A crisp autumn air brushed against Evan's face as he looked up.
Before him rose Elysium University of the Sciences and Technology, its name etched in elegant gold lettering on a marble archway that seemed to shimmer under the late afternoon sun.
The campus stretched out like a living masterpiece — ancient stone buildings draped in ivy, their spires reaching toward the cloudless sky, wide emerald lawns rolling gently between them, and in the distance, a grand central hall with towering columns that spoke of centuries of knowledge and excellence.
"Finally!"
Gripping strap of his bag, Evan closed his eyes for moment. As he opened them again all nervous and excitement were gone leaving a solemn look.
Walking down to hallway of dorm, with key card "room 307" printed on it, Evan finally reached his destination.
Opening the door a typical room painted in lights shades of blue came in his view. A huge balcony door opposite to door steal the show.
The room didn't have the typical bunk bed system. The three not too small but not to big beds were placed in equal distance, two covering the corners and one in middle. Each one had a small cabinet align and in front have small study desk lined at the wall opposite wall.
Simple yet sophisticated arrangement. Evan look around and found a small door on the side as you mean a shared bathroom.
There was no one inside indicating he was the first one who has arrived. Taking the bed closest to the outdoor, he start putting away his things inside a cabinet.
Around twenty minutes later, the door creaked and a boy in a gray hoodie and black sweats came into view. His red curls were the first thing Evan noticed.
"Hey buddy," the boy smiled as he looked at Evan while carrying his luggage inside.
"Hi," Evan gave a polite response.
The boy came inside and, after taking a moment, decided to settle on the bed in the middle.
"What's up? You're the first one to get here," he spoke, looking towards Evan.
"Yeah, it seems so."
"Well, I think we are stuck together for what, four years now?" the boy said in amusement.
"Yeah, it seems so, unless we drop out later," Evan replied, quite liking the cheerful personality of the boy in front of him. He himself was a little reserved, so he always enjoyed the company of people who expressed themselves, where he got a chance to hide away behind the shadows.
"Well, then we need to introduce ourselves, don't we?" the boy asked as he opened his luggage.
"Evan Niels, first semester of bpharma."
"Wait, Evan Niels? You? Oh my god, You are… I never thought that Evan Niels would be like this," the boy said in a bit of shock and astonishment.
Like what?" Evan looked up from his desk, his hazel eyes meeting the brown ones of the boy in front of him.
"Like, when I heard about the Evan Niels who has topped the province… and yeah, actually by the way, I came from the same province as yours," the boy suddenly laughed while introducing his origins, making Evan smile.
"Oh, that's nice to hear."
"So yeah, first I assumed you would be someone…" he slowed,
"someone, what?
"Like someone with messy hair, black thick glasses, no sense of fashion, you know, kind of a typical nerd." His face had a faint tint as he described it, like he was a little bit embarrassed by what he was saying.
Evan laughed at his behavior.
"Well, I think I happen to prove you wrong."
"Yeah, look at you. You are six two?."
"No, it's six feet."
"Oh, quite a hunk, I say," he muttered, but Evan heard.
"What?"
"Yeah, you look quite good and your dressing sense is like uh… trendy, what do we call them now?" the boy said, a little bit shuddering. Quite surprised by the personality of Evan, which could actually make him this starstruck.
"Is it a good thing or a bad?" Evan asked, trying to tease him.
"Oh, absolutely a good thing, and you quite handsome. Particularly the mole above your eyebrow, it looks… it looks..."
"beautiful.? " Evan completed his words.
"I have gotten a lot of compliments in this area. You don't need to shy away."
"Well, it was quite nice to meet you, I can just, you know, brag about this in my group. I'm the roommate of Evan Niels. The top scorer of our province." At last, he tried to brush off his awkwardness.
"Well, indeed, quite nice to meet you." A small laugh escaped from Evan as he saw how childish the boy in front of him behaved.
"Well, you are exaggerating. It is just a top scorer in the province, not a national top scorer."
"But still, I happen to be in the rank of hundreds, so you top scorers wouldn't understand that pain."
"Well, still, you seem to be in the top, even if you are in the hundreds in rank or whatever," Evan said, like praising him even when the boy was trying to downgrade himself.
"May I get your name?" Evan asked, letting himself loosen up a little around this sunny person.
"Oh, my name is Ron. Ron Thunderstone."
"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you, Ron. And I hope we can be good roommates. And what's your major, by the way?"
"Oh, unfortunately, even though we have same subject but I am pursuing chemical engineering."
Their conversation halted as the door opened again.
This time, a man with raven black hair, a denim shirt, and white lowers came in their view. His gray eyes were the first thing Evan want notice about him.
Both of them stopped in their tracks and looked at the person at the door. Evan looked at the person and for a moment he stopped what he was doing.
The person at the door looked at both of them with a neutral look before dragging his luggage inside.
Ron, being the first one to talk, said, "Hey, you'r Drew?. You are Drew!." First he spoke as if unsure, then without waiting for the answer he confirmed,
"Oh my god, I am being surprised after surprised today. This university is really up to the name. I get easily bumped into the two top scorers, one in the X province and one in my own province. My god."
Ron started rambling, one-sided.
Drew looked at his enthusiasm and finally spoke, "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon," both Evan and Ron replied simultaneously.
Drew walked into the room and took the remaining bed, which happened to be beside the balcony door.
Ron kept sneaking glances towards Drew as if wanting to say something but feeling a little restrained.
Evan noticed his movements and was a little confused. Knowing Ron from previous interactions, he got the idea that he was not a person who hesitated, but seeing him like this seemed quite unlike him.
But then again,
Evan was the one who enjoyed peace and avoided talking if not necessary. So he just got back to his work and left the other two people doing theirs.
But for Ron, it seemed quite impossible to shut up.
Like he was debating for a moment but couldn't hold back his chatting mouth.
Ron turned towards Drew and spoke, "Hey buddy, welcome to the university."
His words sounded like he was quite familiar with it, but all three of them knew that the experience they were sharing was the same. Still, his efforts were seen, and Drew turned towards him and smiled.
"Thanks."
"Are you from the BTech department or what is your degree?" Drew, like sensing Ron's eagerness to talk, started talking on his own.
"BTech?" Ron said. Evan's attention also shifted.
"Nah, I'm from chemical engineering and him, his name is Evan by the way and I am Ron." Ron said without any restraint and introduced himself and Evan at the same time.
Evan looked towards Drew and gave him a nod.
"He's from pharma and as I said I'm from chemical engineering. You are BTech in chemistry since we two happen to be chemistry students, I assume."
"Yeah, of course, I'm also from chemistry. More like, B.Tech in Pharmaceutical Engineering "
Oh, it's quite an interesting combination the university has chosen," Ron said, amused, looking at the three different branches of the same subject.
Evan laughed, and for the first time Drew's eyes shifted towards him. He looked for a moment without saying anything, but Evan's attention was solely on Ron.
"Yeah, it seems like they have distributed the rooms in this way and it's quite good. We can learn from each other," he said, teasing Ron.
"Please. My degree is enough for me. I don't want to learn pharma and BTech at all," Ron said, as if learning more than what he was here for was quite a crime.
But everyone here knew that whoever had come to this university was not a slacker or lazy person.
In fact, everybody here was top among the toppers. So nobody was here without a motivation to study, but the personalities were different, so was the way of talking.