Finally released from Melony's grip, Naomi decided now was the perfect time to really catch a breath. The table Melony stopped at to chat with some students had one seat free. Not optimal in her opinion, since it was pretty much the last seat available she was just going to have to deal with sitting next to someone. At least he seemed preoccupied and the person on the other side was swept up in the conversation Melony started. A soft sigh of relief escape Naomi as she took the seat next to the boy playing on his phone.

A slight brush of her fingers along her brow pulled her bangs from being tangled in the eyelashes of her left eye. The hair naturally curled back to hide that eye, but at least it wasn't pulling on the hair when she blinked. Slipping her own phone out, she settled a bit more into the seat. Hopefully Melony would forget about her when she moved onto the next group. It probably wouldn't happen, but she could still hope. Rather than focus on that thought, she focused on sliding the phone open so she could use the keyboard and quickly got into her messages. At the very least, she could text with her best friend - let him know how everything was going. 

It didn't take him long to get back to her, and it took a lot of effort to hold back her frown. He wanted her to actually talk to someone not her roommate. She supposed it could be worse. Glancing around, it seemed like everyone else was kind of wrapped up in conversations. Aside from that one guy and a few others spread around the room, but that meant getting up from the chair now that she found one. Hopefully the guy would respond. 

Her attention turned mostly to her phone when she first spoke. "Kind of stupid gathering, right?" She leaned forward a little to see his name tag. Settling back, she added in, "Allen, is it?" 

---

Through the closed doors of the gathering room, a loud crash could still be heard - even over the din of conversation. 

The sound was the first thing to cause Emily to look up from what she was doing on her wrist band. Her gaze turned to the door, then immediately shot to the bay windows left open to the darkness outside. She lowered her wrist and shifted toward the bay windows, studying what little could be seen out into the night.