They're all sitting there, the rest of my floormates, gathered around the round table in the lounge talking about their weekend and first week of classes.

I'm almost a little disappointed that I'm not there with them but I have course outlines to read over and print out before tomorrow. I have binder price tags that need to come off, lined paper and subject tags to stick in and on the binders. I have to write out my schedule and plan my route so I don't get lost on campus. I have to do all these things before showering and going to bed before 10pm.

Can't be tired on the first day of class!

Wow, even I think that was pretty nerdy...maybe I'll sleep a little later. Like, 10:30pm.

I close my book and make my way to the walkway connecting the lounge with West and East Quad.

"Hey, Santana!"

I stop walking and turn around to the round table, "Oh, hi guys."

Trying to occupy my suddenly shaking hands, I nudge my glasses up and clutch my book to my chest, fingering the slightly frayed pages.

"Going back to your room already?" Lizzy-I think it's Lizzy-asks, with a slight mock to her voice.

"Um, yeah. I got a lot of preparing to do for classes this week."

They all giggle and whisper to themselves before one of them replies, Delilah, I think, "Well run along then, I'm sure it takes a long time to clean those glasses of yours."

Some of the girls laugh. The others just smirk at Delilah and return their gaze to me, waiting for my reply. I pause to look down at my feet before lifting my head up, adjusting my glasses again and taking a deep breath.

"You guys should head to bed soon too. You need all the beauty sleep you can get."

My comeback makes Lizzy, Delilah, and a couple other girls gasp in shock. The rest of them laugh it off because they don't think I was talking about them, but I was. As soon as I turn to leave I hear someone running towards us.

"Hey, have you guys seen Lord Tubbington?" My eyebrows knit in confusion. Who the hell is Lord Tubbington? I turn around to see all the girls' attention focused on the concerned stranger.

"Brittany, you know you're not allowed to have pets in the dorm."

"No, I know but I made my parents bring him up here when they dropped me off so I could be with him one last time. I guess he must have snuck out of my room after I locked myself out of our floor."

I give her a quick glance-over and I instantly feel sympathetic. Her golden hair is up in a messy ponytail, about a couple shakes away from coming completely undone. Her sweats are actually sweat-stained and her cheeks are flushed. She had been running around for some time.

Delilah pulls out her phone and checks the time, "Isn't it like, 8pm? Why haven't you found him yet? He can't stay in the dorm, Brittany. Rebecca is allergic and she's gonna find out and then tell the head of the residence about you and your cat."

Brittany sighs and smooths back a few stray strands of hair. She turns around and glances around the common room quickly before looking at the table of girls again.

They've completely forgotten about her and resumed chatting about their dull lives and equally dull interests. Brittany opens her mouth to speak but I cut her off, "I'll help you look for him."

Brittany looks up at me and her pout is replaced by a big toothy grin as she bounds across the room, more of her hair falling from her ponytail.

"Really? You'll help me look for him?"

"Sure. I mean, I have some time before I have to get ready for tomorrow." Brittany jumps up and down with excitement and I can't help but giggle as her ponytail completely comes undone.

Some of the girls glance up from their conversations at us but the rest are too busy tapping away on their phones to pay us any attention.

I open the door and head down the walkway while Brittany follows. The chilled air of the evening hits our skin, the first sign of autumn evident as fallen leaves are strewn across the ground, dragged around by freshman feet.

Brittany lets out a breath of exhaustion, finally taking the elastic from her hair and combing her fingers through it.

"So, how come I've never seen you on my floor? I know we just moved in this weekend but I didn't see you at our floor meeting." I ask, trying to make small talk

"Oh, I don't live on your floor. I live in South Quad." I turn my head to look up at her, hair elastic in her mouth as she gathers her hair into another ponytail. Suddenly self-conscious, I smooth down my own hair and tuck it behind one ear.

"Then how did those girls already know you? I know they only moved in today."

"Oh, I got lost in the West Quad today asking people for batteries. Those girls asked me if it was for my vibrator but it's really for my prototype."

I look up from my feet, confused again. Brittany seems to have a knack for confusing me.

"Prototype?"

"Yup, I'm building a time machine. I finally finished all the blueprints over the summer so it's time to start building it."

Brittany also seems to have a knack for surprising me. We enter West Quad and start climbing the stairs, "Wow, you must be really smart to build a time machine."

That earns me a shy giggle from Brittany, "Yeah, well I don't like to brag. I've never told anyone about my time machine before, just you."

"Really? Why just me?"

"I don't know. You wanted to help me find Lord Tubbington. Everyone else just gives me funny looks or laughs when I ask them for help."

I scoff, remembering those silly girls in the common room. "Yeah, those girls back there aren't very nice. I'd stay away from them if I were you. They don't get people like us."

"Like us? What do you mean like us?" I pause on the stairs and turn around. Brittany's at the bottom, looking up at me with curiously bright blue eyes.

My hands start shaking again so I grip my book tighter. "You know..." Brittany doesn't seem to get what I mean, her head tilting to the side in slight confusion.

"Nerds, we're nerds." I sighed and quickly flipped through the book's pages, my hands suddenly sweaty. "W-We're nerds."

She raises her eyebrows and thinks for a moment before pouting, "I'm not a nerd and I don't think you're a nerd either."

I can't help but laugh at how sure she sounds, "You're kidding right? I mean, I guess maybe you don't look like a nerd but I do." I look down at my T-shirt sporting one of my favourite Chemistry "jokes".

When I glance up at Brittany, she's staring at my T-shirt, pondering the punchline.

