It's too early to deal with stupid people. It was almost nine in the morning but Arya Stark's tolerance for her fellow students was quickly waning. The high pitch giggling of two girls a few rows away grated on her nerves meanwhile some idiot kept bumping into the back of her seat. She momentarily wondered how much trouble she would get in if she punched the idiot but quickly rejected the idea. It was the second day of her sophomore year at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and all she could imagine was her mother's facial expression when she received the call that her youngest daughter assaulted a fellow student. There would certainly be hell to pay. Her cousin, Jon, and his friend/roommate, Gendry, would never let her live it down and would probably start calling her a 'wilding' like they had when she was younger. She glanced down at her iPhone again, two minutes until class starts. Scanning the ever-increasing crowd, she was amazed by how many people were in this one course. She sat in the auditorium of the Bell Museum for the Intro to Research Methods, a requirement for those working towards a degree in Psychology. Her academic advisor told her this was one of the largest classes for those in Psychology. It was one thing to see the number on paper but another to see all the actual bodies of students filling up seats. There was to be well over five hundred students in the single class. She had arrived early, it had been ingrained in her from her mother that if you are not early, you are late, and chosen a seat a little closer than halfway to the stage and on the left side.
"Hey Arya! Can I sit with you?"
She looked up, her messy bun swaying on the top of her head, and shrugged. "It's a free country."
"Thanks, I got lost on the way here." Poderick Payne sat down next to her, taking the seat next to the aisle. They had shared an Intro to Psychology class their freshman year so it did not surprise her to find him in this class. He was a sweet kid, a little socially awkward but genuinely friendly. There was something endearing about his slightly chubby face, dimples and sunny disposition although she would never admit it to him.
"Is that Professor Lannister?" Poderick, or Pod preferably, asked looking to the front of the auditorium.
"I suspect so. I've never seen him before."
"I heard he is ruthless when it comes to grading."
"Oh joy." Arya moaned, just what she needed. Math had never been her strongest subject and taking a Psych math course…with a harsh grader… Someone kill me now. Save me the torture of failing epically. She studied the professor a bit more as he strolled over to the podium. Tyrion Lannister. He was short, actually midget short, with a thick forehead and slightly misshapen body giving the impression of an Neanderthal, but a short one. He was dressed professionally in a nice suit but no tie, the jacket open around his small stature.
"Excuse us." A girl stated trying to slip past Arya and Pod to take one of the open seats in their row. Her friend slipped in behind her, except her body type was a bit more to maneuver. Arya noticed Pod blushing as the girl's backside came close to his person. I wonder if he has ever seen a naked girl before in real life. The two girls sat one seat away from Arya, chatting about their next class. She thought she caught Pod giving a quick glance towards the girls but class started and she turned her attention towards the front.
"Good morning, class," Professor Lannister began, scanning over the large body of students in his presence. He adjusted the mic on his suit jacket and continued. "Welcome to Intro to Research Methods, I am Professor Tyrion Lannister. If this is not the class on your schedule I would ask you to go ahead and exit before I begin my lecture." He stopped, waiting expectantly. Three different students rose and hastily made their way back to the aisles and past the exit doors. "There is always at least two." Professor Lannister chuckled. "We will meet every Tuesday and Thursday from nine to ten-thirty am. This will be a very math focused class so I advise you to bring paper and a pencil for working the problems but no one will be checking your notes so attend to them as you please. Now with this large amount of students I will not be able to give my attention to all of you so we have teaching assistants to help. They will be attending the lectures same as you, I hope, and they will have office hours in which you can seek them out. Let me introduce them." A group of four students rose from the front row and turned to face the auditorium. "If your last name begins with one of the letters A through G, Jessica Smith will be your TA." The athletic girl waved, a smile on her face, and her pixie cut bobbing. "Letters H through M will have Margaery Tyrell for their TA." The blonde smiled, a flirtatious look about her, especially with the top she wore not leaving much room for the imagination as to what was underneath. "Letters N through S will have Jaqen H'ghar." The man looked like he just walked out of a GQ magazine. He briefly inclined his head, piercing eyes surveying the crowd. His white forelock shifted with his nod then slid back to join his brown, chin-length hair. Arya was positive that ovaries were exploding all over the auditorium, possibly some balls too. Guess I won't be getting much help this semester. He will probably be too busy picking panties off the floor to really teach anything. "Lastly, letters T through Z will have Brad Appleton." The guy gave a weak smile as he adjusted his glasses. "Thank you, TAs." The four sat back down, facing the professor.
"Guess we have the same TA, huh?" Pod whispered, leaning towards her.
"Yeah, lucky us." Arya murmured, after catching herself biting her bottom lip.
Professor Lannister continued his monologue, "Their office hours and location are in the syllabus which is available to download online. I expect you to contact them through your campus email, please do not call the number provided, it will connect you to all the TAs for the Psych Department. Any questions so far?" He paused for a brief second then clapped his hands together. "Excellent, let us quickly skim the syllabus then onward to learning research methods."
