College Life Quest 2: Oh Look, an Update!

>>1588638
"Well certainly, Mrs. Bookchild. All I meant to say was, hey, maybe we've caught each other on a bad day. I walk away now, we both calm down, then we come back later to apologize about all those awful things we said when we were mad." You give her a winning grin. "All those thing we said and didn't mean, of course. No need to be makin' a mountain out of an anthill."

"'Sides, that's your son out there, right? Nathan?" You see Natalia freeze momentarily. Perfect. "Well, I was thinkin' of walkin' out of here and havin' him walk me to my dorm. I'm certain he'll be nice and help me out, get my phone all set up and everything. I'm walkin' out now anyway, so either let me or don't."

You do an about turn on your heel and start walking back towards the door.

"Ms. Bellman-"

"'Course," You rest a hand on the doorknob. "I'll keep this misunderstanding between us if we're finished."

You pause. The silence between the two of you weighs on you - you realized your heart is hammering in your chest.

Finally, Natalia says, "You will receive an email from me later this afternoon. Do not think that your little ploy will go unforgotten."

You look over your shoulder to meet her gaze. "Pleasure doin' business with ya, ma'am." With that, you slip through the door.

As the end of the hallway, Jane stands holding the door to the lounge close to her. She jumps a little as you close the door behind you, giving you a weak smile. "Oh, Nate," She steps forward to open the door the rest of the way. "River is finished. Would you like to go in?"

"Actually," You say as you breeze past the nervous guard. "Nate, I think I'd like to take you up on your offer to show me to my dorm." Your feeling of elation halts when you see Nathan's face light up.

Oh fuck.

"Yeah, absolutely." Nathan pushes himself up onto his crutches with surprising ease. You notice he already has your duffelbag hanging on his back over his shoulders. "Alright, let's go River."

Oh goddammit. This is going to be awkward.

--------------------

> [Cont.]

>>1588640
The two of you are walking through Glennwood's campus in silence after telling him your dorm hall's name. Nathan had been entirely understanding when you opted to not talk about what happened in Natalia's office - "Yeah, she can be intimidating sometimes, but she's actually really nice when you get to know her." - and you spent the walk collecting your thoughts.

You count that as a win, the argument with Natalia. You're not sure if it was a smart decision - fuck, you can't take a step out of line now.

Fuck, you promised your dad that you would let yourself have some fun at college. This seems to be the exact opposite of being able to have fun. Well, whatever, you're here to do classes anyway. No parties for you, no trouble, and boys always lead to trouble.

You glance over at Nathan, easily keeping pace with you on his crutches.

Fuck, can you really afford to maybe make friends with Natalia's son? He seems nice, at least.

God, why did college have to be so complicated?

"Alright," Nate points his head to a building to his left. It is one of the older brick buildings. "Here ya are, Hallow Hall."

You stand by politely as he carefully lifts your duffel bag up and over him before resting it on the ground. He then pulls out his phone and you hear a 'ding' and the sound of an electronic lock unlocking. "Here, push the door before it locks on you." You stick your foot in the door, opening it a crack.

"Perfect!" Nate nods to himself. "So, hope you like your time here at Glennwood, River." He give you a smile. "Hopefully I'll see ya around." He turns and begins walking away.

> So?
> [] Thank Nathan and go up to your dorm
> [] Call after Nathan for something (Write-In)
> [] You don't feel like going to your dorm right now, maybe Nathan is free? (Write-in what do)
> [] Hey, you were walking around the campus earlier, there's no way walking around alone again could go wrong!
> [] Other

Oh hey I'm back. Cool.
Last thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=College%20Life%20Quest
Twitter stuff: @ObserverQM

Welcome back! Let's get this slow writin' moving!

>>1588647
> [] Thank Nathan and go up to your dorm

>>1588647
>> [] Thank Nathan and go up to your dorm
>> [] Call after Nathan for something (Write-In)
Exchange numbers. Best to keep in contact, and try to come clear about what you are intending for in these interactions.

>>1588751
Seconding

Writing now - turns out someone decided to wander into my room, spin around (and I assume look at) and unplug my laptop, and left it to die. I had about half an update ready to go, so, well.

Fuck.

Time to write it all again!

Oh, hey, uh, Nate?" You pull your phone from your pocket. "Seriously, thanks."

He shakes his head. "Yeah, no problem. Once you get the hang of it,
Glennwood is actually pretty intuitive to find your way around."

