Chapter 1: The Dorm
Felicity Smoak looked up at the imposing dorm building which would be her home for the next year of her life and first year of her College education. Her mother stood beside her, a proud look on her face and a hand on her baby's shoulder. She was so proud of Felicity for getting into college away from Vegas where she had grown up. She had always known Felicity was meant for a great career and future, so she had worked her ass off for the past 18 years to give her daughter the boost she needed and deserved. They each pulled a case on wheels which held her clothes also a box each holding her books, school supplies and personal belongings.
An overly preppy second year girl on the welcoming committee directed them in the direction of sign in and registration. Felicity was asked to leave her luggage, clearly labeled for the hired bell boys to take things to their assigned rooms. She smiled for her Campus ID picture and her and her mother went on a Campus Tour. The Campus was beautiful and everything Felicity had ever dreamed of, she had a feeling she would be very happy here. After the tour her mother treated her to lunch at a burger joint just off Campus, Big Belly Burger, wanting to get a head start on a part time job Felicity handed in her résumé while she was there. It was close enough for her to walk and feel safe enough doing evening and night shifts.
Her mother left her with a tearful hug and speech about how proud she was of her daughter. Felicity collected her key and room number beginning the search for her new home. Felicity was the first to arrive at the room but there were three beds, it was a spacious room though. She supposed that was why her room was so cheap this Semester. She didn't mind, she looked forward to meeting her roommates. Not really minding about living arrangements she set her sheets on the bottom bunk and unpacked her clothes into one of the three dressers, hanging her dresses in one of the three compartments in the closet. Finally she claimed the desk in the corner of the room as hers as it had a nice view of the campus. She seated herself on the low cushioned window seat and looked over the Quad, where an activities fair was taking place. Opening the window to the latch to air out the room she took her key and light jacket to go explore the campus of her own accord as she felt the tour had been somewhat rushed, which she found understandable given the rush of new students arriving.
Meanwhile Caitlin Snow climbed out of her father's car and stretched, inhaling deeply. The air smelt different than in Coast City where she had grown up. But she had always dreamed of attending college in Central City, since she was twelve and fell in love with the subject of bioengineering. The college specialized in it and offered internships with STAR Labs, owned and run by the Doctor Harrison Wells. The opportunity was only offered to a select few students, so she knew she had to work hard to earn it. Her parents had sent her clothes ahead, so there were just a couple of boxes to carry. They had taken a tour on the open day, so after getting her Campus ID she collected her room key and her father bid her farewell, saying he'd see her at Christmas.
In her room she saw one of her roommates had already unpacked and claimed the bottom bunk. Caitlin had never trusted bunk beds so she took the bed along the opposite wall, hoping her other roommate wouldn't mind. She unpacked her clothes, books and school supplies and headed straight back out to familiarize herself with the layout of campus.
Last to arrive was Iris West and Barry Allen. They were foster siblings since they were 8 and Iris' father took him in after the disappearance of his parents. But before that they were the best of friends. Detective Joe West had wanted so badly to be there to help them settle in but had been called into work at the last minute for a force-wide emergency, so he promised he'd try and visit them during the weekend instead. Having grown up in Central City and gone to school locally, they had been on many visits over their high school education to the College Campus, and so skipped the tours after registration and ID photos to head straight to the Activities Fair. There were a few societies of interest for each of them so they signed up to a couple of taster sessions. Iris had her heart set on becoming a journalist so she certainly had her eye on a place on the Campus Paper.
Satisfied, they headed to their separate rooms to unpack. Iris noticed her two roomies had already moved in and she happily took the empty top bunk as her own along with the empty dresser and closet space. Above all the desks were notice boards, hers and one of the others were blank, but she noticed that one of the girls had pinned some photos to hers. Iris moved to get a better look, finding that one picture was of a young, white, auburn haired girl and an older looking man standing in front of the coast and a clear blue skyline. She smiled, at what she could only assume was a picture of one of her roommates with their father, and then moved on to unpacking her belongings. Unpacked and settled in Iris decided to shower and freshen up, a flyer had already been pinned to the door about a Social tonight in one of the Sorority houses and she was keen to get a look at the social scene available at the College as most of her current friends had left for their own adventures. Taking her clothes and towel into the en-suite with her she tied up her hair having washed it already that morning, dressing comfortably in sweat pants and a loose fitting t-shirt she picked up one of her course books her desk and went about reading a little in preparation for her first Lecture that Monday morning.
