The birds were singing a dreadfully cheerful tune that morning as Ivy dressed herself for school. Not for grade school, or even high school, but for her first day as a freshman in college. Being early fall, she decided on a heavily worn beige knit sweater that fell to her knees and a pair of doc martins with yellow laces. Grabbing her portfolio, she walked out of her shared dorm room and towards her class. Her schedule consisted mostly of art classes, as her major was fine arts, but later that day she would take English 101 and some sort of business class.
Many people were rushing from building to building for their first class, but the majority of students walked calmly knowing that they had plenty of time. The ones who walked slower were no doubt upperclassmen, as only the freshmen would be so paranoid about upsetting their professors by being late. They wanted to make a good impression. Ivy would smile to herself knowing she had ten minutes to get to her class, which wasn't more than three minutes away if she kept her leisurely pace, waving to anyone she made eye contact with. A tall man briskly approached her and fell in step, keeping pace with her while smiling.
"Hey you must be a freshman," the man would note, giving a crooked smile as he extended his hand. When ivy looked over at him she noticed he wore a letterman jacket and held a book and a binder in the arm he wasn't using to offer a handshake.a pair of black rimmed glasses hung from the collar of the grey shirt he wore underneath.
"That I am, how could you tell?" Ivy questioned, politely shaking his hand. She didn't know his intentions, and wouldn't pretend to, but he looked nice. After the handshake he switched to using both hands to carry his things and rolled his quarterback broad shoulders as a way to stretch while his hands were full.
"Never seen your face before. So what's your name? I'm Clay Anderson." He yet again offered a crooked smile.
"They call me Ivy. It's a pleasure to meet you," Ivy returns his smile with her own, having to crane her neck to look at his face since she was so much shorter than he was. They were nearing her first class, which was an arts class. This period was sculpting, so she had made sure to grab her apron so she didn't ruin her clothes. She shifts her heavy bag from her left to her right shoulder with a slight grunt.
"Well, Ivy, this is my building so I'll see you around?"
Clay shoots finger guns towards Ivy and makes a clicking sound with his tongue through his teeth. He winks and enters the same building Ivy was heading for.
"Actually, Clay, this is my building too." She'd chuckle and head to her class. The two ended up in the same class but they chose seats on opposite ends of the room. Ivy sat near the back, while Clay sat in the very front. It was a rather uneventful class. The professor talked about what they'd go over in the class, gave an explanation as to the layout of the room and what to do in case of spills and emergencies. The fire extinguisher is in the front right by her seat, there is a fire exit in the rear of the room and the front, and the doors and windows all locked in case of an intruder.
About halfway through the class another student walked in, without noticing the rather unsavory look the professor gave her. She confidently walked to the back of the room and sat a few seats to the left of Ivy. She could help but to stare at the latecomer for a few moments. Her hair was settled in a natural afro, and her eyeliner was perfectly done. Her dark skin reflected the overhead lights in a way that reminded ivy if the night sky, when Taking into account the highlighter on her cheekbones. Quickly, Ivy looked away, embarrassed that she was starting.
Throughout the entire rest of the class period she caught herself glancing over at the girl next to her, and occasionally at Clay. Clay acted goofy and chatted with the people around him while the unnamed beauty to her side never said a word. At one point she put her headphones on, which split her afro into two sections which really showed off the true volume of her hair. She often had a strand of her hair wrapped around her finger, or was twisting it between her thumb and forefinger.
Soon class was over and everyone shuffled out of the room and to their next class of the day. After that class they'd go for lunch. Either in the cafeteria, or somewhere around the city the college was located in. Ivy didn't know the city too well yet to she settled for the cafeteria. Ordering a coffee and buying a pre-made sandwich, she sat at a table in the corner and watched the people around her interact with each other. People came and went since the cafeteria was open all day so she got to see quite a few people. She didn't get to see that girl for the rest of the day and it did bum her out somewhat. Ivy attended her last two classes of the day and went back to her dorm. Maybe the person she was supposed to share a room with would be there by now, since she hadn't met them yet.
When Ivy got back to her dorm, there was someone there. She saw shoes inside by the door that weren't hers and a few suitcases on the opposite bed. They were in the bathroom so she decided to close the door a bit louder than normally and make just enough noise to announce her presence as she took off her shoes and settled onto her bed. Taking out a book she turned to the page where her bookmark was and began to read. Soon enough her roommate exited the bathroom and when Ivy looked up, her eyes widened. In front of her was the man she'd met earlier, Clay. She opened her mouth to speak but before she said anything, Clay smiled and laughed a bit, talking before her.
"Hey! It's Ivy! Who would have thought we'd be roommates?" He sat down on his bed and smiled at her yet again.
"I thought that males and females couldn't share a dorm...?" Ivy asked, confused. She placed the book she was reading down on the open page side to help her place, and sat up a bit straighter.
"Oh, I'm not a guy, I just present Really masculine. I'm actually nonbinary, so even if I was born a girl, I go by they/them pronouns," Clay responds, making small hand movements as they talk. Ivy's face grows red as she gets embarrassed for assuming Clay was male.
"Oh I'm so sorry I'll be sure to remember that in the future," Ivy responds with a smile, picking up her book and resuming reading. Clay just gives a smile and lays in bed, texting on their phone. The night goes smoothly from then on, and the two engage in idle chit chat here and there without much problem. They discuss their schedules, their families and their majors there in college. Before they go to bed, Clay finishes unpacking their things and even hangs up a few posters for some metal bands that Ivy had never heard of. It seems they'll get along quite well for the year they will spend together Sharing a dorm room.