Eiffel helped her get up and let her have a seat and asked her, "You alright?"

The girl answered, "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for the help." Everyone was stunned silent and stared at Eiffel.

Eiffel sat back on his seat to continue having his lunch and thought, "I don't think this is the right time to ask her about what happened.", but the girl spoke up on her own, "*beep* bullshit! How is this all my fault when he constantly cheats on me in the first place? *sob* I guess true love succumbs to neglect and distance."

Eiffel asked, "Who was he?"

The girl answered, "My possessive boyfriend. Rocky. He always has a problem with me when I talk to some guy for assignment assistance. But never mind him... I am Maria Ephemeral."

Eiffel said, "Eiffel Roseholic...", then thought to himself, "Should I ask her for some food to eat?" Then they were silent for some time.

"I haven't seen you around before. So, what are you? A freshman?", Maria asked.

"What gave it away?", Eiffel answered with another question.

-"You sit here and eat all alone, but you don't look like someone who would."

-"Yeah, I haven't made any friends yet."

-"Well, that sucks. Which frat are you pledging?"

-"Oh... I don't know if I'll pledge."

-"Come on. You gotta pledge! You are going to miss out on a lot of parties otherwise."

-"Well, I came here to study."

-"Ugh. Then you should pledge the B&B, that's all they do."

-"Since you seem to like parties... I'm guessing you are in the Queendom?"

-"In it? I'm the sorority president!"

-"*surprised* You are?"

-"Yes... Well, I gotta run. Thank you for the help back there." And then Maria left the cafeteria.

Eiffel's spoon fell on the ground so he went down and picked it up and found Grate sitting in front of him with food and then started to annoy him.

"I've been trying to look all over for you. And there he is, my boi, booty-boi, checking girls out.", Grate teased him.

"Will you shut up for a while? I was here since you were here and I wasn't too hard to find.", Eiffel felt annoyed.

"I never would have guessed. Hey, man. Stay out of trouble.", Grate suggested.

"Why? What did I do wrong?", Eiffel asked.

"You almost gave it to that gym dude, huh?", Grate asked excitingly.

"Yeah, almost.", Eiffel was unafraid.

"Do you know who he is? He is the president of Muscleverse.", Grate was frightened.

"...I missed the part where that's my problem.", Eiffel was confident.

"That's my man! I heard beating up a Muscleverse guy would grant you instant access to join Masquerade!", Grate's expression turned to bold excitement instantly.

"Yeah, I don't think I want to join Masquerade.", Eiffel stated.

"Dude, are you crazy!? I just talked to some students. Masquerade is where it's at, bro. They throw the best parties and lately they've been partying a lot with the Queendom.", Grate tried to convince him.

"Really? I heard Queendom is Muscleverse's sorority.", Eiffel was confused.

"And that's why you would have gotten that golden ticket to Masquerade by beating that Muscleverse president up.", Grate was seriously excited.

"Well, if you wanna be in that fraternity so much, why don't you beat up a Muscleverse member?", Eiffel asked.

"Dude, look at me. I'm not a fighter. I'm a lover and a gentleman. Anyways, so you are not planning on pledging Masquerade? Think about it. Their parties are next level.", Grate said.

"Well, as I said to Maria, I came here to study, not to party.", Eiffel said.

"Oh yeah, sure sure. Me too.", Grate seemed to give up.

"Really?", Eiffel asked.

"No. I'm just here for liquor.", Grate stated.

"At least you're honest.", Eiffel said. Then they finished having their lunch.

Then it was time for them to take their stuff to their dorm. The dorm is co-ed, meaning they would be sharing their dorm with someone. Eiffel was carrying his stuff and trying to find his dorm. Eventually, he found it. Room number 2D. Eiffel got into the room and found another guy in it who confronted him.

"Hey Hey Hey! You can't just barge in here. Who the hell are you?", the roommate barked.

"Settle down. This is my dorm, too.", Eiffel tried to calm him down.

"I don't want to share this dorm. Find somewhere else to sleep.", the guy shouted.

"I don't think it works that way.", Eiffel stated.

"Hey, Iron Head! I'm not going to live here with you.", the guy said in an angry voice.

"Wow, you know me. Well, then. Maybe you should leave. Because I'm not.", Eiffel said.

"*beep* morons are running this place. If I've to share this dorm with you, here's the deal. You're allowed to sleep on that bed. But daytime, when I'm in here, you're not. Got it?", the guy tried to make a deal with him.

"I guess.", Eiffel went inside and put his stuff in the room. The guy lay down on his bed.

Eiffel said, "The name's Eiffel."

The guy annoyingly answered, "Toubro. Does it matter?"

Then Eiffel tried to chill, brought out his guitar, started tuning it, and then started playing some soft music. This annoyed Toubro who yelled at him,

"Hey! You're playing it way too loud! This is daytime! We made a deal, right? I agreed to share this dorm with you. Come back later at night. Now drop your *beep* off and get out, before I change my mind!"

"Alright-alright! Geez...", Eiffel grabbed a water bottle, drank all of it, and then left the room.

