There I was, sitting in a small, stuffy room filled to the brim with boxes, with only a complete stranger accompanying me. I was officially in college. My roommate, Kagami, had said very little out of a small greeting. In fact, she had looked rather bewildered as my parents wrapped her in hugs and did everything short of adopting her as their own. I basically had to shove them out of the dorm. Though my parents had been sort of embarrassing, I still felt a grim weight on me as Kagami's parents were a no show.
A deafening silence loomed for hours as we both unpacked our things. I was hanging up some pictures, many with my highschool friends, some of maman and papa, others of Paris. After I had made a sort of messy mural of pictures, I looked over to Kagami's side of the room. She had unpacked most of her things, and had settled herself into her desk chair, looking through some journal. Her walls were completely barren.
"What's that?" I asked, trying to break the silence.
"I'm looking at my planner for our schedule today. Although it seems as though it is relatively empty, and most orientation activities begin tomorrow," Kagami replied, rather coldly. Though, under her composure, she seemed almost nervous.
"Well, yeah! Today was mainly just the move-in day. I was thinking it would be a good opportunity to meet some of the people in our hall. Want to come with me?"
"I would, if that is okay with you."
With that, I took Kagami out into the hall, where sappy parents and frazzled girls rushed around. Almost everyone's doors were open, and many girls were mingling throughout the hall. Kagami, however, seemed a little nervous, and stayed consistently one step behind me. I walked two dorms down, and knocked on the open door, only to be polite. Inside of the dorm were two girls, one with long black hair, that had been dyed purple at the bottom. Her side of the room was decorated with many female rock posters, and a Jagged Stone poster. The other girl had video cameras and notebooks spread throughout her side. The bespectacled girl looked like the type who would know all of your secrets. Her fiery hair bounced as she jumped off of her bed to greet us.
"Hello!" she squealed "I'm Alya and this is Juleka. Where are you guys from? Oh, and what are you studying?"
I looked to Kagami to start. She stepped forward, and, almost as if she had practiced before we came, she stoically responded, "I am Kagami Tsurugi, and I was born in Japan, but moved to France four years ago. I am planning on studying as a business major, but would like to potentially double major in accounting as well."
"I'm Marinette. I've lived at my parents' bakery about thirty minutes outside of Paris my whole life. I don't really know what I want to study, but I'll probably major in business since its the most useful," I said with a sigh. I really had no idea what I was planning to do. I never really excelled at any subject in school. The only thing anyone could say I was proficient at was knowing all of the best fashion brands, but I had a snowball's chance in hell of making it in that industry.
"Awesome! As I said earlier, I'm Alya, and I'm also from Paris. I'm planning on studying journalism. In fact, I was the head of my school's newspaper back in the day."
Juleka scoffed, and added, "You treat highschool as if it were ages ago. It's only been four months!"
"Well we are adults now, Juleka! It's like a completely different world we've entered."
"Okay, well, I guess you're somewhat right. Anyways, I'm Juleka, and I'm planning on studying public policy. Oh, and I came from the same place as Alya; we've known eachother since we were little."
I thought to my friend, Nino, who also came with me to college. In fact, he had ended up in the same building, albeit a floor down. I made a mental note to visit him later.
"Wow," I responded, " So you guys must know the city pretty well. I'm glad I met all three of you. I've always been told that I am rather 'directionally challenged'. We should all grab lunch sometime. In the city, that is, not just the dining halls,"
"Girl, I have got you," Alya responded with a smirk. "I know this city like the back of my hand. Though, we will have to be careful, with the akuma attacks and all. This city seems to be a magnet for those. Did those ever happen where you're from, Marinette?"
I was taken aback by her suddenly bringing up the akumas. Hawkmoth had been creating akumas since my sophomore year of highschool. They would appear all over Paris and its suburbs. Though, usually the attacks were much more dangerous in the city, with all of the tall buildings and civilians wandering the streets. I had known of these attacks rather well. After all, it was also my sophomore year when I was granted the power of the ladybug miraculous, though that was not something I could reveal. It was strange that Alya would bring it up all of the sudden. Almost everyone in France knew of the attacks, but it usually went unspoken. Many either had been or knew someone who had been akumatized, and it was somewhat of a sore subject for many.
Before I could finish my thoughts, Juleka interrupted "We would certainly have to be careful around this one," she said jutting a thumb at Alya, "She has a nasty habit of actually following akuma attacks."
"Well, Juleka," Aly responded, making sure to pronounce every syllable of the other girl's name, " how else am I supposed to get photos for the Ladyblog?"
"You are the writer of the Ladyblog? I am a huge fan of you work. I especially loved when you interviewed many of the people who had been akumatized in the past, " Kagami interjected. I wouldn't have taken her for a Ladybug fan.
The conversation flowed naturally, and we eventually exchanged numbers. As we were walking back to our dorm, I excused myself from Kagami, explaining to her that I had to go visit my friend Nino. She waved me goodbye, and I walked to the stairs up to Nino's room.
He had told me the room number was 318. I walked up to the door and gave a light knock. I heard heavy footsteps come closer until the door swung open, revealing instead of Nino, thick tussles of blonde hair loosely feathered over a wide rimmed pair of glasses. This new figure was wearing a forest green hoodie with denim jeans. He stammered a quick greeting, and looked to me as if he were expecting me to state my reason for intrusion.
Though, I guess that was normal, considering I was a random girl knocking on his door. I began to respond to his silent ask "Is Ni-"
"Adrikins! I can't believe we didn't end up in the same building. Luckily it is just a quick walk over here," a blonde, Paris Hilton type bursted from behind me, hugging the exasperated boy. Her hair was tied into a tight ponytail, with all of the flyaways held down by what seemed to be an entire can of hairspray. She did, however, allow two little trestles to curve almost perfectly around her large hoop earrings.
"Hey Chloe," the guy said, shuffling awkwardly under the weight of the girl on top of him. As I looked at his nervous composure, I realized that they were probably dating, and I, this random stranger who, by the looks of these two individuals, was nowhere near their socioeconomic level, barged in on their happy reunion. The girl responded to him, gushing over how excited she was to be at the same college as him.
"Oh! I think this is the wrong room. Sorry for the inconvenience!" I panicked, and quickly left the room behind. My flats hastily shuffled against the carpeted floor of the dorm, and I felt like a cartoon leaving a trail of dust behind me. I thought I may have heard the boy's voice as I left, but it was probably in my head.
"Fuck," I whispered under my breath. My heart was still pounding from the uncomfortable experience. It had been one day of college and I had already embarrassed myself. Why did I have to run away like that? Hell, I hadn't even found out if that was really Nino's room or not.
I unlocked my door, and plopped myself in bed, giving a quick greeting to Kagami who was reading at her desk. Grabbing my newly placed covers off my bed and rolling myself in them as if they were my cushion from the world, I tried to go to bed, hoping with all I had that it hadn't actually been Nino's room, and I would never have to face those two again. God, it was all so embarrassing.