Everything I've Never Had (COMPLETE)

EINH chapter 7*

˚Chapter 7˚

{Month Four}

"The glossary in your writer's reference books includes commonly confused words, such as 'accept' and 'except', words commonly misused, such as 'aggravate', and words that are nonstandard, such as 'hisself'. It also lists colloquialisms and jargon. Colloquialisms are expressions that may be appropriate in informal speech but are inappropriate in formal writing. Jargon is needlessly technical or pretentious language that is inappropriate in most contexts. If an item is not listed in this lesson, consult the index of your book."

I kept up well with my professor as I copied down what he was saying almost word for word. He listed words that people often debated using in writing on his powerpoint and I copied that down also.

I was currently sitting in my Advanced English college class before I was due to work an eight hour shift at Houston's and then apartment hunting afterward. I had to get moving out soon if I ever wanted there to be enough room for my two babies and I to even live. It would probably have to be a one room apartment, but that didn't matter. It was what I would be able to afford and it would suffice for awhile.

"Now, onto the debate of 'a' versus 'an'," Professor Adams continued. "We use 'an' before a vowel sound, 'a' before a consonant sound: 'an apple', 'a peach'. Problems sometimes arise with words beginning with 'h'. If the 'h' is silent, the word begins with a vowel sound, so use 'an'; 'an hour', 'and heir'; 'an honest senator'; 'an honorable deed'. If the 'h' is pronounced, the word begins with a consonant sound, so use 'a': 'a hospital'; 'a hymn'; 'a historian'; 'a hotel'. When an abbreviation or acronym begins with a vowel sound, use 'an': 'an EKG'; 'an MRI'; 'an AIDS patient'.

"We've already discussed the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'. Can you tell me what the difference is, Miss Holmes?" 

My eyes snapped to my teacher and I was surprised for a moment. I must have been off in la-la land if he had called on me, intentionally. Fortunately, I had heard the question and I knew the answer. 

"'Affect' is a verb that means to influence something. 'Effect' is a noun that means a result of something. Like, 'the drug did not affect the disease, and it had adverse side effects.'" 

He smiled at me. "Very good, thank you."  

I smiled back and dropped my head back down to my notes. 

As he went over review of things we discussed the week prior, I doodled on the edge of my notebook paper. The holes punched in the margins transformed into black holes and the lines served as the different levels of the earth as I drew in a girl falling. I drew vines and ropes that came off the edge of the paper, but they were just out of reach of her. When I finally got to the bottom, I drew her safely on the ground but with no where to go. I shaded in the bottom few lines as well as I could with the pen I had so it was dark. She didn't have anyone. 

I tuned back into the lesson just as Professor Adams began our last word differences. I had been spaced out for longer than I had thought since there was now only five minutes left of class. 

"For the last one, we are evaluating 'farther' versus 'further'," he started to conclude. "'Farther' usually describes differences, as in, 'Chicago is farther from Miami than I thought.' 'Further' usually suggests quantity or degree, as in, 'you extended the curfew further than you should have.' 

"Alright, that's all for today, ladies and gentleman. I'll see you all next Tuesday at eight a.m. Have a nice weekend," he said.  

The sound of rustling paper, zippers being pulled and notebooks being flipped closed filled the previously silent room. I was usually the last one out since I hated getting stuck in crowds anyway and the extra mass of my body these days didn't really permit the close proximity to other people. I took a little extra time to get my stuff together than everyone else. It helped that my shift at the grocery store didn't start until one this afternoon; I had a little over two hours to spare and my next class wasn't until ten that night. I kind of liked attending a community college for my first year.