4

"You're still as quiet as ever," he said before looking away from me. I found my face heating up, but I couldn't say anything — I never could say anything, and it was both frustrating and embarrassing. Most people read silence from other people as snobbishness, or fear, and I couldn't help wondering if Maxwell thought about me in any of those ways.

I stood behind him until he got to order and left, and it was only then that my heart beat slowed down. I ordered my food and Ollie's before heading to the two-person table he'd reserve for us.

"Hey, you don't look too good, did something happen?" he asked, frowning a bit at me when I passed him his food on the cafeteria's black tray.

I shook my head as I began to dig into my food. "Nothing really, the line was long and it was a bit crowded," I said in reply, making Ollie nod in understanding as he began to eat his food. It was true to an extent. The place was crowded, and the noise people were making coupled with the smell of all sorts of food made me a bit queasy.

My mind started to calm down a bit as I ate. I knew Maxwell would be at this school, and I wondered why was I so shocked at seeing him. I hadn't been surprised per say, just shocked that I'd run into him so soon. The fact that he was already around meant he was probably living on campus, and maybe even in the first year residential building it was in since that was the most common option for first-year students.

"Ollie."

"Hmm?"

"Can you remember where the center for writers, and where the music building was?" I asked, making him shake his head.

"No, but I could check it on the school map now," he said, picking up his phone that he'd placed on the center table before going through it.

"They're just a street's walk from each other. Do you want to go there?" he asked, making me shake my head as I felt my cheeks warm up even more. Ollie must be confused as to why I was asking, or why I was blushing even, but I guess he'll just have to get used to me being a mess, and overly emotional

"Oh, thanks,"I said, picking up my fork again to continue eating.

"Was there a reason why you asked?" he questioned me, making me look up from my food to him. He had a frown on his face, and the all black clothing and accessories he was wearing sort of suited his glum look.

"Yeah, sort of," I admitted, picking at my food as I looked away from him. "There's someone from my high school who's in the music program here."

"I see," Ollie said. It was obvious he wanted to ask more questions, but he didn't say anything after that and I was thankful.

"Are you going to the club convention tomorrow?" Ollie asked, making me look up at him. The club convention was the optional activity on our base camp schedule, and it didn't seem most people were planning to go tomorrow since club sign-ups were opening throughout the first two weeks of the university's new semester.

I nodded. "Yeah, I want to see if they have any writing groups, you?"

"I want to see if they have a dance club or something, and maybe a GSA or just an LGBT+ group. I'm trying to transfer my medicals over to the hospital here, and I need all the help I can get," Ollie said, making me nod at him.

When we were done eating we texted Halimat that we'd be there a bit late before searching for the exact spot she and Shaun had asked us to return to after lunch.

We found it soon after, and were a bit surprised to find out that we were even back a bit early. It seemed most people were still out eating.

"Where's everyone?" I asked, looking around.

"Some got lost, and some are still eating," Halimat said with a sigh, making Shaun laugh beside her. "It might sound funny now, Shaun, but from what I'm seeing we might have to look for the lost ones."

Halimat and Shaun started talking to each other, leaving everyone else to their own devices. Most people went on their phones. Ollie sat on the sidewalk, and I joined him soon after as we waited for our other floor members to get back. Eventually, when the group was whole again Shaun and Halimat led us to the quad where we were going to receive a welcome speech from the vice chancellor.

The rest of the day went by, but my mind was still on Maxwell, and just knowing that he was wandering about the school as well made me feel both happy and a bit uneasy.