Shaun's decision to go to school abroad was one that he had mulled over for years before actually making his choice, hell; he had most of his life planned out since grade 6! Leaving everything behind was not an easy task though, and as he pulled his bags out of the trunk of the vehicle, he was resisting the urge to just drop this plan and go back to England. Shaun gripped the handle on his laptop case tightly, and with a slight nod to reassure himself, headed towards the registration table that would begin his journey through university.
"Hello and welcome to Animus University! I'm assuming you're here to register, correct?" Shaun gave a curt nod. "Alrighty then, name please?" The woman began rifling through her sheets, trying to find the listing. Shaun internally scoffed. 'Not very well prepared for someone handling new students', he thought to himself. Apparently the sheet was closer than he thought, because the woman was looking at him expectantly when he looked up again. Shaun fumbled for his name.
"Erm, Shaun Hastings." The list was quickly scanned, and from what Shaun could see, there were hundreds of names. That was definitely not helping his nerves-he had never been in an environment with so many people, growing up in a small town does that.
"Right! So you are room 416 in dorm building three, and orientation is at four in the main hall. You can find everything you need on this map," The girl handed a package over, map on top with a bold 'you are here!' marker where the table would be on the lawn. "And there's an information package about all of the activities Animus offers, as well as events and whatnot. Have a look through that, and enjoy your time at Animus U!" The woman sent him off with a cheery smile which Shaun attempted to return, though it turned out looking much more like a grimace.
Shaun followed the path to his dorm, trying to avoid as many other people as he could along the way. He was nervous enough as is, and probably would be until classes started on Monday. His accent tended to be a giant beacon of 'look at me, I'm a foreigner!' as proven earlier in the airport when he was mobbed by practically every shady salesperson he encountered (where he rather impolitely told them to all bugger off-they all had a great laugh at that). The building itself was still quiet, as it was rather early on in the day and most students didn't show up until around two. The Brit easily found his room, and promptly deposited all of his bags in one of the bedrooms- after a good twenty minutes, those things got quite heavy, it's not like he'd admit it though, or he had anyone to admit it to.
The layout of the dorm was decent; it had a rather large open space with a kitchen area on one side and a sitting area and TV on the other. There were two bedrooms, and a bathroom that divided them. The extra space might have cost extra money, but it was worth it when Shaun didn't have anywhere else to go for most of the year. Staying in one place for that long, he better have picked something liveable.
Shaun opened up his suitcase, and began unpacking all things essential-mainly his laptop. Clothing could wait, but his blog definitely needed to be updated. No sense in waiting until after orientation, because really, the entire thing is more or less just a glorified tour. Curling up on the couch with the entry page already open, he pondered how he was going to put things into words.
Leaving home is...interesting. No matter how prepared one feels, when you finally touch ground in that other place, it's scary. As much as I didn't feel welcome back in England, I can't be sure if America is really that much better, I mean, all this is so...so alien! I'm in a city I know next to nothing about really, sure, there's information on it, but you won't actually know anything about a place (especially one such as New York) unless you experience it first-hand. Wow, all of a sudden the idea to go abroad seems really fucking idiotic (thanks guys).
Anyways, there hasn't really been much going on yet. I ran into some right assholes in the airport, vendors who couldn't get enough of my accent. Not really what I was expecting, considering that New York is relatively high-traffic area. The school itself is really not that bad so far, even though very little has happened. I've only seen a handful of other people around campus at this point, though I am very early, and the lists I saw stated otherwise-I assume that within a few hours this place will be full of energetic twats who are more into booze and parties than their educations. My roommate has yet to arrive, which I guess is a good thing, gives me first pick of the rooms that way, also time to calm down before I have to actively communicate with another person.
I guess I'll update you chaps on anything interesting at orientation-if there is anything-or if my roommate turns out to be a complete incompetent asshole.
Cheers,
Danny Wallace
Shaun's online alias was one he had been using for several years, documenting the troubles that he has had with home life and whatnot. He has gained quite a few followers and supporters over the years, and they helped him decide on what path he should take with his future. He promised them that he would write as often as possible about his experiences, so he figured that he might as well get a head start.
