AHH! *tacklehugs* You are completely awesome, you know that? I think my worst fault is not that I suck, but that I think I do and then enact this whole 'self-fulfilling prophecy' thing whereby I self-sabotage and when things inevitably go crappily, it's like vindication. And so it continues.

I totally wasn't going to go back to the bookstore. Why bother? They wouldn't take the book back, I'd asked earlier [since I only needed it for my exam]. But after reading your comment, I thought, screw it, why not go and badger them anyway? Who knows? Maybe something good will come of this. Stranger things have happened.

And when I went in, there was this new chick there- not the one I'd spoken with earlier- and she told me what I'd expected, I couldn't return it for a refund BUT I could exchange it for a voucher! You have no idea how happy I was. I mean, $30 isn't all that much in perspective, but it was just the whole symbol of it- at first, it was the straw on the camel's back, like, I was seriously on the verge of ditching my exam because it was just too much. And then being able to exchange it? Changed my view on the entire day, it wasn't the day that I defeated myself, it was about overcoming my own stupid preconceptions about life and the futility of trying. You're wonderful. ♥