Chapter One:
Clara Oswald glanced down at the slip of paper in her hand, double checking the number that was boldly printed in the top right corner. Room 221. This was it. She took a deep breath and slid her key into the slot. The door unlocked with a snap and she pushed it open. It appeared that her roommate had arrived before her, as half of the room was covered in boxes and stray pieces of clothing. A laptop sat open on the desk, glowing in the dim room. Clara flipped the light switch and lugged her suitcase to her half of the room. She heaved it onto the bed and began to unpack. She had taken two trains and a bus to get to campus, and she was absolutely exhausted. Thankfully, her classes didn't start until next week, so she would have time to settle in and hopefully make some friends. Clara began to make her bed, flopping onto her stomach to reach the far corners. Its times like this when I really wish I were taller Clara grumbled to herself. Reaching into her suitcase she gingerly extracted a thick leather journal. She tucked it under her pillow carefully, making sure none of the loose pages that were stuffed into the binding fell out. She was just stuffing her last shirt into the ridiculously small dresser when the door swung open and a tall blonde girl strolled in, stepping around boxes, and flopped onto her bed. "Oh," Clara squeaked in surprise. The girl lifted her head and propped herself up on her elbows.
"Hey," she said, looking over at Clara. "You just get here?"
"Yeah, about half an hour ago," Clara replied shyly. "So you're my roommate?"
"It appears so," the girl replied with a laugh. She stuck her hand out in Clara's direction. "I'm Sally."
"Clara," she replied, taking Sally's hand. The two girls smiled at one another. "So how long have you been here?" Clara questioned.
"Oh, about two weeks," Sally replied with a shrug. "It gets boring after a while. I've been to a few parties, met a few people, but no one I really click with, you know?" She flicked a stray piece of hair out of her eyes and stood up. "I heard that there's an activities fair in the courtyard. All freshman are required to take an extracurricular activity." She rolled her eyes as if to say can you believe it? She walked to the door and raised an eyebrow. "So you coming?"
Clara liked Sally immediately. She was funny, energetic, and never stopped talking. They talked all of the way down to the courtyard, with Sally telling jokes and Clara adding to the conversation whenever she could get a word in. They finally reached the activities fair and Clara stopped dead in her tracks. The entire courtyard was filled with colorful booths and other freshman milling around. "Yeah, its kinda crazy out here," Sally yelled over the noise of the crowd. "It's crazy wherever the entire student body congregates, actually. Just wait until meals." She shuddered dramatically. "You'll get used to it though." Clara laughed as she gazed around at all of the booths, wondering where to start.
"Should we split up? Or stick together?" She gnawed at her bottom lip, and habit that popped up whenever she was nervous.
Sally mimed having a heart attack. "Are you kidding? If we split up we would never be able to find each other. And the chances of one of us being trampled or eaten skyrockets."
Clara raised an eyebrow. "Eaten?"
"Oh yeah." Sally nodded melodramatically, a huge grin splitting her face. "You never know what'll happen here." Clara shook her head and giggled.
"We better get going," Sally said. "Dinner is in an hour. And I refuse to miss a meal." They headed down the sidewalk into the middle of the chaos. The sights and sounds were overwhelming. Hundreds of students walked around, in groups or alone, laughing and talking. More and more were arriving, in taxis, buses, or cars. Clara laughed as a tall lanky guy stumbled out of a cab reading a book. He attempted to unload his luggage from the back seat, but dropped a particularly large suitcase onto his foot. He jumped up and down, clutching his foot in his hand and muttering under his breath. He ran a hand through his brown hair, slicking most of it back over his high forehead. He had very nice hair, Clara noted. Woah, where did that thought come from? She shook her head and started over to help him with his things when Sally grabbed her arm.
"Clara, look! There's an acrobat club!"
"Uh, hate to break it to you, but I have zero flexibility," Clara said with a laugh.
"Neither do I," Sally admitted. "But it sure looks fun." Sally spotted another booth that looked interesting and dragged Clara through the crowd. Clara craned her neck over her shoulder to where the young man with the book had been standing, but he was already gone.
After twenty minutes of looking at clubs that were either lame, uninteresting for either Clara or Sally, or just plain out weird, Clara was exhausted. "Are you sure we have to join a club?" Clara complained, dragging her feet.
"Yes!" Sally exclaimed. "Even if we weren't required to, I want to do something fun with you to distract myself from the tragedy that is school."
"That's true," Clara laughed.
"I'm sure we'll find the perfect club. We still have half an hour!" Clara groaned, but let her friend drag her through the ground. Suddenly Sally dropped her hand and bolted into the mass of people out of Clara's sight. Clara had to sprint to keep up, scanning the crowd for Sally. She finally spotted her at a booth with a light grey tablecloth and a pale blue banner. Clara squinted up at the sign trying to decipher the name written out in dramatic, looping cursive. The... Harmonics? What could that be? Suddenly it dawned and she slowly looked over at Sally in fear. "No... No, you don't really want to-"
"Clara this is amazing!" Sally broke in excitedly. "This is it. This is what we should do!"
Clara groaned inwardly. "An acappella group? Why did you have to pick an acapella group?"
The girl behind the booth spoke up. "Being a member of The Harmonics is a great opportunity. Every year we go to the state finals. We have won the title eleven times and we are hoping for a twelfth victory this year. Hopefully you girls could be a part of the experience." She smiled warmly at them.
"See?" Sally said, jumping up and down. "We have to do this. Please Clara?" She grasped Clara's small hands in her own and made puppy dog eyes.
"But I don't even sing," Clara protested. In fifth grade, Clara's class had put on a Christmas play. She had wanted to be an angle but was denied the part because of her brown hair. They had wanted all of the angles to be blonde, which was totally discriminative, Clara thought bitterly. And so cliche. One of her teachers had heard her singing at recess and was gave her the part of the star above the manger. She was supposed to sing a big solo for the finale. By some twist of fate she had gotten the flu a week before the performance. Four straight days of puking and halfheartedly sipping fluids later, she was feeling a little better. She decided to go on with the show, but during her big solo threw up all over Mary and baby Jesus. Thank goodness he was just a doll. Mary, unfortunately, was not. Ever since that night, Clara had been emotionally scarred and refused to sing ever again.
"Oh come on Clara," Sally begged. "At least audition. If one of us doesn't make it we can find something else." Clara looked at her new friend and sighed when she saw how desperately she wanted to do this.
"Fine," Clara finally agreed. "Lets hope I don't regret this." Sally squealed in excitement and threw her arms around Clara.
The girl behind the counter smiled at the girls' embrace. "So I'll see you two at tryouts?"