The directions to Sweat Lodge received at dorm check in leads to the O'Brien Estate - a large white plantation style building. Further instructions assist the navigation of the multilevel building - down halls and past many rooms which showcase studies, meeting rooms, a formal dining room, and so forth - to a set of full wood double doors. Through these doors lays an enormous study made up to look somewhat like a sitting room, though there are seats spread about there isn't enough to go around; everyone already in the room seem to be just fine standing though. Just inside the door, on either side, are tables waiting for students to grab name tags from. As you can see, the others have already donned their own - save for the black haired girl in the corner who seems to just be watching all the socializing from behind her yellow tinted glasses. Against the large wood desk stands a large table covered in a school themed table cloth boasting the ETU Raven crest on it in beautiful embroidery. It is on this table the refreshments of a punch bowl and cookie platters.


After a glance to the grandfather clock on the left side of the room, an older man, age evident more in his white hair than his features, cleared his throat from where he stood beside the unlit fire - until now the fireplace more overlooked when looking around the grandiose room than one would imagine even if it happens to stand directly opposite the entry way. A smile brought forth tiny wrinkles, almost like they crept out to enhance the kindly look than hid away the formerly sterner features. The conversations in the room start to die away, and it is once the room is relatively quite that he began to speak, "Good evening. If you are all about ready, I would like to get this underway. For those of you who are unaware, or have yet to assume, I am Jams Nelson - president of this university - and you may call me James, or Mr. Nelson. It gives me great pleasure to welcome the graduating class of 2018."

The black haired girl left her corner, moving toward James. She stayed quiet, and stopped a few feet from him.

"Before I hand over the speaking honors to your senior assistant - " James motioned toward his side and the girl glanced around at those gathered before inclining her head slightly. "I'd like to go over a few things. Here on campus, safety is an utmost priority. If ever you feel threatened or something is wrong, remember our Six-S rule: Seek Shelter, Stay in Sight, and Summon Security. Now if you happen to be out of your dorm and you feel unsafe, our Student Center and Library buildings are both designated Safe Zones. Just go to one of those locations and you will be able to call security right away.
"Until you get more accustomed to our school grounds, I advise against traveling alone at night. It can be quite easy for you to get turned around, and we'd hate for you to get lost. Also, keep in mind that those of you who have stored a rifle in a locker will only have access to it from seven A.M. to seven P.M. - Monday through Friday - seven A.M. to nine P.M. on Saturdays, and from nine A.M until six P.M. on Sundays; all of these times grant you the hour leeway of access and travel to and from the local shooting range without missing any of the range's operation time. Certain exceptions may be made based on hunting permits, trips home, and so forth - but if ever we find a weapon that is not a paintball gun stored in your dorm it is immediate grounds for expulsion."
He clapped his hands together and turned partially toward the girl a few feet from him before turning back to the crowd at large. "Without further ado, I would like you all to meet your senior adviser, Miss Emily Adams." A sweep of his hand motioned to the girl, and he fully turned to face her. "Miss Adams, if you would..."

Emily stepped a little more central to the room, heading more to the middle than to being near the fire and James. She tossed her head to knock her bangs out of her eyes. Before, the writing on her black shirt may have been a bit hard to see, but with her arms at her sides instead of playing with the large brown wrist band it was easier to see it said There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
"Hey, so you can either call me Em or Emily or maybe a few of you are on leader boards and want to call me Harkness. Some people even call me Captain. At any rate, here's a run down. Every other Saturday I lead a team against the ROTC crew on their paintball field. Sign up sheets can be found in the Student Center; we hit up the paint ball field across town for practices every Tuesday and Thursday at six. If you don't have your own gear, ROTC generally lets the newbs borrow until you can purchase from the paintball shop in town. I also do random pick up games for co-op video games, table top, board games. Whatever. Sign ups for that stuff can be found in the Student Center as well.
"Some things to know - stay out of the bell tower." She paused, looking around at the various faces. "Seriously. And also, if you're in Whitehall - don't constantly complain about flickering lights and any weird variations in temperature in there. It's been like that since I started, and there's nothing wrong with the wiring; I know, I checked. Also, unless you are part of the agricultural department just stay out of the green houses; that's just a safety tip."
The throat clear from James caught her attention momentarily, but she quickly turned to look at the freshman again. "Since most of you aren't from around here - here's some scenery tips. Big Thicket is big - like mondo huge - so if you're going in there, bring a GPS or other Sat link navigation since you will lose cell service about two miles in. Maps are helpful, but a lot of the trails all look the same. It's highly recommended you don't start hiking the trails without someone experienced with you. I am not that person. If you ask me, I will tell you no and I will probably call you and idiot. Just don't do it. Lake Greystone isn't too far away, and it's nice - but both the lake and the woods you don't want to be in or around after dusk. There are things out there that come out at night and most are really dangerous."

