken sadness that kept his nights sleepless and long. When big things happened, like his acceptance to a very good graduate engineering program, she was the one he wanted to tell. When little things happened, like the construction-paper turkey that had been hung up in the stairwell, Dot was the person with whom he wanted to share that story. He also wanted to hear what she had to say. He was anxious to know if she had met with Mr. Wojciechow- ski. He wanted to know what the man had told her, if she thought he might give her a chance. He wondered if her bus ticket to visit her parents had shown up. If she’d talked to Dean Glidden again. But mostly he speculated about whether she’d attend the cotillion and if he’d get a moment alone with her. As committee chairman, he took on the task of doing the introductions.
