Iris watched from the other side of the doors that lead to NBH. Her best friend, Noa, was walking back from the kitchen with their new hall-mate. She felt a pang of jealousy as she had only been in NBH once in the 3 years they’d been attending TCU. She tried to not let it get to her as she saw them smiling, clearly enjoying whatever was being discussed. Noa looked up at her and motioned that they’d be right there. They opened the door to their room and flung the empty basket into it, and locked up. They ran to Iris, as if they hadn’t spent half the summer glued to each other.

Noa waved at Ciel, as they started up the stairs with Iris. “Ohmygah, Iris. So that’s Ciel, and they have the largest brother.”

Iris looked Noa up and down as they towered over her tiny five foot frame, “How tall, exactly?”

“I didn’t ask, but taller than me in these flip flops!”

Iris hooked her arm around Noa’s and they made their way up to the second floor and all the way to her room. She introduced Noa to Tani, her roommate. Greetings aside, they all sat to talk and paint their nails. Noa chose a chrome nail polish for their fingers and toes. Iris went for red, her favorite for the way it complimented her darker skin tone. Tani went all out with a variety of fall colors, “What?! It’s my favorite season!” she insisted.

Iris was petite with a delicate frame, a dark caramel skin tone that she took care of year round, and thick dark hair that naturally curled into the most beautiful ringlets after a shower. Today it was flat ironed and thrown up in a messy bun that looked like she spent only 60 seconds working on, but Noa knew it took her forever to get her hair to look so carefree. She was in her lazy day leggings, pink and black, and her favorite K-Pop t-shirt.

Tani was taller and fuller than Iris, but Noa still towered over her. Her bleach blonde hair was pulled up into a bun right on top of her head, about the size of a large apple. Her grey eyes lit up when she laughed, but she wasn’t wearing any make-up, unlike Iris who had a generous amount of eyeliner and mascara lining her dark eyes.

Once the giggling died down the trio made their way to the cafeteria for dinner. Although Tani was new to the group, she fit right in at their table with Noa, Iris, and their other friends. Most of them were seniors, Michael, was very polite and wore an assortment of gay pride pins on his hooded vest, Raina, an African-American girl who stole the show at every play and musical for all 3 previous years, and lastly the voice of reason for the group, Melly, a straight A student that actually made a lot of money off tutoring. Melly was gender-fluid and presented as female today, wearing a blonde curly wig (Tani had mistaken it for her real hair) and a pink frilly dress that looked more cosplay than comfortable.

Noa was about half done with their meal when they saw Ciel peeking about looking for their brother. Noa glanced around and since they didn't see Em, they waved Ciel over to sit with them. Chairs were shifted and soon Ciel was being welcomed by their diverse little group.

"We went camping so much over the summer," Ciel was answering Tani in their usual quiet voice about what they did over the summer.

A shadow loomed over Ciel when suddenly, "BOO!" came in a loud voice, making Ciel, Noa, and Michael all jump in frightened surprise. Melly, Tani, Raina and Iris all burst out laughing with Em, the one hovering over Ciel, who turned to punch their brother in the stomach. "Weak, Ciel, weak." Marceau chided Ciel while he sat on the chair offered by Michael.

Em made his own introductions as Noa was paying more attention to their food than him. "Name's Marceau, but everyone just calls me Em. I'm Ciel's brother; I'll be a junior this year. It's nice to see them with such a friendly group!" He smiled genuinely, his green eyes dancing as everyone took turns making small introductions with him. By the time he got around the table and was looking to Noa again, they were too busy exchanging numbers with Ciel. They made an excuse and left the table to head back to NBH. Ciel looked up at their brother smiling at what was their first "friend" contact in their phone. He ruffled their hair, "good job, kiddo."

"Don't mind, Noa, Em," Michael chimed in smiling brightly at the newcomer. "They're a little funny around boys."

The comment earned him a shin kick from Iris. "That's nobody's business, Michael," she growled from across the table as he grimaced in pain.

"Noa's the one being rude, Jesus, Iris." Michael snapped at her.

Melly went to speak, but Em beat her to it, "Hey its ok. I already met them earlier, and they're not obligated to be my friend."

"I'd like to be your friend," Michael was smiling and offering his phone to get Em's number. Everyone else chimed in and soon Ciel had all the numbers. Em was only missing Noa's but he didn't take it personally.

Later Iris offered to walk Ciel back to the dorm so that Em could keep hanging out with the others and not worry so much.

"Y-you really didn't have to," Ciel started off quietly.

"He's like a parent, right?" Iris asked as they walked.

"Uh, yeh. He's a good brother; I know he's just protective." Ciel looked down and was fiddling with the hem of their t-shirt again.

"Nah, you're both fine. The first year here is scary, and I am sure being separated from you is scary for him too. Noa's been my best friend since forever, and our first year it was hard to be apart at first."

"I know this is some big rich school, but like," Ciel looked around to see if they were alone, "so far everyone is really nice. Even Noa makes me feel like I'm an important individual to them. I'm usually just Em's younger sibling."

"Noa is..." Iris seemed to stare off into nothingness, "special. And they're very good at making a person feel special."

Iris hugged Ciel at the doors to NBH and wished them a good night. Ciel swiped their keycard and instead of going to their room they knocked at Noa’s door.

Noa opened the door with one hand, and was toweling their hair dry with the other. In a tank top and soft cotton capris, Noa was getting ready for bed. They smiled though and motioned for Ciel to come in. “Nervous for tomorrow?”

“A little. Uh, I am used to spending some time with Em before bed, usually we watch some TV, talk, or play games. He was having so much fun hanging out with people though…”

“And you’re more of an introvert?”

Ciel looked a little confused, “I’m not sure what that word means.”

“Well generally speaking there’s introverts and extroverts, although in reality it’s a bit more complex than just one or the other, we’re going to keep it simple right now. Introverts tend to prefer alone time or time with only one or two other people. They ‘recharge’ that way. Extroverts love to be in a crowd. They’re energized by active conversation and meeting new people.“ Noa shrugged their shoulders, “I’m an introvert. I like smaller gatherings and quiet spaces.”

“Yeh! I never really thought too much about it. I enjoy meeting other people but there’s a limit. Like today, all your friends are wonderful, but I just really needed to disconnect. Um, am I bothering you, then?” Ciel suddenly seemed to notice they had intruded on Noa’s time to be alone.

Noa smiled softly, “I don’t mind if it’s just you.” They sat on their bed and patted the space beside them, inviting Ciel to sit. They opened their laptop and began scrolling through television shows debating on what to watch. Together they selected a baking competition show that neither had seen yet.

Ciel reluctantly left after 2 episodes because Em was texting them reminders to shower and set alarms. Noa had promised they could watch more the next night and wished them sweet dreams. Settling into their own bed, Noa texted a good night to Iris. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.