The cheerful look previously on James' face wore away to a bit of a frown and he stepped forward just as Emily was opening her mouth again. The smile came back a bit twitch at the edges. "Thank you, Miss Adams," he let out a wholesome laugh. "I realize you seniors enjoy scaring the freshmen but that will be enough."

Emily shrugged. "Alright, welp, if any of you guys need help finding your way around or whatever - you can catch me in the student center or the comp labs in the library and if I'm not there, you can find me in room 13 in Whitney - ground floor of the building." With that, she headed off toward her corner again.

James clapped his hands together, the smile becoming more sound on his face. "Please, feel free to return to socializing. If you have any questions, you can direct them to your senior adviser." He waved slightly, and left the room promptly; the doors closed behind him.

Jake couldn't help but barely pay attention during the sermon, as he jokingly referred to it. Typical introductory stuff, nothing special in his mind. He had better things to do, like get drunk. He had heard about a party that was going to be starting soon, and Jake didn't want to miss it. He had a name to make for himself, and what better time to do it than the first booze bash of the year? Yeah, he was going to start with the parties as early as he could. He had people to meet; friends to make.

Jake noticed the girl take a few steps towards the middle of the room. He couldn't help but chuckle at her snarky shirt. Intelligent humor was something he appreciated, so he decided he'd actually pay attention for a bit. The mention of paintball games piqued his interest, especially when it was mentioned that they would be going up against the students in ROTC. He'd never played paintball before, so he figured it would be a fun time, as well as a good challenge. He made a mental note to visit the student center before the party to grab a sheet for that.

The rest of the sermon went by without anything of interest coming up. It's not like Jake wasn't aware of the wildlife in the area, not to mention how difficult the forests could be to navigate, though something about the way Emily said it bothered him. Maybe it was like James said, her just trying to scare the freshies. Hell, that's probably exactly what it was.

"Dude!" Eli said. "You done spacing? We got a party to get to." He and Jake had met during High School, and even though they weren't close friends, they had both graduated in 2013, and Eli was Jake's primary connection to the parties. Jake didn't even have a clue that Eli was here until he ran into him near his dorm room, and it was a good thing to. As far as social status went, Jake had managed to get a few steps ahead of the other freshmen. "Yeah man, let's get going," he said. He figured signing up for paintball could come later.

With a cup in hand, Kirina stood against a wall at the front end of the room right near the doors. She had zoned out, staring at the empty fireplace. Her face blank, Kira was lost in her own thoughts and away from the chattering of other excited freshmen. A buzz in her back pocket snapped her out of her trance and she jolted, shaking her head around to wake herself up. Reaching into her pocket she took a glance at her phone; it was an email notification. A reminder from her gaming team that she had a match later that week. She also had a number of team requests and comments on her profile, but what else was new? For the infamous gamer, receiving countless friend requests on her profile was nothing that surprised her anymore. Kira went through the rest of her emails, quickly deleting anything that didn’t pertain to her. One email did catch her eye however. A notification that she had a response from an anonymous forum she had recently joined. As Kirina was just about to open it, a voice rang out amongst the rest, and the students began to settle down. The president of the campus was speaking, and, Kirina thought, it would be very rude to have her phone out during his first announcement. She would have to wait until later. Leaning back against the wall, she slid her smartphone back into her pocket and glanced at the man speaking.