Then he went outside and walked. It was dusk. He spotted the girl he got attracted to with another guy in a suit in front of the MMM mansion. They were talking and then went inside it. Then Eiffel found Grate, Twinkle, and Irene.

"So, how did it go?", Eiffel asked.

"Twinkle and I get to share a room. Luckily we got an empty dorm.", Irene was excited.

"Wow, that's great. What about you, Grate?", Eiffel asked.

"My roommate is polite. Just the way I wanted it. Doesn't talk a lot, hopefully, it won't be uneasy for me to share with him... So, what about your roommate?", Grate said.

"Don't wanna talk about it. My first impression, I gotta change my dorm as soon as possible. No hi hello. The first thing he tried to do was boss me around like he bought it and owns it. Second and lastly, we came to terms. A deal that I cannot stay there in the daytime.", Eiffel said.

"Well, that sucks. But this is what college life is. You have to fight through all the bullying and ragging.", Twinkle said.

"First impression for us is totally unexpected whereas yours is totally expected. But that won't be a problem for you I guess. After all, You are the Iron Kid. You can handle the ups and downs.", Irene encouraged him.

"Yeah, he can. He is so superior that when Eiffel's phone rings in the cinema, they pass the movie.", Grate joked and they laughed.

"So, any plans for tonight?", Eiffel asked.

"Oh, yeah. Let's go to the cafeteria. We'll be having a barbeque for dinner.", said Grate.

"I guess that would be expensive...", Eiffel said nervously.

"No, it's for free.", Grate said frankly.

"How is that?", Twinkle asked.

"Well, the bull Eiffel knocked out earlier today, I decided to donate it to the college chef. So, they must have cooked it by now I guess.", said Grate. It looked like no one bought what he said.

"It was a joke, right? That must've been the most horrible joke I ever heard.", said Irene in disbelief.

"No, I'm serious! If you don't believe me then let's go check it out in the cafeteria.", Grate insisted.

"Dude, why did you let them slaughter the bull?", Eiffel asked annoyed.

"Well, you are the one who said what we are gonna have for a barbeque tonight. It was the bull, right?", Grate said in humor. Everyone looked annoyed.

"...Let's just go and eat. I'm hungry anyway.", Eiffel insisted.

Then at the cafeteria. The waiter served barbeque dinner to them and they were eating the food.

"Umm. It's delicious.", said Twinkle.

"Well, I had a better barbeque.", said Irene.

"Nothing beats a mother's cooking skills.", said Grate.

"Yeah, aunt Anna's cooking is the best.", Eiffel complimented Irene. Aunt Anna is Irene's mother.

"Thanks.", said Irene.

"So, when will class start?", Grate asked.

"January 2nd. That's 3 days from today.", said Irene.

"College committee would let us enjoy the new year's eve and new year as well, I guess.", said Twinkle.

"It could be said as the new millennium's eve as well.", said Irene.

"Yeah. We will be entering the year 2000. So, what's your plan for new year's eve, Eiffel?", said Twinkle.

"Halogen will be performing at Central Park in Times New Square. I'll be there to see their concert.", Eiffel stated.

"A Halogen concert, huh? It's been a while.", said Grate.

"Yeah, I know, right? Irene and Twinkle, you should join us tomorrow.", said Eiffel.

"But, Times New Square? You are gonna go to Times New Square from Roseholics?", asked Irene.

"Yeah, why not? It's only a 2 hr train journey from here.", said Eiffel.

"Guess we will be having a trip to Times New Square tomorrow then.", said Grate. Then they were talking more and more.

Eiffel talked to himself, "Twinkle, Irene, and Grate. My 3 best friends in the whole world. I've known them since childhood. We grew up together in the same neighborhood since the age of 7. We went to the same high school. Twinkle is a bit jolly and Irene is a bit talkative. Grate is a funny kid with childish behavior sometimes, but he's natural at what he does. I am an introvert and suffer from social anxieties. I don't have many friends unlike them but the friends I have, I will treasure and cherish our memories for the rest of my life. After many years of friendship with many friends in life, you will get to realize that they were not even friends at all. Even though I had many friends come and go, these 3 are special because they stayed. We're not just friends. We've seen them come and go. We're family."

They were eating their food and suddenly the girl that Eiffel was attracted to and the guy in a suit who was with the girl came to the cafeteria and had a table and ordered coffee. Eiffel stopped eating and was staring at the girl with a sad look on his face.

Twinkle said, "See that guy in the suit? That's Trojan Barker. President of MMM. Also, he is the son of the president of Locria. Filthy rich."

Irene was surprised and startled, "President's son? Means he will be a president in the future?"

Twinkle said, "And that girl... She may have joined MMM from the looks of it."

Grate said frankly, "Could be his girlfriend?"

Irene said, "Maybe."

Eiffel left the table and was leaving.

Twinkle asked, "Hey, Eiffel? Where are you going?"

Eiffel said, "You guys carry on. I am going to my room." and then thought to himself, "May the Love stay happy and Attraction stay in the coffin."

Grate remembered that she was the girl Eiffel kept looking at during orientation.

