Out of the Hidey-Hole (Cianna Rivers)

[Casper van de Berg]

It hadn't even been a week since Casper first moved into the dorm. He made his room nice and cozy all his own already. But because of that he didn't spend much time elsewhere. Anytime he didn't have to be somewhere he locked himself in the hidey-hole he called a room.

It wasn't that he didn't like Vermont. It wasn't too bad. Sure it was colder than the Netherlands cause it was landlocked, but it was summer so the weather was decent. He had expected it to be a dismal place, that was it, other than that he didn't know what it was going to be like. And that freaked him out a little. Now that he was there though he was slowly finding his way around, he knew where the cafeteria was, his dorm, the bathrooms, and he made a route to each of his classes for the day.

The place wasn't really the problem. It was that he didn't know anyone. Potentially everyone could be jerks. He didn't want to get to know people, it was hard for him to talk with others, especially when English wasn't your first or second language (Having learned German in the Netherlands as he lived closed to the border). Frankly, he didn't want to put up with any of ridicule that was sure to come.

Bookmarking his page, Casper put down the book that had taken hours of his day away, and ventured to the common room of dorm 203. He turned on the electric kettle and made himself a cup of tea. With that he was ready to retreat back to his room and down a dozen granola bars. He turned to head back and stopped to see a girl standing there. For almost a week Casper had gone without running into any roommates. Now here he was meeting her. "Uh..."

[Cianna "Cici" Rivers]

Cici had awoken that weekend morning in a very energetic mood. After slowly opening her eyes and blinking away morning cobwebs that fuzzed her mind, she found herself unable to stay in bed. Weird. She'd bounced up and peeked out of the curtains, and to her delight it had looked very sunny. So, after going through her usual morning routine, she had danced around her room to Alice in Chains, jumping on her bed, headbanging crazily, and pretending she was live on stage in front of a screaming crowd of hundred of thousands. 

Waving goodbye to her imaginary fans, Cici had then realized she was late for brunch with some friends and so, had literally climbed out her window and thrown herself off the ledge, flying the quickest and most direct route to where they had planned to meet. They had hung out together for a few hours, before going to the library to finish the day studying, what for Cici had no idea, as it was almost break, and so she had promptly excused herself and headed back in the direction of her dorm, this time on foot. 

On her way, she idly wondered what to do with the rest of her day, and thought she might invite some people over to watch a couple of movies in her dorm room. Preferably scary ones. Yes, they always freaked her out as she totally believed everything in them, being the superstitious little nut she was, and yet it was the very thrill of the scariness that she loved. They were especially fun to watch with people, and as well as horrors, Cici absolutely loved spending time with people. Sure, being alone was nice sometimes, but people were always so fun!

Deciding that was what she would do, Cici entered the dorm 203 common room and stopped when she saw someone there. She didn't know him, and Cici was about to ask who he was when he turned to face her and it clicked. Eyes lighting up, Cici's mouth formed a small 'o' as she realized who the boy was. "Oh, ya mus' be th' new kid, neh? C...Ca...Casper! Righ'? Mean t' fin'lly meetcha! M'name's Cici, also a resident of dorm 203! Welcome t' Hammel!" Smiling enthusiastically, she took a few steps towards the boy and stuck her hand out for him to shake. She loved meeting new people, and didn't realize it might be a good idea to tone down her enthusiasm; he was new after all. But Cici was always looking to befriend new people. Besides, she was still on that hyper buzz from earlier that morning.

[Casper van de Berg]

Looking at the girl in front of him, Casper didn't know what to make of her. At times he'd hear her through the walls when she jammed out to music or got up for the bathroom. Other than that he was happy just not really knowing her. He didn't expect to meet her so quickly and out of the blue. She was out a lot as far as he was aware, so he thought he could get away with sneaking into the common room for just a moment. But that didn't turn out as planned.

He blinked at her behind his glasses as she happily welcomed him. Casper nodded at his name, but it was hard to keep up with her quick speech. "Uh, yeah I'm Casper." It took him a moment to look at her hand realized he was supposed to shake it. He took her hand in his slowly, put off by her enthusiasm. She was strange, her eagerness to meet him was definitely unexpected.

"So, you're Cici?" The Dutch boy repeated after her to make sure he heard it right. He wondered how much she actually wanted to get to know him. While he appreciated friendliness, he'd rather be in his room with his book and granola bars. Still, he shared the space with her, so he had at least try to get to know her eventually. Unsure what else to say he started with the basic niceties. "So... How are you?"

[Cianna "Cici" Rivers]

She smiled wider as he confirmed his name and shook her hand. He seemed nice. Then, nodding at his questioning of her name, offered a small "Mmhmm!" At his question, she nodded. "Ye, I'm good, how 'bout you? Where 're ya from? Do you like movies?" The last question she added almost as an afterthought, and wondered if she should invite him to her small movie night. Depending on if he seemed to like others a lot, she might not invite anyone else, so that he didn't seem too overwhelmed, but she wasn't sure yet as she didn't know him.

Blinking, Cici thought he must be shy; after all, she hadn't met him until now, he seemed to mostly stay in his room. And fair enough, he'd just moved to a totally new school- Hammel, no less- and she thought it would be nice to help him around and stuff, moving could be rather scary, the short girl knew from experience. She also wondered at his accent- she couldn't place it, not that she was the best at naming accents other than her own New Zealand one, and the various American ones she had grown accustomed to hearing after moving to the said country.

Her thoughts were all over the place, as per normal, and Cici realized she was probably spacing out again. hopefully, the boy- Casper- didn't notice her air-headedness.  Refocusing on him, she hoped that they could become friends- they did share a dorm, after all!