As she was listening to his introduction, she casually glanced down at herself. Looking at some of the people around her, Kirina grimaced at the clothing she chose to wear. She had picked out a casual set that she normally would wear out with friends or around the house. A pair of grey skinny jeans, tattered and ripped along both knees, were haphazardly tucked into her favorite pair of black leather boots (reminiscent of go-go boots) that had a 3 inch platform and a 6 inch heel. The heels were not only badass and Kirina’s most beloved pair, but also helped with her self-consciousness about her height. The top she picked out was.. unique. A tribute T-Shirt to her favorite show, Cowboy Bebop, it had a picture of one of the characters from the anime; Ein the Corgi. His head covered most of her chest and on the bottom it read “Let’s Jam!” a slogan of the show. As she glanced at some of the other girls, she noted that they had tried much harder to look nice for their first day on campus, and she started to regret her clothing decision for the evening. Nervously she started to yank at the bottom of the top, twisting the fabric in her fingers.

Wait.. Had she hear something about guns? Kirina didn’t know that guns were allowed on campus, but the thought of it surprised her. Had she missed it in her reading somewhere? It wasn’t unlikely, she skimmed the packet she was given about the school. As Mr. Nelson explained the rules of the firearms that some students apparently were allowed to keep in their lockers, Kirina tried to think of any other school that would allow that. Understandably, this school had it’s own firing range, but the thought of students bringing their own weapons? It was interesting to the girl.

Soon the president was introducing an upperclassmen, and Kira returned her attention to the front of the room. It was a small girl, just about Kira’s height, wearing a simple black t-shirt. The text on the front of it made Kirina smile. The fact that the senior student was comfortable in her own skin made Kirina relax and let go of her own shirt, sighing slightly in relief.

Her name was Emily and as she talked, Kirina focused on actually paying attention instead of nervously fiddling around. Though the redhead wasn’t interested in paintball, she was interested in tabletop and video gaming. The fact that she saw someone else that shared her interests eased her worry on making friends, and she was excited to introduce herself to the girl. It also meant that there were others on campus that would be able to play games with her. Kirina thought that it was quite possible that a few might actually know her from online forums, or from gaming videos she posted on YouTube.

Soon the introduction was over and Kirina was standing among chattering students once again. She never was good at starting conversation, always hoping someone would come up to her and chat before opening up. One hand ran through the curly red hair that cupped her freckled cheeks while she tilted her head back and downed the rest of her punch.

Asher arrived at the meeting with a small gaggle of girls he picked up on the walk over to the building and spoke with them now in a soft, sweet tenor accompanied by some hand gestures indicative of theater majors. A name tag with his name on it was pinned carefully along the seam of the chest pocket on his powder blue shirt. There were few things worse than poking holes through new articles of clothing, in his opinion, but he liked seeing everyone's name. He and the girls were fortunate enough to grab some seats on the sofa before all the rest were taken and time really flew with them to talk, but their conversation fizzled out along with the rest of the chatter when an older man stepped into the center of the room.

Then began the housekeeping and listened without enthusiasm. Security and safety stuff, blah, blah, blah, guns- Oh, yes. Guns. There wasn't much of a gun culture where he was from, so he blamed it on that southern stereotype of the gun-toting cowboys or whatever and dismissed it. He crossed his legs, knee over knee, and drummed his fingers on his thigh until the president was finished. Then the dark-haired senior stepped forward. She had some text on her shirt, but it wasn't his first inclination to read it until he heard some snickers.

"Wait, I don't get it," One of his girl friends whispered to him, "What does her shirt mean?" Jesus Christ, she was serious.

