Move-in day was a complete pain. While the black-haired girl opted for a solo dorm, the mass influx of freshmen coming in and out with their essentials made it unnecesarily difficult for her to move in her own things. The solo dorms were begrudgingly small, so it wasn't like she could afford to bring much, but carrying a sizeable mattress up some steps with her brother wasn't easy when fifty others were doing the same thing.

It was all over now, though, and Saria was unwinding in the student lounge that connected the dorms for males and females. She'd brought her desktop with her, but there was something oddly satisfying to her when it came to sipping a drink and tapping away at her keyboard in a lounge. It wasn't like she had a roommate either, so being able to scout a fairly-filled lounge for a potential friend was nice. A little on the hopeless side, but nice nonetheless.

She couldn't help but stare at her drink as she remembered her brother's desperate tone when it came to maintaining her facade as Erin. Having to respond to an unfamiliar name had been difficult to her since she grew up as Saria, but she was used to it by now. There was nothing for her brother to worry about. Still... she always felt like she was lying to everyone she met, and it didn't sit well with her. She silently cursed the purists for robbing her of her parents, her magic for showing up at the worst of times, and her parents for refusing to tell her about it for so long. Before she knew it, a tear streamed down her face, but she quickly wiped it away with her sleeve before she thought anybody could see. Maybe being in the lounge was a bad idea, but she disregarded the feeling and sighed before taking another swig of her drink.

For Joshua move-in day was a great experience, though for him it was more like return-day. He had already been at the college for a year and so had no trouble getting some of the other students to help him return to his room. His roommate was running a bit late today so he had not seen him yet and had made due with helping some of the other kids move in. He got to see quite a few new faces as well as some old ones. He knew quite a few people's names, maybe what they liked to do as well but aside from that not much. Still it was fun in its own way.

The current dorm he was in was separated by what some might call the 'mixing lounge', that magical area in between the women's and men's dorms. Well it was more magical for some than for others of course, especially the occasional couple who liked to flaunt off their status as together. Outside he would smile but inside he could not help but think they really needed to go somewhere a bit more private, there was also that matter of his mother who every time she talked with him tried to encourage him to find a date. He loved his mother but man could that woman nag, making him not want to bother.

He made his way to the lounge after a while and it was then that his life would start to take a drastic turn, it was when he first noticed her. Joshua was not sure why this black-haired girl caught his attention, she was a bit pretty sure but there were plenty of beautiful people on campus but outside looks were only a mask for the person inside. Often times when he got a peek under the mask the person was just not all that interesting, which was probably way he had a lot more acquaintances than friends. In any event it was not looks are the fact that she was typing away at a laptop with a drink she kept sipping. It was some strange sort of nagging feeling that just would not go away.

In any event Joshua at first ignored it but soon her figure just kept getting caught in his eyes and there was no way to ignore it. Then he saw something that made him stop trying to ignore her. The girl wiped away something from face and he caught the faintest glimmer of a tear. Did she have something in her eye? Or maybe some other reason? In any event Joshua excused himself from a group he had been talking to and made his way over to her, curiosity getting the better of him.

Acting as casually as he could, Joshua found a nearby seat and plunked himself down so he could be at eye-level with her. He tried his best to look as friendly as possible as he started to speak. "Hello there, my name is Joshua, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." This was his opening line, which was true to a fault. He thought about asking for her name right away but decided not to, as to let her introduce herself if she felt like it.

"Just wanted to say hi, no pressure or anything." He said, trying to reassure her as much as he could. Little did he know that this exchange was to be the start of something extraordinary, and at times dangerous. If he had any knowledge beforehand would he have still talked to her? Who knows but the first step had been taken.

Her long swig was interrupted as a boy greeted him. A boy. ... A boy? She blinked and did a double-take, just to be sure. Nobody usually bothered to greet her, especially not a boy as good-looking as he was. Her heart rose a little, and she suddenly forgot about all that was troubling her. The black-haired girl had to calm herself down, but she couldn't help but give a faint smile out of appreciation. She just silently hoped that it wasn't the tear that brought him to her.

