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“Hey,” someone said, just as I opened my mouth. A boy approached us from the other end of the floor. “You guys know where the Arena is?”
Vivian looked up from her phone. As he joined us near the elevators, the boy looked between the two of us, but his gaze landed on Vivian. No doubt, it’d stay there the rest of the way. He was just like her. Tall, blonde, varsity jacket. In other words, alpha male to her alpha female.
“Yeah,” Vivian replied, then rolled her eyes. “We’re going to try to make some new enemies at that mixer thing.”
“Great minds think alike,” he said, flicking his green eyes to me. “You guys roommates? Old friends?”
Vivian let out a snort. “The former.”
I returned her line of a grin and dug my phone out from my purse. Since it was apparent that I was about to be a third wheel to their exclusive acquaintanceship, might as well use the time to distract Pierre.
“Where you from?” the boy asked.
“Sacramento. You?”
“Santa Barbara.”
“No kidding!”
“Nice to meet another West Coaster out here. There aren’t many of us, according to the admissions stats.”
“Agreed,” Vivian said, just as bell signaled the elevator car’s arrival. “What’s your name?”
“Jason.”
“I’mVivi.”
“Nice to meet you,Vivi.”
I’d just texted Pierre a picture of myself and the school mascot by the time the elevator doors slid open. Vivian and Jason stepped forward at the same time, and Jason jumped back.
“After you,” Jason said, bowing.
Vivian giggled. I rolled my eyes, squeezing in after them.
For the rest of the walk to the Arena, I kept my eyes on my phone, managing to multitask between catching snippets of their conversation and trying to convince Pierre that he shouldn’t change his degree before classes even started. Turns out, Jason is on the soccer team and was planning on meeting up with a teammate at the mixer. Pierre went to Durham University in England for microbiology and regrets his whole life—in other words, nothing’s changed.
A murmur of voices and pop music rose in volume as we approached the Arena. The half-stadium featured the face of Freeman’s mascot in the center of the turf, an angry red cardinal, which also happened to be North Carolina’s official state bird. I tucked my phone into the pouch of hoodie as we stepped onto the turf. There was a table set up with some kids in orientation tees serving ice cream, and about a hundred first-years dispersed around the stadium in small groups.
I turned in the direction of the ice cream, but a boy stepped in front of me, blocking my path. Of course, I’d almost forgotten—with new people come new problems.
But this looked like the good kind.
“Jason, what’s up?”
The boy smiled at me, and I stepped aside so he could pull his friend into a bro-hug. He was attractive. Shaggy brunette, bright green eyes, actually acknowledged my presence.
“Hey, Eric.” He gave him a heavy slap on the shoulder. “How were tryouts?”
“Not bad,” Eric responded. “Coach likes me enough.”
Jason snorted. “Well, he hates me. Talk about advantage.”
Vivian kept on a toothy grin throughout the exchange. Jason put a hand on her shoulder.
“Eric, this isVivi. She’s from Sacramento.”
She extended a hand toward Eric, and he took it lightly in his, holding it there. “Vivifrom Sacramento,” he said, bowing a bit toward her. I almost expected him to kiss her palm. “Hello.”