Asher placed his hand on top of hers, put on a smile and shrugged. "I honestly have no clue," He whispered back, "And I meant to say- I love what you do with you hair. So pretty." That distracted her and they carried on like that under the speaker for a while. He missed most of it, but he had no interest paintball anyway. When he turned his attention to Emily (he also thought her laundry list of nicknames was weird, but he was going to ask her about it later), she was going on about Whitehall. He was living in Whitehall. What she was describing was some exceptional kind of bullshit, a sentiment which was made clear by the disgust plainly written over his face. The rest of the warnings she issued just confused him, mostly. Like, what was in the greenhouse that could be dangerous? A cactus? Whatever.

Seniors. Asher wished mightily that Freshmen hazing wasn't a thing at this school. Her reaction wasn't reassuring. Whatever. The girls he was with decided to leave and he said goodbye to each of them with a kiss in the air by their cheeks. With them gone, he had to find someone else to talk to lest he bore himself to death. He had to find his roommate anyway. Asher mingled around the students in the room, passing out compliments and greetings as he stole glances at their name tags, until he came across a girl with amazing hair drinking some punch. He was instantly drawn to her like a magnet.

"Your hair is gorgeous," He told her with firm enthusiasm, "No, seriously. You probably get this all the time, huh? May I touch? My hands are clean, I promise." Even as he asked, he reached out to gently brush the curls with the tips of his fingers. "Oh my god. I can't stand it. So pretty." He jolted as if pinched. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Asher. I should have said that first. Oh, and your name, of course. What's your name?" Hazel eyes dipped down from her head to the front of her shirt in search of a name tag, if she chose to wear it.

Although Naomi would have been happier just hearing all of this from her dormmate, Melony convinced her to come along anyways. Apparently there was nothing like hearing information firsthand according to Melony. The anticipated crowd did not disappoint, but at least Melony didn't mind her hanging close. She was used to being around extroverted people; it made it easier to just dissolve into the background than have to actually interact with others. It probably wasn't exactly what her therapist was hoping for, though Jack said she should find a comfort zone for the first week or so. If her best friend suggested it, she was going to do it. Listening to the conversations her dormmate carried on gave her just as much insight as if she were participating, and Melony seemed to be doing an adequate including her without actually requiring her to talk. Just fine by her.

When James started talking, Naomi and Melony stood by a back wall. Naomi hugged the over-sized leather jacket to her, left open over a two sizes too big sweatshirt sporting the fratenity symbols ΔΣΦ. The one visible eye showcased her drifting gaze, more intent on making sure there wasn't anyone moving toward them than out of disinterest in what he was saying. Luckily she had no plans of wandering anywhere by herself for a little bit since she lucked into Melony being in most of her classes as well. This didn't exactly stop when Emily started speaking, but the mysterious things she started saying caught her attention. None of that sounded safe, or even like they should still allow students around those certain areas. She certainly wasn't going to be going off anywhere by herself if that was the case; not unless it was off to the student center or library.

At least someone familiar was right by her side, lessening the slight panic wanting to set in by cryptic words. Even though the older man played it off like some senior prank, it didn't sound like it. Those sounded like earnest warnings. Why had this seemed like the better choice than going to a college closer to home; the answer to that was placed strictly on the shoulders of her therapist, whom she would be calling as soon as she got out of here. Unfortunately, Melony was dragging her off to another group for another round of socializing before she had the chance to even look at the door.



Although the doors leading out of the room everyone gathered in were unlocked, attempting to leave though the main door you entered will find that door is locked.

The chair creaked as it turned to face the elder who's shadow danced in tune with the fire.

