<span style="font-weight: bold">BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!</span><br/><br/>The shrill sound of an alarm’s high-pitched tones rang through the entirety of her room with a vengeance, the sheer volume and pitch surely able to shatter a glass or two.<br/><br/>That’s what Talyah thought, anyway, as the alarm’s “helpful” reminder to get up startled her awake, her form jumping in bed and kicking off her covers as though they were on fire. Her heart pounded within her chest at a mile a minute, uneven beats feeling like they were heart attack-inducing at the very least. A shaky hand reached through the cool air of the small dorm to turn off the annoying sound as a groan came from the other side of the dark room. Nothing intelligible was said by either party as they took time to shake off the heavy veil of sleep that now lay over them both, thick and delightfully warm, but inconvenient where coherent thought was concerned.<br/><br/>Deep and long, a yawn tumbled free of her lips as her arms stretched out beside her, the shock of her self-proclaimed near death experience finally wearing off. Begrudgingly, her legs swung free of her covers, feet touching down on the cool floor beneath her, a shiver traipsing up her spine as her body adjusted. The urge to chatter her teeth--partly in comedic relief for her own benefit--was there, but she held it off for the sake of her slowly stirring roommate across the way, shrouded in darkness.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Alright...get moving before you lose all ambition; Not like you need sleep anyway,</span>she told herself, quietly sneaking off to the bathroom with her belongings and closing the door behind her.<br/><br/>A hand reached blindly for the light’s switch, turning it on without a thought as to how her eyes would react...which resulted in her dropping her shampoo as she quickly shielded her eyes, a swear slipped out before she realized it was happening. The hand that had shielded her eyes quickly clapped over her mouth as another swear loosed, followed by a growl of frustration.<span style="font-style: italic">So much for keeping quiet.</span><br/><br/>She’d only met her roommate Dacia Rae the day before, the woman already in the room and unpacking when she’d arrived. Tal was hesitant at first, having not shared a room with a complete stranger prior to this year as her friend had roomed with her the year before, but that hesitance wore off. They found they had quite a few things in common, once the startling accent was looked passed. Each had a love for music and playing instruments (she, the piano and Dacia the violin), psychology (though their classes weren’t at the same time), and running. Running was the way that Talyah let off steam when frustrated, the way she worked out all of her problems, getting them out of her system entirely. Running was a daily ritual for her, and one that would be continued even now...just not as early in the morning as she used to do. Her early mornings greeting the dawn were now devoted to waking up and making sure she was a fully functioning adult.<br/><br/>Over dinner that night, they’d caught up, got to know one another. She learned that Dacia was from Krasnoyarsk, Russia, roughly the same age and had only transferred to the university this year when she found out that the program was better than that of the college she was in. She had a motherly-type personality, but it was a mother who wanted to be the “best friend”. Why worry about studying and good grades when her makeshift daughter could be resting and saving her energy for more important matters…<br/><br/>Like campus rush week.<br/><br/>Clothes stripped free, Talyah hopped into the shower and let the warm water rush over her form in a comforting blanket, standing beneath the shower’s head for a few minutes without doing a thing. Why? For the simple reason that she was tired and falling back to sleep while standing. Had the sound of a door opening not reached her, she’d have continued to fall asleep, her form slowly slumping against the wall to her side, content to allow her dreams to take her once more.<br/><br/>But, the sound of the door’s creaking followed by the subsequent close and a yawn snapped her out of it, slightly uncomfortable with another presence in the bathroom.<br/><br/>There was something she would have to get used to: Dacia’s lack of need for strict privacy. She’d learned this fact last night when she was changing and the girl barged in to brush her teeth unannounced, chatting as though it were the most normal thing in the world. Dacia had said that was what she was used to, that there was no real privacy back home and the bathrooms were communal, that she’d try to curb the habit; Tal didn’t hold much hope for that habit to suddenly change, so she’d grin and bear it for the time being.<br/><br/>“Try not stay in there too long, da?” her voice rang out mid-yawn, the water from the sink mingling with the pitter patter of water drops behind the frosted glass door.<br/><br/>“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Talyah replied, the smile evident in her voice though it admittedly sounded tired.<br/><br/>There wasn’t much said for a few moments, Dacia brushing her teeth and Talyah focusing on washing up when the Russian spoke again. “Not get enough sleep? Should stop reading so late; Dark circles not attractive.”<br/><br/>The eye roll was heavy at that remark, but she didn’t dignify it with a response, instead changing the subject. “What’s your first class?”<br/><br/>“Mmmmmm Gender Roles in Society?” came a delayed answer. “You?”<br/><br/>“Physics.”<br/><br/>“What building?”<br/><br/>“Targo.”