hfjONE: Back, But At What Cost? (College AU)

Chapter 4: New

⭐Chapter 4: New

The next day was...better, to say the least. Liam had woken up back as a human, and in addition had later classes that he didn't have to wake early for. His roommate was already out of the room though, so he could only pray that he hadn't seen him in backpack mode while he was sleeping. Liam took a deep breath in before exhaling as he got out of bed, going through his morning routine before getting his bag ready. Today was the day he planned on at least making some new friends, even if they were temporary.

As he walked to his first class of the day, Liam was met with the usual "few but alive" students walking around under the dark, morning sky. He kept going, not recognizing any of them as he went by. Upon reaching his classroom, Liam was met with a few students already there, talking about assignments or their daily life. He dropped his stuff by his seat before glancing over, looking for any opportunity to join in on the conversation. Maybe there was something they had in common, or he could ask his own questions in an attempt to make small talk?

But...how would he do it? When? What would he say? He hadn't reviewed anything in his head. What if he was too awkward, or the people were talking about something he didn't understand? What if they made fun of him, or didn't want to talk to him? Surely they wouldn't though, right? After all, everyone was in the same boat and...

Liam decided to redirect himself to his own desk and materials to prevent himself from turning into a backpack out of stress.

-----

His first class conveniently happened to end earlier than usual, so Liam decided to head over to the cafeteria early in case anything caught his eye. There were no signs of his roommate as he made his way through campus, but he didn't mind. Once Liam reached the cafeteria, he was surprised to find Owen with a couple of people at a table eating, one of the students being someone Liam recognized from his job before. Liam shrugged to himself as he walked over, hoping this wouldn't end in an absolute disaster.

"Hey, Owen! I uh...hope I'm not interrupting anything!" Liam greeted.

"Hey, Mr. Worldwide!" Owen joked, the nickname causing Liam to smile a little. "You're cool, what's up?"

"Did you make some new friends?"

"Oh, yeah! You wanna sit with us?"

"Sure!"

Liam set his stuff down in an open spot before sitting down, though he quickly got up to get something to eat. Once he came back, he was introduced to everyone. Most of the students were from Owen's class, and some of them were friends of the classmates. They were all really nice, and currently discussing grades from their classes, some doing well and others struggling. Liam remained quiet for most of it until Owen brought him into the conversation, which was then followed by the one student saying they recognized him from the job.

For the first time in a while, Liam was glad he could open up to people a little. Even talking about something as simple as classes made him feel better, accepted, and...well...heard. The group had a couple of laughs as the cafeteria began to fill with more people over the course of their conversation. Despite Liam's thought of the group finding out about his curse burning in the back of his head, he shoved it to the side in favor of enjoying the moment. The room may have gotten louder, but everyone was still able to be heard over each other as they chatted.

Eventually, Owen's friends started leaving one by one. They had their classes to go to, and Owen did too. Liam said goodbye to them all, and they all agreed to meet back up again sometime when they were able to. As he watched them though, Liam noticed his roommate sitting further away, without anyone else nearby. Perhaps he'd seen him with his group of friends?

Mustering up some courage, Liam got up from his seat and made his way over to the guy. He was currently on his phone, but looked up as Liam drew closer. He didn't say anything, so Liam decided to start instead.

"Hey, uh...I don't think I got your name? My name's Liam, we're in the same dorm room together, I believe?" he said as he held out his hand in a friendly gesture.

"Oh...oh yeah, right," his roommate responded, his expression unreadable. "The name's uh..."

Before he could answer though, a ring came from the guy's phone. He looked down at it and read it for a few seconds before looking back up at Liam.

"Shoot, I forgot. I have a thing going on for one of my classes in a few minutes and I gotta go. I'll...get back to you later on that, though," his roommate said as he stood up out of his seat and got his things.

"Oh, uh...alright then."

Liam sighed and supposed he could just try again another day. He had the whole semester to do so, after all. Not to mention, the guy's name was probably on some stuff somewhere that he could get a glimpse of. As he watched his roommate leave the cafeteria, Liam started to make his way back to his seat, gathering his stuff as well. He then started back to his dorm, though he supposed he could take this time to explore the campus a bit more...

-----

When Liam got back that evening, he couldn't help but notice his lack of a roommate again. Guy must've had a late class again or something, Liam didn't think he should ask. He let out a huff of air as he unpacked his things, getting on his homework while he could. Hours passed and still no roommate, and at this point Liam just told himself he'd try again tomorrow. Once it was time to sleep, Liam went through his routine before getting in bed, taking his phone with him to look at. He'd gotten one unread message from Owen reminding him about meeting up again, with a little happy emoji at the end of it.

Liam couldn't help but smile to himself after the day he'd had.

It wasn't much, but it was progress.