College Effect Redux
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer. This is Bioware's universe and characters, Im just trying something new in my head that leaked out onto paper. Thanks for being so awesome and allowing the use of your property Bioware!
It was a dump. Completely on the outskirts of the campus, a credit toss from the low income wards on the far side of the campus. Their omni tool tours didn't head that way. "Well… it's a roof right?"
"My sister. Ever the optimist." Jane rolled her eyes at her brother's back. "I can hear that you know!"
"Sooo, it's sort of furnished." A worn couch in a neutral beige looked to have been recently cleaned, Jane did not want to know of what, faced a bare wall. The shelving unit behind the couch stood empty. A hallway just off the far arm of the couch led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. The econobeds folded into the walls to open much needed space for doing things like standing. Still standing at the front door, the tiny kitchen on her left at least had a refrigeration unit, a sink, and counter oven. "And it's cheap."
"I get the bigger room!" She watched her brother dash to the back of the apartment. He came back a moment later, his face crestfallen. "They're the same size." Jane held in her laugh, trying to be sympathetic.
"Well, we COULD always get jobs. Upgrade housing."
"Yeah, right. School is more than plenty. Thanks though!"
"Slacker."
"Perfectionist." The pair continued their gentle ribbing, while they got their new house in order.
First Day of Class
Jane stepped into the massive room, an anxious spike running through her. She kept her face schooled into a mask, a learned skill that had been necessary after the raid, but she knew John wouldn't be fooled. He squeezed her arm lightly. Yep, not fooling him. As the two moved in, they were approached by another pair of humans, a dark haired male and female. Humans were in short supply in this class apparently.
"Hi! How are you? Where you in from?" The guy smiled brightly and offered his hand. She watched her brother take it, and just knew alpha male status was being vied for. She shook her head and turned to the pretty girl.
"I'm Jane. This is John. We're in from the colonies."
"I'm Ashley. This is Kaidan. We're here for the Junior Officer Program from Earth." Kaidan released John's hand, possibly a forfeit, and shook her own hand.
"Colonials! It's so nice to meet you. We've been hearing about the success of the colonies quite a bit lately in the news. Which one?" Kaidan's voice was doctor soothing, and it instantly put Jane on her guard.
"Mindoir." John answered. Jane could hear the tightness, but Ashley and Kaidan seemed unaware.
"OH! Mindoir is one of the colonies that's been highlighted recently! They are increasing recruitment because of the success that they have experienced. It's so nice to see colony kids making it!" Ashley's face had lit up with a huge smile. The Shepard's looked at each other in confusion. Practical non-stop raids from the Batarians had put the entire colony on their guard and set them back each and every time. They had heard other colonies were suffering as well.
"I'm going to walk around." Jane left as John nodded and continued chatting with Ashley and Kaidan. Walk around was code for be a wallflower. Her brother was so understanding. She made her way over to an Asari who was standing alone. "You have a good spot."
"I'm sorry?"
"You have a good spot. It's not as crowded on this side." Jane gestured to the fifty-odd other students congregating in groups around the wrestling mat in the center.
"Oh yes! There is a rather lot of noise isn't there? I'm Liara. Archeology."
"Nice to meet you Liara Archeology. I'm Jane Shepard."
Liara's laugh came slowly at first. "Liara T'soni. Archeology major."
"Jane Shepard, student of awful jokes and undeclared major. T'soni, like the administration building?" Liara hung her head and nodded.
"My mom Benezia. She made a handsome donation to the school about a year ago. I was sure it was so they would accept me to the program. It's pretty exclusive, but it must have been more generous than I thought."
"Maybe they needed a new building anyway, and her donation was at the right time?" Jane remembered the squat pile of bricks they were replacing.
"ALL RIGHT VARREN BAIT! GET IN LINES! ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE MAT! MOVE IT!" The booming voice startled Jane, and apparently every other student in the place as the crush of students began lining up. The biggest krogan ever was standing at the corner of the mat, gesturing to each middle area of the square. She and Liara moved to the back of the closest line. "POSITION ONE!" He pointed to Jane's left. "POSITION TWO!" Across from Jane's line. "POSITIONS THREE AND FOUR!" Jane's right, and her own line respectively. Position three held Ashley, John, and Kaidan. The krogan moved to the middle of the mat. "I am Urdnot Wrex. You will be paired off, and have a mini battle to determine how much work each of you will need. You are being recorded, so do your best." He moved off the middle of the mat. "ONE AND THREE GO!"
"Oh, Goddess. This is just the worst." Liara whispered to Jane. She nodded back slowly. The pair on the mat squared off with a turian besting an asari after a few minutes.
