They encounter a trio of girls

As the duo rushed through the campus hallways, ducking around corners and narrowly sidestepping potential physical encounters with university staff, Susan judged they were making good time. Taking a quick glance back, she smiled at the fact that Troy was still hot on her heels. But, as they passed another sitting area, her partner's eyes locked on something within, stealing his focus.

Following his gaze, she slowed down briefly to note that Troy was eyeing a trio of girls, each hunched behind a laptop, hard at work. "Know them?" the brunette asked, pausing mid-step.

At first, Troy had been just checking them out, the redhead of the group's hair having caught his eye. But, Susan's question sparked a memory within him and he stopped running, immediately standing in place. "I do, actually" He replied, scanning the girls over before nodding to himself. Their names came naturally to him. "The redhead's Caroline Widogast, a psychology major. The other two are Mina and Sana, America-Japanese twins who are both studying linguistics."

Walking back to stand next to her friend, Susan refocused her gaze and did a double take on the girls. This culminated in her giving Troy a sheepish look, one of her dark eyebrows raised high. Not that she had something against him, but the fact that he knew these three incredibly gorgeous girls so well astonished her, consider how particularly average Troy was.

"How do you know them?" She asked, voicing her thoughts.

"The four of us took the same general elective back in first year. We were in the same tutorial."

Susan nodded along. Made enough sense. "Think they remember you?"

"Absolutely!" His confidence was paired with the grin he sported whenever he was about to do something stupid. This time was no different; evidently deciding to forgo their existing engagement, Troy changed course and started walking towards the girls.

Susan reached out to grab him, failing as he found himself just out of her grasp. "Troy, wait!" She called out after him, "We're going to be late!"

He waved her concerned dismissively. "Just a quick hey! Won't be long!" Sighing profusely, she rushed up alongside him, catching up just as he reached the three girls, the lot of them looking up as he approached. His grin was shining bright and proud as he greeted them. "Caroline! Mina! Sana! Gosh, I haven't seen you three since, what, History of Languages? How have you girls been?"

The redhead, the only one who's back wasn't to them, spotted them first and smiled back after recognizing who was approaching. "Oh my gosh, Troy!" Caroline was evidently a squealer, jumping in a quick moment to embrace Troy in a tight hug.

By now, the twins had also noticed the pair of them and were smiling just as excitedly as Troy was. "Hey Troy!" they echoed, seemingly unperturbed by the fact they'd said it at the exact same time.

Looking down from over Caroline's shoulder, he smiled at the both of them before quickly disengaging himself from the redhead. "It's so good to see you!" She gushed, the girl bubbling over with personality. That excitement soon found its way direction at Susan as the redhead turned, addressing her. "Sorry, and you are?"

"Girls, this is Susan. She's a friend of mine."

Behind him, the twins giggled while Caroline exchanged a quick glance between the two of them. "Right. Friend as in friend, or friend as in girlfriend?"

The question took Susan by surprise, shocking her briefly. Recovering quickly, she scoffed as she extended her hand. "Please. He wishes I was his girlfriend, don't you Troy?" Pushing the nodding idiot aside, Susan walked up to Caroline with the intent on shaking her hand, only to have the girl pull her into a courteous hug instead.

"I'm Caroline!" She nearly screamed into Susan's ear before pulling away. "This is Sana and Mina," she added, gesturing to each twin in turn. "Pleasure to meet you!"

"How you been Troy?" one of the half-Asian girls asked - Susan already couldn't tell them apart - her counterpart quickly chiming in."We've been good."

"I've been well, thanks" He returned, making his way towards the spare chair. "I was just-"

"On your way to study with me and some friends." Susan interrupted, pulling him back. "Come, we're late enough as it is."

"But Susan!" he whined as she started dragging him away, "Is it really that bad if we're a little late this time around?"

His question made her pause. "Well... No... I mean-" He made a fair point; they'd been punctual to a fault every other study session.

"Where's the harm in catching up with old friends?" He added while disengaging his hand from her grip. "We won't stay long, I promise."

Feeling exasperated, she turned and watched as he rejoined the three girls, already making small talk. Defeated, Susan sighed loudly and rushed up to join them.