[Color=pink]Melanie Rose Pourri[/color][hr][I]The Eukary Quad, 8:30AM.[/i]
[Color=pink]"Mmph, mph, mmm... ah! This human-food is so good!"[/color] Melanie exclaimed happily between mouthfuls. The two girls sat at a picnic table near a food truck. Her eyes were closed with joy and her snout was covered in fine powder. [Color=dodgerblue]"Yeah, they invented the world's best food-pizza!"[/color] Kayla heartily agreed.  Melanie chuckled, knowing that Kayla could eat pizza everyday, three times a day.

She tore off another piece of fried dough, chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed.  [Color=pink]"Want to check out the club booths before it gets too busy?"[/color] Mel asked. She wanted to check out the chess club booth before the event and maybe visit Nolan at the Write Club booth, if she didn't chicken out first.

[Color=dodgerblue]"Sure, why not? We'll be here all day anyway. There's more than enough time for everything,"[/color] Kayla replied. Melanie smiled and nodded, her face stuffed like a chipmunk with fried dough. She swallowed, then licked the powdered sugar off her claws. [Color=pink]"Alright! Let's go,"[/color] Melanie answered enthusiastically.

The girls got up from the picnic table and put their plates in a nearby trash bin. Mel brushed the sugar off her snout and light jacket, a smile forming on her face. Her tail had a  slight lift and a wag (a sugar rush?) As they started off toward the club booths.[hr]
There must have been at least 20 different club booths, of all different shapes and sizes and run by different kinds of animals. As it was still fairly early in the morning, there were only one or two animals visiting any given booth and some had no visitors at all. Some booths just had a person or two running it, handing out brochures or flyers but some were more interesting. Some clubs, like the chess club, even had events on the itinerary.

They walked pretty fast past the sports teams and clubs, neither girl having interest in those. Then there were the nerdy clubs, like astronomy club and science club, and Mel slowed down as they went by, to look at the cool bubbling vials and telescope. Then there were arts and hobbies clubs, which Mel was most interested in. The anime club had lots of neat toys and two animals were reading manga between visitors. The book club people had a book on display and a sloth was offering to give a copy to new members. There was a Scrabble match going on at the board game booth. Two animals were having a Pokemon battle in the videogame booth. Two reptiles were keeping warm under a heat lamp at the sunbathers club. The cooking club was giving away free samples (which were wonderfully delicious).

Then they finally came across write club. Melanie's heart raced faster and faster as she approached the booth. A lion with a beautiful wavy brown mane was leaning over the table, talking with three other guys: an ostrich with wild curly hair, and an alpaca with long curly fur that covered his eyes, and a tall elephant with a few curly hairs on his head and a shirt that read,'Not the elephantine the room', altogether a group that seemed oddly familiar. The boys seemed to be focusing on a piece of paper in Nolan's paws, until they saw the girls approaching. 

[B]"Hey, good morning girls! Didn't you two go to high school with us?"[/b] the elephant asked with a friendly wave. [Color=pink]"Oh, um, I don't know..."[/color] Melanie mumbled almost inaudibly. She scratched herself behind the ear, pulling a blank. Her eyes fell on Nolan, who folded up his paper and put it away, smiling almost shyly. Mel smiled back and looked away.

[Color=dodgerblue]"Hm, yes I believe we were! Same year, too. Wolfewood, right?"[/color] The guys nodded, remembering. [B]"Yeah! Yeah that's right. Small world, isn't it?"[/b] the elephant agreed. Melanie looked in awe at the group, her eyes wide with surprise.  She went to school with all these guys, including Nolan, and didn't know? Wow, she really was a [s]loser[/s] loner through high school. She was lucky one of her few friends had gone to the same college with her, or else she could have been completely alone!

[B]"I'm so glad I got out of that town. Bunch of wolves-- Oh, um, no offense,"[/b] the ostrich apologized. Kayla shook her head. [Color=dodgerblue]"No offense taken. They were a bunch of animals. I'm happy to escape that small town,[/color] Kayla replied good-naturedly. The boys smiled and nodded. [B]"Oliver. And that's Coby, Brett, and Nolan,"[/b] the elephant explained as he gestured from himself, to the ostrich, alpaca, and lion. The guys said their greetings. 

[Color=pink]"Thank you. It's, ah, nice to get reacquainted. I'm Melanie,"[/color] Mel shyly introduced herself, looking towards the ground. [Color=Dodgerblue]"And I'm Kayla. Nice to see you again!"[/color] she said with a friendly wag of her tail as she started walking away. Melanie held back, smiling shyly at Nolan but struggling to say anything. She clasped her paws nervously. 

[Color=red]"Why don't you check us out at the Open Mic coming up? No pressure, you can just watch and enjoy some free food and drink,"[/color] Nolan offered, handing Mel a brochure.  Mel smiled and nodded, taking the brocure before shuffling after her friend.