(God damnit three parts apparently)

They headed out of the Hall and walked down towards their destination, stopping in front of a large pair of auburn doors.

"Well, that ends the Griffin tour! Sorry it was kinda rushed. I've gotta go, but good luck with the rest of orientation!" Griffin smiles down at her.

"Actually, if you could just-" Elidi starts, but he was already bounding down the hallway to his meeting he had to attend. She sighed taking a deep breath to compose herself before pushing open one of the doors. As she slipped inside she noticed the tall ceiling that seemed to display the stars even though it was midday outside. A few heads turned towards her as the dean spoke at the front of the dinning hall.

"Hey! Over here! Preppy! Yeah, you come here!" A boy with a bright smile whisper yells waving her over to sit next to him. She quickly threw herself into the seat beside him. "Hey, you're late! I'm Zephyr. You can call me Zeph if you want."

"I'm Elidi. No cool nickname, just Elidi." She smiles kindly.

"So, Elidi, what's your Attunement?" Zeph asks looking over at her.

"I, uh...I'm waiting until tomorrow to find out for sure. Don't want to jinx it?" Elidi says, unsure.

Zeph wasn't sure if she was asking him or answering him, but she definitely didn't seem to know what was going on. He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the dean clearing her throat.

"In conclusion, I'd like to remind you all that this is an institution of higher learning, not a playground for children. Put in the work or go home." The dean spoke harshly, she was a mean looking old lady with what seemed like a permanent scowl on her face. Students began to get up and move towards the doors as the dean walks off angrily.

"She's just full to the brim with warm fuzzies, isn't she?" Zeph jokes.

"Wait, it's over? I missed the whole thing?" Elidi asks uneasily.

"Don't worry, Dean Goeffe's speeches are notoriously dry. Besides, I'm an expert in listening and speaking at the same time." Zeph smiles at her. "The gist is Freshman will line up at 7 AM in the foyer tomorrow to get assigned one of the staff as their examiner for placement tests."

He pointed up at the stage where a strange half-goat man was seated with a few other teachers. "Wow...he's a satyr?" Elidi says in amazement that those are real creatures.

"Yep! You don't see many of them around these parts." Zeph says, as he stands up queuing you to follow him. "Classes will start after all the freshmen have been placed, and your schedule will be given to you then as well."

"So what do we do now?" Elidi asks, as they get in the line of freshmen leaving the hall.

"Basically, the rest of the day is free. My roommate and I have a fun evening of bonding and laying out house rules ahead of us." Zeph smiles, as they both walk out and almost immediately loose track of each other.

"Shit...what now?" Elidi sighs to herself blowing some hair out of her face.

"Hey, Elidi!" Griffin yells as he approaches her from up ahead.

"You survived orientation! How was it? As boring as last year?" Griffin smiles.

"No, it was really interesting actually. Well, not the speech, I missed almost all of it. But I saw a satyr, I think, and I'm pretty sure I made a new friend. It's all so much considering where I was this morning." Elidi a sad smile appearing on her face, having completely forgot about her predicament until this very moment.

"Are you okay?" Griffin asks noticing her state that she quickly shook off.

"Yeah, it's just a bit overwhelming." Elidi says covering up her anxiety with a smile.

"Yeah, things like this are always a little overwhelming, but at least you're very bright." Griffin smiles.

"I uh...think my third grade teacher told me that once." Elidi frowns.

"No, I mean like inside. I can feel your energy through the ground. I felt it as soon as you stepped onto campus, actually." Griffin says, reassuringly.

"Really? What did it feel like?" Elidi asks curiously.

"Hmm. It felt like taking your first sip of a hot drink that's just cooled down. The kinda warm you get all over your body, you know?" Griffin explains.

"A hot drink? I bet you call all the girls hot drinks." Elidi teases.

"Only the ones who warm me from the inside out." Griffin smiles, letting a comfortable silence fall over the two of them before speaking again. "It gets better, you know. My first day here was awful! I didn't really know anyone at first, but I figured that thanks to my Thief scholarship, is at least I have my teammates. And then, next thing I know, I'm running naked across the lawn chasing the clothes my captain magicked to life while I was in the showers."

"That's awful!" Elidi gasps.

"My point is, that day sucked, but there isn't a single moment since then that I regret coming here." Griffin says. "Especially not now."

"Yeah...Maybe it's not the worst thing that this is where I ended up." Elidi smiles.