"TWO AND FOUR, GO!"
Jane watched the matches, and kept an eye on her brother. He would go before her by quite a bit. She watched Ashley beat a Salarian, but it was close. After an even numbered match, it was John's turn. He was paired against a turian, and the match was over in short time. Her brother's face was reddening, and she knew he was going to do something. She prepared to move to the mat, but he left to stand by the wall. Kaidan barely won his duel, Liara lost her duel, and then it was Jane's turn. Her opponent was a fidgety volus. He wished her luck, and she did the same. They locked into a grappling stance. The little bastard was surprisingly heavy. They awkwardly shuffled back and forth for about thirty seconds when the volus tripped, pulling Jane down on top of him. Winner, Jane.
"That concludes class for the day! You have a lot of work to do! Some more than others. You will go and look at chapter one, hip throws. Practice! Prepare! There are demonstrations recorded in your student files, and you will be ready to pair off and master on Wednesday! Do you understand whelps?"
"Yes, Professor Wrex" the chorus came, and then the din of talking rose as student milled about to gather possessions and gossip. Jane looked around for John , and saw her brother and Ashley heading towards the turian that had bested John. A spike of panic sliced through her, as irrational thoughts of her being turned into a pariah and kicked out of school with him flowed into her mind. She dashed across the mat and reached the trio just as John shoved the turian backwards a step. "Hey! Hey! Not ok! You know better!" Jane put her hand on John's chest, her other hand held up towards the turian.
"He's a cheater!" John didn't yell, but the anger was there.
"Yeah, you're just a bruised loser." The turian retorted.
"John. Go home." She cut off any reply he could make. "Now!"
"Fine. I don't have class until math this afternoon anyhow." His voice was sulky, but he didn't stomp off.
"I'll see you when you get back from math then. I have science soon." He waved in acknowledgement, a halfhearted you-will-hear-about-this wave. She sighed and turned towards the turian. "I'm sorry, for my brother's behavior." The turian nodded, and started to move away. "I'm Jane! By the way."
"Garrus." His mandibles flickered, and he seemed to be debating something. "Which science do you have? It's my next course as well."
"Biology! Fun times. I imagine many a small animal will be sacrificed in the coming weeks." She wrinkled her nose, not looking forward to dissection.
"Mine too. Want to walk together?"
Jane nodded. "You were really fast." She blurted the words out as they were leaving the gym. "During your spar, you moved really fast. It was impressive. All the turians were really fast." She trailed off.
A nervous sounding chuckle erupted from his throat. "Turians have two years of mandatory military training before we can go to college. We learn hand to hand combat and weapons among other things." She watched him rub the back of his neck from the corner of her eye.
"So you're like 21 or something?" She couldn't stop the choked sound.
"No, I'm 18." Her relief was profound, and she didn't even know why.
"Oh. Where are you from?"
"Palaven. How about you?"
"Mindoir. The Citadel is so strange to me. Everything is fake, but it's real at the same time, like the day."
"Believe me, it's strange to me too, and I've been here a few times to visit my dad. He's C-Sec." Jane nodded, and wondered if the turian who had helped her earlier was Garrus dad, even though that was University Security and not Citadel Security. It would be a small universe. As they came in sight of the science building, she saw Liason Por'ana speed walking around the corner towards them. Her face broke into a huge grin, and she waved flamboyantly to them. Jane hesitantly waved back. It seemed like a nanosecond and there she was in all her energetic glory.
"Hi there! How are you acclimating? Making new friends I see. Are you a turian colonial by chance? Nevermind, doesn't matter! You are obviously already registered. How is your first day? Both of you seem in good health so far. No freshman flu yet! Just remember, new people crammed together all day, and germs spread like wildfire! We have a wellness clinic staffed by medical students, so if you start to feel under the weather, you should head on over! They need the practice! Well, see you later! Feel free to contact me if you need any assistance!" And she was gone, like a puff of caffeinated wind. Jane was unsure what to say, and judging by Garrus dropped jaw and mandibles, he didn't have anything either.
"What was that?"
"I'm… honestly not sure. She was my colonial liason to get registered and she has to be on uppers. No one can be that perky all the time." Garrus nodded agreement. After a moment of silence, they reached their classroom, and so far there wasn't anyone she recognized. "Lab partner?"
"Pardon?"
"Will you sit next to me, and be my partner and if we have to dig inside dead bodies you can do all the gross work? She smiled her best most pleading smile, and he laughed.
"Well, you're honest. You get to do all the paperwork though. Lab partners." They moved inside and sat at an empty table. Jane mulled her first day. A new friend. Her brother wasn't expelled. A good day to be sure.