BRRRRRIIIIIING

BRRRRRIIIIING

BRRRRRIIIIING

The noise reverberated throughout the room. Disgruntled by the sudden noise, a heavy hand slammed down onto the alarm clock, silencing it.

A groggy head arose from the bed staring at the bright red letters, which seemed nearly as intense as the actual ringing it produced.

7:25. A sigh as the tired girl brushed her thick, short, blonde hair out of her eyes, starring blurrily at the surrounding room.

She blinked in confusion; something wasn't right. The room seemed barren, empty; covered only in cardboard boxes and dust that suggested the room itself hadn't been cleaned in quite a while. She sighed as it came flooding back to her. Sitting up completely she continued to review the blurry room, and another sigh escaped her lips. She had a feeling she'd be doing that a lot today.

Reaching to her bedside table she patted the wooden structure several times before she found them. Sliding her glasses over her face the finer details of her new dorm room came into focus. Several unpacked boxes and an overall unclean room, probably left over from the last freshman who decided to just barely pass inspection; yup this was home.

A vibrating noise came from the table, this time not the alarm. Picking up the phone, a message notification was displayed over the wallpaper of a green alien face. Over the hollow eyes of the creature read:

Mom:

Have a lovely first day at school sweetie! Miss you already!

Peridot sighed again, already annoying herself with the constant exhaling, "I swear that woman's never heard of a period before," she complained lightly, before responding quickly with a text affirming that she felt the same and that she would have a good first day.

Setting the phone back down and stretching, Peri climbed out of bed. Her first class wasn't until 10:00 so she could spend some time unpacking and preparing for the day that was ahead of her. Her very first day of College at BCU was about to begin. A sense of adventure welled up inside of her as a grin spread across her face, this was going to be her year!

Peridot sighed as she looked up at the sky once so bright and shining, now covered in clouds. Looked like it was going to rain today. She glanced down at her attire; her usual alien face shirt underneath a green hoodie, her short blonde hair a mess as always.

She sighed in frustration as she tried to brush her bangs to one side to absolutely no avail. She adjusted the straps of her backpack, it wasn't the heaviest thing in the world, but it wasn't light either. She made her way to her first class which was…

"English," she sighed underneath her breath, not her strongest subject but general education required she take it so take it she shall. She slid in her headphones as she began to walk to class, seeing several awkward waves from boys and an occasional hairbrush from a girl, but she kept her eyes low until she came up to the building. Taking out her headphones, she slid into the back corner of the room where she could quietly just…be.

The rest of the class flooded in gradually, a few coming in after the bell had rung which Peri assumed was normal on the first day of college. The teacher rambled on about the syllabus and how a book should be brought to class every day, most of it just breezed through Peri's brain as she knew she could just fake it through most of the class and pass with ease. That was her mindset for most of these classes; go in, pass and leave; go in, pass and leave, at least until she could start taking classes she was interested in.

Eventually the bell rang, so she slung her backpack on and once again put in her headphones, and walked back to her dorm. With her head down and techno music blaring, she got less waves than earlier but that didn't bother her. She never cared for the random attention anyway.

Back at her dorm she began to unpack the rest of her things; her TV; several gaming systems; her personal computer; and her telescope, setting up the device right in front of her window for her regular stargazing. She smiled and gazed into the device. It was still morning, so all she could see were students milling about, chattering amongst each other. She had a few hours before her next class so she decided that maybe she should go and socialize with some of the people she'd be spending the next few years with.

Headphones set securely in her pocket, Peridot went out into the quad. This seemed to be where most of the people gathered, so she guessed here would be the best place to start making friends.

'Be bold, be bold,' she thought to herself before marching up to the very first person she saw. Not aware the stern look she wore, she extended her hand.

"Hello there!" she exclaimed, possibly a little too loud she belatedly realised.

Peridot felt her face flushing, as several heads turned her way, including the slightly amused face of the girl in front of her.

She was taller than Peri but not by much, she had caramel colored skin and her hair seemed to be dyed a light purple (so many people here had dyed hair she didn't understand it) , and thankfully she she seemed relaxed despite Peri's less than calm introduction.