Shaun sighed and posted his blog entry, then began unpacking his stuff and setting it up in his room. He was meticulous, and deciding what went where took a little time. When he was completely finished, it was already three, and he was surprised that his roommate had yet to arrive. Just then, there was a knock on the door, which was promptly swung open. In the frame stood a young man-'Italian', Shaun thought-with two armfuls of suitcases and bags.
"Do you need help with that?" Shaun asked the man bemusedly, who was rather obviously struggling with the amount of stuff that he was carrying.
"That would be...great, actually." The man shot Shaun a wide smile and passed off some of his bags, then followed him to the vacant bedroom. "Name's Desmond by the way, Desmond Miles. You look like you're pretty settled already," he indicated to the items that were set up around the room, and the open bedroom door that was quite obviously filled with stuff. "I...kind of got caught up in trying to decide what I wanted to bring with me-I'm selling my place since I'm too far away from the school. Oh, what's your name by the way?" Shaun looked bewildered by how fast the other man was talking, but caught the end of his rambling.
"I'm Shaun Hastings. Been here since about noon, that's when my flight got in." Desmond, who had begun rifling through the bag on his shoulder, looked up and smirked when he heard Shaun talk. "Oh, don't comment on my accent. I've gotten enough shit from the airport already today." He looked towards the other man, lips drawn thin. Desmond ducked his head again looking sheepish.
"Sorry man, I just thought it was pretty cool. I don't know many Brits who still have their accents." Desmond pushed open the door to his room with his foot and dropped his bags beside his bed, motioning for Shaun to do the same.
"Right, well we have the orientation to get to in an hour, so I'd suggest at least trying to unpack some things before then." Shaun walked back over to the couch and logged back onto his blog, reading some of the comments since he had an hour to kill, not once offering to help Desmond. 'Serves him right for showing up so late, having to deal with all that shite by himself' Shaun thought to himself smugly.
An hour later and Desmond was maybe a third of a way through all of his stuff, trying to find his hoodie that he had taken off whilst Shaun was trying to usher him out the door. People were filing by in the hallway, other first years who, unlike Desmond, had a sense of time and were capable of not being embarrassingly late. "Come on Desmond, we're actually going to be late if you don't move your arse!" Shaun yelled back over his shoulder from the doorway. A couple of seconds later Desmond was stumbling out of his room, trying to get his arms into his sweater. He grinned at Shaun on his way past, who rolled his eyes again at his new companion. The two men strolled down the hallway together, and Desmond attempted to start up a conversation again.
"So Shaun, what did bring you all the way to America, anyways? I mean, it's not like England doesn't have its fair share of prestigious universities."
"A lot of things really, though the main reason being Animus has managed to pass Oxford with its history program, which is what I'm majoring in. That and the fact that I needed a change of pace from my home town." Shaun rolled his eyes at the last bit, 'damn right I needed a change in town, and country. It's difficult being constantly reminded of the people who were supposed to love you and instead kick you out on your ass' he thought to himself. Desmond nodded along with what he was saying.
"I hear you on the home town place man. New York is the polar opposite of fucking Hicksville, anything to get away from that. I've actually been here for a few years though, living across town. Thankfully I can still keep my job though, it's pretty much right in between my old apartment and the campus. Nicest bar I've ever been in, to be honest. The owner loves me, too."
"Wait, you work at a bar? Just how old are you?" Desmond looked mildly uncomfortable with the question, but answered regardless.
"I'm only 20, actually. Like I said, my boss really likes me, enough that he hired me on early-and I gotta say, I'm pretty good at what I do, too." Shaun actually stopped at that, right in time to wait for the elevator.
"You're kidding. Is that even legal? You know what, I don't want to know. Don't involve me in your...illicit shenanigans." He rested his hand on his forehead, digging his fingers into the skin above the bridge of his nose. Desmond just looked vaguely offended.
"Well what about you? You seem like mister stick-up-his-ass, and I'm not just saying that because you're British, I mean," The elevator pinged, and Shaun and Desmond stepped in together, Shaun's expression becoming more dire with every word coming out of the other's mouth. "You're wearing a fucking cardigan or whatever, and you were here ridiculously early, and you're majoring in history. That sounds like the makings of someone who's seriously a loser, I mean; at least I know how to have fun, even if it is 'illicit'!" Desmond finished his rant a little pathetically, sounding incredibly whiny. They stepped out, and Shaun took a few 'calming' breaths before replying.