"N-No, it's fine... H-Hey," she audibly muttered while averting his gaze and tripping over her own words. She needed to calm down, but the man really had caught her off guard more than she expected. "Ah, I'm Erin. Nice to meet you," she greeted and looked back at him with her sapphire eyes, finally starting to calm down. She was curious as to why he approached her, but didn't want to ask it outright as she might come across as rude. Instead, she opted for a more simple question to try and get some sort of conversation going.

"So... are you new here, too?" she asked. If so, the two of them could have some common ground to stand on. If not, then maybe she could ask him to show her around a little. She mentally patted herself on the back for what she thought was exceptional social skills, snrk. Although, it might have worked a little too well. If Saria knew that getting close to the boy would make him another target for the purists, she would have pushed him away in a nanosecond.

His greeting had obviously come as a bit of a shock to her since her first response had a bit of a stammer to it. Joshua had to fight the urge to let out a small laugh but his social skills allowed him to keep in control. If there was one thing he was good at it was keeping a 'good guy' front and it was how there were very few people that disliked him so far.

After her initial awkwardness she managed say her name 'Erin'. It was a good name, though admittedly most names were good, after all few parents would name their child something bad. It was then that he noticed her sapphire eyes. The eyes of a person told a lot about them, or so it was suppose to but Joshua felt he had a hard time reading her which only increased his curiosity. Her eyes were like gems, but Joshua pushed that toward the back of his mind as she asked him a question.

"Well no, this is my second year here actually. I'm a sophomore, undecided major at the moment but I'll make the leap soon enough." Joshua was having a hard time deciding his future profession and so his first quarter would just be knocking out core classes. He hoped he would make a decision before he got through them all since he wanted some easier classes for later in his educational career.

"Well don't worry about it, so this is your first time here eh?" Joshua grinned a little and started to stretch his arms right there and then, his athletic training kicking in. He made it quick so as not to make too much of a scene, not that anybody really thought much of it.

Joshua got up out of his seat and turned to her. "Well if you have any questions you can talk to me. Also if you are done moving, I can show you around if you want." As Joshua said this in his mind he was wondering why he was being so forward with this girl, it really was not like himself offer his services, especially toward someone he just met. For some reason he just felt like he should and for once it seemed like he actually wanted to get to know someone better.

"Aside from the general layout I can show you some of the more interesting places around as well."

Saria couldn't help but notice Joshua's little mannerisms; he seemed to be quite forward with her, which made her chuckle happily to herself. Her brother warned her about guys who would possibly try to take advantage of her, but she was just too happy that a boy was talking to her and he didn't seem like the type who would do something like that. Besides, it was still daylight out, so they wouldn't be walking alone in the dark or anything. She figured she'd at least try to get to know him more before deciding to go on the defensive. Still, it'd make for a nice joke.

"You're not trying anything funny, are you?" she teased, then giggled a little after waiting for his reaction. "Just kidding... Yeah, I've never been here before. I wouldn't mind a tour guide, if you're not too busy." Saria was baffled at herself. Normally she'd be a nervous wreck, but most people would be comparable to brick walls. Joshua was more like an open door, which made it easier to open up herself. Did everybody feel this way around him? She silently wondered to herself how many friends the man had, or even if he had a girlfriend yet. She wasn't interested in him like that yet, but still, she would be shocked if he wasn't taken yet.

"I finished moving a little while ago," she reassured him as she shut her laptop and put it into her bag. "Into a solo dorm nonetheless, so I don't have any roommates to meet up with or anything." She rose from her seat and swung the bag over her shoulder, giving him a warm smile. "I should be free for the rest of the day. Also, I don't know what to do with my major either, if it's any consolation to you." She wasn't lying either. Trying to think of what she wanted to do when she was older proved very difficult when she wasn't even sure if she would survive for such a length of time.

Joshua reacted quickly when Erin started to accuse him of trying something, "What? Heck no I wouldn't try something like that!" Then she giggled a bit making him feel a bit embarrassed once she explained it was a joke. "Ah, umm right I'm glad you understand." He then shut up and let her finish, thankfully they moved quickly from that topic.

It appeared that he was now her tour guide.

"Well I'm sure we'll both figure out what we want to do in the near future. Now then, shall we be off, Erin?" Joshua gave a reassuring smile and started the grand tour.

