The day was turning out to be one of those baking hot, shimmers above the pavement, suck your breath away kind of days. And Haley loved it. Ever since she was a little girl, she had reveled in the heat of summer, seeming to take energy from the sun instead of wilting beneath it’s rays like most people did. Her family had called her crazy and had quickly taken to calling her the family lizard. She had taken it in stride, even going as far as purchasing little toys of lizards or finding jewelry that featured the scaly reptiles.

The sun hot on the back of her neck where her a-line haircut didn’t cover the skin, Haley Matthews was the picture of happiness as she hurried across campus, her pretty face displaying a wide grin, long strides energetic. People stared at her. A lot. But it didn’t really bother her all that much. It meant that no one was really getting in her way. In one of her hands was her cell phone, the screen displaying a map of the college campus, and periodically she would glance down to make sure she was still heading in the right direction. One that would take her to the biology building. Still a freshman, she hoped she would learn soon enough where all of her classes were and could stop relying on a map.

On the wrist of the hand that held her cell phone, a tiny silver charm of a lizard holding onto its tail with both front feet clinked quietly against the bracelet it was connected to as Haley Took one last look at the screen before pressing a button on the side to lock the device before she slid it into her back pocket, hurrying over to the biology building and heading inside. She wrinkled her nose slightly at the blast of air conditioned air that hit her in the face upon entrance, briefly rubbing the palms of her hands over her arms before loping down the hallway and into one of the biology labs. Taking a moment to glance towards the professor to make sure she had gotten the right room, the young woman then headed towards one of the long black topped tables spaced at even intervals in double rows on either side of the room, taking a seat at one of the middle tables. Shrugging out of her backpack, she dropped it to the floor next to her before unzipping the top, collecting a notebook and her biology textbook, Setting them on the table in front of her before pulling out a mechanical pencil and clicking lead into place. She took a moment to glance around the room, hoping she would recognize one or two of the faces. Unfortunately, she didn’t. But she was usually good at making friends. If the boxes and equipment the professor was arranging on his desk was anything to go by, they would be doing some sort of lab today. And if he also planned on having them work in pairs, Then chances were pretty good that she’d have an opportunity to get to know someone. She‘d just have to be patient.