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18
As Cara scrolled further down the Wikipedia page's entry titled "August 29th. 2005", she felt her eyes well up as she read about Cooper Madison's father:
Jeffrey Madison's body was found floating near Henderson Avenue, on August 29th, 2005. It is believed that he had taken shelter inside Pass Christian Middle School, as his Bullmastiff's body was found amongst the debris. His truck, which had sustained major water damage, was also located nearby. The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina had produced winds that exceeded 130 mph and a wall of water that was nearly 30 feet high ripped through the entire Pass Christian area. More than 1800 people are believed to have lost their lives during the storm.
"He's an orphan…" she felt herself say.
Her internal conversation was interrupted by the sound of the Viking Hall fire alarm.
"You have GOT to be KIDDING ME?!" Cara yelled as the alarm modules screamed and flashed.
She knew it was probably just a stupid freshman playing a drunk prank, as they happened about once a week. However, if she failed to evacuate and was caught by the fire department hiding in her dorm room she could face a fine and possible charges.
After she threw her sweatshirt on, she shut her computer down and made her way outside via the stairway. A crowd of sleepy and annoyed coeds had already filled the area just outside the entrance to Viking Hall when Cara arrived to join them in their misery.
"I swear to GOD, if I find out who did this, I'm going to set them on fire myself!" one of Cara's old roommates, Mallory Perriman, said as she saw Cara approach. Mallory, like Cara, was one of the few seniors still living at Viking Hall. She also had an exam and was none too amused by the false alarm.
"I wish I could say I was sleeping," Cara replied.
"You were awake?" Mallory countered, "Don't tell me...Kenny, again?"
"Bingo! Well, that, and I was trolling a professional baseball player on Wikipedia," Cara admitted.
"Since when have you ever liked baseball?" asked Mallory.
"Since I delivered him food to his penthouse yesterday…" Cara said in a way that she knew she was leading Mallory along.
"Oh my God! An Indians player? Please tell me it was Grady Sizemore. Did he give you a big tip?" Mallory, wide-awake now, inquired.
"Nope. He played for the Cubs. I think he's retired now," Cara said, "but, he did give me a huge tip!"
"The Cubs? What on EARTH is he doing living here, then? And retired? He must be old…" Mallory replied, with less excitement in her voice than when she thought it was Grady.
"Actually, he's still in his 20's. He was really good, I guess, too. Have you ever heard of Cooper Madison?" Cara asked.
"You delivered food to COOPER MADISON?!" Mallory exclaimed so loud that everyone within earshot perked up.
"Why does everyone else seem to know him except me?" Cara replied, using a hushed voice in hopes Mallory would tone it down.
"Cara. Girl. Seriously? He's like the BEST pitcher ever. Not to mention, he's a total babe. Maybe even better than my Grady. Please tell me you got his autograph. Can you take me there? Did he ask you out? Does he know Grady?" Mallory's stream of questions was coming out faster than Cara could answer them.
"Slow down, Mal...Relax! I didn't even see his face. Well, I did when I went online, but not in person," Cara managed to respond.
"Does he have a butler or something?" Mallory pressed.
"No, actually it was really kind of strange. He came to the door and only opened it a crack. Then he told me to leave the food and handed me a bunch of money and said keep the change," Cara replied.
"That is weird. Well, I heard he kinda had a nervous breakdown or something. Did you know his dad died in Katrina?" Mallory asked.
"Yeah, that's what I was just reading as the alarm went off. So sad. And his mom died when he was young of cancer, too," Cara responded.
"So, I'm assuming you never saw the video from last year?" Mallory asked, already knowing the answer.
"What video?" Cara replied.
"Girl, you really are oblivious. I'm sure it's on YouTube still. It'll help explain why he's not playing anymore. And probably why he's hiding out here in Cleveland. It was really kinda sad the way he fell apart," Mallory said, her voice changing as she spoke.
As she spoke, the students were given the "all-clear" to return to their rooms. Mallory told Cara to get some rest and walked off towards the elevators.
Cara chose the stairs, as she didn't want to wait in line for the elevator, and wished Mallory luck on her exam.
Upon returning to her room, she realized that she only had a few hours to sleep before class, and she crawled into bed. As she closed her eyes, she started to count backward from ten.
She never made it to five.
