Sighing to herself Arya finished unpacking some of her clothes in her new dorm room having only just arrived today for the start of the new term. Glancing out the window seeing masses of people walking around the new campus that would be her home it was clear to see this was a University for the elite. Unsettled by the thought she knew there would be a few others like her, here on a scholarship having to work hard to maintain a free education because the minute she lost it she would lose everything. Having come from a broken home with not a very supportive family this had been the only escape for her, pushing herself to achieve great grades to earn a place to be away from the run down dingy flat that she had lived in all her life.

Maybe she could enjoy herself a little, this new environment would be better than what she had come to know back home. As much as she knew she had to study it wouldn’t be harmful to enjoy herself a little, maybe she could even start now. Meet some new people socialise a little and see what kind of welcome party was going on this evening as she was certain there had to be a welcome party. Taking one last look at the half-unpacked suitcase she smiled a little before shaking her head picking up the keys to her dorm room before she decided to leave. It was the first day after all, it was time she enjoyed herself, she had worked hard for this moment after all.

Locking up she headed towards the campus, wary smiles and small waves to students as everyone seemed to be exploring. Arya could tell this was going to be a good year, she was certain that being away from home and having the chance to focus on herself for once would be the break she needed. Walking through the campus she glanced around at the scenery taking in the sights, it was a stunning place to be, and she knew that was part of the selling point to this place. That and it’s ridiculously high grades to attend, or if you had money to buy your way in that was another option for the families that wanted their children to carry on their legacy.

“I think I’m going to like it here.” Arya smiled talking to no one in particular as she started to feel comfortable in her new surroundings.

Joe sighed as he unpacked the last of his things in his dormitory room. It was the beginning of yet another year at this place. Joe had been here for a few years, and this was now the beginning of his last year here. The university life was no doubt something that required quite the adjustment process, but once he settled in he was right at home. The university itself was practically in his backyard, but that didn't mean he had an easy go at the university life either. On campus, Joe was as alone as most students. He didn't have a wide social circle nor was he a particularly popular person. It was intentional, for reasons that he wasn't privy to revealing.

Once he put down the the last box and shoved it into his closet, Joe felt his stomach grumble. He had been so preoccupied with the unpacking that he had forgotten to eat the whole day. "Jesus..." He murmured to himself, before closing up his closet. The next thing in order for him was to definitely get some food. It was lucky that the food at this place was actually good. He'd heard horror stories about campus food at other universities, but for the price tag this university came with, they more than backed it up.

Stepping outside of his dormitory building, Joe kept his bomber jacket on him, his black t-shirt and jeans to compliment the outfit as he made his way to the dining commons. He looked around, and there were a lot of regular, typical college activities. But, with every year that passed there never ceased to be a shortage of new things being introduced onto college campuses. This year was no stranger, with a group of people crowded around what appeared to be the world's smallest trampoline catching Joe's eye. He was rather hypnotized by the people smacking the ball up and off the trampoline that he failed to see the person standing in front of him. He wasn't walking very fast, but he definitely bumped into her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Joe said, putting his hand against his heart, "I didn't see you there."

Having strolled through the campus and taking in the sights Arya ended up at a standstill just watching from afar all the activities going on around her. Various stalls full of students trying to see what clubs and social activities to join and demonstrations of afterschool activities she found herself intrigued by a lot of it. Partly even tempted to look at joining something, it would look good on her if she contributed with one of the clubs that was going on and she was certain it wouldn’t affect her studies too much.

“H-Hey!” Frowning as she felt someone bump into her, stumbling on her feet for a moment as she regained her balance completely drawn from her thoughts as she glanced at the culprit wondering if it had been done on purpose. Tilting her head slightly as she watched the hand on his heart apologising for bumping into her, she knew then it had to have been an accident.

Smiling slightly, she held both hands in defence, “Oh no it’s fine honestly. Don’t worry about it. I probably shouldn’t have just been standing around in the way. My bad for that.” Shrugging it off like it was no big deal as she smoothed down her simple green top that paired with her jeans not having brought a jacket. “Is this your first time here too?” Assuming that he was new around here like her. “It’s quite mesmerising watching everything that’s going on, I found myself kind of lost in it.” Chuckling as she thought that had been the reason, he had bumped into her, that he had been just as overwhelmed by everything not noticing his actual surroundings.

