The door had been propped open from the doorway, students were slowly meandering inside; one could see that seats were being filled up inside from the outside hall. Theo had been standing outside of this door for twenty two minutes for his first class: English Composition. He had departed from his dorm forty minutes early and spent twenty of those minutes trying to locate his classroom. A good bit of that time was spent looking at his schedule and comparing the room number to what was listed:
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**Hoshi Academy Class Schedule**
**Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF)**
- *10:00 - 10:50 AM MWF
English Composition
Instructor: Dr. Emma Carter
Room: 204 Harmony Hall
- **1:00 PM - 1:50 PM**
Public Speaking
Instructor: Mr. Alex Reed
Room: 305 Monroe Theater
---
**Tuesday, Thursday (T Tr)**
- **9:00 AM - 9:50 AM**
Interpersonal Communication T Tr
Instructor: Ms. Julia Lee
Room: 112 Nebula Pavilion
- **11:00 AM - 11:50 AM**
Music Appreciation T
Instructor: Prof. Michael Thompson
Room: 220 Nebula Pavilion
---
Theo took a deep breath as he walked into the classroom and scanned the room as he entered. It was a plain square classroom. It had desk arranged neatly in rows, a podium, and a desk with a laptop. The doorway was at the back corner of the classroom and the first row of desks were completely occupied. Behind the wall of students was an actual wall, with a plain white banner hung across it.
"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind"
Other walls were filled with various other images and memeary, but that wall bore only one message.
The classroom was filled with laughter- mostly from a group of girls gossiping in the front corner of the classroom. Still, they were not alone in their joy. Step after step, Theo made his way into the seat located in the fourth row and the fourth aisle. There he sat scrolling on his phone until the start of class.
"Alright everyone. It's about that time. How's everyone doing this morning?"
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There was a delicate yet confident and commanding voice demanding silence among the masses among the class:
"Welcome to English 1101 or English Composition. I'm your professor, Dr. Carter. You can call me professor, Dr. Carter, Dr.C...et citera. Feel free to address me however you like. Let me call role here and then we will take a look over the syllabus."
~10 minutes before the end of class~
"Now then, we have a guest speaker from the registrar. I'll leave the floor to them."
Dr. Carter slipped off to her desk and began typing away.
Theo looked up from his fiddling to see a illustrious streak of pure silver hair attached to a strangely young girl in a suit. She didn't seem much older than him.
"Good morning everyone. My name is Elena Thorne. I am the director of admissions. I am here on behalf of the office of Financial aid. The office is located on the fourth floor of the J. Allen student center. College is expensive and financial aid is a necessity. There are plenty of people willing to help guide you through the process. That is all."
She plastered a smile that her eyes did not share in the slightest bit. She had paused for only a moment, before heading out the door. Dr. Carter turned her head up as Mrs. Thorne was leaving, and quickly stood and moved to fill in her place.
"well Thank you for a wonderful first day. See you all Wednesday."
The rest of the day passed by in a blur, because he did not eat.
The sun was setting in the sky, and Theo found himself in dark back alleyway. Fans and pipes were whirring away in a nearly deafening way. Theo had turned to go back the way he came, but he came to a door with no handle. It was a one way road. There was no other choice for Theo but to turn around. Thus he walked.
The walls of the buildings around him were covered in vines and moss, the pavement was full of holes and cracks. The normal brick pathways were not to be found, instead it was smooth concrete. Theo hobbled along the narrowing alleyway.
Eventually he came upon a propped open door. It was bright red, with a clean coat of paint on it. It led to a set of dimly lit descending stairs. Theo stopped and stared at it, there were no other openings or exits. This door is the only way to somewhere else.
Sheer ice was drifting up from the staircase and out the door... so much so that Theo started shivering. At this point he was still five feet away from the door, but that would get worse when he approached the steps.
"What are you doing? This area is off limits."
Theo froze in his tracks.
"I asked you a question."
"Answer me."
Theo spun around like a fidget spinner, which in hindsight was not the best move for someone running on no food.
The first warning sign that he had felt in that moment was a flash of pain in the right side of his head, the next thing he felt was his knees. They were too weak, they were caving in. The ground rushed up to give him a kiss. Truly a shame his first wasn't with a girl but Theo doesn't remember that part.
He caught a single glimpse of bright blue eyes, wider than the sky, staring straight into his own. That is all he remembers of that moment.