"Right, look you ignorant asswipe, simply because I care about finishing school and creating a successful career for myself doesn't actually prove anything about my personality or hobbies. You have no idea about who I am or why I'm here. So what if I don't enjoy parties or drinking? I have my reasons, and they're pretty damn good, so why don't you just fuck off with your assumptions?" Shaun finished as they were nearing the gathering of students in the courtyard for orientation, heading over to the sign marked 'building three', pointedly trying to ignore Desmond. Desmond tried to stifle a laugh at the end of Shaun's tangent, and Shaun whipped his head back around to look at the other man. "What is it now, you cockney bastard?"
"Well you're just telling me not to assume anything, but you're doing the same thing with me and my bartending, dude. It's not like that's the whole story, I mean really. But whatever, I'm not going to take it that personally." Shaun sputtered at that, jumping to the defensive so quickly that he forgot about what he had just said. Just as he was about to reply, a woman at the front standing on a table cleared her throat, the chatter in the crowd dying off.
"Good evening first years! So nice to see so many of you out! My name is Lucy Stillman, and this is my partner, Rebecca Crane. We'll be leading your orientation. Now, since this is such a large group, we're going to get you to divide into two groups. Those with last names A to M, follow Rebecca over that way." Lucy pointed a little off to the left, and Rebecca hopped off of the table. Lucy continued, "And those with last names N to Z, follow me please." People split off in their designated directions, Shaun and Desmond going to meet with Rebecca together.
"Fucking brilliant, I'm with you again. I'm never going to catch a break, am I?" Desmond just laughed again, and Shaun tried to get a closer look at their. She was pretty short, and had hair that seemed to be styled into a mullet. She wore a pretty ridiculous tank top with some game related saying on it that passed way over Shaun's head. Her pants were worse, the style where they were super baggy and loose at the top, and tight through the lower leg. She seemed to be wearing suspenders too. Shaun was about to comment, but Rebecca clapped her hands to re-focus attention on her.
" 'Kay dudes, I'm not going to bother with introductions, let's just get rolling, cause we have enough stuff to cover." Rebecca motioned over her shoulder, and walked off towards a building that was labelled 'Literature', which was rather self explanatory. It seemed to be smaller than the other faculties, but still a decent size.
The group shuffled inside the glass doors, and was greeted by a huge foyer that also seemed to double as a library. The room was three stories high, and had bookshelves covering the walls. There were seating areas all over, with several computer areas scattered around. The receptionist at the sign out desk waved cheerfully to Rebecca on her way past. They stopped in practically the middle of the room, and Shaun was floored by the sheer number of books they had.
"Alright, so this crazy library is part of the English and literature hall. Initially that was all it was, the school library, but four or five years back Animus introduced a shit ton of new English courses and decided that it would be smart to simply expand on the library, so it houses all of the lecture halls for English. Follow me down this hallway and I'll show you what I'm talking about." Rebecca led the group through a series of wide archways, leading to a long hallway that was framed by doors that presumably led to lecture halls. "And these are the only lecture halls in the building. Pretty straightforward, right? Let's move on to the maths and sciences faculties."
The group was led out, to the large building in the center of the quad which was, once again, helpfully labeled with the subjects it housed. They shuffled inside, and unlike the library, the foyer on this building was white and sterile with red accents-a very modern style. There were signs along the walls to direct students where to go.
"This place is considerably more boring than the library, but whatever. Nothing particularly interesting to see in here, and I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to find your way around, considering like, everything on campus has been labelled. Right, moving on to Art and History!" Rebecca directed everyone back out of the building, this time moving at the back of the group. She caught Desmond's attention, who dragged Shaun over to her.
"Hey, you two look considerably more approachable than the tightasses at the front of the group. God, those guys would not shut up about some crazy-ass math equation they were working on, which really I have no interest in." Desmond laughed at that, Shaun merely shook his head.