“I guess that’s how they get new members to join there clubs though. Make some flashy show so everyone thinks it’s amazing.” Glancing back over towards the stalls that had been set up for first day of term. Arya found herself smiling again, it was hard not to be excited when she had wanted to attend this University for so long that it now felt like a dream she was actually here.

“Sorry, I’m just rambling on. You probably have places to be. It was a pleasure to meet you?”

Joe looked at the girl after the rather awkward encounter, and a sense of relief washed over him as she seemed to have played it off calmly. That was good -- he didn't want to start off the new school year by pissing someone off and having them be mad at them and have a sour impression of him. Joe was a bit too familiar with that sort of sentiment, and it wasn't something that he wanted to carry with him in the new school year. Luckily, this girl seemed very calm about it which put Joe at ease. The man chuckled sheepishly, as she asked about his experience with this school. "Oh, no, no it's not." Joe said, "It's my fourth and hopefully final year here." Joe said, glancing around the campus. "I've been here for a while."

"But even then, I still find something new every time I come back to campus. I'm sure it's even more crazy if you're new here." Joe remembered the first few days on campus himself, where so many things were new and the transition in between university and high school were as jarring as ever. "Yeah, all the years I've been here, the clubs haven't changed much when it comes to how they recruit." The university senior sighed, "I wonder how their membership numbers are doing... I'm not a member of any of these clubs so I honestly can't tell you." Joe scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, me? I was just heading to grab a bite to eat. I haven't eaten all day so I figured now was as good of a time as any to get something." Joe smiled, as he glanced toward the direction of the dining hall. Suddenly, Joe had an idea while he was there. "Why don't we get a bite to eat? Since you're new here, I might as well treat you to a meal here. It's the least I can do." Joe said, before gesturing toward the direction of the dining hall. "What do you say?"

“Oh wow! Fourth year? You must be a pro at all this then.” Arya smiled gesturing to the campus before them before looking back to Joe. “What are you studying? If you don’t mind me asking of course.” It was nice to have the opportunity to talk to someone that had been through what she was going through now with being all new to the campus. “Yeah… it’s been a little crazy, I’m only just settling in, but I think I have everything unpacked. No doubt I’ll have forgotten something, it’s always the way.” Chuckling to herself at the thought because she knew that it was more than likely.

“So, you’ve been here four years and you haven’t joined any club?” Arya found herself asking just casually, it seemed a little odd that you wouldn’t. Especially with extra circular being able to help towards final year grading, it was how she was planning to help keep her scholarship up. It helped towards her scholarship and showed participation which was always great when trying to impress the board.

“Oh sure, I’d love too. No need to treat me, but it would be handy to be shown around the food areas and what to choose.” Nodding to herself as she followed his direction to head towards the dining hall. “I’m sure there are food options I should try to avoid right? I doubt all food is amazing.” Grinning to herself as she began to walk in the direction, he had gestured towards for the food area. “Thanks, it’s nice to talk to another person here. Everyone seems so caught up in themselves you know. I think you’re the first person I’ve actually spoken too whilst here.”

"Oh, it's no problem! I'm studying Civil Engineering -- eventually I want to be a city planner and help develop cities and build them." Joe chuckled, before hearing the girl talk more about her experiences with being new to campus. The feeling of determining whether or not you've got everything you need is never good feeling, and Joe understood that feeling just as well as anyone could. "Well, if you've forgotten anything you can always buy it. There's stores on campus, and stores not too far away from campus either. Anything you need, you can likely find it here or online." Joe chuckled.

"Nope." Joe shrugged, as he put his hands in his pockets, "Not really my thing." Joe knew that networking was a rather important aspect of the college life but he didn't care much for it. He knew that there were other ways that he could've secured a job, especially knowing the connections associated with his family name. Not to mention, Joe's grades said a lot about how he worked too. As it stood right now, he was due to graduate magna cum laude. That alone was a very attractive thing to have on his future degree.

