A Gaggle of Undergrads {Open}

[Brittany Sanderson]

Brittany entered the Student Center and her eyes bulged. The place was pretty huge and there were many restaraunts to choose from! The girl pondered her choices for a moment. She wanted to have her first meal at Rowanoak University be perfect. Well the BBQ was her first meal, but it wasn't on campus so Brittany didn't think that counted. She bit her lip and looked at the different menus before settling on a good one she had never eaten at before. She chose the chinese restaraunt and ordered her food. She waited a few minutes before her food was ready.

Chow mein, spring rolls, egg rolls, and sweet and sour chicken and rice. The girl licked her lips and went to an empty seat. Maybe she would meet other undergraduates here. The 17 year old was excited by how great the university was and still couldn't believe that she had been accepted into such a prestegious school. She took a bite into her food and felt like she had died and gone to heaven. Rowanoak University was great. If it was still around in the future and Brittany had kids (daydreaming!) then she would send them here for a great college experience.

She watched as students of all ages, shapes, sizes, and colors walked back and forth going about their business. Brittany had always dreaded going to college, but Rowanoak was the complete opposite of the other colleges and universities that she had heard about. Blinking her brown eyes the girl took in the sights of busy people, great smelling food, and the breeze wafting through when doors were opened. She turned around and saw that there was an outside place to eat and so Brittany moved there into the gorgeous sunshine.

[Colin Greene]

Colin had been too lazy to return to the dorms, so he had managed to walk over to the student centre. Today, he had been wearing a loose fitting pair of jeans and clean white polo shirt. When he reached the doors, he held them open for a few other students before entering himself. He replied with a polite “You’re Welcome” to anyone who had said “Thank you”. It was just how he was. A mixture of scents had wafted around the building, tingling and teasing the noses of all who were in the semi-crowded building. Colin’s stomach made a loud noise and gave in to his hunger. Surprisingly, the Rowanoak University Student Center had many places to choose food from. There was a McDonald’s, a Starbucks and a little Chinese place. So many places to choose from, but in the end he decided to grab a chicken Panini from one of the smaller restaurants. On a tray, there was his sandwich and a bottle of water.
Inside the bustling student center, there weren’t very many places to sit at all. Many of the graduate students sat at their usual tables with their groups. Many times, Colin had wondered what group he would fit into during his graduate years. Would he be the popular kid who sat surrounded by fake friends? Or would he be sitting amongst a quieter group with real friends? Who knew. His feet had managed to take him to the outside eating area, where fewer students had sat. Sure, there weren’t as many people at here. He presumed them all to be undergrads, or grads who couldn’t sit at their usual seats. Almost every table had someone sitting at it. Perhaps it would be a smart idea to go sit with someone, his motivation being meeting a new person.

He led himself towards a table that was placed amongst the warmth of the day’s sunshine. There had been fake plants placed in the area to provide shade. Colin stood for a few minutes, and then finally chose a random table. Another student had been sitting there, one who had brown hair. He balanced his tray in one hand while pulling out a seat for himself.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, as he sat down.

[Alexander Fox]

There was nothing Alexander Fox wanted more right now than to meet the new horse he would be leasing at Rowanoak University. He wasn't the kind of young adult to show his nervous-ness, but there was nothing in him denying that the transfer to a completely new college was nerve-raking. He had just started to get use to the horses at the IHSA and now that he had made the decision to transfer over to Rowanoak he'd have to go through the same process all over again. At least...maybe this time he'd be able to make some new friends. There was one girl he'd connected with at the college, and it was needless to say he would miss her, but what was done had been done and he needed to face the new challenges it would bring.

The higher-ups had told him he'd have to wait before going to pick a horse to lease, meaning he was stuck wandering aimlessly around the studen center listening to the noises of chattering students, he honed in on a few conversations and listened to what some of the other students were talking about, but it was mostly just small talk about the simple things in life. He assumed that the students he heard talking were simply new acquantices...something he needed to find soon. There was nothing he'd hate more than to have another mostly friendless year at college. Actually...well he'd like to have some friends this year, but horses were what he'd really prefer spending his time around. Just like how Destiny had been one of the few to drag him away from his urge to drink and do drugs again, he needed that creature who wouldn't give him any more temptations.

A sudden sound shook Alex away from his thoughts. It was a grumbling noises from his stomach. "I guess it has been a while since I last ate." He commented to himself, looking around at the numerous amount of stores that surrounded the student center. The typical Fast Food strings, as well as some more exclusive Chinese and Italian restaurants lined the walkway. His first thought was to go to McDonald's, he always had that urge for a nice, greasy sandwich, but the scents wafting from the Chinese restaurant quickly caused him to change his mind and he headed for the small Chinese restaurant.

