The taller one easily unlocks the door and holds the door open for me to come inside. I bow my head and carry my things inside.

“Nice to meet you! My name is Sparky, and he is Tallius.” The smaller one smiles and holds his hand out for me to shake.

“Hi…My name is Orando, but you can call me Oran or something else if it’s too hard to remember or pronounce.” I say as I shake his hand.

“How about Ori?” he says giggling.

“That’s fine I guess.” I laugh nervously.

“You can set your things down here.” Tallius says as he points to an empty corner.

I follow his orders and put my luggage in the corner.

“We were so excited for your arrival that we decided to skip lunch today in order to meet you!” Sparky says with a smile.

I sigh at the thought of causing them trouble, “Sorry, you really shouldn’t have.”

“It’s fine! Should I show you around the room?” Sparky shakes his head.

“Yes, please…”

“Our room is quite small compared to others, but that’s because we have our own bathroom!” Sparky exclaims, “this bed was mine, but it will be yours for now.” He says pointing to the single bed on the left.

“Eh? Why?” I ask.

“Ahem,” Sparky clears his throat as he begins to speak again, “Our last roommate broke it so it’s unsafe. So, me and Talli will sleep on the floor with mattresses and you in my bed!” Sparky smiles.

“There’s no way I can let you do that! I will sleep on the floor, if that is okay...” I answer.

“Oh, okay that works if that’s what you want” he smiles.

“It’s fine with me, just don’t say anything to anyone. We could all get in big trouble.” Tallius sighs.

My hands shake with fear, even though he hasn’t said anything directly mean. His tone is stern and cold and scares me. “OF COURSE! I won’t say anything, I wont talk to anyone.” I say, my voice cracking.

“Okay! Moving on, these are our closets. We cleaned out the middle one for you to use! I made stickers so you can tell whose is whose, but I didn’t know what you looked like, so I haven’t made your sticker yet.” Sparky pouts.

“Next to the coat rack is the bathroom and around the corner is the shower room. They’re small but they work!” he smiles.

Sparky walks over to the bathroom and opens the door, “we have towels and rags under the sink and a shelf over here for you to put your items on if you want to.” He leads me over to the shower, “Here’s the shower, of course you can put your stuff in here too. It’s a bit messy right now, we aren’t too organized haha. The water pressure and temperature take a while to adjust so don’t freak out!”

“T-Thank you!” I bow my head.

“What? No problem Ori!” he giggles, “want us to help you unpack?”

“No…No I’m fine! You guys should go to lunch before the break ends.” I smile.

“HECK YEAH! You’re an angel, I’m starving.” Sparky raises his arms in victory, “But, Talli usually stays here during lunch for a nap. Hope that’s okay with you, you don’t have to be quiet he sleeps through everything!”

My smile fades and I start to feel panicked again. Being alone with him in silence is terrifying. “That’s fine” I lie.

“I’m not staying here today. I have other plans.” Tallius says staring at me.

I gulp, “that’s fine too.” Thank goodness.

The two turn around and head out the door.

“Bye, bye Ori. See you after school!” Sparky smiles.

I wave goodbye to them and shut the door as they leave. I can’t really tell what Tallius thinks of me, he seems like a very cold and flat person. But this could also mean that he may act differently with others and is only acting that way because he hates me. I should think positively, but It’s hard when he stares at me like that and talks so harshly.

I unzip my luggage and start folding and hanging my clothes in my closet. I go into the bathroom and place my toothbrush in the cup with the others. Then I go to the shower and put my products in there too. After fully unpacking a few hours have passed due to how many clothes I brought with me. I plop down on the floor and hug the pillow I brought from home.

My main focus at this school is my studies, but I also want to grow as a person and get over my fears. It would be nice to have a few friends; I’ve been isolated over half of my life. Though there is no way to force anyone to like me or be my friend, I just hope Tallius opens up more in the next few days. Am I really this unlikable? That he could just hate me from the minute he saw me? No…No I’m overreacting. It’s probably just his personality! But what if it’s not?

I sigh and check my phone to see the time, I’m shocked by how much time has passed. A student should be by any minute now to give me a mini tour the school and show me around the buildings. I close my eyes and try to calm myself down before the student president arrives to give me my tour. Maybe I can become friends with him, I should try to leave a good impression. Just a few minutes later I hear a dreaded knock on the door. He’s here earlier than expected.

I get up and straighten my tie. I slowly open the door to a tall, thin, young man with glasses.

“Welcome to Pond High. I’m Hajin, your class president. Are you ready for the tour?” He says in a flat tone.

“I’m ready. My name is Oran. Nice to meet you, thank you for doing this.” I smile.

“Alright, let’s start the tour. I have an important exam to study for.” Hajin says as he turns around and motions me to follow him.

He turns left and around the corner he leads me to a small kitchen, “You have the cafeteria schedule, right? They serve three meals a day, but some students prefer to cook here in the community kitchen instead of eating the cafeteria food.” He explains then points to the left, “those are the stairs, they lead to the upstairs dorm rooms and the rooftop. Nothing too interesting.”

Hajin turns right towards the exit of the building and motions me to follow. He opens the doors and walks outside, “Pond is more than just an elite school. You will find that our campus is beautiful and full of things to do.” He smiles.

“It’s very nice here…” I laugh nervously.

He points straight across from my dorm building, “this is where most of your academic classes will be held. I can’t show you around inside because classes are being held, but tomorrow is the weekend so me or any other student can show you around and help you find your classes for next week.”

“Okay, thank you.” I nod.

“See that taller building behind the class building? That’s the nurse’s office, hopefully you won’t ever need to go there.” He nods and continues walking.

He walks and talks quickly, “to the right of your class building is the cafeteria. Again, they serve three meals a day and refer to schedule to know what time.”

“Y-Yes sir.” I quicken my walking pace to keep up.

“Down over here is where most students like to hang out. The middle building is the library, which also has some club rooms inside. To the left of it is the gym, which again has club rooms inside. And to the right of the library is the pool and pool changing room.” He explains and turns around to face me, “Well, this concludes the tour. Any questions?”

“N-No! Thank you for the tour.” I lower my eyes.

“It’s my duty. I will be leaving now, have a nice day.” He smirks.

“Goodbye.” I wave to him.

Thank goodness there is a map. I was listening but I got too distracted by looking at all the flowers and trees and architecture that I barely heard a word he said. I would explore the campus a bit on my own, but I am so emotionally drained that I don’t think I have the energy to explore any further. I guess I will head back to the dorm, I have around an hour or so until my roommates return so I can take a nap and recharge. But first I need to go back and pick up that heavy box from the office.