Allan had been early, among the first to take a seat, which had enabled him to make some extra room for drinks, food and a neatly folded red scarf. Being the youngest of four brothers had rendered him somewhat inattentive of social protocol. The mentality of competitor who's competitors in most cases didn't even acknowledge the competition. The others around the table most likely agitated as they scrambled for plate-space, didn't show enough of that emotion to rattle Allan. Then again a small guy with a marine-blue turtleneck with a carefree attitude when most are a bit nervous might give people pause. Still before long he found himself engaged in conversation with a pair of siblings, features non-alike and with a harshness of tone he was well used too.
“St. Louis born and bred. Go Bayless High and now we are coming for Texas.” The sister spoke with a distinct accent. She appeared to be the most spirit of them, seeing as the brother mostly was quite and sipping punch like it was a revelation. Allan scratched his nose and turned his head nonchalantly. “Well this place is like a funnel for my family. Since three generations no matter how big the family everybody ends up going here.” Allan chuckled and grimaced. “Yep this school is basically the introduction to the family businesses”
The sister whistled then indiscreetly murmured “Pressure”
Allan scoffed and proclaimed without shame that although this was his first year he basically knew what needed to be known. “My brothers never shut up. Trust me on this a Blondeau-Tisdale is guarantied to graduate. “Rightie then. What dorm are you?” the sister followed with a slightly crass hopefully tone. Most likely wishing any other then hers. “Whiteha” “Its starting” the brother interrupted as beverage almost followed the words.

The information regarding the rifles and usage drew some chatter around the room. Allan was of course aware of this philosophy thanks to his brothers but he could see why it could be a cause for nervousness among his out of state peers. But here is big country, guns are not sport they are religion. The rest of the quick introduction didn't stick. If there were any safety protocols needed they would surely send a paper or an email about it.

This Emily, girl with bangs, very interesting he thought or said. Allan had grown up fed by these rumors. One of the more infamous rumors going around, on the Tisdale side, is that his third uncle affectionately called Nutty or Naughy Perry once had run in with a ghastly presence while staying at Whitehall Dorm. The story goes that in the nearing of dusk a frighteningly pale woman, dressed in simple gowns and with saucer-like black eyes entered his room. The true nature of the meeting is a matter of dispute or alcohol-level of the teller. In any event the next day the uncle asked around and described the woman with more terms of endearment than proper. A teacher supposedly, which teacher at the time varies, led him out of campus to a nearby cemetery. He pointed a grave with a rough inscription, gave the uncle a clap on the shoulder then returned. The uncle in turn found some flowers that he placed by the grave. Finally as the story nears its ending the uncle would always conclude with the words: And I would never love another girl again. Often while sitting next to the flavor of the month love wise.

As the senior assistant closed with the words “There are things out there that come out at night and most are really dangerous." Allan leaned towards the table and said: “Like the Wight of Whitehall that feeds on your tears.” Allan got a few laughs out of that remark most of them stiff and contrived.
After the introduction people started to awkwardly jell as if pushed around by invisible forces.
Instead of partaking Allan played around on his Iphone, checking his facebook, making sure his camera function was deactivated and lazy browsing. The ones near him had all but forgotten he was even there as the atmosphere got more and more relaxed.

“Shit how long is this gonna take. We gutt'z to get partying” Allan blurted out impatiently.

Mid-drink, Kirina jolted. A boy had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and asked to touch her hair. She almost choked on her drink. Gathering her bearings, Kirina let out a warm smile as she nodded quietly. Standing perfectly still she leaned forward and let him touch her hair. For a moment she was glad that she didn’t throw it up in the usual bun. The red hair cupped her round cheeks, and made the freckles that sprinkled her face stand out. She grinned at the boy, “Th-Thanks! I don’t really have to do much with it.”

Kira looked down at her chest, then at the boy’s. “We.. uhm.. We were supposed to get name tags?” Her cheeks flushed bright red as she tried to remember if she passed a table or a booth where they handed those out. She couldn’t recall. Putting out a hand she smiled again, running her other hand through her red hair. “I’m Kirina! Nice to meet you.”

Just as she was about to ask the boy some questions, another student asked when the partying would start. “Already huh?” Kirina muttered with a small sigh. It wasn’t that she didn’t like partying, in fact she actually really liked it, it was more that she couldn’t. Unfortunately for her, her weak body wouldn’t let her do a lot of things that she liked. With a small shake of her head she turned her attention back towards Asher.

