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Regrettably, Liam was already awake when the shrill digital beeping had begun. He'd spent yet another half-restful night involuntarily drifting between the unconscious and waking realms, finally dozing off after what seemed like hours of tossing and turning only to be cursed to repeat the whole process again all throughout the night. Sluggishly, and with no small degree of difficulty he wrested himself from the soft embrace of the sheets surrounding him, dragging himself to a seated position with his head rested in his hands. [color=f26522][i]Of all the days for this to happen... of course it just had to be today....[/i][/color] The boy thought as he rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn before turning his addled attention upon the source of the alarm. Groggily he reached for the phone, having to squint as the display all but blinded him while he silenced the blaring electronic tone. Liam breathed a quick sigh of relief as the annoyance was dealt with before promptly discarding the thing back to the nearby nightstand for the moment. Forcing himself to his feet, much to the complaint of his fatigued limbs the blond-haired boy made his way to the nearby dresser and begun digging for something to get changed into. On any other day he might've considered going back to sleep, but today that was simply not an option. Today would mark his first "real" day at Thames' Edge, and being late on the very first day was tantamount to giving up on his future here in the eyes of some. [color=f26522][i]What is that future though? Why the hell am I even here...?[/i][/color] a part of him railed internally as he searched. Shaking his head as he dismissed the thought as a mere product of his fatigue mingling with his nerves, he was here to help people. Plain and simple as that. It would be madness to give up so quickly after arriving, much more so after putting in all the effort to get here in the first place. [color=f26522][i]No time for doubts now.[/i][/color]The drowsy blond thought to himself as he finally withdrew his chosen attire and started the uncoordinated walk to the nearby washroom.

One quick shower and change of clothing later, Liam emerged from his room into the shared space of the flat feeling only marginally less exhausted then before. Still dark, evidently none of his flatmates were interested in being awake just yet. Suited him just fine, the boy had more than enough to think about alone as he quietly prepared a relatively simple breakfast. A pair of eggs and toast would do just fine, there was no need to be too fancy. He halfheartedly watched the skillet as the whites and yolks gradually set and firmed up, his mind elsewhere entirely as he prepared his meal. Once the eggs were done properly, they were slid off into a waiting plate, the motion punctuated by the pop of the toaster just outside of Liam's peripheral. Deftly, he swiped the finished toast onto the same plate before making his way to a nearby table to have a seat and start eating. Just as he was about to dig in though, a feeling other than hunger occupied his thoughts. [color=f26522][i]So this is it then, huh?[/i][/color] There was something almost mystifying about the idea that he was now rightly and truly alone now, starting to find his own way at Thames' Edge. It wasn't unlike the childlike dread of beginning yet another academic year in a way, all the wonder and simultaneous worry right before and even leading up to the day. Though what concerned Liam wasn't so unfounded as that, he almost wondered if his concern over this change was warranted in a way. Did he even really- 

A sudden electronic shrieking from his phone caught him unaware, swiftly stole his attention and broke his contemplative state. Right, he'd set a secondary alarm on the off chance he was still asleep. Though he rarely needed these sorts of things, recently he'd found that if he didn't make a conscious effort, it was likely he'd either under- or oversleep, he'd chalked it up to simple stress for the time being. Regardless, he silenced the device as quickly as he could manage, silently hoping he'd not awoken any of the others. A tense few moments passed, thankfully though it seemed he was alone in being awake at least for the time being. With a short sigh of relief, the boy began to dig into his meal undisturbed and by his lonesome. In his left hand he unlocked the previously screeching phone, looking over his classes for the day as he ate. He might be unsure of his current course, but there was no way in [i]hell[/i] he'd let himself be the stereotypical lost fresher on day one. Pairing that with the digital map of the campus he'd gotten his hands on prior, Liam was confident he'd be able to make do. Perhaps if he left now he could be gone before any of the others had awoken. Quickly he cleaned up the mess he'd made, rinsed the plate he used, slung a hoodie over his shoulders, and just like that he was gone.

Navigating his way to the campus entrance, Liam was greeted by a veritable flood of students, fresher and otherwise. Unfortunate then,  that his first class of the day was on the opposite end of the campus. Keeping mostly to himself as he waded through the mass of students whose moods ranged from nervous to excited to seeming indifference, he did eventually spot something rather... odd. A girl with long white hair and a seemingly cheery demeanor was going out of her way to greet and wish others well. Hell, it looked like she was even giving a pair of scared half to death freshers some directions. Watching the whole scene brought a genuine smile to the blond boy's face, even if it was as simple a thing as greeting people and lending a hand. It reminded him of the sort of thing he wanted to do eventually, to be somebody who can help others in ways big and small... as childish as that sounded.[color=f26522][i]Maybe people here do give a damn about each other[/i][/color] he thought to himself before turning his attention back to the digital map on his phone.

A short while later, Liam had made his way to the door of the lecture room his class would be held in, though as he approached something felt... off. He was absolutely certain that he had the right place, but in that case why did it sound like there was a lecture already well underway within? Was he late on his first day? No, that couldn't be possible, he'd planned for this explicitly. In disbelief he looked back to his schedule, perhaps he'd been mistaken about the location after all. As he looked at the timetable once more, any onlooker could see as his expression shifted from confusion to one of shock and realization. He had the place right after all, his misstep laid in the time. In his addled state, he'd misremembered the time the lecture was set to start at. In reality, his class wasn't scheduled to begin until about two hours from now, so much for all those preparations.... A nagging voice in the back of his mind jeered at him,

[color=f26522][i]So what was all that about [b]not[/b] being the clueless fresher?[/i][/color]

Discouraged and thoroughly disappointed in himself, Liam decided to go and kill some time in a nearby common room, which was unsurprisingly packed, save for a few less-occupied spots. Interestingly enough, he spotted the white-haired girl from earlier sitting on a couch in the middle of a phone call, though with a much less sunny expression than earlier. Though he didn't want to eavesdrop, bits and pieces of the girl's call made their way to Liam's ears. He felt ashamed for listening in on someone's business, even if it was involuntarily. He thought back to the way she'd conducted herself out on the school grounds, [color=f26522][i]Trying to help others, and only getting misery as your reward....[/i][/color] in that way, they were't too different. Then an idea struck him, perhaps he could help cheer up the one who was cheering others up mere moments ago. What's the worst that could happen, the two weren't even really acquaintances, the absolute worst outcome was he made an idiot of himself to a bunch of strangers. Not to mention that some altercation across the room between another group of students seemed to take the attention off of that side of the room... for now at least. He'd began to make his way across the room to talk to the girl, and noticed that she'd been joined by another person. Perhaps a friend of hers? It didn't matter for the time being, as the newcomer's body language and brisk movements suggested she wasn't too open to conversing with some random person. Nevertheless, Liam eventually found himself at the side of the couch the white-haired girl was sat upon as he spoke up with a smile of genuine appreciation on his face. 

[color=f26522]"Sorry to bother you, I saw you outside earlier helping out some of the freshers. The stuff you were saying to them was really nice. Lots of people are stressed right out on the first day, and little kindnesses like that tend to go unnoticed. So I guess I'm trying to say thanks for all that, from both myself and the people who won't say it, even though they mean it."[/color] With any luck he'd  cheer the girl up somewhat, or at least, that was his aim.