"Vanadium, Silver, Iodine, Sodium." She reads it aloud and bursts into laughter, covering her mouth in embarrassment at her sudden fit of giggles.

"Oh, so you got it did you?" I wiggle my eyebrows at her which only makes her laugh harder.

"C'mon, goofball, let's go look for your cat."

"Let me just put my book away and we'll go look for Lord Tubbington." Brittany nods and twirls around to look at the floor's bulletin board. I smile, watching her sway as she read the calendar of birthdays and events.

I unlock my door and toss the book on my bed, not even bothering to turn the light on. The book lands with a thud and something lets out a moan of disapproval in the darkness.

I pause mid-stride and reach blindly for the light switch. Golden eyes blink repeatedly at me in the now lit room. "Uh, Britt, I think I found your cat."

Brittany pops up behind me and peers over my shoulder, "Lord Tubbington! There you are!" She shoves past me and kneels at the edge of the bed to stroke the enormous cat's fur. He leans into her touch with a content look on his face. For some reason I wish that was me she was petting.

Ahem.

"He must've snuck in through your window." Brittany says plainly. I glance at the window and sure enough, a gentle breeze is flowing in from a wide open window, the curtains moving with the wind. I move to shut the window before something else has the chance to climb in.

"People don't know it from looking at him, but Lord Tubbington is a secret agent in training. I guess he just wanted to practice his dorm scaling in case he wants to come visit." She scratches him behind the ears as he closes his eyes and purrs.

That still doesn't explain how he opened my window. As if sensing my bewilderment he opens his eyes and stares at me. Our eyes lock in silent battle and I glance down to see him lying on the clothes I had laid out for tomorrow.

"Oh no...my sweater vest!" I pull the clothing out from under him and he rolls backwards from the movement. I shake the sweater vest only to have the cat hair disperse into the air, plenty more still stuck on the front as if it were a lint brush.

Brittany stands up and asks with a worried look on her face, "Are you allergic to cats?"

I sigh and toss the sweater vest in my hamper in the corner of my room, "No, but it's okay I'll just wear something else tomorrow."

She scoops the giant cat in her arms and he stretches his arms out across her shoulder before settling against her chest. "I've gotta go bring him back to my parents. They're probably wondering where I went."

I catch myself adjusting my glasses yet again and stuff my hands in my pockets, "Okay, do you want me to come with you?"

Brittany bites her bottom lip in hestitation, "Only if you want to. It's just that I already got lost on campus once, today."

"Well, then I'm definitely going with you then. C'mon, let's get him to your parents."

I lock the windows and take one last scan of the room before closing and locking the door behind me.

Brittany hands Lord Tubbington to her dad who puts him into his own makeshift car seat in their van. She hugs her mom goodbye as her little sister hugs her legs, tiny hands clutching at her sweats. When her dad is finished buckling the big cat in he joins them in a group hug.

I guess I should be busying myself somehow, stuffing my hands in my pockets again and turning around. A hand grabs my shoulder and pulls me into their group hug in between Brittany and her dad, sandwiching her little sister in the middle.

They pile into the van and Brittany waves goodbye, tearfully, as they drive off. The walk back to the dorm is silent as Brittany sniffles and wipes her face as tears continue to fall. I put my arm around her shoulder and hold her close, her warmth enveloping my left side as we walk towards her quad.

"What class do you have tomorrow?" she finally speaks. I look up at the starry night sky, taking a moment to remember my schedule.

"Ummm, Cell Biology. What about you?"

"Chemistry for Engineers." I nod at her answer. Of course she's in the engineering program.

We stop outside the stairway to South Quad, "Want me to walk you to your first class tomorrow? Y'know so you don't get lost on the first day?"

Brittany smiles down at me, "I'd like that. Wanna meet in the cafeteria at 7:30 tomorrow for breakfast?"

I return her smile, "I'd like that too." There's a brief pause, "How did you know I'd be able to walk you to class? You didn't tell me what time your class was."

She rolls her eyes, "Because, you just told me, silly. Also, you offered to walk me so if we had a schedule conflict that wouldn't have been very smart of you."

I open my mouth to reply but find my mind drawing blanks. Brittany giggles and leans down to kiss me. Her lips are soft and are cushioned against mine but the contact is short as she breaks the kiss before I even have a chance to return the kiss.

I lick my lips instinctively. Root beer Lip Smackers. "H-How did you know that I was a-"

"Lady loving girl that has the potential to give the best sweet lady kisses ever? Your t-shirt?"

Oh. Right. I'm not so sure about the so called "Sweet lady kisses" though.

I have nothing witty to say so I settle for just looking down at my shoes.

"I like you. Can I get your number?" she asks, with a smile in her voice. I fumble in my pockets for my cell phone. She types out her number into my phone and hands me her's to put my number in.

She cranes her neck to read what I'm typing, "Santana! That's a pretty name."

I look up at her in confusion and then it hits me. I didn't tell her my name until now.

"I-I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you my name, but to be fair you didn't ask!" I exclaim, playfully slapping her shoulder. She reels back in mock pain, "It's okay I still like you just as much."

I close my eyes and shake my head at the butterflies in my stomach, "7:30 tomorrow at the caf?"

"7:30." She nods. I wave goodbye and make my way to my quad but a familiar hand spins me around into Brittany's waiting arms. I relax into her embrace and squeeze her back before she lets go.

I can feel her eyes on me, watching me walk to my quad until I'm out of sight.

Now I really can't wait to go to class tomorrow.