“What are you majoring in? I’m majoring in film, but I like to tell people I’m majoring in disappointment because that’s what my parents would say. I just love making movies and stuff, it’s a lot of fun! I directed a play at my high school during senior year, it was great!” Kirina slammed a hand over her mouth. “Oops. I’m rambling. I do that a lot, sorry.” She stopped talking, embarrassed at herself, and gave the boy a chance to talk too.

"Come on, come on. The party isn't going to wait forever," Eli said while simultaneously pushing through crowds of people and guiding Jake to the main entrance. It wasn't too far, but the number of people crowding around made it seem quite a bit farther. "Alright, alright, jeez calm down. It's not like we'll miss anything super special. And besides, there is such a thing as being fashionably late," Jake replied, trying to catch up to Eli. It was like being in a crowded High School dance, only without music or dancing and more struggling through gaggles of people whom you didn't or barely knew, though Jake knew that would change in time.

Soon enough, Jake and Eli were at the main entrance, which to their surprise was locked. "The hell?" Jake asked, trying the door while wondering why the hell they would lock the main entrance. "Oh, right," Eli said, bringing a hand to his face. "Don't ask me why, but they locked these doors last year too. For some reason they think it makes more sense to use the side exits rather than this one, I guess." Jake gave Eli a sideways glance, but then his eyes drifted to a table that seemed to have punch, and it seemed relatively easy to get too, not to mention there was a rather attractive looking woman standing there in a very... interesting set of clothes, along with a couple of others. "You know what, Eli? Go on ahead." Eli gave Jake a look of puzzlement. "Well that's a first. You're not going to stand us up, are you?"

Jake chuckled a bit. "Of course not. Just give me like five minutes to mingle and grab some punch, I'll catch up."

Eli scoffed, rolling his eyes in the process. "Isn't that the point of going to the party?" It was then that Eli noticed the girl with the red hair as well. "Ah... I see," he said, nodding in acknowledgement. "Alright, just don't make me start beer-pong without you.," he said, giving Jake a wink.

"Can do. See you in a few minutes, dude," Jake said, turning back to the woman. He couldn't help but stare just a little. Jake had a thing for redheads and girls with interesting personalities, and at a glance, Jake could tell she had both. Less ogling, more mingling, Jake thought to himself, approaching the punch bowl with a casual stride. As he got closer, he saw another guy come up to her and start a conversation. Well, that pretty much eliminated his chances of just talking with her, but that was okay. To be fair, Jake didn't even know yet if he would indeed like this girl, or even if the other person was her boyfriend or something. Either way, Jake supposed it didn't matter too much, and whatever happened, he would take it in stride.

He picked up one of the cups by the punch bowl and poured himself some, taking a quick sip. "Mmmm, good stuff. Too bad it's not spiked," he muttered, turning to the girl. He put on a friendly smile and approached her and the guy who was with her. "I'm sorry, I have to ask; am I the only person who thinks this punch should have a bit of vodka? I mean, this is college, right?" he said, with a chuckle, taking another sip of the sugary liquid. Despite it's lack of alcohol content, Jake did find it to be particularly good. "But hey, in all seriousness, this is pretty good." He took a pause before continuing. "Anyways, my name's Jake. How's it going?"

"It's perfect the way it is, honestly, but if you want me to style it for you sometime, I can totally do that," Asher offered and drew his hand away when he was finished fondling her locks. Completely ignoring the fact that he just stared at her breasts, he went on to say, "Don't worry about it; I'm sure you're not the only one who missed the table." He took her hand somewhat firmly and gave it a gentle pump.

"I'm Asher. Pleasure to meet you, Kirina. Beautiful name, by the way." Admittedly, he said that a lot to people, but he thought he meant it this time. There was a ringing quality to her name that he just adored. Asher shot a look to the guy that blurted out something about a party and rolled his eyes back to Kirina.

"Seems like it," He murmured agreeably. Asher actually loved going to parties, but while he agreed with the guy's sentiment, he was a little more, well, classy than just blurting it out for the whole room to hear. He let out a small chuckle at her "majoring in disappointment" spiel. That was cute. Personally, Asher didn't think he could disappoint his parents if he tried.