"One thing I've learned in my time here is that if something happens to you, good or bad, it happens for a reason." Griffin says. "I think you're meant to be here."

"Thanks." Elidi smiles. "You're probably the only one."

"I'm sure in time you'll start to think that too." Griffin smiles.

"Well, I was just on my way to the dorms, I guess, and..now I have no idea where they are." Elidi sighs.

"Don't sweat it! Griffin Langley, tour guide extraordinaire at your service. The freshmen dorms are right this way." Griffin smiles at her, as he started to walk towards buildings on the far side of campus. 

He lead her to a building labeled 'Fletchly Residence Halls'. She entered the empty dorm lobby, and an overly exited upperclassman with a clip board waved her over.

"Welcome to Penderghast! How may I assist you? Need help finding your own room?" The R.A asks.

"Um..." Elidi says biting her lip and looking around nervously.

"You can just tell me your last name and I'll point you in the right direction." The R.A says.

"Michelle." She says giving the girl her last name nervously. Her stomach was churning as the girl look over her papers.

"Here we go! Elidi Michelle, first floor, room 108. Your roomie has been checked in since this morning!" The R.A smiles and Elidi just stares at her for a moment like my names actually on the list?

As soon as she got her bearings back, she hurried down the hall towards her room number. She had never been more confused and relieved before in her life. When she arrived at the correct door she looked at it realizing there was no handle.

"Oh come on...why doesn't this place come with an instruction manual?" Elidi mumbles to herself, putting her hand against the door and only to find her hand passed right through it. The door disappeared and she walked right through with ease, the door reforming once she was through it.

"It's you again! Well, aren't I the lucky girl?" Shreya smiles coming around the corner from her room.

"Oh, right, from earlier! I kinda lost you in the dining hall." Elidi says.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I had friends waiting, and, well you know how that goes." Shreya shrugs. "I'm so pleased! I'll be a perfect roommate. I don't know what you've heard about me, but I assure you it's only partially true."

Elidi kinda felt like she was supposed to know something she didn't so she didn't say anything and just decided to look around their room.

"I was hoping my roommate would have a bit more panache in the style department, but being as trendy as me isn't easy. Well? Say something." Shreya says looking at her expectantly.

"I think you just insulted me...I'm not sure if it's something in the water here, but short dresses with color coordinated belts and shoes are more than fashion forward where I come from!" Elidi says crossing her arms.

"I don't know what you mean!" Shreya gasps at her forwardness.

Elidi plopped down on the couch burying her face in the cushions. Shreya sat in the chair across from it.

"Oh! Is this because I said your shoes look like they were made in the dark recesses of a German mineshaft?" Shreya asks.

"You didn't say that!" Elidi scoffs, angrily.

"Oops." Shreya shrugs.

"Ugh! Why did I end up with Stella!" Elidi groans.

"Stella?" Shreya asks confused.

"Yeah...from Winx Club? You're her and I'm obviously Bloom." Elidi says.

"I'm just gonna pretend like I understood anything you said." Shreya sighs.

"You said before that whatever I've heard about you is only 'partially true'." Elidi says.

"I know you're thinking about me and Fifi's tiff at the Mistry Inc.'s annual charity fashion show." Shreya sighs.

"Fifi? Mistry Inc. charity show?" Elidi asks confused.

"You know, the one with the lava rock runway? It was all over the news a month ago, not to brag." Shreya says.

"I get the feeling that if I tell you that I have no idea who you are, it's gonna be a whole thing," Elidi sighs, sitting up on the couch.

Shreya stays completely still for a moment before finally smiling painfully. "Not. At. All." She says through gritted teeth. "My Family is only the number one purveyor of enchanted objects worldwide, but why would you know that? Besides, this was the whole point! To come to college, have new experience, fly under the radar. Become the person I want to be, you know?"

"I know exactly how you feel. Honestly, that's the same thing I was hoping to get out of the college experience. Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, nothing fits? Like the things that are going to make you happy never do?" Elidi says.

"Absolutely. It's how I felt all the time. Until I arrived here, that is." Shreya nods.

"This morning I was at this college I used to think was finally going to be my place in the world, but it very quickly became clear that it wasn't. And then I got here and, yeah, it was hard to believe, but for the first time something finally feels right. And now it's all going to be taken away." Elidi sighs.

"Taken away I don't understand. Why would-" Shreya asks confused.

She takes a deep breath before she begins to tell Shreya about her entire day up until this point.