"Heh heh," the girl snickered slightly, "Uh - nice to meet you," her voice was a little raspier than Peridot had expected.

"The name's Amethyst," the girl added with a slight wink.

Peridot blinked, surprised at the girls easy-going response.

"I-I'm Perid…I'm Peri," she said. Most people already called her that, and she wasn't the biggest fan of her full given name. It made her stick out even more than she already did in social situations.

"Nice to meet you Perid," the girl snorted lightly at her own joke.

"You as well, Amethyst," Peri replied formally, not entirely sure where to proceed from here.

An awkward silence ensued, before Amethyst burst out laughing and fell down on the floor. Peridot blinked, unsure as to what exactly caused that reaction from this boisterous woman.

"Aw man," she said, wiping a fake tear from her eye, "You are too funny,"

"Uhm…" the blonde blinked in confusion, "What exactly did I do?"

"Y-you," Amethyst stood up finally pulling herself together, "You totally left your fly undone." She continued to laugh hysterically, leaning on the slightly shorter girl for support.

Peri glanced down in embarrassment she couldn't believe she'd forgotten so simple, but when she looked down, she saw her jeans completely zipped up. She scrunched her nose in confusion and looked up at the girl who was now brushing herself off with a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Made you look," she whispered before snickering some more.

Peri rubbed her arm uncomfortably.

Amethyst grinned, "So then Perid how come you cut your name short?" she asked curiously.

"Because Peri is a lot easier to say."

Amethyst shrugged, "Makes sense to me." She nodded sagely. "So Peri, what can I do for you?"

"Um… Honestly... I didn't see this interaction progressing this far."

"Good game plan."

"Yeah, not my best idea," Peri sighed, she'd been making quite the habit of that today.

Amethyst grinned, "Well, not your worst. You could've picked much worse people to talk to than good ol' Amethyst here," she said proudly, puffing out her chest.

Peridot smiled a bit, "Yeah, I guess I could've talked to some stuck up stranger."

Amethyst resumed what Peri assumed to be her favorite hobby; laughing. "You've got some wit don't you? And a little spunk, I like that about you."

Peri blushed at the compliment and shrugged, "I suppose I do in fact have a rather fast brain," she stated confidently and once again a little louder than she had intended drawing more than one awkward glance.

Thankfully Amethyst didn't notice, as she was just radiating happiness. "I can already tell we're gonna be good friends!" The purple haired girl exclaimed throwing her arm around the blonde.

Peridot stuttered as the girl led her away, seemingly toward a building. Peridot broke the physical contact, "Look, I appreciate the kindness and everything, but I've-uh- I've got a class to get to."

Amethyst nodded, "Okay, okay," she said, "see you around Perid." The girl laughed and walked back to the quad.

Peridot breathed a sigh of relief.

That was about all the social contact she felt like she could take for the day. She had plenty of time till her next class, but didn't want to look like a liar to who could possibly be her first friend, even if she was a little…outgoing compared to what she was used to, but still seemed nice enough.

On her way to the building she heard a noise coming from somewhere nearby. Curious she decided to seek it out taking a few turns and eventually finding a small open area with dozens of trees.

Sitting against one of the trees was a woman holding a guitar.

Peridot blinked, entranced by the music she was making, and singing words Peridot didn't quite understand but they sounded lovely.

Shyly Peridot stepped forwards, "Hey, that sounded really good," she said to the girl.

Getting a full view of her now, she noticed that the girl was wearing blue jeans and a black top that showed off her midriff, not that she was staring at her. She had olive skin and blue hair although dark brown roots were semi-visible.

The girl stopped her playing and looked up at Peri. She blinked twice as if she didn't understand the words that were spoken to her. "Mi dispiace, non capisco."

Peridot's face flushed red with embarrassment as she realized that this student probably didn't speak English, hence why she couldn't understand her words. "S-sorry," she stuttered, "I'll just go." She quickly turned around and walked away, hurrying to her next class. The other girl smirked and went back to playing her music.

Sighing Peri thought to herself,

'This is going to be a long, awkward year.'