As the two started to make their way to the dining commons, the student thought about the potential dining options there were. There weren't any that stood out as particularly bad, but he didn't know what this girl liked on the other hand. "That's up to you to decide, I like the things they put out for us. The chefs do a good job here, that's for damn sure." Joe said, as they continued to walk through campus, looking over at the girl. "I do recommend the chicken though. It's always juicy and never dry. Well seasoned, too." Joe also heard the girl's last remarks, "Well I'm glad I can be the first person you can talk to here. Sometimes people are in their own world. It happens. But not everyone is like that and I think you'll learn that eventually."

The pair eventually made it to the dining commons, as Joe held the door open for the girl to walk in. Inside were a bunch of tables spread out, sparsely occupied at this time of day as the kitchen workers continued to stack and organize trays of food. The mixed scents of various dishes lingered in the air as Joe walked up behind her. "Oh, by the way, I don't think I caught your name. I'm Joseph, but you can call me Joe."

“A city planner? That sounds pretty interesting.” Arya smiled as he began to open up more about himself and what he was currently studying. “Oh, that’s great, means if I have forgotten something I’ll just grab it, that’s a relief at least.” Finding herself chuckle a little nervously because she knew she was rambling so much, but she was trying to at least make one friend in this new campus or someone that she could have a chat with every now and then.

“Well, that’s promising, I’ve heard horror stories of bad food served at Universities.” It was comforting to know the food seemed alright, especially as she knew how ¬¬¬¬¬fussy she was when it came to eating. “I was worried I’d have to live off of sandwiches for the rest of my life here.” Chuckling to herself as she glanced around the campus remembering where they had walked so it was easier for her in future and so she wouldn’t get lost. Even though she was trying to remember the route she knew it would take some getting used too as it was entirely new surroundings.

“Yeah, it’s nice. I guess I’d be one of those who would be in my own world. I tend to just keep to myself really.” Smiling as he held the door open for her as she walked inside noting the number of tables and empty hall, which was probably due to the time of day, most people were probably still settling in. “Thank you.” Saying her thanks for the gesture of opening the door Arya found herself distracted by the different various foods on display seeing if there was anything she’d like.

“Sorry! I got distracted!” Snapping out of it as she realised Joe had been talking to her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Joe. I’m, Arya.” Finally introducing herself as she wandered towards the different selection of food on offer, debating on what to eat. It was quite exciting to see they catered various styles and it wasn’t all basic and it smelled great. “Well, this certainly looks exciting, I can’t imagine disliking the food here. You were right.” Grinning up at Joe as she gestured towards the food. “So, what will you be eating this evening? I’m liking the look of that mac n cheese, I guess it may be a little basic, but you can’t beat it that’s for sure.”

"Well, Arya..." Joe chuckled, overlooking the spread of food they had throughout the dining commons. Even after all this time, Joe still found it difficult to figure out what to choose at times. He had his favorites, but he didn't want to repeat the same meals over and over again all the time. That was a surefire way to make sure that they would stop being his favorites. "The mac and cheese is pretty bomb here -- the cheese they use is so good... and the way that they bake it? Maaan, it's like eating magic." The combination of pepper jack, mozzarella, and other assorted cheese blended perfectly and created a delightful symphony of flavors, at least to Joe's tastes. "You really can't beat the mac and cheese if you don't know what to decide."

"As for me..." Joe trailed, his eyes traveling over various foodstuffs throughout the facility. His eyes eventually settled on one thing. It was something he'd had before, but it was something that he also considered a safe option. "I'm gonna go with the chicken parmesan, over some nice pasta noodles. Love me some chicken parmesan." It just so happened that the chicken parmesan and the mac n cheese were located near each other.

Walking to the stack of trays and cups, Joe grabbed a pair of trays and cups, before handing one of each to Arya. "There's also desserts and whatnot nearby too. If you like cookies, cake, pie... or sweets in general -- they got it. I like the soft serve here personally." The dining commons looked to be more of a self-serve sort of situation, with the more specialized and items that required special preparation requiring attendants of their own and staff to handle it. "Feel free to grab as much as you want. With how much we pay a year for this stuff, they let us take as much as we want, so get your money's worth!" Joe chuckled, as he walked up to the lineup of chicken parmesan and pasta, grabbing a plate. "Drinks also work the same. Free refills all the time." Joe mentioned, before he turned to Arya.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me -- what are you studying? I don't think I asked you earlier."