Jay's POV
First morning didn't feel real.
I woke up to a kind of quiet I wasn't used to. No traffic, no voices outside, no random noise from home. Just this still, cold air and the faint sound of someone moving in the hallway.
For a second, I forgot where I was.
Then I saw the stone walls.
Right. Oxford.
Freya was already awake, sitting cross-legged on her bed, scrolling through something on her phone. Mia was brushing her hair slowly, like she wasn't in any rush. Rakki was still asleep, fully wrapped in her blanket like a burrito.
"No one wake her," Mia said softly. "She looks peaceful."
Freya glanced over. "She's going to be late."
"Let her be late."
I smiled a little, getting up and pulling on a sweater. It was colder than I expected. Everything here felt colder.
"Are you nervous?" I asked, mostly to the room.
Freya shrugged. "A bit."
"Yeah," Mia said. "Same."
Rakki's voice came out muffled from the blanket. "I'm not going."
We all laughed.
—
We didn't leave all at once. It was slow. Shoes, bags, someone going back for their phone twice, Rakki finally sitting up and immediately complaining about the temperature.
It felt… normal.
Like any other morning, just in a place that didn't feel like ours yet.
Outside, the air was sharp. People were already walking around, some alone, some in groups. Everyone looked like they knew where they were going.
We didn't.
"Do we just… follow people?" Rakki asked.
"Basically," Freya said.
My phone buzzed.
Keifer: u out yet
Me: yeah. pretending i know what i'm doing
Keifer: same. where r u
I looked around, trying to describe it and failing.
Me: outside. stone. very helpful
Keifer: perfect. see u
A minute later, I spotted him.
He looked just as unsure as I felt, which made me feel better.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey."
It wasn't dramatic. No big moment. Just… familiar.
David gave a small nod. C-In said hi. Georgii waved like we were across a football field even though we were right there.
"You lot ready?" Georgii asked.
"No," we all said at the same time.
He laughed. "Good. Same."
—
We walked together, kind of loosely. Not really a group yet, just people heading in the same direction.
Some of the nerves settled just from that.
At one point, Freya and Mia drifted ahead, talking quietly. Rakki stayed near me, still half-asleep. Keifer walked on my other side, hands in his pockets.
"Did you sleep?" he asked.
"Not really."
"Yeah."
Pause.
Then he nudged my arm lightly. "We'll be fine."
I nodded. "We will."
I didn't fully believe it yet, but it helped hearing it.
—
The lecture hall was bigger than I expected.
Too many people. Too quiet.
We found seats together, not speaking much now. Everyone had that same look—trying to seem calm, not quite managing it.
The professor started talking, and it was… a lot.
Fast. Straight in. No easing into it.
I tried to keep up, writing things down, missing some, catching others. Mia leaned over once and whispered, "Did you get that?" and I just shook my head slightly.
She smiled like, okay, same.
That helped too.
—
By the time it ended, I felt tired in that weird mental way.
Like my brain had done too much too quickly.
Outside, we slowly found each other again.
No one rushed to speak at first.
Then Rakki said, "I understood maybe 40% of that."
"Optimistic," Freya replied.
"I'm being generous."
Mia laughed softly. "We'll figure it out."
David stretched. "Or we won't."
"We will," C-In said, calm as ever.
Georgii bounced his rugby ball once. "Give it a week. We'll settle."
I sat down on the bench, exhaling a little.
Keifer dropped down next to me.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Just… a lot."
"Yeah."
We sat there for a moment, not really talking.
Around us, people were laughing, walking, starting their lives here like it was easy.
It didn't feel easy yet.
But it didn't feel impossible either.
My phone buzzed again—Section E, of course.
Rory: FIRST DAY???
Grace: miss u guys
Mica: send pics
Aries: u alive or what
I smiled, typing back slowly.
Me: alive. just tired
I looked up.
Freya and Mia were already talking again, quieter now. Rakki was eating something she definitely brought from home. The guys were arguing about something pointless.
It wasn't loud. It wasn't chaotic.
Just… people.
Ours, somehow.
I leaned back slightly, letting out a small breath.
"Okay," I said, mostly to myself.
"Okay."