It was midday, and the campus was still scattered with first-years exploring it. Most students were excited and living in the moment, doing whatever they felt like, while others took it more seriously.

In a random dorm room, Frank was staring out the window, admiring the view

"We've got a decent room. It has a pretty good view".

Alexander walked out of his room to join Frank in the main area. The dorm room was small; it wasn't tiny, but it could have been more luxurious. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom and a main area with a kitchen and a living room. It also had a balcony. It could have been better for two people living together, but it was alright. For most people, anyway.

"Phew. It would've been better if our rooms had our bathrooms", Alexander said while walking towards Frank to look at the view.

"What'd you expect? I'm sure this is better than a dorm you would get at a normal college", Frank replied.

"This is better than a normal dorm? There's barely any space", Alexander complained, looking around, wondering how a typical dorm looked worse than this.

Frank looked towards Alexander and spread his arms, "Welcome to normality".

Alexander was not entertained and walked towards the fridge to get the water bottle he had put in there half an hour ago.

"What do you think of the class? It seems you're already quite popular among the teachers", Frank asked, taking a seat.

Alexander took a sip of water. "My brother didn't do me any favours", he said, slightly squeezing the bottle. "At least the extras didn't know who I was".

Frank let out a little sigh. "You can't call them extras. They might be good people. And besides, I think you'll gain popularity eventually when word gets around who you are".

"I don't care if they are good people. They are irrelevant to me. They're the definition of extras. They are there to fill in the numbers. I don't think they'll contest with me", Alexander continued to sip his water.

"What about Isabella? She seemed smart. Maybe you two can get along." Frank tried to reason.

Alexander put down his bottle. "Maybe I can use her if there is a team challenge or something. She was sitting in front of me, it was bound to happen that she would talk to me", Alexander went to finish his water.

Frank knew Alexander was like this, but he still tried to help him. "Look, three years is a long time. I'm just trying to look out for you. Getting along with people may make this whole experience more fun for you. I know you want to win it, but having some friends won't stop that", Frank said.

Alexander went to throw his empty bottle in the trash and then looked at Frank. "If these people don't benefit me, what's the point of having them around? Besides, you can keep me company for these three years. That's more than enough for me."

"How do I benefit you? Am I your bodyguard?" Frank smiled.

"Partly, having someone big and intimidating next to me makes me look important. But you are also my friend. You're the only person who understands me", Alexander walked past Frank to go to his room.

Frank smirked, "Yup, you are extraordinary. That's for sure".

"I can't believe it, look at this place", William shouted in excitement. Malakai was already setting up the PlayStation.

"Is this the first time you've had your own place?" Malakai asked.

William, looking around, answered, "Yeah. This place is nice", he said admiring the place. He then went to the fridge to load the groceries he bought.

Malakai was nearly finished setting up the PlayStation. "You wanna play a game? I'm nearly done".

"Bro, we need to eat. I haven't even had breakfast yet", William said.

"I mean, you bought groceries for a reason. Just make something", Malakai replied while his eyes were glued to the TV.

"Yeah, I will. Let me find the pots and stuff". William opened every cabinet and drawer only to find them all empty. "Mally, did you bring any pots and pans with you?".

"No, why would I bring that?" Malakai replied, still looking at the TV.

"I can't cook. There's no pats or pans", William said in a low voice.

Malakai turned around in shock. "HUH?! There's a TV, but there's no pots or pans?"

"It looks like I have to spend more credits", William mumbled. He gave up and walked towards the couch, defeated. "Let's just play a game. We'll ask the others if they want to go to a restaurant or something in an hour", he said, sounding depressed.

"I thought you were hungry?" Malakai asked while passing the other controller to William.

"I'm not hungry anymore", William said, half dead.

Malakai stared at William for 2 seconds, smiled and then shook his head. He picked up his phone and texted in the group chat. "You wanna go out to eat in an hour?" everyone responded quickly, agreeing to go.

Malakai put his phone down. "You sure you can play bro?" he joked.

"Just load up the game dude!".

Tanisha threw herself on the couch. "Girl, I can't believe we are living together."

Maria was still unpacking things from her suitcase, so she was pacing in and out of her room, sorting things out.

"I'm so excited. It's my first time living alone, away from my family. My mom and dad were always busy, so they were always in and out of the house, but I had my younger siblings around. So being around family was normal", Maria was speaking her thoughts. She stopped in her doorway to catch a breath and thought for a second. "I'll miss them. Will I be able to cope without them?"

Tanisha sat up

"Don't worry, I'm here. If you ever get in trouble or have a problem, just know I will be there, no matter what."

Maria then started walking towards Tanisha and sat on the couch next to her. "Yeah, I know. It's just kind of scary. It feels like I'm a child, and everyone around me is grown. I'm not used to this".

Tanisha then put her hands around Maria, hugging her. "Trust me, you'll be fine. No one is going to do anything to you. If you need any help, ask me. I'm sure other people feel the same way you do", Tanisha then pulled out the hug to look at Maria. "Not everyone is confident and happy they're here. I'm sure they're also missing their families".

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That mini-speech gave Maria the reassurance she needed. Words that were cliche and words she could've told herself, but being told them by a close friend makes everyday words seem special.