"Yeah, maybe." You shrug and hold up your phone. "Mind if I have your
number? I'm sure I'll get lost, and." You shrug again. It's not like
you're nervous about being alone, you've hiked through the woods at
home alone all the time. Even at night. Especially at night, if you're
going to be honest.

Were you spooked? Maybe. If nothing else, walking around with Nathan
helped you calm down. And he seems nice enough. You don't really know
why you're trying to justify this.

"Sure." He hobbles on over and takes your phone, quickly dialing his
number into it. A feeling of relief passes over you. "Text me
whenever, I have plenty of freetime lately with, well." He shakes his
left leg.

"Bet there's a story behind that?" You send off a text. [i]River Bellman[/i]

"Not a good one, really. Got injured during a game, got up and pushed
through it." Nathan looks down at his leg with a sad smile. "I kept
going until I got hit the second time. Fucked up my knee real bad."

You frown. "Shit, dude, I'm sorry."

He shrugs. "Shit happens. Hockey's not an easy sport, y'know? The cast
is coming off soon, so it's fine. Anyway," He points his thumb over
his shoulder. "I gotta get goin'. Good luck, River. I'll see you
around."

You nod, giving Nathan a small wave. "See ya." You push your way into
the dorm after he turns to leave. The inside is, well.

> [Cont.]

>>1590923
You definitely didn't expect the giant skull sitting in the middle of
the room. It is about as tall as your chest and large enough that you
know you couldn't wrap your arms around it. Its ghoulish grin is a bit
lopsided, its teeth looking like it badly needed a dentist. Around the
dull white skull are various different couches and chairs spread
around the room at random. No two cushions or pillows are alike, each
with a radically different design and with colors that hurt your eyes
to look at. The walls are wood paneled and blank, branching off into
multiple halls. You see a staircase down the hall behind the skull.

Everything looks completely rundown except for the pristine skull.

None of this looks anything like the online tour you took, except for
one thing - there's no one around. Well, whatever, you have a dorm
room to find. You walk past the massive skull and pick a concrete
stairwell at random. Each floor you walk up is the same as the first -
wood paneled walls, hardwood floors, concrete stairs, metal doors with
numbers on them, and living rooms with furniture with from all eras.
At least there aren't skulls everywhere. Eventually you find your room
- 314 - and you breath a sigh of relief. This has been a long and
emotionally taxing day, you're exhausted, and how you can finally lay
do-

You try to turn the doorknob. You find it locked. For a few seconds to
fruitlessly keep trying the knob.

Seriously? After everything, the fucking door is locked? Wait.

You let your forehead thunk against the tan metal door. You let out a
defeated groan.

Of course it's locked, you never even got a key, and you have
absolutely no idea where to get it. Maybe Nathan knows?

You pull your phone out and see a text from your dad: [i]Home command
with a special message for general bellman: call your fasha when you
get settled in![/i]

You can't help but smile. You go to text him back when you hear the
click of a lock turning and the door opening inwards suddenly. You
lose your balance and stumble a step before catching your balance by
grabbing ahold of the doorframe.

"You my roommate?" Inside stands a black woman wearing black slacks
and a black vest over a white dress shirt.

"Um." You say. "This is my room, yeah. So I guess so?"

"Then I gotta know," She shifts her weight. "How do you sleep? Lights
on, off, nightlight, music playin', watchin' a movie, what? Or are ya
an insomniac, stayin' up forever?"

You blink.

What?

Also, wait, was she always wearing a top hat?

> So? (Write-ins are always appreciated)
> [] Answer the question, how does River sleep?
> [] You really don't feel up to this shit, snark back
> [] Counter her question with a question of your own
> [] Other

> Also, what do you want to text your dad, if anything?

>>1590926
>[] Counter her question with a question of your own
Before I answer, how'd you get the top hat to appear from nowhere?
if she answers
>"I sleep regardless of my surroundings, for a solid 4 hour period. If I am still tired, I sleep for another 4 hours. Though, I prefer lights off."

>>1590926
> "Like a corpse."

File: Aaaayyy.jpg (84KB, 288x432px) Image search: [Google]

84KB, 288x432px

>>1591106

>>1590943
That's pretty good.

>>1590943
Seconding

So no one wants to text River's dad back? Alrighty then.

Writing now

>>1593894
No, we can still do that, just in a little bit after talking with our roommate.