Arya clicked her pen, ready to begin taking notes. She chastised herself for glancing at the back of her TA's head. Seven hells! Yes, he is handsome but that won't help you learn math. I should see if there is a tutor available. She wondered if Jon or Gendry would be able to help her, they both were engineering majors so math was their forte. On second thought, they both were so busy with a senior schedule, she did not want to bother them with her extra problems. She huffed, drawing a confused look from Pod. I wonder how much this class is going to suck.
After Research Methods, she had a couple hours to kill before her only other class of the day, Spanish. There was no one she recognized in the class, which was probably best for when she made a fool of herself, less chance it would come back to haunt her. After class, she jumped on the campus connector bus to West Bank then walked to her apartment. The sun felt invigorating on her face and she allowed the warmth to seep out the negative feelings of the day. Autumn in Minnesota was her favorite. The colorful leaves had not begun to fall yet, the temperature had a hint of summer to it still and she could pretend winter would never come. There were things about winter and snow she loved- snowball fights, sledding, hot chocolate, fires, holidays; but being able to walk around in just jeans and a t-shirt with sunglasses was soothing to her soul.
Her apartment this year was infinitely nicer than the dorm she spent her freshman year in. The best part was she was not having to pay a dime for it. Actually that made her initially uncomfortable but her roommate had brushed off Arya's worries and convinced her that is what best friends do. Shireen Baratheon. They were unlikely friends from high school but a year as roommates freshman year solidified their friendship. Shireen was an only child so her father had no limit to what he would do or spend on his precious daughter. Stannis Baratheon was some big hot shot CEO something so money was not an issue.
Arya let herself into her apartment. Once the door opened an overpowering aroma of coconut and flowers invaded her nose. She coughed as she closed and locked the door behind her. Moving to the kitchen's island, she counted at least six candles burning in close proximity.
"Shireen? What's with the candles?" Arya dropped her backpack, heading to the fridge in search of something to munch on. "It smells like we are at a luau minus the pig."
Laughter drifted from Shireen's bedroom. "It smelled earlier when I got here. I tried to open the windows but I'm paranoid I'll break them again." Shireen came out of her room and sat in one of the chairs at the island. "I swear whoever was here last smoked two packs a day even though this apartment is supposed to be non-smoking. It's going to take half the year to get the stench out."
Arya had not paid much attention to it, there were worse things for her to get worked up about. "Are you heading out soon?"
Since her father paid for everything she could want, Shireen did not work but instead spent much of her free time volunteering. Currently she wore jeans and a cute blouse with her blonde hair pulled back in a pony-tail which usually meant she was working with kids. Otherwise she always wore cute dresses and skirts. She constantly tried, in vain, to lend Arya some of her dresses since they were the same size, both petite frame and just over five feet tall.
"I'm going to the homeless shelter this evening. We have a group for the kids starting tonight talking about emotions and how to properly handle them."
Arya was pretty sure Shireen was an angel incarnated. She was a Family Social Science major, who eventually wanted to work with children with mental illness. With her big doe eyes, warm smile and gentle touch, the kids adored her and she adored them. It made Arya happy to see her friend find her place in the world and how she could make it a better place. Arya wished she had her life as much in order.
"You'll have to tell me about it later. I'm going to try and get a head start on Spanish homework."
"You got this. You're better at it then you think you are." Shireen smiled before drifting back to her room like the Disney princess she was.
Arya grabbed an apple and a handful of Oreos before walking to her room with her backpack. Hey, I'm a college student, no one expects me to eat healthy all the time. She jumped onto her twin bed, snuggling down into her flannel sheets and pulling out her laptop. Her room was sparse for the moment but as the year dragged along, things would begin to accrue. The only furniture was her bed and a dresser, the room was not big enough to accommodate much else. She had a small closet just inside the room, opposite of her bed. Within the few days of being here she had already begun to tape up pictures on the wall next to her bed. Although her family home was only just an hour away from campus, it felt better to have little reminders of her family and happy memories. On her dresser sat a stack of favorite DVDs she had brought along with a framed photo of her and her dad hugging on her 15th birthday. That was the last photo she had taken with him before…well before.
"Miss you, dad." She whispered then turned away before tears started forming.
Buzz.
She grabbed her phone to see who had text her. A smile lit up her face as she saw the name. Jon.
Soccer Saturday morning, u still game?
Hells yeah.
Me & Gendry pick u up around 9:30.
Thanks snowflake.
Play nice baby sis.