<br/><br/>“Same building! Can walk together, da?” Dacia asked with a smile, some of the excitement she felt for her first day leaking through.<br/><br/>“Can we stop for a coffee?” Tal asked, turning the water off and reaching out for her towel before dragging it into the shower with her to dry off and wrap up.<br/><br/>“Da! Need something to wake up,” she replied with a laugh.<br/><br/>As the girl left the shower, she skirted her new friend as much as possible to give herself space while indecent, rushing from the room to put on clothes and take advantage of her being in the shower herself. “We’ve got to hurry, though;Targo’s all the way across campus and getting coffee is in the other direction,” Talyah called through the door as she got dressed, debating between a plethora of outfits before coming to a final consensus.<br/><br/>A dress. Simple, cream color to offset the slight tan she’d managed to get over the summer, with some darker lace detailing that she was fond of with a belt across the middle. It bore no sleeves so she packed a light jacket in her bag as a just in case precaution, and decided on some brown boots for shoes. Her dark tresses were left down her back in flowing, loose curls, with only a couple strands pulled back to keep it mostly free of her face. And, a touch of makeup was added to her face (mostly to cover the dark circles).<br/><br/>It was as she was getting her books gathered into her bag, and getting ready to knock on the door that Dacia appeared, completely dressed and made up.<span style="font-style: italic">Huh...hadn’t seen her bring anything in with her,</span>came a mildly surprised thought as she took in her friend’s outfit. Her makeup wasn’t as subtle, but it worked, playing up the ice of her grey irises, her darker features bringing them up all the more so they were near invisible against the whites of her eyes. Grabbing her bag and slipping her feet into shoes, she walked passed Talyah and gripped the door knob. “Ready?”<br/><br/>Nodding in reply, the two girls set out. For the majority, they were silent, heading over for coffee while their minds (or, at least hers) ran over crucial facts that had been learned in preparation and going over her reading. As the sun rose higher, she woke up just that bit more, reaching into her bag to pull out her phone and put on some quiet music to walk with, keeping an ear out for her walking companion while continuing to recite her facts mentally.<br/><br/>Only when they got to the cafe did she start to worry that she wouldn’t remember something, which prompted her to pull out her book and start reading. Then, she stopped to order and resumed reading, stepping over to the pick up line to wait while Dacia tsked in her ear. “Should not worry much, da? Is first day. Nothing to worry,” she chastised, a grin on her lips but a seriousness to her piercing gaze. That resulted in her book raising a bit higher, blindly grabbing for her coffee when it was called and heading back out into the warm morning, ignoring all the sights that her companion pointed out. She even managed to ignore a few calls from people as they greeted them, though Talyah assumed it was more toward Dacia as she’d been the outgoing one, introducing herself to random people the night before as they walked.<br/><br/>What she couldn’t ignore was the big wooden doors she had to walk through to get into the building, doors that didn’t support themselves...and doors that Dacia decided to let go to snap her out of her momentary daze. And boy did it hurt. That door conked her arm, sending her book flying and nearly sent her coffee flying (only catching it last minute as it became far more important than the thrown book). A glare at her friend who’d burst out laughing, and then she was scooping it back up and resuming her way in. Up the winding staircase to the second floor, she and Dacia had to part ways. The woman gave her a quick hug and a smile before bounding up the stairs with a vigor that she, herself, didn’t feel.<br/><br/>With a shake of her head, she wandered down the hall, nose buried back in a book.<br/><br/>Now, where she’d been here the previous year, she knew where the room was and what turns to take without really looking. What she wasn’t familiar with was the milling of people, having to take a slower pace as she refused to put her book away for even a moment to navigate the throng of people. No, no time was spared for such things as looking where one was going, not when there were more important things to look at, like the definition of “psychosis”.<br/><br/>Taking the familiar path to the room, she finally made it, sitting in the first seat that her peripheral vision allowed her to see, lowering into her seat and continuing to read the last of the chapter before taking a break. A break that wasn’t fully realized when the professor walked in shortly thereafter.<br/><br/>“Good morning, class,” his baritone of a voice boomed out, walking passed everyone to reach his post at the board. “My name is Professor Herrington and I’ll be your professor for Psychology 201. If you could all open your textbooks to Chapter One, we’ll review what you were supposed to read over the summer and make sure we’re all up to speed. And, while you do that, I’ll do a quick roll call to see who’s made it.”<br/><br/>Half tuned in as he started calling out names, she pulled out her notebook to review her notes from earlier that summer. And, as her name was called, it took a moment to resonate, glancing up from her notes to call, “Present,” before going right back to them, a finger tracing absent-minded circles on the table’s surface.<br/><br/>“Right,” Herrington concluded. “Now, who can tell me a summary of the reading I’d assigned? What was the general topic?”