"It's totally fine. I love ramblers," He said, "I'm majoring in Musical Theater with a minor in Business Management. The minor was my dad's idea, really, and I guess it kind of makes sense if I want to learn how to promote myself as an actor, you know? I think it's super cool that you like to make movies. My brother actually is a screenwriter. You might know him-" In the middle of his own ramble when some guy turned around and started talking to them. His opener about spiking the drink was a little disquieting for Asher, but he didn't let it show because it sounded like he was joking. Maybe.

"Hey Jake. I'm Asher," He introduced himself. After a beat, he looked Jake over, more assessing than anything. "You wouldn't happen to be in Whitehall, would you?" It wouldn't hurt to ask. He was still on the search for his roommate, after all.

Finally released from Melony's grip, Naomi decided now was the perfect time to really catch a breath. The table Melony stopped at to chat with some students had one seat free. Not optimal in her opinion, since it was pretty much the last seat available she was just going to have to deal with sitting next to someone. At least he seemed preoccupied and the person on the other side was swept up in the conversation Melony started. A soft sigh of relief escape Naomi as she took the seat next to the boy playing on his phone.

A slight brush of her fingers along her brow pulled her bangs from being tangled in the eyelashes of her left eye. The hair naturally curled back to hide that eye, but at least it wasn't pulling on the hair when she blinked. Slipping her own phone out, she settled a bit more into the seat. Hopefully Melony would forget about her when she moved onto the next group. It probably wouldn't happen, but she could still hope. Rather than focus on that thought, she focused on sliding the phone open so she could use the keyboard and quickly got into her messages. At the very least, she could text with her best friend - let him know how everything was going.

It didn't take him long to get back to her, and it took a lot of effort to hold back her frown. He wanted her to actually talk to someone not her roommate. She supposed it could be worse. Glancing around, it seemed like everyone else was kind of wrapped up in conversations. Aside from that one guy and a few others spread around the room, but that meant getting up from the chair now that she found one. Hopefully the guy would respond.

Her attention turned mostly to her phone when she first spoke. "Kind of stupid gathering, right?" She leaned forward a little to see his name tag. Settling back, she added in, "Allen, is it?"

---

Through the closed doors of the gathering room, a loud crash could still be heard - even over the din of conversation.

The sound was the first thing to cause Emily to look up from what she was doing on her wrist band. Her gaze turned to the door, then immediately shot to the bay windows left open to the darkness outside. She lowered her wrist and shifted toward the bay windows, studying what little could be seen out into the night.

“Asher. Asher. Asher.” Kirina mouthed the name to herself as he talked. In all honesty, she was absolutely terrible with names. She had the tendency of meeting someone and forgetting who they were a few minutes later. Kirina knew she had to break that little habit during college however, it was all about meeting new people there. “You know, if I ever get big, I’ll be sure to star you in a movie sometime!” She said it completely seriously, although as she thought more on it, it did sound kind of weird. Offering that to someone she just met, but the smile on her face stayed firm and confident with her proposal.

Just as the boy started telling her more about himself, another student interrupted with a remark about the punch. Kirina thought for a second about how she didn’t like it when people interrupted others, but thought it best not to chide the newcomer. After a split second of hesitation, she broke out in a huge grin again and put out her hand, “How’d you know that I’m Russian? Vodka’s good with just about anything!” Letting out a soft laugh she continued, “I’m Kirina, nice to meet you.”

As Asher asked about housing Kirina let out a small gasp. “That’s what I forgot! I don’t know my roommate yet. I’m in Standbury..” With the palm of her hand she lightly hit the middle of her forehead as a joking punishment for forgetting to mingle with all the other students. “Oh well.. I guess I’ll see her in the room then.” She muttered before turning back to Jake. “So, what are you majoring in?”

