Try to make some friends

Shoving your hands in your pocket, you wander off along the dorm's exterior. Your dormitory is situated among a number of similar buildings, and there are little quads, pockets of greenery, and tables scattered all around. The scene is busy with families saying farewell and students hauling the last of their things up into their dorms.

Suddenly, you hear a little shriek off to one side. Glancing over, you spy a couple of girls struggling with a very large, cumbersome-looking bureau. Who moves into college with a bureau?! You shake your head, but you can see they need help, so you jog over to join them.

"Allow me, ladies," you say gallantly as you arrive. They look at you in surprise, but relief, as you take a corner and help them maneuver the bureau into the dormitory and down the hall to a small room that looks much like your own. Fortunately you don't have to go up any stairs...

"Phew! Thanks so much," one of the girls says as the three of you finally set the chest of drawers down with a thump. You straighten up, getting your first good look at the two of them, and smile. The girl who's just thanked you is a tall, lanky Black girl, with a wide smile and mischievous eyes. She's skinny and muscular-looking, but she's clad in a pink t-shirt that shows off her smallish breasts to good advantage and a pair of skinny jeans. The other girl is a tanned blonde, nearly as tall as her roommate but with a rounder face and generous breasts that strain slightly at her tank top. She gives you a nervous looking smile and nods her thanks.

"I'm Makenzie," the Black girl continues. "This is Leah. You are?"

"Luke," you say. "Orman."

"Nice to meet you, Luke," Makenzie says with a grin. You shake her hand and return the grin - you like her energy.

"Thank you both for helping me with the drawers!" Leah says softly. She seems rather timid, compared to Makenzie, and has a Texan twang to her voice. "I don't know how I ever would've done that without y'all..."

"No prob, roomie," Makenzie says easily. "But that's the last of it, right?" Leah nods her head. "Good! Judy said she wanted to meet us outside, let's go. You can come too if you want, Luke. None of us know anyone else, right? May as well band together as the freshmen on campus..."

"Lead the way," you say with a chuckle.

Outside, Makenzie scans the crowd for a few moments, then rises to her tiptoes and waves. "Hey! Judy! Over here!"

A Korean girl with a fetchingly ragged bob cut in the crowd waves back and pushes her way through the throng of students, a couple of other girls coming behind her. Makenzie gestures at a picnic table that's a bit more off the beaten path, and both groups converge on it.

"Hey!! You all moved in?" the Korean girl - Judy, clearly - asks as you come together. "And who's this guy?"

"Judy, this is Luke Orman," Makenzie says with a grin. "He was a real gentleman and helped us get Leah's dresser in."

"Sorry about that," Leah mutters. Makenzie rolls her eyes.

"It's totally fine! But anyway, Luke, this is Judy Kim."

"Nice to meet you," Judy says with a smile, shaking your hand firmly. "This is Rosa Gutierrez and Britt Danson." Rosa is a Latina girl in a prim button-down shirt and slacks, while Britt is a dark-haired, blue-eyed, busty white girl in a black dress that strikingly contrasts with her pale skin. You shake hands all around as the six of you sit down at the picnic table.

"So! The five of us met at check-in and decided we'd be friends, at least as long as it looks like we can stand each other," Makenzie says with a wink. "What about you, Luke? Wanna throw your lot in with us?"

"I suppose so," you say with a little laugh. "I don't really know anyone...I've barely met my roommate!"

"We're all in the same boat," Judy says with a shrug. Clearly, these two are the leaders of this little clique, but the others (with the possible exception of Leah) all seem energetic and interested enough in one another.

"What are you all thinking about majoring in?" Britt asks, looking around the group with curiosity.

"Criminal justice," Makenzie replies immediately.

Judy shrugs. "Some kind of science...not sure what yet, though. I like geology and chemistry."

"I want to study education," Leah says quietly.

"And I'm going into math," Rosa says.

"And you?" Britt asks you.

You shrug. "Undecided so far...I have a lot of interests," you say. She grins.

"Same here. I'm thinking English lit, but not sold on that yet. There are so many interesting choices!" she exclaims.

Rosa rolls her eyes. "You gotta think about your future, though, Britt," she says. "If you declare a major early, you're eligible for more scholarships - and, more important, it lets you start doing what you wanna do. I'm not going to tell you not to major in English, but if you're gonna be an English major you should try to be the best one you can!"

"Oh, I don't know if that's true," Britt protests. "I think there's a lot of value to not locking yourself into something too early...I wanna explore and experiment a little first! What do you think, Luke?"