When morning rolled around Mia had to admit that any worries she had the day before had, at some point during her slumber, tripled in size and made her feel as though she was going to vomit. She couldn't even focus fully on putting her clothes as she went around her room on autopilot. She simply put on whatever she could get her hands on, concerned that she was running late already on her first day. Despite the fact that she was going to a college which would be full of other adults and not children anymore like high school, she still didn't want her peers to judge her. They had a head start on her with their friendship groups. Mia was too late to form the initial awkward connections that come with being put into a new setting such as a college campus. She just had to pray that someone would take pity on her.

She didn't even have time to toast her bread, finding herself grabbing a slice of bread straight from the bag and eating it as she rushed around picking up various items she might need for the day.

Car keys? Check. Notepad and pen? Check. Money? Check. College ID badge?

She knew she would forget something. This minor setback cost her fifteen precious minutes as she searched her entire house from top to bottom for her card. She wasn't even sure why she decided to check the freezer but at least she found it there, stuck to a bag of frozen peas. She didn't even rememeber getting the card anywhere near the freezer but she was sure it came in the mail the same day she bought some groceries. Maybes she had accidently left it on the bench and picked it up with the bag?

She really didn't have enough time to contemplate it any further as she hopped into her car and blasted her way downtown to the campus. Luckily Hawkins wasn't as big of a place as those she was used too and the traffic was none existent. She managed to find a spot in the colleges car park with ease.

Her next mission was speaking to one of the help desk staff members about getting her courses timetable and making sure she knew where everything was by getting a map. Even finding that building wasn't the easiest thing in the world but by following the hoards of students down a small pavement under the shelter of rows of trees surrounding the concrete on either side she made it to the library. From there she gave up, allowing herself to seek help in the elderly librarian who warmly welcomed her onto the campus and shuffled them down the corridor to a small office.

The plaque on the door read registration and she was sure she would have never found the door if it wasn't for the old woman she had come to know was called Linda.

She knocked on the door, being allowed into the room without any further wait. Mia supposed that this was due to the fact that at this point pretty much everyone on campus was already registered to their classes. No one needed this office on a normal day.

The woman who worked at registration didn't waste any time on pleasantries. She had clearly been expecting Mia to appear at some point that morning as she already had her documents printed out and ready to go. From there she spent a few minutes outside in the corridor looking them over before walking in the direction she thought the map was telling her to go to.

She eventually found the room and was pleased to see that she wasn't too late for one of the sessions that day. She had missed the really early session in the morning but the 10am lecture was going to start in ten minutes time.

At first most of the people milling around the door didn't actually pay her any attention. It was only when she stood timidly to the side that some of the girls whispering to themselves spotted her and began gossiping. Mia didn't care too much for women like that and tried to keep her eyes away from them. She didn't want to give them any more attention. She didn't care to be in their little group.

She was desperate for friends but not that desperate.

However, the women clearly had other plans. The woman who bounded over to her had long bleached hair, bright pink eyeliner covering her lids as she loudly chewed bubblegum. She had tight light blue denim jeans paired with a small cropped top that she had clearly cut herself. Threads hung limply from the frayed material as they struggled to cling onto the baggy material.

"Who are you?" The woman asked loudly.

Mia blinked, "Me?"

"Yeah. Who else would I be talking too?" The woman rolled her eyes, smacking her bubblegum loudly.

"Mia."

"That's a cool name sweetie. I'm Jessica. Those girls over there are Betty, Chloe and Lindsay. We do everything together and we would love a fourth member to hang around with!" Jessica pointed at each woman in turn as she spoke, each of the respective women smiling tightly at Mia.

Mia shook her head, "Thank you for your offer. I want to see what the whole campus is like first but I'll meet up with you guys later if that's okay?" She tried to let the girls down gently.

"You do you hunny. We always sit by the window so you know where to find us. Just a heads up though, there aren't many people in there who don't already have tight friendship groups. We are being really kind letting you try out with us." Jessica's tone was condescending as she smiled.

