Living in a Blur: a Sokeefe University/Road Trip AU

Chapter 1

"So... Do you play any sports?" Sophie asked, trying to start a conversation. Was that a normal thing to talk about? She'd read in books that it was a relatively normal thing to talk about, and hopefully, that would get her roommate to open up to her a little.

It didn't. "No," she answered simply.

After homeschooling with the Fosters until age twelve, when she'd been adopted by Grady and Edaline, she'd wanted nothing more than to continue, maintaining that small amount of normalcy. But when it came time for her to go to college, she had become distinctly aware that all of her books and studying had only prepared her for the academic aspects of college. Social aspects were still entirely new to her.

She was sure there was a way to get her roommate to talk to her. She just hadn't found the right conversation topic yet.

Should she ask about boys? Sometimes in novels, girls liked to talk about boys. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Sophie asked curiously.

"Yep. New development, actually. He was a family acquaintance for a while, but we decided to try this, and it's going pretty great," her roommate said, turning back to her cell phone.

Sophie considered that a score. She'd gotten a full answer out of her, with multiple sentences! "What's his name? Wait. What's your name?"

"Dex," she said. Then, "Biana."

Biana rolled over so she was facing Sophie, at least, even if she was still scrolling on her cell phone. "So, do you have a boyfriend?"

Sophie had never really had any long-term relationships with anyone her age, friendship or otherwise. "Uh, no," she said, hoping that was a normal, okay thing, "but you know, maybe I'll meet somebody here."

Biana nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. I'm sure you will. I mean, I dated in high school, but my ex, Tam, doesn't even go here, so... you're probably smart."

"Uh, yeah. That's why I didn't date, that is. I didn't want us to have to break up when we went to college." Sophie nodded vigorously. This was, as far as she could tell, a successful interaction. She'd officially found one topic that would make Biana talk! Unfortunately, one topic was unlikely to make a conversation go very far.

However, the next piece of information she needed actually had nothing to do with carrying on a social interaction. "I'm supposed to meet some junior for a tour of the campus today," she said to Biana, "near something called the Pyramid, but I don't know where—"

"It is literally a pyramid," Biana interrupted. "Center of campus. Impossible to miss simply because of its shape. You can also see the tip of it from pretty much anywhere on campus, so I'm sure you'll be fine. Who are you meeting?"

Sophie squinted at the email she'd gotten from the Dean, Dr. Leto. When he'd found out that Sophie was going to be arriving nearly five days late to the University, he'd arranged for her to have a private tour upon her arrival to help her settle in. "Uh... Fitz Vacker."

Biana's eyebrows raised. "Wait, really? You're the freshman he's showing around today? And here I thought he was using that as a dumb excuse again."

"Uh... who's Fitz Vacker?"

"Well, I'm Biana Vacker," she clarified by way of explanation.

"Oh. So... brother?"

"Yep! And out of your league, by the way, so don't get any ideas."

Sophie sputtered, reddening. "I wasn't—I'm not going to—I haven't even met him."

"Yeah, well, you're about to," Biana muttered, turning back away from her to continue scrolling on her phone. Sophie wondered if this was something Biana had experience with. Was her brother really cute, or something?