Chapter One: TROUBLE FROM THE START

[©Lynnifer Ice - November 16, 2022]

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 The sun feels blazing hot today, and having to carry all of my luggage by myself does not exactly help. I traveled overseas to attend this prestigious school: Erudite University. The pictures online sure don't do it any justice. This place looks more like a castle than a school! Weirdly, there is an iron fence surrounding the school grounds, though. My great aunt in Italy told me that Iceland is quite windy; thankfully, the weather is pretty calm today. I've only been away from Italy for half a day, but I miss it already. However, I'm excited about the next four years that I'll attend this prestigious school.

I looked down at my watch to check the time – 1:16 p.m. "Shit!" I cursed out loud, "I'm late!". My move-in time for the University's dorms was supposed to be 1 p.m.! I quickly rushed past the iron entrance, heading in the direction of the dorms.

The dorms were located behind the castle of a school, due east. There was a large circle of a sidewalk that split into two paths. In the middle of the circle area was a table set up with many papers and two people, a man and woman, sitting behind the table. Both had a binder and a pen in hand. In front of the table were two decent-sized lines. One line had women, and the other were men. I knew that according to my paperwork, I was assigned to the building on the left. Thus, I stepped into the left line even though I only saw men in that line. I had assumed that both dorm buildings were co-ed.

I kept glancing at my watch, growing more anxious by the second. The lines seemed to be moving at the pace of a snail, and it was already bad enough that I was late on my first day on campus. Even if classes don't start until the day after tomorrow, this isn't exactly a good first impression. I decided that maybe I could put my good looks to use. After all, most men seem to stare at women that have blonde hair with blue eyes. Well, I'm not a natural blonde, but the blonde hair has seemed to have gotten more attention than my natural auburn hair. I decided to tap on the shoulder of the man in front of me. I got lucky as he turned around to look at me; his reaction was priceless.

"Excuse me, do you think I could cut in front of you? I'm running late on my first day, and I'm not from around here." I leaned forward just enough that he could see my bust from the top of my tank top.

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered with his eyes glued to my chest, "I- I don't mind. Go- Go ahead." He swallowed thickly before nudging the guy in front of him, "Dude, you should let this chick in front of you."

The other man huffed, saying, "Chick? What ch-," he stopped mid-sentence as he turned around and laid eyes on me. "O-Oh..."

"I'm sorry, would you mind if I cut in?" I swayed my chest back and forth just a little for encouragement.

"By all means," the man gestured for me to come forward, "please, b-be my guest."

"Awe.~ You boys are SO sweet!" I thanked them, going ahead of them, swaying my hips at the same time.

The first man spoke up in response, "O-Our pleasure."

His friend tried whispering to his friend about me, but I still heard them. "Carl... That chick is fucking hot. Is she living in our building?"

"What do you think, Max? She's in OUR line, isn't she?" The other man retorted.

I smiled to myself, happy that I skipped ahead two places. I looked up to the sky as I thought about my mother. Thanks for giving me my triple-D breasts, Mother. These babies come in handy quite a bit. There were only five men left in front of me now. I wondered if I could get any further ahead, so I tapped the tall man's shoulder in front of me. He turned around and, at first, was confused until he looked down and noticed me.

"Well, hello there, doll," he flashed a charming smile, "What can I do for you?"

"Hey there.~" I winked at him, "Would you mind if I cut in front of you?"

"If you give me your number, I might consider it.~"

Great... He's a pervert. Just my luck... "For a guy like you," I flashed a fake yet convincing smile, "of course."

He took out his phone excitedly with a smirk plastered on his lips, "What's your number, doll?"

"39 081 6669," I replied, giving him a fake number. The first five digits were correct but not the last four.

After he finished typing on his phone, he set it back in his pocket. The same smirk was still laced on his lips. "Go on ahead, doll."

I nodded in satisfaction, moving in front of him. I could feel his eyes on me, most likely staring at my ass. I hate men like him. I didn't even have to tap on the guy in front of me this time. No sooner had I made it behind him, he turned around with a smile, tipping his hat.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am," he spoke softly with a genuine smile, keeping his eyes only on my eyes. "Would you so kindly like to move up one more spot? I wouldn't mind."

