nineteen and unravelling
If Brookhaven was a comfortable, predictable kiddie pool, the Ashcroft University dining hall was the actual Mariana Trench.
We walked through the heavy, arched oak doors of the Commons at precisely nine the next morning, and my brain immediately began cataloging data points like a supercomputer on overdrive. The space was staggering—less of a cafeteria and more of a gothic cathedral dedicated entirely to the worship of caffeine and carbs. The vaulted ceilings stretched thirty feet high, crisscrossed with dark timber beams, and the morning sun poured through massive, stained-glass windows, casting geometric splashes of amber and violet across rows of long, polished mahogany tables.