11-26-00
(continued)
A few months later, the president of a local fraternity blew his head off with a shotgun. It made the front page of the college paper, along with a detailed accounting of all of the campus suicides and attempts of the previous few years.
Katie had people she barely knew treating her oddly all day, and she had no idea why. That evening at work, one of her coworkers mentioned that he hadn't known she'd tried to kill herself. She was horrified that he knew, and was even more horrified to find out that the whole campus had read about it that morning on the front page of the paper.
This outing almost coincided with the one-year anniversary of the attempt, and marked another change in Katie. She withdrew from the Amsterdam travel plans, as did her sister, and she began to spend less time at home and more at Erin's.
I don't blame her for the withdrawal. Heatha had taken to loudly denouncing the importance of this event in the greater scheme of things, while I think Katie rightly felt that it was a strongly defining point in her existence.
A schism had long been growing between my three roommates, and I think the continued plan to go to Amsterdam, not only without Katie and Erin, but with more people, fabulous side trips and a whole new itinerary, was the wedge that completely drove them apart. Katie said it was her idea and that they shouldn't go without her. They begged to differ, stating that the plan had taken on a life of it's own and barely resembled the original trip.
I refused to get involved in their squabble over the trip.
Katie pretty much moved out at that point. She still had some stuff at home, but she lived and slept elsewhere. She said she was paying her rent independently, and would leave money for bills on the kitchen table. I was the only one she spoke to and was unwillingly appointed their intermediary...
