Man, that Introduction to Philosophy class sure was... interesting. It turns out Professor Faulken's full name is Millennium Leia Faulken (I'm assuming her parents must have been huge fans of Star Wars), and that she happened to be born around the time the Prequel Trilogy was coming out. I'm sure it was just a coincidence. Anyway, aside from those interesting little facts, Professor Faulken seems pretty well-adjusted and devoted to her philosophy studies. Hell, I can still remember that lecture she gave at the very beginning of class where she explained the basic elements of philosophy and how they worked in conjunction with one another. Well, that, and she used Captain Planet to further explain the concepts. Weird.

Well, now that that class is over, I've got about forty minutes to kill until my American Government class. I'm just so curious how we're going to discuss certain decades, especially a decade as rife with turmoil and chaos as the 2020s. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if Professor Wiley has similar thoughts about that decade. Only time will tell.

I catch a glimpse of Van passing by me and I decide to go track him down and talk with him.

"Oh, hi, Hope," Van just says with a smile. "How are you today?"

"I'm feeling pretty good," I reply. "I just left my Introduction to Philosophy class. It was... interesting, to say the least."

"Well, Professor Faulken has always been an interesting professor, hasn't she? I remember when I was visiting Maya and she said that Millie actually used memes during a lecture presentation. I'm not totally crazy about using memes like that, but whatever works, I guess."

"Yeah, sure." Suddenly, my face beams up. "Oh, by the way, you've got my roommate Quilene as one of your students."

Van's face lights up like a Christmas tree light. "Oh, is that who that girl with the hime cut is? Huh, neat."

I innocently roll my eyes and shrug my shoulders. "Yeah, just thought I would say that. Oh, and I just found out that one of her dads is actually my Introduction to Creative Writing professor... you know, Professor Hillenburg?"

Van can only chortle while he mentally slaps himself. "Oh, of course. I can't believe I didn't recognize her based on that alone. Though... I guess it would be easy to forget that since well... they don't exactly look like they could be related and they have different last names."

"I don't think she really cares anyway. She's got, like, three dads and two moms. It doesn't really matter whom she's related to."

"I see. Just like with Axel and his little polyamorous family, huh?"

"Pretty much." A little bit of time passes before I say something again. "So how have you been feeling lately? Quilene said you seemed tired."

"Oh yeah, I think I'm still wore out from the reversal surgery. Don't worry. I should start feeling like myself again within a few weeks." He's surprisingly calm about this.

"I should hope so. All those surgeries you had just to get rid of the cancer really seemed to take a lot out of you."

"Yeah, they did. So Hope... maybe we can talk later? I have to go back inside and get ready to teach."

I just laugh halfheartedly. "Oh yeah, sure. Bye, Van. I hope you're doing okay."

"Me too, Hope. Me too."

With that, Van and I go our separate ways. I start heading off for my American Government class immediately, hoping beyond hope that I make it there on time.

Later that day, with my American Government and Introduction to Linguistic Theory classes over and done with, I head back into my apartment and decide to watch some Netflix to pass the time. Around the same time, Quilene is preparing to take a shower and then get into her beauty routine. I envy her sometimes. Her legs are always smooth, as are her armpits. I wish I didn't have to put in so much effort just for my legs and armpits to be smooth. What's her secret? I wish I could just ask her, but I'm not sure she'll tell me.

"Hey, Quilene," I call out to her just before she prepares to open the bathroom door.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asks me.

"You wanna watch The Great British Baking Show with me later?"

Quilene just shrugs. "Uh, yeah, sure. Just as soon as I'm done with all my beauty stuff, I'll join you."

"Okay, cool."

With that, Quilene disappears into the bathroom, leaving me alone with The Great British Baking Show. Man, that show is so intriguing. All those foods like Madeira cakes and Prinsesstårta just fill my mind to the brim with imaginative visuals and aesthetics. It's enough to comfortably keep me on the edge of my seat while Quilene takes her shower. Some time passes, but I don't know how much has passed. Eventually, Quilene comes out of the bathroom and joins me. I can smell some sort of body wash on her. Is... is that chamomile I smell on her?

"You, uh, smell nice," I tell her.

Quilene just smiles. "Thanks. It's my favorite body wash."

"So I can tell. Guess I can borrow yours if I run out and don't want to buy more just yet."

"Good to know."

"So..." I blush slightly while looking at her. "How are you enjoying this semester so far?"

"Alright, I guess. It's still pretty early in the semester, so I can't really say it's been good or anything. Though, it is kinda neat that I'm roommates with my Introduction to Human Evolution professor's great-granddaughter."

I nod in agreement. "And I think it's neat that one of your dads is my Introduction to Creative Writing professor. I mean, what are the odds?"

"Yeah. Well, I'm here now. You want me to watch some cooking shows with you?"

"Sure."

And so we sit on the couch, watching The Great British Baking Show together and wondering how the rest of the semester will go. Hopefully, the momentum for this semester will build up more and more, and then we can look forward to having a great freshman year.