There was of course the obvious, such as the general layout of the campus, making sure to point out the most important buildings such as the library, cafeteria which of course most students abhored, what kind of classes were in the different classroom buildings, etc. Of course anyone could do that so Joshua made sure to include the lesser known things such as the best spot on campus to find some peace and quiet, locations to avoid because of disreputable students making it their 'lairs', what food was actually worth a buck around the small, but tightly packed, community, and where one could go to explore the nearby area without their own form of transportation.

As Joshua talked and showed her around he found himself still unsure of why he was going so far beyond his normal nice guy routine. Well at least it wasn't a bad mystery to have so he made sure to complete the tour as best he could. Along the way he made sure to briefly greet anyone he knew as a courtesy before continuing on. As they talked, though Joshua did most of the talking since he was the tour guide he found his interest growing and so it came to the point where he felt he could finally ask her a certain question.

"So forgive me in advance Erin but I just wanted to ask, but when I first saw you in the lounge I saw wipe away a tear. Feeling a bit lonely starting college?" Joshua honestly wanted to know but he prepared himself for her to deflect the question. Admittedly he felt a little out of line asking but had decided to risk the question anyway.

Saria could tell he was embarrassed, making her feel a little bad. She'd probably try to apologize later, but she just wanted to lighten the mood a little. After his reassurance, she nodded to him and followed close behind.

She did well to soak in all of the sights and heed Joshua's advice. While she didn't get the chance to have an official tour of the campus like most of the other freshmen were smart enough to do, she figured this was much better and more informative than a scheduled tour by a staff member. Student intuition proved to be much more accurate than a staff member's sugar coating, and Saria made sure to express her gratitude whenever Joshua would tell her the places to avoid and the like. Whenever the boy passed by what she assumed were his friends, she couldn't help but shy away from them, but she still at least made sure to wave with a faint smile on her face.

The tour took a little longer than expected as the sun was beginning to go down. Joshua had stopped in front of a fountain, which had Saria slightly confused, but it all made sense when he eased into a question. Crap, so he did notice. Her comfort was quickly plucked away and she looked at the ground away from him, clutching the strap of her bag and fidgeting at the opening of her pants pocket. "So you noticed, huh...?" she sighed. "I thought that was the case..." she remained silent for a bit as she gathered her thoughts, the water crashing in the fountain mixing with the ambient tension that had suddenly arised as the result of his question. What was she even going to say? She didn't want to lie to him; he'd been so kind and she felt he didn't deserve it. Maybe a half-truth was in order... but did she really want to open up to him yet? They'd only just met after all. She could continue struggling with this for hours, but she felt that there was already enough tension in the air.

She shook her head slightly and met his gaze once more, her eyes now reflecting the conflict in her head. "Sorry... It's not something I want to talk about just yet," she explained, then quickly gave him a smile of gratitude. "but talking with you today really helped me out, so... thank you." Ending her day with Joshua on a sour note was something she wanted to avoid at all costs, so she mustered up all the courage she could to thank him sincerely at least once. She wanted to ask him if they could meet again potentially, but she could still feel the tension in the air. She found herself glancing away from him again.

Joshua instantly regretted his decision when it was very easy to see that his question had put her on the spot. It had not been his intention to make her uncomfortable but that seemed to be what he had managed. He was also very much aware of the fountain they had found themselves next to, its bubbling adding a strange texture to the situation, which Joshua now recognized as awkwardness or at least had become such. First day and he had already made her uncomfortable, a real smooth job.

The girl called Erin decided to avoid the question for the moment and Joshua felt like he needed to apologize but then she continued and thanked him for talking with her. It was quite a turn around for Joshua but Erin still seemed a bit out of it and could only glance at him. Joshua scratched the top of his head for a moment in embarrassment. "It was nothing, really glad I could help. Well don't worry about the other thing, you can tell me whenever, no rush."

Joshua stopped for a moment as things decided to just stall for a moment. What should he do now? Things were not exactly on the best of notes so he needed to do something to keep the new relationship going. Huh, to think he was already thinking of their encounter in terms of a relationship, at least a new friendship anyway. Well it is starting to get late, I'm sure you want to settle in. Still, do you want to meet up again soon? Maybe even tomorrow? Course if that's too soon you can choose another time."