Felicity was happy with the taster session she had signed up for but didn't really hold much hope for it, really she'd just gotten fed up of the overly-preppy kids jumping out at her and chose the least offensive option of computing, though really she had no interest and decided she would head back to her room to see if her roommates had arrived yet. On the door to the dorm she found a flyer for a Sorority party that night. She thought about going as she sought out her key from her jean pockets. Letting herself in she found a girl with dark skin, long straight hair, and a pair of plain reading glasses reading a book, she assumed, from the textbook appearance it was prep reading.
"Hi," she smiled when the girl looked up, "I'm Felicity Smoak."
"I'm Iris, Iris West."
"Nice to meet you, so what're you studying?" She asked falling into easy conversation.
"Journalism."
"That's so cool, I'd love to do it but I cannot write for frak." She said laughing, "I'm studying Computer Programming."
"Wow sounds complicated."
"It can be but I've been taking computers apart since I got hold of my dads laptop when I was 8, it just comes sorta naturally, I have no idea how or why, neither does my mother, by the way, just a warning I tend to babble, which I'm kind of doing now, I'll let you get on, sorry."
"Don't worry about it, I've been reading for an hour, I think I need a break," Iris smiled closing her book, careful to mark her page. Just then the lock turned on the door and the girl Iris had seen in the photo entered.
"Hi I'm Caitlin."
"Iris."
"Felicity, what're you studying?"
"Bioengineering. What about you guys?"
"I'm doing Computer Programming," Felicity told her smiling.
"I'm studying Journalism," Iris told her, "have you guys thought about the party tonight? There was a flyer on the door."
"I could go for a party." Caitlin nodded dropping her handbag and herself onto her bed.
"Sounds like fun," Felicity agreed.
"The flyer says to bring something, shame we aren't old enough to buy a bottle of wine or something." Caitlin said reading the one Felicity took from the door.
"You may not be but my ID disagrees," Felicity grinned digging through her purse.
"Where did you get this, it looks real." Iris said running her fingers over the hologram.
"I grew up in Vegas, and I'm a computer genius, plus my moms current boyfriend since I was 15 works at the DMV, I may or may not have hacked in and changed my age before it was made. It wasn't even that hard." She told them. "Just let me know what you want and I'll run to the store, it's suspicious if we go in as a group then only I buy." She said sounding like she had experience.
Felicity made the walk to the off-licence while Caitlin took a shower and Iris chose what to wear for the party. By the time they were all ready it was an hour before the party was to start. While they waited they compared schedules. They set off at 9 walking together to the address on the flyer, their wine in their bags. "Wait, wait, hold on," Iris stopped them excitedly, "let's take a picture together? Our first dorm activity?" Caitlin and Felicity agreed and huddled either side of Iris while she readied her Iphone and held it out in front of them. "Say 'College'" she grinned.
"Collage." Snap.
"That's a nice one," Felicity smiled.
"Yeah can you tag us in it on facebook?" Caitlin asked.
"Sure thing," Iris smiled, "OK, let's go girls."
The party was in full swing when they arrived and they put the wine in the coolers pouring themselves a glass each they set about exploring. They stuck together, not wanting to separate and risk getting lost on the way home.
The party was at a co-ed home owned by the student's in charge of the student's Union, the house was two stories but huge inside, the girls assumed that most of the student body would be in attendance at some point in the evening. The girls mingled but didn't really engage in the craziness surrounding them and grew rather bored.
After their bottles were empty they decided not to stick around, they had made them last just over three hours and it was past midnight. They returned to their dorm just after half past, but none of them were tired. They changed into their pjs and cleaned their makeup off and Felicity offered them a hot chocolate to help them settle to sleep. They sat against the wall on Caitlin's bed and watched a movie on Iris' laptop before retiring to sleep.