Mia was starting to dislike this woman the more she spoke so she really wanted to distance herself from her as quickly as she could. Nodding, she stuck her hands in her pockets. "Well I appreciate it."

"I'll even give you this advice as you seem nice enough. Don't let yourself get sucked in by the nerds or the conspiracy freaks. There's a lot of stuff that people like to suppose about this town. Keep yourself out of it if you want to stay sane. Good people have been sucked in by it all." Jessica warned, her voice dropping in warning.

Mia frowned, watching as the women behind Jessica stopped gossiping. "What do you mean?"

Jessica didn't get time to respond, the door opening up behind her as the lecturer ushered her students into the room. Jessica didn't say goodbye to her, stepping away to meet back up with her friends.

Mia watched her leave. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath until she was the last person left in the corridor. She only reopened them when the lecturer, Mrs Daniels, stuck her head out into the corridor and beamed a grin at her.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm new. I think I'm in your class." Mia responded timidly.

"Are you Mia Carpenter?" The teacher asked, stepping out further into the corridor. She kept the door open behind her, the noises of chatter filling the space between them. Mia nodded. "Come in!"

Mia did as she was told, stepping through and following the teacher into the classroom. She kept her eyes on the lecturer who in turn scanned the room. "We don't have many spaces free and I'll be honest we are going to start a new project soon. You're just in time. Would you like to sit with your partner?"

Mia shrugged, "Sure."

The teacher smiled, looking down at her desk to scan the paperwork sitting on the top. She pointed with her finger, letting Mia get a good luck at the person who she would be sitting next too and working with. "There. Is that alright?"

Mia nodded again, tucking her hair behind her ear as she slowly began to walk forward. She briefly scanned the other people as she stepped forward but once she was past the first set of desks she let her eyes drift up to the person she would be working with.

The man was wearing a baggy worn sweatshirt, his hair tucked behind his ears as he sat with his head down. He was writing something on a blank piece of lined paper, his attention fully on the paper. He hadn't looked up once, he didn't notice some of the other students around him had started to stare at him. The girls from before were giggling lightly, mocking him from their own table. Mia didn't understand their attitudes towards the man and she didn't want it to sway her opinions. People were petty and they probably don't even know the man fully. It seemed like he was also an outcast, someone no one wanted to get to know and Mia didn't want to be another person who was willing to sit and laugh at him.

So she plastered a small smile onto her face, swallowing her nerves as she stopped infront of the man. She was aware that people were looking over now but she made sure to keep her eyes down and on the man. She felt awkward after a moment and tried to cough lightly to get his attention.

That eventually did it. Blue eyes lifted up to stare back at Mia, his gaze hostile. It became apparent once again that Mia wasn't going to get a word from the man so she nodded over to the empty seat next to him.

"Can I sit there?" She asked quietly.

He looked over at the empty seat, around at the room looking over at him before averting his eyes back down to the paper infront of him. "I don't think that's the best idea."

"Why not?" She asked, shuffling as her confidence evaporated, her voice whiny.

"You don't want to be hanging around with me sweetheart."

"Can't I make that decision for myself?" She rebuffed. "I at least want to get to know the person I'm going to be working alongside. Figured if we sat together then it makes it easier to collaborate."

That got the man's attention once again, eyes snapping up to hers. "Partners?"

She nodded, "Mrs Daniels said that I could sit with my partner now as we are starting a new project soon. I'm new and I don't know anyone else so I figured why not make friends?"

"You don't want to be my friend." He snapped.

"Why?" She was tired of standing, aware of the eyes staring into the back of her head as she shifted and moved to the seat by his side.

The man shifted uncomfortably, trying his very best to put a safe distance between them. It was clear he was struggling, his face contorting up in pain as he moved. "You just don't."

His words were strained but final. Mia decided a different approach, not wanting to push him too far. "Mia."

He looked over at her, "What?"

"My name. Mia Carpenter."

"Great." He huffed.

She waited a beat, "And yours?"

He rolled his eyes. "Billy. Hargrove."