Well that was that, the invitation was out and now he just hoped she would say yes. This had indeed turned into a very interesting day.

Saria nodded at his response, but the air was still tense for a bit. She was doing so well with him before, but now she felt like she made Joshua feel completely awkward and that didn't really make it easy for her to talk. Thankfully, Joshua was quick to take the initiative and asked her what she was too frightened to ask herself. Thank goodness for that; it made things so much easier for her. Saria looked back at him with another smile.

"Yeah, that'd be great. I don't have anything I need to be doing tomorrow anyway," she explained. There was still a good week before classes began, and it wasn't like she had any other friends. Still, she wasn't expecting to see him again so soon, and it excited her that she would. Did that make her clingy? Desperate? Granted, he was the one who asked. ... Was he being clingy...? The thought greatly amused her, but she still wondered why he was so interested in her. She wanted to ask, but she felt that their conversation had been plagued with enough awkwardness for one day.

Saria blinked as she realized just how dark it was getting. She wanted to ask him if he had anything in mind for what to do tomorrow, but she thought that she should probably wrap things up. "Well," she started as she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. "I can give you my number so you can text me when you're ready tomorrow." She wryly smiled. Now that she felt the awkward tension had left, she felt she could let off another joke. "Boys like it when girls give them their numbers, right?" she teased, hoping it wouldn't embarrass him as much as her first joke from earlier that day.

Heck it's every guy's dream to have a cute girl give their number voluntarily." Joshua teased back as he took out his own phone and started the process of exchanging numbers. It did not take much time as the phones exchanged information and soon it was done. "I'll text you tomorrow then, take care!" With a wave Joshua left, feeling quite accomplished for some reason.

Later that night he was settled in his room when his roommate came in. Instantly his roommate started to harass him. "Hey, heard from my fans you were spending time with a new girl. Finally got some interest after a year eh?" His roommate was an accomplished member of the tennis team and had quite a collection of fans; therefore giving him a pulse on anything that happened on campus. He was a year ahead and in a way had been a mentor to Joshua.

"Ha ha, I don't know if its anything like that Chris. Sure I suppose she's cute but you know me."

"Aye, Mr. Looks-don't-faze-me guy. Seriously I thought something was wrong with you last year when you brushed off anyone who flirted with you. I also felt like I'd have to watch my back."

Joshua rolled his eyes at the Junior, who had implied that he thought Joshua might have been gay. "I don't know what it was but something just edged me toward approaching her. I feel like she is someone I want to know. Anyway I'll text her tomorrow and hang out."

"Moving quickly eh? Sly Dog."

Joshua shoved Chris playfully into the wall. "Don't jinx it man, you better stick your nose out of this." Joshua really did not want Chris to get involved but he was sure it would not be a problem as the older student usually had a lot on his plate, especially since he was going into the medical field.

"If I feel like it."

Saria nodded at his response and they exchanged numbers, but it was only until after he'd left when she realized he was implying she was cute. Her face turned beet red, and it was all she could do to cover her face in embarrassment. A boy talking to her was outlandish enough as is, but getting an actual compliment? Wow. Her brother was not going to believe this. When she composed herself and her heartbeat went down, she dragged herself back to her dorm.

Later that night as Saria was lazing around in her pajamas, she was on the phone with her older brother. His true name was Zarek, but he'd donned the pseudonym of "Jared." Saria told him about everything that'd happened, and it felt like she could go on forever about how happy it made her. Zarek, however, was the more skeptical of the two, and always questioned everything around him.

"Well, yeah, I'm happy for you and all. Just remember what I told you," he warned. "Always be wary around college boys."

"Jared, I just met him today," Saria reassured him. "I don't think he's the type who'd try anything funny. Even if he was, I know how to defend myself."

"Just be careful, okay? Don't take it the wrong way. You haven't sounded this happy in years, and I'd hate to see that ruined."

"I will," she confirmed before changing the subject. The siblings tried to make their conversations over the phone sound as normal as possible. They never knew if anybody else was listening in on their conversations, so any information about their heritage had to be kept tightly locked behind sealed lips.

The two continued to talk for about half an hour before saying goodbye and hanging up. Saria got on her desktop and surfed the web for a while before deciding to head to bed herself.

