The train doors slid open and I slowly stepped on with my suitcase.
Nobody really took notice as I wandered down the aisles, looking for an empty seat. Why should they? I was just like all the other men who had boarded this particular train that day, on our way to university whether it be for the first time or for the last. I didn't look like anything special and certainly didn't stick out.
There were many empty seats but I avoided the majority of them as the people around them often snarled and glared at me, or sometimes I was just too frightened to request that they move their bags or coats. It wasn't until I came to two empty seats opposite a girl with soft pink hair who was too busy scribbling in a notebook of some sort to take notice of me that I finally sat down.
I relaxed into my seat and looked out of the window, watching one town fade into another and studying the people who got onto the train each time it stopped. There were so many people chatting together. So many people who knew each other in a place where I knew nobody.
After a few moments, I noticed that the sound of the girl writing has stopped and when I glanced over at her she had a confused look on her face.
"Something wrong?" I questioned, causing her to jump.
"No, nothing." She laughed, shaking her head and glancing down at the notebook again.
"Is this your first year too?" I asked awkwardly.
"Yeah… I'm nervous." She sighed. "Oh! What classes are you taking?"
"Just English and world history."
"English? Wow! I love doing English crosswords." She paused and yet again looked at her notebook. "Hey, what's an eleven letter word for needless?"
I thought for a bit before stating, "Unnecessary… I think."
She smiled, but didn't write anything down.. "Thanks!"
"No problem." I responded, returning the smile. "I'm Feliciano Vargas, but most people call me Feli."
"Rosa Villa, but most people call me Riz. And by most people I mean just my brother." She chuckled, flicking a strand of pink hair off her face. "I lived in England for a year and most people there called me Barky. I used to think they meant I was an ugly dog, but it turns out that they meant I was 'barking mad'. I'm not sure what I'm more offended by."
I laughed a little and we sat in silence for the rest of the journey. More and more people piled onto the train and it quickly got really loud beyond what I could cope with, so I put in my earphones and turned my iPod up as loud as it would go.
A few hours later, I felt somebody shaking my shoulder and I opened my eyes to see that the train had stopped and everyone was getting off.
"Did I fall asleep?" I asked Rosa groggily.
"Yep." She replied, grabbing her bag and throwing mine to me.
"Thanks." I stood up and followed her off the train.
The university was bigger than anything I had ever seen and as I stared at in in awe, I was shoved out of the way by a boy with dark brown hair, who glared at me as he walked past.
"Sorry." I muttered sheepishly, but he took no notice.
"Why bother apologizing?" Rosa sighed. "HE'S A DICK ANYWAY!" she added loudly and I knew that he heard.
"Rosa!" I exclaimed through my laughter. "I think he heard you."
"Oh, whatever. He deserved it." She giggled. "Oh, and Feli?"
"Yeah Riz?"
"How do you spell unnecessary?"
"Excuse me, can you tell me where to find room C54?" I asked a woman who was sitting at a big desk in the main hall.
"Of course!" She chirped. "Just take a left and walk up two flights of stairs, then just walk straight ahead until you find it."
"Thank you." I mumbled, before pulling up my suitcase handle and hurriedly following her directions.
The corridors were long and winding, but once I had walked the second flight of stairs, C54 was only three doors down, so I took out the key I had been given only to find that the door was already unlocked. I pulled the handle down and awkwardly walked inside, dragging my suitcase behind me.
The room was pretty empty other than two desks, one wardrobe and two beds. On top of one of the beds there was an Asian boy with jet black hair, who was playing some sort of video game on a handheld console. His eyes flicked to me then he quickly looked back down again, as if pretending he hadn't noticed me.
"Hi." I muttered, propping my bag up against the other bed and sitting down.
He was unresponsive, so I loudly cleared my throat which caused him to look up.
"Oh, um… Hey- SHIT!" I noticed he was talking in English. He looked back down at the video game before sighing and throwing it across the bed. "Uh… Sorry about that…"
"Oh… It's ok." I truly wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. In fact, I was kind of worried about spending the next year with this guy. It didn't seem like either of us had made a good first impression.
He pulled himself up and held his hand out to me. "I'm Kiku. I came from Japan to study here for a year."
"I'm Feli." I shook his hand and smiled faintly.
"It's nice to meet you Feli." He nodded once then retreated back to his bed and sat cross legged, facing away from me and picking up the game again.
"What's that game you're playing?" I attempt to continue the conversation in order to break the awkward atmosphere.
"Just my old Spyro Gameboy cartridge I found while I was packing to come here." He replied. "I haven't played it in a long time."
"Oh, cool! I used to love Spyro. I'm not that into video games anymore though."
"Not that into video games? Are you out of your mind?"
"Quite possibly."
"Well… I won't stand for that. As soon as I get access to some sort of a TV I am showing you some of the best games I know."
"That would be great, but I don't want to get distracted from work."
"Isn't procrastination one of the main aspects of university?"
I thought about that for a bit and at the time I wasn't sure, but I gave an answer anyway.
"No. I don't think so."
"Then what?" Kiku questioned.
"Hey, we've only been here an hour." I sighed. "At least give me some time to work it out."
"How much time do you need?"
"Uh… A month. Yeah, give me a month."
"A month it is."