Jake took a sip from the punch as Asher introduced himself. He hadn't expected questions so quickly, but Jake supposed this was a new thing for everyone here, so it didn't bother him. "Nah, I'm in Lester, wherever exactly that is," he said jokingly. He didn't really know, nor care, where it was, as long as it was near the tower, since that's where security was. He wanted quick access to his Mosin, and judging from his schedule the ideal time to go shooting would be Saturdays, which was fine by him. He kinda wished he had brought his AK as well, but his dad voted against it, which was fair enough.

When Kirina introduced herself, Jake couldn't help but be surprised. "Really, you're Russian? That's pretty awesome. Приятно познакомится," he said. "I'm majoring in Physics; going for a master's degree. Figure that'll be a good thing to have in this day and age," he said. He glanced at his watch, making sure he still had some time to chat before the party, when it occurred to him that maybe Asher and Kirina might be up for it. "So, speaking of vodka, I'm going to a party with a guy I know from High School at Whitehall. If you two want in, I'm sure he won't mind."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, he heard a crash near the main entrance. The main entrance which had been locked. Not that it was a big deal, but it seemed pretty convenient that whomever was in charge of this shindig would lock the main doors and then a loud sound happens to come from behind them. "The hell was that?" Jacob asked to no one in particular.

Since the sudden not so surprising escape by the two wins Allan had been in total disinterest of his environment. The native community had a host page for different tribes and Caddo had recently registered for their own link.

We are having technical difficulties at the moment please have patience with your application the email read. In Allan’s mind this was another hindrance by the tribe to exclude him from partaking. Well resend full composed email, add image Caddo symbol and making sure graft is visible. Somebody was addressing him, perhaps it was his roommate. Well then it’s a game of endurance and I will not lose he thought as he put away his phone.

Allan’s spontaneous reaction was freezing up as he shifted his attention to the girl sitting next to him. Although he would like to appear confident in whatever, when it came to talking to girls it didn’t come natural and especially not a pretty one on top of that that. Though if honest, after taking a more careful look, she was a bit too thin. The girl squirmed shyly, a reaction that prompted Allan to get his wits together, as he realized that he had been staring at her quietly for a couple of seconds.
“Yes its Allen, I mean no its Allan, or BT, but not, my name is Allan” Total brain mush, get it together Allan
“Very pleasant to make your acquaintance Miss Naomi” Way to exaggerate your southern dofus
Allan relaxed his position and placed his hands on the table. He was not going to look directly at her until he got into his usual grove.
“This is tiresome, everybody just want to get to the party right, what is the hold up?”

Just some minutes earlier he had heard somebody mention beer pong and that had only enhanced his restlessness. If beer pong was to be considered a sport then that sport would be the only one Allan had any interest in. Well one could call it the family sport seeing all of his brothers were proficient.
“By the way which dorm are you in?” Allan asked while straining his right eye to a glimpse of the girl sitting next to him.

Asher was delighted with her promise to feature him in a movie. He didn't have the heart to tell her that his place was on the stage and not in front of a camera, but if she did indeed make it big, he wouldn't say no to her offer. The prospect, as fantastical as it was at this point in time, was exciting.

No luck, then, with this Jake character being his roommate. His disappointed reflected briefly in frown, but he bounced back quickly, flashing him a grin. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He didn't know where anything was either. The map hadn't settled in yet, but it would only be a matter of time. The lick of Russian took him by surprise. He figured Kirina was Russian- She had the accent, but the fact that Jake fluently, for all he knew, spoke the language was a cosmic coincidence in his eyes. They widened a fraction. "That's impressive." The sentiment was for his state major and partly for his language skills.

The initial spark of interest was not without a flutter of anxiety in his stomach. He loved parties and he couldn't believe he was getting an invite already, but this wouldn't be like the parties back in his hometown. He didn't know what to expect except from what he saw in movies (which were always accurate), but he wouldn't find out by saying no. "Sure, I'd love to-"

The crash cut him off. Puzzled, he looked around the room and then to the window where some people were gravitating. "I think it came from outside...?" Asher shot the two a look and edged over to the window to investigate for himself.