Maria smiled and hugged Tanisha tightly. "Thank you for everything".

Tanisha smiled, "I haven't done anything yet, but I'll take it."

They both laughed together. Tanisha then stood up and walked to the kitchen area. "We don't have any food, right?"

"Nope, we could get something to eat if you want", Maria suggested.

"I'm not that hungry, I wanted to look for a little snack. We could go later if you want?"

"Sure".

Muffled shouting leaked through their door. They both could hear people talking loudly outside their dorm. It didn't sound like they were shouting, but they were definitely talking loudly.

"Who's outside?" Tanisha rhetorically asked in an annoyed tone. "And why are they being so loud?".

Tanisha walked towards the door to investigate who was making the noise. She forcefully opened the door and saw three boys standing to her right.

"Yo"

"Why are you being so loud?" She asked with a screwface. "We could hear you from inside", she said, standing in the doorway.

"I told you to be quiet, Will", Ray quietly scolded William. "We're sorry. We're just waiting for our friends to get ready", Ray looked towards William and whispered. "Let's go in your room and wait. We have already disturbed your neighbours".

William stood firm. "We can wait here. They'll be done in a minute".

Tanisha looked at the third boy, and her eyes were glued to him.

"Yo".

"You're the guy that thought he was funny at the assembly", Tanisha said.

Malakai smirked. "Yep. That's me", he replied; he turned to his two friends and said, "I kinda regret doing that now".

"You're just saying that. You don't regret it at all", Ray replied. Malakai smiled, knowing Ray saw right through him.

Malakai turned back to Tanisha. "You're in our class, right?".

"Yeah", Tanisha said with attitude.

Malakai didn't like how he was being spoken to, but he chose to tolerate it and not take the piss as he could only see it going downhill if he overstepped boundaries. Tanisha was a little shorter than Malakai. Tanisha was 5'5, while Malakai was 5'6, so Tanisha wasn't intimidated.

"Well, I'm Malakai Junior, his Ray, and the guy making the noise is William", he said, pointing towards his friends.

Tanisha still kept a straight face, unimpressed. "My name is Tanisha. Nice to meet you", she said in a bored, uninterested tone.

Malakai looked towards his friends, showing he didn't know what to do. He would've loved to take the piss, but it was too early for that. Another figure appeared behind Tanisha.

Maria looked beyond Tanisha. "What's going on?" she asked, looking at the culprits making the noise.

“Yo”, Malakai said looking at Maria.

Maria looked into Malakai's eyes and gave a shy smile. "Hi", Maria replied.

There was silence for a few seconds until,

"You're that famous girl everyone likes for some reason. Uuhh, Maria", Malakai said, just about remembering her name.

"Mally", Ray said like a teacher telling off a student.

"What?" Malakai looked back at Ray; he quickly realised, "Oh shit, that was kinda rude. My bad".

"Yeah, you better apologise", Tanisha replied.

"No, no, it's fine. I didn't find it rude", Maria said with a smile; she didn't want them to argue. "What's your name?" She asked, looking at Malakai. Ray stepped forward, "I'm Ray. He's Malakai, and he's William", Ray looked at Maria with a slight blush, while William couldn't look without staring too much. Malakai had to switch gazes from Maria to Tanisha, as he always felt her glare whenever he looked at Maria.

"Nice to meet you all", Maria said.

Tanisha stood a little ahead of Maria and questioned, "Where are you lot going?" she asked, a little curious.

"We're gonna go to a restaurant", Malakai replied.

"What, none of you can cook?" Tanisha sharply replied.

"It's the first day. We still need to buy some stuff for the kitchen", Malakai had a laid-back posture with his hands in his pockets. He could sense Tanisha's dislike towards him already. "You don't need to worry about us, neighbour", Malakai added with a smile.

"Tch, you think you're hilarious, don't you?" Tanisha annoyingly said.

"Nah, not really", Malakai cheekily replied, looking away from Tanisha.

Tanisha was agitated by Malakai's attitude. "Your scar is uglier seeing it up close", she bitterly dissed.

"Thanks, I appreciate it", Malakai replied, smiling. He thrived in these situations, so he was unfazed by the comment.

The tension was evident. William, Ray and Maria didn't know what to say to break this. They wanted to stop them but didn't know how.

Click!

A door opened. David, Benjamin and Lucas came from the room next to Malakai's and William's.

"You lot ready?" Lucas asked, sorting out his shirt.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Ray said while walking towards them, glad they broke the tension.

"David and Lu were comparing each other's perfume", Benjamin answered while checking the time on his phone.

"Wha? It's not that deep. You're not gonna get a girl on the first day", Malakai turned towards them, ignoring Tanisha.

"Who said anything about girls. I just wanna smell good", David said while walking towards them.

William started walking towards the elevator. "Alright, let's go. I'm hungry".

Everyone looked at each other and then followed William, except Malakai. Malakai turned towards Tanisha and Maria to say bye, but everyone got a notification before he said a word. Everyone simultaneously checked their phones to look at the notification.

An important assembly will be held at the 'Main Hall' at 2:00 PM. Every student must attend. Thank you.