Eiffel returned to his dorm, looked at Toubro lying down on his bed, and thought, "Let's hope he is in a better mood now." He asked him, "What's up, Toubro? Doing good? *No response* So, Toubro. You seem dead set on hating me. Anyway, I can change your mind? *no response* We don't have to be friends, but we should at least be able to tolerate each other when we are living together. Don't you think?"

Toubro annoyingly answered, "If that's so then shut the hell up and stop bothering me. I can tolerate that."

Eiffel said, "Ok. Mind if I play my guitar?"

Toubro said, "...Go ahead." But there was no guitar, Eiffel got tensed and looked everywhere in the room but nowhere to be found.

"Where is it!?", Eiffel demanded answers from Toubro.

"I don't know.", Toubro answered.

"I kept it right there before I left. You were here all these times.", Eiffel was angry.

"It's gone, someone broke into the room and took away the guitar.", said Toubro.

"Did someone take it or you just gave it to them?", Eiffel asked. This triggered Toubro and made him angry and shout,

"You are blaming me for your stupid guitar? How dare you? You think it's funny? Even if I did give it away, what gives you the right to demand answers from me!?", Toubro got up from his bed and shoved Eiffel down to the ground. Eiffel became, even more, angrier and then they fought. Toubro was strong and he was a bodybuilder as well. Students outside wondered what was going on inside the dorm. Eiffel knocked him out after a couple of rights, lefts, and finally an uppercut.

"That guitar was a gift from my master on my 12th birthday! It is my treasure! Tell me where did you hide it?", Eiffel strictly asked.

"It was stolen.", Toubro answered.

"Who stole it!?", Eiffel barked.

"I don't know. Leave me alone!", said Toubro.

"Well then have it your way, Toubro. I had enough of you! I don't wanna share a dorm with a prick like you! Keep your dorm to yourself.", Eiffel stated and then stormed off the dorm.

Eiffel went to the reception. The receptionist was closing and leaving for home.

"Hey, reception lady, I need help.", Eiffel called her.

"I'm going home for the day, you can come back tomorrow morning.", the Receptionist answered.

"This is urgent. I need somewhere else to stay. I got into a huge fight with my roommate. There's just no way I can stay there any longer!", Eiffel urged.

"Oh, I'm afraid it's not that simple. There's a whole process behind changing dorms that-", Receptionist stated.

"Please this is an emergency!", Eiffel made a serious request to her.

"Calm down. There's nothing that can be done for you at the moment. Try to get along with your roommate or maybe stay with a friend until we can get you a new dorm.", the Receptionist tried to convince him.

"Really? That's all you can do?!", Eiffel gasped.

"For now... Yes. Or you could try talking to the different fraternities and see if they will help you.", Receptionist made a point and left.

Eiffel thought, "Geez... I've to share the dorm with that prick once again. ...The fraternities. Really? B&B doesn't have a house... Muscleverse. Yeah, right.. MMM? Good luck getting close to that mansion. ...Masquerade."

Eiffel made up my mind and he was heading somewhere, but on his way, he got bumped into some bodybuilders. They were 6 of them consisting of the president; Rocky, the vice president; Dew, and other members named Gunther, Lou, Bruno, and Toubro.

"This is the freshy I was telling you about. He almost gave it to Rocky in the cafeteria.", said Lou.

"Almost, huh? That doesn't cut it.", said Dew.

"Dude, come on! It's not like you would have tried to go head to head with Rocky.", said Lou.

"Shut up!", Dew yelled at Lou.

"Toubro... Is he the roommate that beat you up?", Rocky asked Toubro.

"...That's him.", Toubro answered.

And then they jumped on Eiffel and ganged up on him. Eiffel tried to fight back, but they were way too many and way too strong for him. Other students gathered around the fight. After some good beatdowns, Rocky told them to stop, saying, "That's enough. That would teach him a lesson for good." Eiffel was down and out.

Dew was the vice president of Muscleverse. He was quite aggressive and always in a fighting mood.

"We are Muscleverse. Nobody stands a chance against us because we are feared all over Roseholics. You got guts, kid. But there's a time when you have to show your guts at a certain limit. You do that and you'll reach high or else you'll reach high up in the heavens... You are the Iron Kid, huh? A Roseholic? You are famous, kid. But your time is up. It's Muscleverse's time. Roseholic met its end when Shady Roseholic died. You are nothing!", Dew said to Eiffel grabbing his collar. Then he gave Eiffel a wedgie in front of everyone.

Rocky said, "We are Muscleverse! Remember the name, kid!", then they left laughing on their way out.

Everyone was laughing at Eiffel. He was very embarrassed. Suddenly, the girl that Eiffel liked came to his aid and she was helping him get back up.

She asked, "Are you alright?", Eiffel wasn't answering. The president of MMM; Trojan Barker, came to the scene and said to the girl,

"Sarah, we are getting late. Don't waste time here."

The girl said, "But he is hurt pretty badly. He needs help."

Eiffel looked down as he was getting help to get back up and thought as he was turning angry, "I'm not strong enough. I'm not trained enough. I need to be strong. I need to get stronger!" then he stormed out off the building and ran and ran and kept running.

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