I was so surprised by this man's actions that I could not bear to say no, "If that would be okay with you, yes, I would love to."

He stepped to the side just enough for me to pass by, and as I did, he scowled at the man behind me.

Wow, what a gentleman. Maybe I will just stay in this spot then. After all, I only have three more men in front of me; I managed to move up quite a bit!

"I apologize on the indecent man's behalf. No man should treat a woman like that," he whispered in my ear.

I turned my head with a grateful smile, "Thank you, I really appreciate what you did for me."

"This is my second year here," he continued on, "Would you like me to show you around campus later?"

After thinking it over in my head, I thought it would be a good idea. "That would be awesome.~"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance then, Miss," he extended a hand around and out toward me, "My name is Blake. Might I have the honor of knowing your name?"

I turned just slightly, giving him a firm handshake, "Alex."

"Miss Alex," he let my name roll off his tongue before grinning like a kid, "I hope we can become good friends this year. Don't hesitate to ask me anything if you need help with absolutely anything."

"Anything?" I challenged him, wiggling my eyebrows.

"Yes, anything," Blake confirmed.

"What if I start my period without warning and need someone to bring me a feminine hygiene product right away," I questioned him.

A genuine guy friend wouldn't say no to this. Most men are too embarrassed to get these things for women. So, let's see if he's one of the few that means what he says.

"I would hunt one down and rush over to you," he proudly stated, still holding my hand.

I shook his hand in a final agreement before we both let go. "I think we're going to get along swimmingly, Blake."

"As do I," he confirmed. "Are you staying in the East building?"

"Yes, I am. Are you?"

"Of course. What floor are you on?"

I dug into the side pocket of my bag, pulling out my paperwork. "It looks like I'm on the third floor, in room 316. What about you, Blake?"

"What a coincidence," he exclaimed, "I'm also on the third floor. I'm staying in room 317. That is directly across the hall from your room. Even numbers are on the left, and odd is on the right."

"Wow," I was impressed, "You sure know your stuff. So, the 3 in the front is for the third floor, then? How many rooms are on each floor?"

"Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment," he beamed, "Yes, the 3 is for the third floor, and there are twenty-four rooms on each floor with a total of six floors."

Before we could continue our conversation, an unknown agitated voice called out. "NEXT in line, please."

"Oops...," I smiled apologetically toward Blake. He nodded, understanding. I turned around back to the front, only to see nobody else was in front of me. Well, shit... This is definitely not a first good impression. I moved up to the table with haste. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention," I tried to explain.

"Obviously," he stated flatly as he rolled his eyes. He held out his hand, expectantly, "Your paperwork?"

I quickly handed my paperwork over to the man without another word. He looked it over and wrote some things down on a notepad. Then, he flipped through his binder and took out a small plastic card. He looked up at me with curiosity.

"Alex Paternosh?" he inquired, holding onto the little card.

"Yes, that is my name," I replied in a neutral tone.

"Interesting..." He wrote something else down before handing my paperwork and the little plastic card to me, "This is your temporary Student ID card. You need to go to the Registrar's Office to get a photo taken for your permanent ID card. You can do that today or tomorrow, but it has to be done before the first day of classes. Also, you're late. Your time slot was for 1 p.m., and it is now close to 2 o'clock. I'd get your ass moving if I were you. Tardiness is frowned upon here."

IT'S ALMOST 2 IN THE AFTERNOON?! HOW FUCKING SLOW WERE THEY BEING?! I EVEN CUT THE LINE SEVERAL TIMES!!!

I took my things from him with a frantic nod and rushed off to the East building. I was panting by the time I got there. I tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. What the hell? A man sitting in a chair that was in a small space behind this door that led to another door before you actually got into the building stood up and looked at me confused. He opened the door from the inside, and just as I was about to thank him and step foot inside, he held out a hand to stop me.

- End of Chapter One -