Chapter 3

3

At the end of August, I dragged my suitcase to campus for orientation.

The sun was scorching, and there wasn't a breath of wind. I pulled down my baseball cap and continued walking.

MIT was great, except the campus was huge. I was practically dying of heat.

Suddenly, a guy jogged over from a short distance away, "Hey! Are you a freshman? Foreign Languages?"

I looked up, and he seemed to freeze for a moment, his ears turning red.

"Thanks! But I'm in the School of Engineering. Do you know where their check-in is?"

His eyes widened in surprise. Only when I asked again did he quickly reply, "Oh, just go straight ahead, then turn left at the end. That suitcase looks heavy. Want me to help you?"

I politely declined and continued on, finally finding the place.

Several guys were lounging in chairs. When they saw me stop, one of them clicked his tongue.

"Hey, are you looking for Ethan too? Bad timing, he just went to the advisor's office. Come back later."

Ethan?

Who?

"No," I handed over my ID, "I'm here to check in."

The guys lounging under the tent all turned around in shock.

"Whoa?!"

...

Just after settling into the dorm, I received a message from Chloe.

"Sarah, I miss you so much! The thought of not seeing you every day breaks my heart!"

"Chloe, if I remember correctly, your school is right across the street from mine."

"I don't care, I don't care!" Chloe whined, "Did you know you're already on the MIT confessions page on the first day?! So many people are going to try and steal my best friend!"

Me: "...Confessions page?"

I clicked on it and found someone had indeed posted a candid photo of me.

Emmm... I was dragging my suitcase, sweating like a dog under the sun. I hadn't realized someone took a picture.

"OMG! This year's freshmen are so pretty!"

"She's gorgeous! Future campus queen, anyone disagree? Which department? Foreign Languages?"

"Looking for contact info! Please!"

"Forget it, buddy. She's in EECS! How did those nerds get so lucky?!"

"??? Seriously? EECS already has Ethan, and now this? Campus king and queen in the same department, is this fair?"

Ethan? That must be Ethan Payne, the guy they mentioned earlier. He seemed pretty popular.

Oh right, I almost forgot to message the pro gamer.

"Hey, I'm on campus!"

A while later, he replied: "Was busy, didn't see it. You're here already?"

"Yep! You're busy, so I'll let you go. My roommates are here, we're going out to eat later."

A few minutes later, he sent a short list, "These restaurants near the west gate are pretty good."

Having a "local" was definitely convenient!

My roommates were all from different departments, but they were nice. After introductions, we were ready to go out.

Just as we sat down, Josh suddenly sent me a picture. My heart skipped a beat.

It was the candid photo from earlier!