The door made a small chime as he stepped inside, walking past tables of students chattering over a good meal. The smells that snuck to his nose when he entered were overwelming. Alexander couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a good Chinese meal, despite his love for the meals. The nineteen year old walked up to the counter and placed an order before taking his food and looking around for a place to sit. Unfortunately, all the currently available spots had been taken and any that weren't had trash laying around on the tables, so he headed outside, but he was still struck by the same dilemma. So he did the only thing he could, pick a seat by random and sit in it, it would be a good chance to meet some new people at the school.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" He asked a brown haired girl sitting by herself...or at least, she was sitting by herself until another male walked over and asked if the seat was taken. Even better, now he could meet someone who could quite possibly be staying in the same dorm as him.

• word count ; 597
• current mood ; anxious
• muse ; i'm lovan it
• notes ; working on getting in-character with alexander ~ it'll take a bit, i don't roleplay guys that often :3

[Brittany Sanderson]

Brittany looked up as two males walked up to her and took a seat. "Go ahead. I could use some company." Brittany told the pair with a smile. Boys had never come up to her before even if it was for lunch and nothing was meant by it. Sure she had some guy friends, but Brittany had befriended them because they were introduced by a third party or if they literally ran into each other in a hallway. Brittany saw that the second boy had Chinese food like she did. The first boy had some type of sandwich, "So are you two new here?" Brittany thought that the second boy was kind of cute, but she kept her blush hidden. She did not want to spoil anything by her raging hormones.

The girl took a bite of one of her spring rolls and said, "Ok tell me a little bit about yourselves." A blush showed this time, "Maybe we can become friends?" The last bit ended weak as she said it. Guys rarely had "friends" only followers. The boys back from Brittany's old schools were true friends, but there had been some that Brittany learned to stay far away from. Maybe university life would be very different. Brittany still couldn't believe that she had chosen such a great school. Rowanoak was magnificant and Brittany couldn't wait to meet the horse she had chosen to lease.... Shahrazad.

Of course that was a mouthful so Brittany quickly learned of her chosen horse's barn name, Fairy. Fairy was a lot easier to remember than Shahrazad and Brittany felt that she would get alone well with the mare. Brittany wondered what Shahrazad was like. Was she a great horse? A little bit of a daredevil? Easily spooked? No matter the personality Brittany knew that she would enjoy her time with her horse as her new life fell into place. Brittany looked again at the two boys and waited for them to start talking.

[Colin Greene]

”I’m Colin,” he said with a small grin.
”Who are you?”

His question had been directed to the both of the people who sat at the table. Colin had already thought the girl was a bit of a chatterbox, but then again, so was he. He looked down and took a bite of his chicken sandwich. A light breeze had blown through the area, sending unattended napkins every. It was a good thing all of his were underneath his tray. The girl had asked if either of the boys were new, to which Colin had replied,
”Yeah, this is my first year as well.”

Rowanoak wasn’t however the first University he had applied at. His sister had made him apply at Harvard but only as a dare. And then there was Kentucky State University, which was located out of Lexington. Rowanoak seemed to be the most convenient place to apply at; it was located within the city and it had a renowned equestrian team which was a bonus. He had applied, and was accepted a month or so before school started. To celebrate, his sister Noelle and his father had bought him a brand new MacBook laptop for his studies. He was told that he could visit home anytime he wanted to, but that was unlikely. If Colin had made friends, or was busy with lessons and shows he probably wouldn’t be coming home anytime soon.

The only thing that he would miss at University was his old stable. Sure, Rowanoak had the top notch stable Ridgefield but it just wasn’t the same. Everything was fresh, and almost new. Horses were kept outside to graze, and were only stabled within reason. There were many horses, some owned by the school itself, others owned by graduate students or coaches.
The old stable wasn’t as fancy as Ridgefield. It was more traditional looking, with stone buildings, and oak stable complete with cobblestone walk way. The farm was surrounded by white fenced paddocks, where the horses grazed during the day. Colin missed the fact the he once had a job at this old show barn. He missed the spirit of Quiet Water, a mare he leased before coming to school. For some reason, he missed the mare’s crazy antics and her attitude. Hell, he even missed the early morning rises to catch the horses and feed them.

A voice had brought Colin back to the present. ”So tell me a little about yourselves,” the girl said, blushing.
”What exactly would you like to know, Miss?” he asked, a handsome grin appeared on his face.
Colin wasn’t exactly willing to share a lot of his past, at least not with people whom he didn’t know very well. He could have brought up Hugo, the horse he leased. But who’s to say they didn’t know that already? For a few moments, he pondered on what to say next. He opened the bottle of water and took a couple of sips before saying, ”First off, I should let you know that I like to talk. A lot.” He took another bite of the Panini. ”I like to write stuff.”

