Assignment Day

Landsborough University had everything an American college as prestigious as it ought to have; a massive, green campus littered with architectural masterpieces of brick and sandstone, an impeccably blue lake that sat in its throbbing centre, a teaching staff deep with elite practitioners of knowledge, and a thriving student population inundated with associations, Greek societies, and hobbyist clubs. Most of all, however, William was quickly discovering that it had the one aspect that united all collegiate academia: a highly bloated, and inept, bureaucracy.

The administration building is one of Landsborough's most impressive, its paved walls and ceilings vaulted upwards to seven stories; every floor brimming with staff whose sole purpose was to prevent the very thing occurring on the ground below, and yet inexplicably managed to bungle it on this date, every year.

This day, which the college called 'Assignment Day', was the day in which every student who lived on-campus would be given access to their accommodations. Unfortunately, the rumours were that a coffee mug had been spilt onto the server containing the necessary data for organising this process, and consequently, a line of disgruntled freshmen emerged from the building's doorway and then around the gargantuan structure three times over, like a snake coiled around its prey.

Fortuitously for William, he had entered the queue when it was only at a third of its current length, and now, after four and a half hours of wait, he stood wearily underneath the establishment's large, wooden doorway. Glancing around, he could see his best friend Mark seven persons behind. Sharing a thumbs up with his slightly less lucky friend, William at last found himself shuffling in front of one of the receptionists.

The young man was not much to look at; dark hair sat atop a face almost symbolic of late pubescence, although showed signs of future handsomeness. His height was just two inches below the male average, accompanied by a thin frame untempered by any exercise. He wore a suit slightly too large for him, a clothing article he would have ordinarily avoided but that his mother had insisted on for him to look 'presentable' at his first day in college. His pale face sported two beautiful blue eyes, a feature he had inherited from his late father.

The old woman glanced up at him through half-moon shaped spectacles, their thin frames forever threatening to fall off her ears. "Name?"

He cleared his throat. "William Huntsby."

"Student number?"

"6544322", he stated, reading off the plastic card that had been mailed to him two weeks earlier.

"What bachelor are you pursuing?"

"Mathematics." He had always loved the way numbers worked; their intricacies fascinated him endlessly. In his entire high school career, he did not lose a single mark on a maths test.

The receptionist finished typing in some inputs onto her computer, seemingly satisfied that he was who he said he was.

"You received the Gnole Scholarship?" An impressed tone now crept into her previously monotonous voice.

"Y - yeah I did." The Gnole Scholarship was awarded to the winner of a national maths competition hosted by several Ivy League Universities, with the prizes for a top-ten finish being a guaranteed full ride to any of the participating colleges. William had come first, whilst Mark had just missed out at twelfth.

"Congratulations, I'm sure your time at Landsborough will be transformative for someone as talented at yourself. You will be in a dual housing room in building 22, number 63." She passed him a printed paper. "Please show that to your building manager."

"Uh, okay, listen I was hoping to be roomed with a friend of mine called Mark and I --"

"I'm very sorry young man, but room preferences stopped being viable today when Deborah decided to have another decaf. NEXT!"

And just like that, he set out to building 22.