This was going to be a good year. Scratch that, this is going to a great year. And nothing was going to stop her from having fun.
Rey was in such a great mood when she landed at the Coronet City international airport that she wasn't even upset she had missed the shuttle that was supposed to take her to her new dorm. She would just have to wait for the next batch of international students to arrive and take the next bus. Completely sleep deprived, she opened her luggage and pulled out the fluffiest jacket she had brought with her from England and started making herself comfortable at the airport terminal.
She hadn't even finished adjusting the seat when someone gently tapped on her shoulder.
"Excuse me… I uh… I was… are you by any chance waiting for the Corellia University shuttle?" a boy asked nervously. He was tall, handsome and muscular, and Rey couldn't help but admire his features.
"Yes! My flight was delayed so I missed the 6 pm one… I guess we're stuck here until midnight then," she added, "I called the University and they said someone would come to pick us up in a couple of hours".
"Oh thank God! I had no idea how I was going to get there from here at this hour… I'm Finn by the way"
"Nice to meet you, Finn, I'm Rey"
"That's a beautiful name," he said, "are you English?"
"I am, you don't sound like an international student though, where are you from?"
"I was born here in Corellia actually, but I moved away to Australia when I was 10. I guess I never picked up the accent", he said smiling.
Rey smiled back at him. "Well, Finn from Corellia, you might want to make yourself comfortable since we still have to wait for a couple more hours"
"Good idea", he said, opening his luggage and pulling out a large pillow from one of his suitcases. "I packed this just in case something like this happened", he added.
"Smart. I couldn't think that far ahead". Or afford the extra baggage fee, she thought to herself. "I just figured I would go to Bed, Bath & Beyond after I landed and pick up the basics. I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow." She settled into the chair and tried to form a ball with her jacket so she could rest her head on it.
"Here", Finn said handing her the pillow, "take mine. I don't mind staying awake, I slept like a baby on the plane."
Rey smiled at him gratefully and almost immediately fell asleep on it. If she had stayed awake a couple more seconds she would have seen Finn studying her face carefully, like she was a painting at a museum worthy of contemplation.
It wasn't until 11:30 that someone from the University arrived. She was wearing a bright orange t-shirt with the University logo and looked like this was her dream job.
"Well hello there!", she said enthusiastically to Finn, waking Rey up in the process. "I absolutely looooove picking up international students! You guys are always so much fun and so interesting! I wish I was more interesting, but still… Welcome to Corellia University!"
It was a two-hour drive from the airport to the campus, but since it was so late at night they were dropped off at a nearby inn for the night. Someone would come to pick them up in the morning and take them to their respective dorms.
Finn already had a room booked, Rey soon found out, since some students had been informed that late arrivals would not be able to pick up their dorm keys until the next day.
"Hey, you can stay with me!" Finn said, "there are two queen-sized beds in there, it can easily accommodate the both of us!"
If Rey hadn't spent almost all of her scholarship money on her plane ticket she would have probably refused Finn's offer, but she really couldn't afford to spend what little remained on a hotel room. "Are you sure?" Rey asked, "I mean… you don't have to, I can get my own…"
"Nonsense," Finn said. "Come, my room is on the second floor"
As they both settled into the room, Rey found herself growing more and more tired with each passing minute. She took off her shoes and didn't even bother changing into her pajamas before climbing into bed. It felt wonderful after being awake for so many hours.
She saw Finn trying to set the alarm clock on the bedside table, but after struggling with it for a couple of minutes he gave up and called the front desk and asked for a wake-up call in the morning.
Rey woke up the next morning feeling uncharacteristically calm. She showered quickly before Finn woke up, and then got dressed before going to the lobby to see if she could find something to eat. She had skipped dinner last night, and her stomach was growling so loudly other people could hear it too. Near the entrance, there was a large table set up with food and snacks, and there was a Corellia U banner behind it.
"Hi! My name is Kaydel, I'm a second year at the University. Are you one of the international students who came in last night?"
"Yes! I'm sorry, can I take one of those bagels? I'm starving"
"Of course! Feel free to take anything you want. We'll probably leave in about an hour, so if you want to get your bags and check out I can start loading them in the car."
"Oh! Sure, I'm just going to go wake up my roommate and bring him some coffee. I wouldn't want to leave him here all alone."
Rey grabbed an extra bagel and cup of coffee and headed back upstairs. Finn was already awake when she came in and handed him the food
"Here you go. I don't know how you like your coffee, so I put a little bit of cream and sugar in it in case you didn't like it black. There's more downstairs if you don't like it. The CU people are already there waiting for us."
"Thanks for the coffee! It's perfect. Yeah, I'll just pick up my things really quickly and we can head out."
"Hey, Finn?"
"Hum?"
"Thank you for letting me stay here last night. I really appreciate it"
"It was my pleasure, Rey. Do you know which dorm you're going to be living in?"
"I'm actually going to be living in one of those residential colleges, the Resistance."
"Hey, me too! I can't believe we're going to be living in the same place!", he said excitedly.
"That's great!", Rey said picking up her backpack and helping Finn move his bags out of the room.
She already knew someone. Someone who liked her and who was kind enough to let her stay with him so she wouldn't have to spend money. Things were off to a great start.
As they descended to the lobby, more students wearing logo shirts came to help them and they soon got into a large minivan. Rey realized that more international students must have arrived after them since there were 3 or 4 other cars waiting outside the inn.
They soon took off, and Rey couldn't remember ever being as happy or as excited as she was at that precise moment.