Students bustled back and forth across the campus, chatting in low voices. The occasional burst of laughter made Camelia smile, and she tugged her suitcase along closer behind her as she wove her way through the crowds that got thicker the closer she got to the dorms.
"Student name?" The overly perky attendant in front of the enormous dorm building smiled as Camelia drew close, and Camelia smiled back as she pulled out her ID.
"Camelia Meadows. I'm a transfer."
The attendant nodded, already browsing her list. "Mmm. Yep, here we go." She looked in her box and shuffled around for a moment before she pulled out a manila envelope and an ID. "Your ID will get you into all the major buildings on campus, books out of the library, and into your dorm. If you lose it you can get a replacement at the student center."
Camelia only listened with half an ear as she took the items. Every college was all the same; slightly different policies, same execution. "Thanks." She walked past the girl before she had finished her spiel, scanning her student card and walking into the dorm.
Where the outsides of the buildings were all still delightfully historic and ancient, the insides of the buildings had been modernized. The electric light was steady and the walls were clean plaster, and she scanned the numbers of the rooms as she walked past open doors with students moving in, the same as her. One dorm had a small group of guys playing guitars in a group while they laughed aloud; another had a group of girls who were mostly naked and covered in paint, rolling around on a wide, white drop cloth in some sort of bizarre bonding exercise.
It was all very college, and by the time Camelia reached her dorm, she was feeling lighter.
She and her father had been worried for nothing. This was going to be an entirely new experience than Harrison. A clean slate.
The lock flashed green when she presented her card, much like modern hotel rooms, and she let herself in with a soft, "Hello?"
The dorm was small, a tiny kitchen with a stove and fridge blocked off by an L-shaped counter, and the living room beyond almost smaller. A door was open to a bedroom on one side of the apartment, and Camelia approached as she heard sounds of movement inside.
"Hello?" Camelia leaned against the door frame of the room, and the girl inside turned away from dumping her clothes out on the bed to look at her. The girl was tall and willowy, with long red hair that hung loose around her shoulders. Her narrow frame was encased in a tank top and long, loose house pants, and her blue eyes narrowed a little as she took Camelia in.
"Hi."
She didn't offer anything, and Camelia's easy relaxation faded a little as the girl continued to look her, the judgement palpable on her face as her eyes scanned down Camelia's body. Her wide hips and larger breasts always drew the sort of attention that she was never looking for; from men, they assumed that she was easy. From women, they assumed she was lazy.
Very rarely did people know on first glance that her figure was a direct result of her Omega hormones; most people assumed that she just didn't work out or didn't care that she was heavier and curvy. It was an unwanted derision that she had, sadly, gotten used to. She'd hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with it in her direct living space, but she was unsurprised.
She lifted one hand, offering a mock salute. "I'm Camelia."
The girl continued to look at her as if she smelled bad. "Jessica."
Camelia suppressed a sigh; she clearly wasn't going to be getting much out of this girl. "I'm going to start unpacking. I was going to get some dinner later, maybe if..."
"No, thank you," Jessica interrupted, turning her back firmly on Camelia. As Camelia watched, she reached over and pulled a pair of pink headphones on over her head, and the faint sounds of aggressively perky Pop music started to play.
"Nice to meet you, too," Camelia muttered, turning away. The door on the other side of the apartment was slightly ajar, and when Camelia pushed her way in, some tension drained out of her shoulders. It was a standard college dorm, with a desk and a bed whose mattress was laying sideways against the wall, but she could already feel the comfort of having a safe haven taking away the mild fear that had been lurking ever since her conversation with her dad.
This was going to be great.
The tension in the apartment between Camelia and Jessica got to be too much after about an hour, and she abandoned her quest to unpack in favor of exploring campus. She didn't let Jessica know that she was heading out; the girl's door had been closed when Camelia had come out of her room again, and Camelia hadn't bothered to knock. She clearly didn't want to put in any effort to a cordial roommate relationship, and Camelia wasn't going to put effort in where she wasn't wanted.
The late afternoon sun was still warm as Camelia slowly walked along the campus pathways, and she lifted her face to feel the heat of it against her skin as she trailed her fingers along a park bench. There were still dozens of students lingering around in the grass and on the various walls that decoratedcampus, and Camelia smiled to herself as she felt the warmth of community surrounding her on all sides.
See? Dad was worried for nothing. No reason to be concerned, here. Everything is fine, and you're going to finish your degree Suma Cum Laude...
Camelia's musings were interrupted by the sounds of a scuffle, and she pressed her lips tightly together even as her feet moved without conscious thought, changing direction to head towards the increasingly loud whoops and hollers that signaled a fight.
"All the same, no matter where you go," Camelia muttered. Still, she couldn't ignore the curiosity bubbling low in her belly, and as she reached the edge of an amorphous crowd, she started to shoulder her way past people gently in order to see who was fighting.
A male grunt reached her ears, followed by a low laugh as a solidthwapof a blow was landed. Camelia winced, and she finally reached the inner circle of the crowd so that she could see.
As predicted, there were two boys fighting on the grass, though it almost looked like more of a tussle than anything that was meant to cause harm. The smaller boy was only a little taller than Camelia, with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes that glared at his opponent. The edge of his jaw was already swelling with the punch that had clearly just landed, and as Camelia watched, he lunged for the person that he was fighting with the desperation of someone who felt like he had something to prove.
The other guy...Camelia suppressed a shiver as he shoved the smaller man away, slowly circling him and letting Camelia get a look at his face. He was taller than his opponent, almost stupidly so; the younger guy's head barely reached the taller one's shoulders, and the taller guy was shaking his head slowly, an amused smile on his face as he parried another lunge.
"Marc, buddy," he said, rolling his eyes. "You're embarrassing yourself."
His voice was deep and commanding enough that it carried across to where Camelia stood, and she couldn't stop herself from shivering a little as she unwittingly checked out the rest of him. He had dark hair, almost black in the summer sun, and his eyes were vibrant blue, giving an immediate Clark Kent vibe. Not only was he tall, but his shoulders were broad, his arms and chest were solidly muscled under his white t-shirt, and his long legs looked like they could easily support a person or two's weight if need be.