"I'd like to think that I'm not a tightass, I am an art student after all. Can't say about my roommate here though." Desmond replied, looking pointedly at Shaun with the last jibe.
"Hah, an art student, eh? So are you just overly pretentious then?" Desmond sputtered, and it was Shaun's turn to huff laughter. "I kid, I kid, though you might find that some-or most-of the art students here are, at least, they were in my year."
"Oh, so are you an art major too?"
"Nah, I'm minoring in graphic design though. Most of those first years were under the impression that they were going to be able to coast through on daddy's money, that it was a chump course. They didn't last past December though, thankfully. And what about you mister prim-and-proper? What's your major?" Rebecca asked, directing her attention to Shaun.
"Me? I'm majoring in history. My specialty is ancient Rome, though I'd like to think I'm fairly well-versed in most historical eras." Rebecca snorted laughter.
"Dude, you have a 'specialty', seriously? I'm not entirely sure whether I'm impressed or want to laugh in your face! Okay, that was probably mean, but still. Also, why the hell are you here for school? Doesn't some Ivy League University over in England have an impressive enough history program?" Shaun decided to ignore the jabs about his...preparedness, instead just rolling his eyes over another question about why he was here.
"If you really must know, Animus has passed most other universities in the capabilities of its history program. Not to mention that they've got a couple of legendary professors working here now. Seriously, what is with you people and questioning why I'm 'here'? Bloody Americans." Shaun shook his head.
"Oh come on, I'm not that bad, especially compared to some Americans. Why, has your roommate-at least, I'm assuming that's what you guys are, sorry if I'm wrong-insulted your British pride somehow?"
"Oh, you don't know the half of it. Why did I have to get stuck with him-"
"Hey! I'm standing right beside you!"
"Ahem, as I was saying, him of all people?" Desmond glared half-heartedly at Shaun, and Rebecca rolled her eyes, patting Shaun on the back-a little tougher than necessary.
"Oh, suck it up, princess, he doesn't seem that bad. We're here anyways, so you'll have to leave your bitch fight until later." Rebecca jogged back up to the front of the group, and they were indeed standing in front of the Arts and History building.
"Okay, this is our last major stop, and there's some pretty cool stuff inside, so let's speed this up!" The group was led inside, and there were indeed some very cool things inside. The entire foyer was covered with wall murals, some of famous artists and some of historical events, but everything was very colourful. The murals continued down the different hallways, in places even dipping across the floor or ceiling. There were skylights littering the ceiling, offering the glow of the sunset to help light the areas, casting a reddish hue over the paint.
"This is by far one of the coolest buildings on campus in appearance. The stuff on the walls is everywhere, and each year, some students are given the option to add to it, at least until the building runs out of space. All of the art studios can be found down the right, there are shop classes down the middle, which includes computer terminals, and you can find the history classes down the left there." Rebecca indicated down each hallway, though most of the students were caught up in their surroundings, not really paying attention to anything their guide was saying.
"Okay, we have one last stop on this mini-tour, and that's to the sports dome. Let's get this wrapped up!" Everyone filed back out of the building, the air cooling down as the sun set. Rebecca hung back around Shaun and Desmond again, and the three made their way in companionable silence. The 'sports dome' was huge, obviously holding multiple fields within. Beside it there was a football stadium, the high lights already on, casting the field in an almost unnatural light. Shaun heard Desmond whistle low under his breath, and he agreed with the sentiment. The sheer size of the one field was impressive, and the fact that they had three was a little insane.
"Yeah, as you can see, Animus really likes its sports teams-the Animus Assassins. It's a pretty great name actually, though most of the sports share the same one, which is a little odd, but hey, whatever. There'll be listings for these within the next week where you'll be able to sign up for the different teams. In fact, there's a general club signup Tuesday next week. Don't forget guys, 'cause that'll be the only chance you'll get for many of them. Okay, tour's over. You should be good to find your way around now, right? Oh yeah, have some confidence guys!" She said when she noticed a general feeling of unease in the crowd. "I'm off, so...good luck!" And with that, Rebecca left, practically skipping in the direction of the dorms, suspenders swinging off of the back of her pants.
