Just walk her to the dorm

"It's actually right behind us," you say, casually.

She looks back, through the train windows, and sees the tall buildings with personalized balconies.

"Oh, well. There you go," she says.

"Let's go together," you suggest, not knowing for sure whether she's on your floor, but eager to find out.

You push off from the rail and grab your own luggage, a single rolling suitcase. Since you travel light, you offer to carry some of her things. She examines you as you walk it up to her dorm. It takes you a few minutes to realize that her gaze is focused on your muscles. Maybe things aren't as bad as they seemed.

"So," you ask her. "Where are you coming from?"

"Wisconsin," she says. "Guarantee, it's a town you've never heard of,"

You're taken aback. "There are goth girls in Wisconsin?"

She smiles. "Not much to do in Wisconsin but hate your parents and wear doc martens. At least not the part I came from."

You're surprised by how willing she is to make fun of herself, which is the source of your shocked laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," she says. "Really I hate just being called goth. It's an oversimplification. A label, you know? What are you?"

You consider that. You've always gotten good grades but you never hung out with the nerds. You've watched movies but you're not a cinephile or a superhero junkie. You aren't part of any fandoms or competitive teams.

"Somehow," you say, honestly. "It seems like I got through all high school without defining myself."

"And then Covid happened."

You chuckle. "Yeah, then Covid happened. So now we're a year behind on the 'finding myself' in college."

She looks back, a small sympathetic frown on her face. "How about this: we'll work on it. Extra hard to catch up."

"Sounds like a plan," you grin.

When you finally get there, you discover that she is on your same floor. Room 301 to your 317. Someone on high is looking out for you.

"Thank you so much, Ryan," she smiles at you as she disappears into her room. "Maybe we'll see each other around."

You'll make sure of that.