BY
Fenno was sitting in the computer lab at Langdell, proofreading her letter to the editor of the Record. She’d decided to title it “Student Defends Fenno” in order to improve her chances that the letter would be printed. Senor Torres seemed to love such titles. “Everyone loves Fenno,” she reassured herself, “no matter what Elizabeth Arora thinks.”
Fenno had been inspired to write even more controversial articles after watching the Ames Finals. Tom Lue was one hell of an oralist. He was truly inspiring. Maybe Fenno would talk about Tom. But before Fenno could finish her letter to the editor and begin on her weekly column, she felt someone tap her on her shoulder. “What’s up, Fenno? Are you here for Westlaw training?” It was Delisle Warden, Westlaw’s number one student representative. Fenno thought that he seemed a bit desperate. “Ummm…,” she said, trying to think of a polite way to decline. Fenno’d sat through more than her share of research training sessions as a 1L. Besides, the Westlaw representatives could be scary. Fenno had once walked by the library’s lab and seen the old Westlaw representative lecturing to a room full of empty seats. She stood there rattling on and on about the glory of WestClips and KeyCite with an eerie grin on her face the whole while. Fenno had been amused by this until she’d begun to ask questions. Although she got the same reaction that she would have if the class had been full, the fact that she was asking had sent a chill up Fenno’s spine, and Fenno had decided to try and use the Langdell lab a little less often. But today, she was trying to finish her article before meeting a friend for lunch, and didn’t have time to go all the way home.
“No. Fenno is here for Lexis Training. Right, Fenno?” It was Devika Kornbacher, ace representative for LexisNexis. She gave Delisle a shove. He whimpered and shuffled off to a corner computer.
“Actually, I was just leaving,” Fenno replied. Fenno would just have to write her article from one of the computers in the Hark. “Damn Law School,” Fenno thought. It was frustrating how the Law School had sold out advertising space in what should have been its most sacred building, the library. Fenno felt that if her classmates were anything like her, they had definitely spent a good part of their lives in various libraries.
As Fenno exited Langdell, she was approached by a crowd of very fat squirrels. Fenno slowed her pace. “Aren’t you an odd bunch?” she asked. The squirrels didn’t seem at all afraid. After a few seconds, Fenno realized that they had actually blocked her path, and appeared to be holding out their paws as if begging for spare change or something. Fenno reached into her pocket and grabbed the $4 candy bar that she’d purchased earlier from the Hark. The prices at the Hark were so high they were ashamed to post them. Fenno never knew what she was paying for things until she was at the checkout, and by then it was too late.
Fenno took the candy bar out of the wrapper and threw it behind her. The squirrels scurried after it. Fenno watched in awe as another student stooped to pick it up, and began to mock the squirrels. He had on a stocking cap, so Fenno couldn’t really tell who it was until he began to laugh. It was a loud, bellowing laugh-Fenno couldn’t believe it was real. Fenno recognized it right away as the laugh of a 2L by the name of Nick Degani. He stood there mocking them for a moment or two until they began to race up his pants leg and began to claw at his face. His strange form of laughter evolved into a high-pitched scream as he fell onto his back and suffered the wrath of the squirrels. Fenno turned coolly and walked away. She had to get to the Hark. Fenno was sure that she had no legal duty to help. She couldn’t have foreseen Nick’s picking that stupid candy bar up off the ground.
Fenno walked into the Hark. “Hi, Fenno. Are you ready for lunch?” Fenno had lost track of time, but Walter Mosely apparently had not.
“Hi, Walter.” Fenno had had a drought, and she’d heard Walter was easy. She didn’t think any of the BLSA girls would mind if she went out for a lunch or two with Walter. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, and a really short time for lunch,” Fenno said, grabbing Walter’s arm and proceeding to lead him out the doors of the Hark. “Why don’t we just have lunch at my place?”