"I, uh." What is it with everyone giving you such intense looks? You can't help but feel awkward. "I can sleep anywhere, really. My dad always said I slept like a corpse, and bootcamp made me get used to sleeping in 4 hour stints. So, uh." The woman raises an eyebrow at you. "I do prefer it to be dark, though, if that helps."

Your roommate's stern expression brightens into a broad grin. "Oh, good. I thought you would've been like my last roommate." She steps back and opens the door to let you in. The room was pretty much what you expected. There are two twin beds (neither with any sheets), two dressers, and two desks arrayed so that roughly half of the room is given to each roommate. On the right wall is a sink and a mirror, and a small alcove leading to a door - you assume that's the bathroom. There is a folding door that is partially open to reveal a closet.

All in all, there isn't that much space. You notice that the bedframes can have extra steps added to it, pushing the bed up like the top bunk of a bunk bed. The furniture isn't in the nicest of conditions - one of the two chairs looks like it's being held together by improbable physics more than anything else. Along the wall opposite the doorway is a window with closed blinds that still let in a surprising amount of light.

"So," Your roommate plops herself down on the bed along the left wall. "I took the liberty of claiming this bed, hope that's fine with you. What'd'ya think of our new abode?"

"Well, um." You toss your duffel bag on the remaining bed. "It's certainly clean."

"Yeah?" She flips her top hat over towards the frame at the foot of her bed. It lands on one of the posts and spins for a moment. "I think it's certainly a shithole."

You frown. "I think it's nice enough, and," You go to rest your hand on the chair in front of your new desk, but you pull back when you notice a massive split the middle of the backrest. "Uh, well."

"And that's not even the worst of it." Your roommate begins pointing the various pieces of furniture. "Everything looks like it was brought in during the 70s and has met every frat boy's drunk ass since, I couldn't get the hot water in the sink to work, there's the one outlet under the window over there, and the mattresses are hella thin." She shrugs. "The bathroom is nice though. The toilet doesn't even have more than two cracks in it, and the shower's got hot water. Only hot water, of course, but beggar's can't be choosers!" The mock cheer in her voice is accompanied with a sweep of her arm, which ends with her leaning back against the wall.

"No bugs though, right?" You say as you wipe a line with your finger across the dusty top of your desk.

"Nah, though I wouldn't be surprised if it's 'cause every square inch has been drowned in alcohol over the years."

You nod. "I've dealt with worse, and honestly," You fall facefirst onto your bed. You continue with your voice muffled by the pillow "A shitty bed is more than enough after today."

> [Cont.]

>>1594032
"Yeesh, bad day huh?"

"Yeah."

The two of you sit in silence for a few moments. The lack of airflow in the room begins to make it uncomfortably warm. You move your head to look at the vents in the corner of the room. "Does the AC work?"

"What, can't you feel it? I got it cranked up all the way, y'should be freezin' by now." She says. As you groan in response, she lets out a small chuckle. "Nah, it's in heat mode, what with it being January and all. It's either 'the bowels of hell'," She says that like an announcer, "Or we get no air movin' at all from what I've found out pokin' around. And don't even think of openin' the windows, we're three stories up. Unless you know how to break through a suicide prevention lock, guess it looks like we're bakin'.

She hops up onto her feet. "'Sides, it's damn cold outside too." You hear her open a suitcase. "Well, I guess this'll be our shithole, so might as well make it a little homey." You glance up at her as she looks your way. "I'm Brianna, by the way, but all my friends call me Bri."

"River."

The two of you fall into silence again as she sorts through her luggage.

Roughly 15 minutes pass before you start feeling awkward just laying on your bed. Today's been a long day, sure - waking up at 6 a.m., waiting at the airport for 3 hours, flying 2 hours while hopping between 3 other airports, then everthing that happened after you arrived - and you ought to be justified in clocking out afterwards.

But your roomm- Briann- no, Bri is here, and maybe you feel a little bad just laying around.

> [] Fuck, maybe you should think of something to say?
> [] Fuck, maybe you should go find something to do?
> [] Fuck, maybe you should just take a nap and deal with it later?
> [] Fuck, maybe you should [Write-In]

>>1594034
>[] Fuck, maybe you should think of something to say?
Any hobbies? Favorite card game?

> Reassure father by text
> Make sure the phone and everything is set up
> "We're going to need groceries"

>>1594034
>>Text daddy.