Morning had come quite early for Saria. She never normally cared about what she wore, but she felt the need to make another good impression for Joshua. She didn't really know why. Did everyone get like this? It was completely new to her. Regardless, she did the best she could with what she had. After a shower and basic hygeine, she'd put on white button-up shirt, some snug-fit dark jeans, sneakers, and she even put her hair into a bit of a ponytail. Just that was a major improvement, but Saria regretted not bringing any makeup with her as she noticed how pale she looked in her mirror. She took a deep breath and mumbled to herself. "Chill out. This isn't even a date. We're just hanging out. Calm yourself." Oh well. She did the best with what she had. With that, she sat back at her computer desk and awaited Joshua's text.

After his morning workout of running, a few sets crunches, push-ups and so on, Joshua had quickly hit the showers. The first blast had been a bit cold for some reason, well guy's dorms always did have the less maintained of facilities, he was done in record time and had quickly put together an outfit. What he ended up wearing was fairly simple, red-polo shirt, tan cargo pants, and trainers [as in the shoes]. Wardrobe accomplished with minimal effort he whipped out his phone and sent over the fated text.

"Good morning Erin, it's Joshua. Looking like a fine day today, so how about we meet up in say 10 minutes in front of Library then we'll decide a course of action from there. See ya soon." It was a bit short and to the point but in the end he preferred 'real' conversation over texting. Joshua quickly headed over to the neutral location to wait for who he believed was named Erin. There were some other students out and about but as classes were still a fair bit away there were certainly a lot less than there would be in about a week. A few people who recognized him gave their greetings and Chris responded in kind with his usual warmth.

As he waited Joshua could not help but feel a little on edge. It was just a faint prickling really but he was highly conscious of the fact that he really wanted Erin to like him and he was starting to feel the pressure. "Man, keep it together, what are you a high schooler with a crush?" He thought to himself. "We're just getting to know each other a little better is all, nothing to worry about, you hang out with people all the time." The inner monologue really was not helping, thankfully it was not just useless thoughts on his mind but also plans on what they should do for the day, which really depended on how much time Erin wanted to spend with him. Joshua wanted to make sure he did not accidentally over stay his welcome after all with someone he just met.

Saria's phone vibrated on her desk, making her jump a little. She instantly knew that Joshua'd texted her, since it's not like she'd be expecting any texts from anyone else anyway. She picked up her phone, after her heart skipped a beat, and read his text asking her to meet up at the Library. It was pretty short and to-the-point, which surprised her somewhat. Wasn't he supposed to be the outgoing type? Hm. Maybe he just liked talking face-to-face more; it was something she could understand, but this meant that she couldn't hide behind a screen or anything when trying to talk to him, since it'd probably annoy him somewhat. He didn't really blame him; it was just unfortunate. "Sounds good, I'm on my way." She figured she'd better keep her messages short as well. She slipped her phone into her pocket, took one final deep breath to help her relax, then left to go meet up with him.

The walk to the library wasn't too noteworthy; nobody to really say "hi" to, so she just kinda squeezed on by while trying not to pay any mind to the other students. She simply went straight there, where she saw Joshua already waiting for her. His clothes looked good to her; not like she had any sort of fashion sense, made clear by her own attire and lack of make-up, but she thought they looked good on him. It suddenly hit her like a truck, though... She was almost too embarrassed to be around him. The doubt was crippling- since he knew a lot of people, she was sure they'd come up to him to greet him and then look at her. What if some other girl went up to him, looked at her, and said something like "I'm sure you could do better than that." She sighed. Suddenly she wasn't so sure about the whole thing... Still, though. He'd been kind to her yesterday, and skipping out on him last-minute would be unbelievably rude. She at least had the decency to show up and follow through. 'and stop worrying so much,' she thought to herself. 'It was easy enough to talk to him yesterday... Just go. You'll be fine.' After reassuring herself, she threw her sense of doubt away, mustered up the best smile she could, and walked over to him.

"Hey," she greeted with a little wave. "You look nice," she followed up, her heart beating more quickly since she was the one to initiate conversation this time. She at least hoped he wouldn't say anything about her attire, but she maintained her smile, refusing to let the doubt resurface.