She chuckled at their terms of endearment. Jon was actually her cousin but having grown up living under the same roof, they preferred to call each other siblings. The anticipation of Saturday created the necessary drive for her to get a head start on her homework instead of delaying by watching YouTube and cramming all her work Sunday night. Saturday mornings, while the weather was decent and they found enough players, some of Jon and Gendry's friends would meet up to play soccer or football depending on the mood. When Arya started at the U, she had been invited by Jon, to the displeasure of some, but she quickly became genuinely included as her sports skills shone, surpassing some of the older boys. The comradery, the adrenaline, fighting for her team to dominate the other and bleeding off the stress from the week, it had become what she looked forward to the most. Unfortunately it was only Tuesday and she had to make it through the rest of her first week of school. Putting earbuds in, she turned on Imagine Dragons as she began sorting through her homework. Gotta keep those grades up for the blasted scholarship.
Jaqen H'ghar turned the computer screen off before rubbing his eyes. He wondered if he would ever get used to staring at it as long as would be required of him now. His white forelock continued threatening to cover his left eye whenever he dipped his head slightly forward. It was an adjustment to get used to its current length, his auburn hair had been shoulder-length for so long but by the prompting of his Master had cut it to his chin. With that thought, he scratched his clean-shaven jaw, another feature he was adjusting too. Truly his appearance changed so frequently it should not bother him, when outside of the House of Black and White, he could be anybody with any appearance. Oddly enough, this contract, he had decided to use his real face and not a borrowed one. Why his real face, he was not truly sure. He had been sent on longer missions before, pretending to be someone else. This was his first mission in the United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave, or so the postcards said. There was no concern someone would recognize him.
He had been on campus a week now, adjusting to life as a PhD student. His campus information claimed he was a student from Heidelberg University in Germany, taking a respite from classes to obtain research experience under the famous psychologist Tywin Lannister and focus on his thesis work. The job working as a teaching assistant was set up as a work-study program so he could have a small income while here. His real motivation for being in the arctic state of Minnesota was less educational and more sinister. He thought back to his conversation with his Master, learning about the contract.
"A man believed this Professor Lannister was a friend of the Order, is he not a help to the House of Black and White?" Jaqen, whom had not been given the name Jaqen yet for the mission, questioned, walking alongside his Master in the underground bunker.
"Ah, so a man did believe but there is mounting proof otherwise." The Master walked with his hands clasped behind his back, hawk eyes pointed downward at the concrete floor.
The younger man looked over at the Master, his salt and pepper hair beginning to show in his shapely, trimmed beard. "Was this man's death not prayed and paid for to the red god?"
"Yes," the Master finally looked up at his former apprentice, "but a man must find if there has been treachery before giving the dead man his gift."
"Just so."
So he had been sent to observe and spy, to play a role of gaining trust and access before the gift of death was given. Valar Morghulis.
He glanced at the teaching assistant sitting behind him at his desk. Brad Appleton was lean, from lack of muscle strength than anything, with light, dusty brown hair, sharp cheekbones and glasses too big for his wide set eyes. Although they both were TAs under Professor Tyrion Lannister, the young man had made it clear he was not interested in social interactions. Especially after Brad noticed the long looks Jaqen received from their fellow, female TAs. The lack of potential relationship did not bother Jaqen, actually he preferred it. He did not need others to fulfill a sense of identity or desire for interconnection. Alone and self-reliant was how he had spent all of his life, even as an apprentice in the House of Black and White. Friendships were not discouraged yet neither were they encouraged since apprentices were often pitted against one another in combat. The loser usually having painful consequences. Fear and respect grew between the apprentices that moved up the ranks until they took their vows and joined the Order of the Faceless Men. Those apprentices without the skill, competence or fortitude to complete their training…their bodies would never be found.
Deciding he had played his charade long enough for the day, he grabbed his laptop and stuck it in his leather satchel bag. Murmuring a 'Gute Nacht' to his unresponsive officemate…flatmate…fellow TA, he walked out the door of their shared, cramped office into the long, white hallway of Elliot Hall. Two doors down he heard a high-pitch voice call a 'good night Jaqen' as he walked by. He thought about turning around and bidding the girl goodnight from the door frame but chose to ignore it. It would not take much effort for the Tyrell girl to end up in his bed. Although the idea amused him, the potential consequences held him back for the moment. It was not forbidden to fulfill carnal pleasures but getting involved in an unsanctioned relationship was. There was no time or place for love, in any form, amongst the Faceless Men. Duty must always come first. Valar Dohaeris.
Taking a back hallway, he stopped to look at his phone, the appearance of answering a text message. Truthfully, his eyes shrewdly scanned the ceiling for the cameras in the corners. He could hear Professor Tywin Lannister talking loudly even through the closed door just three feet from where he stood. After a brief moment, Jaqen continued on his way, taking the back staircase. With the confirmed knowledge of the surveillance camera's blurry vision, he began to finalize his plan of accessing the professor's office to retrieve the needed information. He stepped out into the light of the setting sun and the chill of autumn's air, heading towards his apartment on the other side of campus. Tonight will be most beneficial and eventful.