[Alexander Fox]

With a slight smile, Alexander set his tray of delicious smelling chinese food onto the table and settled down across from the brown-haired girl, seating him next to the other male who quickly identified himself as Colin. Introductions, that's right, always start with the introductions, it was pointless to have a conversation using simply "you's" and "they's". They were all students, they could all go by a first-name basis. "My name's Alexander," The blonde-haired boy introduced himself, "But you can call me Alex if you want." It wasn't like he didn't like his name, in fact he was rather attached to the name his birthgiver had given him. Rather, he just felt it was a bit of a mouthful sometimes and he felt that casual acquaintances would be better off just calling him Alex. Now he just needed to now the girls name.

Well he was busy chewing away at the Sesame Chicken on his plate, Colin responded to her following request to tell her about themselves and maybe become friends, though she seemed a bit hesitant about the added bit. He wouldn't mind that, it'd be nice to have someone to go out riding with and actually talk to. (Oh, don't get him wrong, he did talk with people at IHSA, but he didn't have the connection with them that he thought friends should have). So this was Colin's first year, as well? Just like him. With a quiet gulp, Alex swallowed a piece of chicken and took a drink of water before adding on to the conversation. "Looks like we're all first years, then. I just transferred from IHSA."

He was just the tiny bit excited that he had managed to sit along with several other first-year students of the college. This meant that they were all completely new to the college life at Rowanoak (though maybe not completely new to colleges altogether) and they could get to know the place together. Get to know the horses together. At IHSA he'd felt like everyone already knew everyone else. Alexander had felt like all the cliques had already been made and there were few who stepped away from them to become his friends. Everyone else still had lives, though, and he spent most of his time just being with the horses and helping out as a stable boy grooming and cleaning the stalls. One might say he'd become quite a pro when it came to making horses shine in their true glory.

Colin responded to the girls request to tell them about themselves with a question, but Alexander seemed to have his own things to tell the two other undergraduates. Nothing, though, about the life he use to live before therapy, or even the therapy in general. The thoughts of the things he had done when he was just a young teenager had never left him, as much as he had tried to get therapist to do some kind of 'memory wipe' thing. That was only Sci-Fi, and unless he decided to go get hit by a bus and suffer a major concussion to rid himself of the memories he was stuck with them. Alex couldn't bear to do something like that, though, he loved his new life so much more. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak Colin spoke up mentioning how he liked to write and that he talked a lot. Alexander talked quite a bit sometimes, but unless spoken to first he was more prone to stay out of the conversations between his peers. It was so much unlike his rebel personality as a young teenager. When Colin was done talking, Alex saw a chance to enter in his side of the conversation.

"Well, I like to do lots of photography and such, mainly of horses." He took a fork full of Lo Mein and took a bite of it before continuing, "I also have a mare named Destiny. She's nice, but I had to leave her at home."

• word count ; 694
• current mood ; weeeeee half day at school <3 ~
• muse ; amazing
• notes ; HORSESHORSESHORSESHORSESHORSES

[Brittany Sanderson]

Brittany smiled at the two boys. Both seemed nice enough. So Alex and Colin. The girl had to bite back a laugh when Colin said he talked a lot, "Its fine. I would think it a little odd if you DIDN'T talk." Colin also wrote. That interested Brittany. Maybe they could be study buddies or something. Then she turned to Alex, "IHSA? I've heard it was a pretty good school. Why the transfer?" Quickly she turned back to Colin and said, "I'm Brittany." It would have been extremely rude had she not told him her name. The girl couldn't believe that she was starting to get to know people already. It seemed that it was like a miracle since it took a long time to make friends at her other schools. Then again this was college and people here tended to be more mature than those from high school and middle school.

The girl took another bite of her Chinese food and gave an inward sigh of contentment. The food was marvelous and she was glad she had chosen it. Brittany knew that she would need to get a job if she was to continue buying some food at the on campus resteraunts. Of course buying groceries was also a plus and she could eat whenever she wanted, but Brittany needed to keep herself busy and make sure that if she did get a job then it wouldn't interfere with her classes. She listened to both boys replies and then said, "I wonder.... where could one get a job here or look for one? I mean there are so many choices."

And that was indeed a fact. There were potential jobs both on and off campus. Brittany would rather have one on campus because then she wouldn't have to go too far when she got off work on a late night and she could also get her homework done when she was on break. Brittany looked inside where the resteraunts were. She wouldn't do good in the Chinese resteraunt. It was too fancy for her and she wasn't too good a cook. McDonalds and the sandwich place seemed like good places to start, but Brittany needed to explore all her options first before she made a final decision.