~Sean

"Hey, wake up sir. We landed." I felt a flight attendant lightly shake my shoulder, rousing me from my sleep. I honestly didn't even remember falling asleep. The last thing I remembered was staring out the window at the clouds. "Okay, thank you." I yawned wearily as I stretched my arms high over my head, nearly smacking my hand on the overhead compartment. I then stood up, shook my legs a little to get circulation back into them, then lowered my suitcase down to the ground and exited the plane. Instantly I felt lost. Thousands upon thousands of people moved around me, mixing me into the crowd, making me feel even more lost. "Uh..." I turned in a small circle, surveying the area I was in. Everything seemed much bigger and brighter here than it did in Ireland. The sky was a bright blue with no clouds on sight. "Hey, are you here to go to University of Cincinnati?" I heard someone behind me ask. Standing behind me was a tall round man with wire framed glasses and short curly light brown hair. He was wearing a dark purple shirt and jeans and a huge smile on his face. "Uh....sure." I told him hesitantly, unsure of what I was doing. "Where are you from? Your accent sounds different." He observed. "Ireland." I stated. "Cool! Need a ride?" He offered. "Oh wait, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Bob. You are?" "Sean." I held out my hand for him to shake. He shook it, pumping my arm up and down, then he guided me out of the busy airport and to what I assumed was his car. "So what's your major?" He asked as he started up the car and began backing out of the parking lot. "I haven't been to college before." I admitted. "Ah, so what do you want to do then?" He rephrased as we sped down the street. "I have literally no idea." I shrugged cluelessly. "Thought so." Bob said as we pulled up to a huge hospital like building.  "Welcome to university." Bob grinned as he parked the car and stepped out. I followed after him wordlessly. "I'm not sure what I'm wanting to do in college  either, just that I want to do music." He confessed as we walked through the double glass doors.

          "Woah." I gasped in awe as I took in my surroundings. The walls were a sterile white, with what seemed like an endless amount of red stairs and large crystal clear windows. "How do I college?" I joked nervously as I watched a large group of students walk by, talking amongst each other and pointing at me. "This place isn't as big as you think." Bob assured me as he took me to the headmaster...or whatever he was called. He was a short man with balding light brown hair, cobalt blue eyes, and a thin goatee. He was dressed in a dark gray suit with a rusty red colored tie. "Hey, you guys need directions?" He asked politely. "Nah, we got this." Bob declined as he put his arm around my shoulder and led me down a set of stairs. "That's Robert Gray, he's the headmaster here." He told me. "You're gonna love my roommate, he's a pretty cool guy." Bob added as he opened one of the many wooden doors with a creak and followed me inside. There were two white sheeted beds, one made and clean looking and the other covered with clothes and other personal belongings. There was a doorway a little farther down the room that led to a small kitchenette and another that led to a bathroom. Close by the beds was a medium sized brown couch, along with a tv and an xbox. Sitting down cross legged on the wooden floor playing video games was a man with spiked short raven black hair, khaki shorts, a white button up shirt, black rectangular glasses and chocolate brown eyes. His mouth was set in a firm line of concentration, his eyes glinting with determination as he kept them trained on the screen. "Hey Mark, this is Sean. He's from Ireland." Bob introduced. I awkwardly waved hello as he paused his game and turned to face me. At first I was worried that he hated me, but then he smiled back and waved hello. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the headmaster popping his head into the room. "Hey, has anyone seen someone who doesn't seem like they belong? We have someone here who hasn't paid his tuition." He informed us. "About that-" I began. "Nope, but I'll keep my eyes open. By the way, can Sean stay here?" Bob cut me off. "I'm afraid not, but the dorm to your right is open. He can stay there. I have a feeling that he'd like to get a music degree anyway." The headmaster beamed, then tossed me a single brass key and left the room while whistling to himself. "But-" I started. "You didn't pay to be here, we know. It isn't that hard to guess." Mark observed. "We'll keep it quiet until you pay the fees." Bob promised. "W-wow, thank you!" I stammered in surprise. "No problem." Mark assured me. "Besides, I wasn't even supposed to be here. I'm actually supposed to be in the engineering dorms." Mark explained. "These dorms are the music dorms by the way." Bob added. "I can play drums I guess." I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck, feeling slightly guilty. After being in America for not even a full hour, I have already broken a ton of laws. "What's up?" I noticed that Bob was watching me closely. "I've only been in America for less than an hour and already I broke like a billon rules." I voiced my concerns. "I wouldn't say break, I'd just say..." Bob trailed off, trying to find the right thing to say. "Who needs to be an elemental bender when you're a rule bender?" Mark teased playfully. "Yeah." Bob finished lamely with a chuckle. "Hey," Mark nudged me gently in the ribs with his elbow. "Wanna game?" He offered me a controller. With a grin, I nodded and sat down beside him on the floor as Bob watched us from the couch, occasionally giving advice to each of us as we played grand theft auto five.

       "Have you thought about what kinda major you wanna go for?" Mark asked halfway through the game. "I'll probably go for music honestly." I sighed indecisively as I hijacked yet another car in the game and broke into the military base in hopes of getting a jet. "What made you wanna come here to America? They have universities at Ireland right?" Mark killed me in game by shooting me to death and stole me car. "Hey!" I protested as I pretended to pout by folding my arms across my chest. "Ha ha." Mark laughed sarcastically. "You still haven't told me yet." Mark reminded me with a hint of curiosity in his tone. "Girlfriend problems." I lied, not feeling comfortable yet with telling him the truth. "Oh." Mark mumbled in disappointment. "Hey Bob you wanna play?" Mark said abruptly, then handed his controller off to a confused Bob who was sitting on the couch reading a book without waiting for him to answer, then stormed out of the dorm. "Ooookay." I frowned in confusion as I set down my controller and pursued after Mark, wondering what I did wrong to upset one of my only friends.