"So you have a social anxiety?"

Naomi wanted to hit him at that moment, square in the jaw. Shut him up so she wouldn't have to listen to him speak like he knows all about her. Though that option was definitely off the table.

"Not exactly," she muttered, letting her bag drop down her arm so she could carry it by the top hook. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't need any help." She sounded slightly bitter, but refrained from escalating anymore than she needed to. But that was the thing, she didn't NEED to be this way toward this man. This professor seemed kind enough, genuine in his offer. But she didn't want it, and refused to accept it. It wasn't what she deserved.

"...in Genetics..." he was rambling - at least in her mind. She listened carefully, nodding out of habit as he spoke. Genetics? Interesting enough. It would something new she could learn. Something new she could dive into and distract her mind. Maybe.

"Why not go talk to that boy over there?"

Naomi followed the Professor's gesture, focusing on the blond boy sitting alone on the bench. She wasn't one to just go over to someone without any reason. Her moves, her motives, they were all planned carefully. She had no reason to talk to this boy. 

He was talking again, and she was hardly listening. To avoid any further embarrasement, she shrugged her backpack over her shoulded and nodded to him slowly. "I guess I'll... mingle." She faked a smile of white teeth, turning away and reluctantly making her way to the stranger. "I'd rather be reading a book," she mumbled to herself, grinding her teeth in annoyance. 

She reached the boy, taking a soft breath as she sat down next to him, dropping her bag on the ground between her legs. She still held on to the strap, scratching at it lightly with her thumb nail. 

"Hi," she turned to the boy with a bright smile. "You don't have to talk to me, but I don't want to deal with that professor in the lab coat thinking I"m some sort of nutcase - so I am apparently, as he put it, mingling." She scoffed, yet still keeping a light smile on her face. Whether he responded didn't matter to her. She'd buy her time, sit her and then take off when the doors were open. Hopefully this new start is really what she needs. 

She leaned forward, her brown hair falling in front of her. She look ahead at the crowd of students, through strands of her hair like a veil. Chatterboxes. Cliques already being formed. She wondered if any of these people knew each other outside of this place. How many of them had stable lives and people to call friends... or for that matter, family. It didn't matter. She didn't envy any of them in the slightest. Maybe she should. Who knows.