Shaun and Desmond made it back to their rooms together, Shaun being icily dismissive whenever Desmond tried to say something, though not wanting to walk around on his own, because you never really knew what kind of people were around. Once inside, Shaun walked over to the kettle, ready to make some tea and just not bother with Desmond for the rest of the evening ' or the rest of my life' his brain helpfully subbed in. He leaned back against the counter, as impatient as ever.
"Hey, I'm gonna hook up my Xbox and see if I can get any wireless, alright?"
"Whatever, just don't set anything on fire. And do try not to be too loud, I'm turning in for the night, jet lag and all that."
"...Alright, um, goodnight then?"
"Hn." That was the only response that Desmond got, and when he began to open his mouth again, Shaun's glare stopped him, his mouth closing with an audible 'click'.
The kettle finished boiling, and Shaun poured himself a cup, tossing a bag of earl grey in. After rifling through the cupboards he found no sugar, so he simply sighed and retreated to his room, locking the door behind him. The Brit set his cup up on the table beside his bed and pulled out his laptop, the urge to tell his lovely audience about his experience too great, and he was hardly tired. In truth, he had been trying to change his sleeping patterns for the past couple of weeks so his jet lag wouldn't be as terrible, and it worked quite well.
The cursor sat blinking in the entry box, and Shaun got to typing, his fingers practically flying over the keys.
Hello again, chums
It's been a while since I've done a double entry like this, hasn't it? Well, this is just too fucking ridiculous not to write about.
So, my roommate (Desmond, for future reference) ended up getting here at 3, which was...whatever, who am I to judge the guy for showing up late? So everything was fine and dandy for about an hour, until we actually had a chance to talk, but then he reveals that he's actually a bartender. He's 20. That's illegal, and when I reprimanded him for it (which might have been wrong, but seriously, who does that?) He starts talking about how I'm obviously a huge loser because of my major and the fact that I don't like to drink, and that I'm British, of all things. So yeah, that didn't go very well.
Right, then we got to the orientation, and that was...well, as expected, really. We toured the different faculties-oh, they have a massive library! It's the same building that all the English and literature lectures are held in, which is pretty cool. We didn't really see much of the maths and sciences building, as our guide obviously had very little interest (she's completely barmy, by the way. Seriously, I think she might be on something, but she wasn't the worst person I've met today) and then we went to the arts and history building which had murals all over the walls. Seriously, the interior was covered with them, and they all related to the courses held within. The sports building was our last stop, and we just got a glance at the fields, but they were insanely large. Obviously they keep their sports teams well-funded.
So yeah, I learnt the guy I'm to be living with is a huge twat, and that the buildings are extremely extravagant. Fun.
I guess that's it for now...oh! I haven't heard from my brother in a while, now that I'm thinking about it. I'll let you know if I do, because it's kind of disappointing that I'm losing my last family tie.
Cheers,
Danny Wallace
Shaun posted the entry and took a sip of his tea, planning on spending the rest of his evening scrolling through his tumblr, as he really had nothing better to do with his time. The lack of news from his brother was disappointing, because he was really the only person who still accepted him, and let Shaun know about anything that was going on at home. He was also a marine though, and Shaun knew that he was currently touring, so it was possible that he was KIA and he would never really know. It was his brother who taught him to look out for himself, and as such he used his first name as an alias online, to remind him of strengths that he wanted to have, more than anything. Instead, Shaun was cold and snarky, and often quite judgemental. It was a little upsetting. He sighed again for the however many time today, taking another sip of tea. That was life.
Desmond watched Shaun's bedroom door swing shut and huffed, crossing his arms. He thought having a roommate could be difficult, but this was insane! This Shaun guy was a huge asshole, more so than his father was, and took pretty much everything personally. Desmond was used to having to deal with tough patrons, he could adapt, but this was going to take time. He knew that he had offended him pretty badly, even though he may have deserved it, but he still had to live with the guy, so he might as well try to fix it.
The Xbox was already plugged in and running, but searching for a wireless network was fruitless. He turned the system off, and instead pulled out his sketchbook-it would be a few hours until he had to go to work anyways-and started drawing the first thing he thought of. Unfortunately for Desmond's poor one-track mind, that was Shaun, and by the time he really realised what he was doing, he had a page full of the snarky Brit.