When In Doubt - Freshman Year

Chapter 2

"I'm from St. Anthony, Minnesota, and my major is Entertainment Design." Eden winked at Heather in camaraderie. "I will be in the Animation program, and my favorite food is...oh god...so many things. I love sushi, pasta, coffee, fermented grape juice, and pomegranates."

A shorter girl with flawless porcelain skin, straightened dark hair, and eyes shaped like teardrops arched her back as she'd started next. She'd worn a blue pin with a bird on her blouse that'd looked fairly familiar.

"My name is Jenna Nguyen, and I am from Duluth, Minnesota. I'm going into Graphic Design, and I have to go with mozzarella sticks, and yes, this is a Ravenclaw pin." Jenna grinned down at her pin as she'd readjusted it to show off. "If anyone else is a fellow Potterhead, let's chat!"

Eden had squealed in her seat, and informed everyone she was a Hufflepuff. Heather remembered when she'd taken the Pottermore quiz back in the day and she'd been deemed a Gryffindor. Mandy was most likely a Slytherin, and definitely most likely to become a Death Eater, if anything.

They'd gotten to the final girl, and if Heather had to be completely honest, looked like she had a stick up her ass most of the time. Her raven-black hair was professionally straightened, her dark skin had been devoid of any imperfections, and her wardrobe was seriously on point, her expression was cold and indifferent, and she almost looked to be posing by how she sat primly in her chair.

"My name is Madison Parker, and I'm from Beverly, Chicago." She tossed a small smile that hadn't reached her eyes across the room. "I'm going into Industrial Design, and my favorite food is NOT fried chicken, or grape soda like I'm sure SOMEONE probably thought, but it's actually tacos and pancakes."

Shortly after, Olivia had led them all outside towards the quad, where a festival called the "Backyard Bash" had been set up with many booths. She explained how it was when all the student organizations on campus tried to recruit anyone who was interested in applying with a signup sheet at their booth, and how it was a great way to see all the different ways to get involved on campus.

The girls had all split up and searched to see what UW-Stout had to offer. Heather had pointedly ignored all the sorority booths, but was surprised at all the different clubs that were being offered: Anime Club, Comics Creators, Blue Devil Productions, Blue Devil Brewing, Fine Arts Association, and an art magazine called Prometheus. There were so many other choices, Heather had actually felt a little overwhelmed.

She'd felt someone tap her shoulder, and turned around to find Ali grinning back at her. "Hey, your Lindsay's roommate, right? She said you were cool, so we wondered if you'd want to join us and get some real food?"

"We?" Heather's brow rose as she'd looked over Ali's shoulder towards Lindsay, Mandy and Madison, who all stood about twenty paces away. Lindsay and Madison waved--Lindsay with much more enthusiasm--while Mandy had an unreadable smile on her lips that didn't feel welcoming in the slightest. Part of her had wanted to say no to avoid them, but Heather reminded herself how it was their freshman year too, and no one wanted to be alone during these first few weeks. Lindsay seemed like someone who couldn't even go to the bathroom alone; she was basically a blonde Gretchen Wieners, hair full of secrets and all.

Heather reluctantly joined Ali with the other girls and the five of them wandered over towards the Memorial Student Center--MSC for short--to grab a bite to eat.

Heather silently hoped she wouldn't have regretted it.

Eden

"Can I just say how relieved I am to meet someone who also loves Harry Potter?" Jenna gushed later that day when her and Eden had decided to go check out the UW-Stout Library, a large red-brick building with many windows facing the main entrance. The grounds on the front had beautiful gardens of freshly planted flowers just in time for the start of the new semester, and there was even an enormous "Welcome Back!" message on a row of windows.