Chapter 1 - The science of first love

Joanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she walked towards the university. She made sure to straighten her posture, hold her head high and try to smile. She wasn't that good at smiling, however, and it resulted in a cold, fake smile, that would fool no one. By the end of the day, everyone she talked to would know, that she wasn't a kindhearted person. Which might be for the better she supposed.

She stopped in front of the main entrance to the science faction of the university. Here she would spend the next five years, she thought and smiled broadly. From here she would learn everything she needed to become an amazing scientist. She would discover new facts and come up with brilliant theories, and from here she would conquer the world. She smiled her naturally wicked smile, as she thought of all the people, she would prove wrong. It would be so satisfying, she concluded.

The building in front of her was tall, with vines crawling up its dark blue brick walls and covering it like the landmasses that covered the beautiful blue oceans of Earth.

All around Joanna, the other freshman and older students walked in through the grand doors made of silver-colored metal.

Joanna took another deep breath and tighten her finger's grab around her bag. She walked in.

An incredible noise surrounded her and the other freshmen as they walked in a line on a narrow road through the crowd. The older students had formed a road that would lead the freshmen through the entrance, and they all stood clapping and singing around them. Joanna couldn't quite figure out, whether this was an encouraging applause or a mocking of the freshmen. She resisted the urge to put her fingers in her ears and just kept walking until she reached the end of the road.

She looked up to take a look around, and she locked eyes with a man standing in the crowd of clapping and singing people. He sent her a big smile and then she knew she was doomed. She had fallen in love. Joanna observed him quickly with a conductive look, starting from the top: His teeth were pearly white and not a single one of them out of place. His eyes shining blue, glasses, hair golden brown, he was about half a head taller than herself, good physique, and stylishly dressed - she noticed his serious-looking shoes. And he was stunning.

She quickly looked away from him, as she was afraid, he would notice her staring. "Joanna!" she whispered aggressively to herself, "pull yourself together. You have avoided falling in love this far, you can't do it now!" She had no intention of love getting in the way of her great carrier. If she fell in love, all her free time would be gone, and she wouldn't be able to focus on her studies. Love would have to wait till some other day - maybe some other life entirely.

The noise around her quieted down, as the clock struck nine and most of the older students left to go to their lectures and lab classes. Joanna looked around the room and got a better view of it, now that it was almost empty. Tables had been put out around the room, and desks behind which sat other students with shirts in the same blue color as the bricks of the building. Beside the tables stood big signs with text written in big black letters stating the names of the different educations in the science faction. Joanna spotted the sign saying, "MIXED SCIENCES" and walked towards it.

Behind the desk sat a boyish-looking man with messy dark hair. "Hello," he greeted her. "Mixed Sciences?" He asked, and she nodded and tried to smile the best she could. "Great!" He jumped up and walked to the other side of the desk. "You're the first then - my name is Cameron. A pleasure to meet you." He reached his hand out and she shook it. He had a nice firm grip she observed. Was he a good student, she wondered, and thought that maybe she could go to him for help with her studies. She had learned early, that it was important to seek help and partnership if one wished to succeed in science. "And what is your name - I need to make sure it is in the protocol."

"Joanna Charleston," she answered and tried not to blush. How stupid of her to forget to introduce herself.

"Joanna... Yes, you're right here. Excited for your first day?" Cameron asked as his fingered moved with an incredible speed over the keyboard of his computer.

"Of course." Joanna didn't know what else to say but to her luck, Cameron had no problem with leading the conversation.

"Wonderful!" He looked up from the computer. "Look at that! More people! Mixed Sciences? Yes. Then give me your names."

A few more people circled around the desk and fired their names quickly: Maria, John, Sofie, Bailey, Ashley... Joanna tried to match some of the names with the people around her but found that it was a hopeless job. She would learn their names later, she thought.

"Now listen up," Cameron began instructing them, but Joanna zoned out, as she thought of the man with the stunning smile and the fact that she hadn't learned his name. What a shame, she thought, what if she never had the chance to speak with him, and she hadn't even learned his name...

"Focus!" She whispered harshly to herself and directed her eyes and ears back on Cameron and his instructions.

He informed them of where the restrooms were, the labs, and the canteens. "Oh, but for those of you who are fond of money, you will want to bring your own food. The canteens are simply too expensive." He laughed and the freshmen around him laughed slightly as well. "Now, on to the tour." Cameron grabbed a yellow umbrella. "Follow me!" He shouted and walked through the group of about twenty or thirty people that surrounded him.

Joanna joined the group and kept her eyes on the yellow umbrella, as they walked through narrow halls and different rooms with small sitting areas. She observed the people they walked past and wondered what the different people were studying, and who were professors and staff of the university.

"We will meet here in thirty minutes," Cameron said when they reached an outside sitting area with benches beside a big lake. "This is the university park - I urge you to take a look around and get to know the place and each other. But be back in thirty minutes."

The group standing around Cameron didn't move.

"I said go!" He shouted and laughed as he waved his hands at them, "shush, shush. Go explore."

Joanna took a step backwards, away from Cameron. She supposed she would take a walk around the lake then if she really was to explore the park.

As she walked around the lake in her own thoughts - no one had of their own accord joined her - she thought that it was incredibly stupid to spend the first introduction to the university by walking around the park. Surely, they would spend most of their time inside the building and not in the park. She walked completely in her own thoughts, with her head turned towards the ground - completely forgetting to keep her back straight and her head held high - and thus didn't notice the man sitting by a tree beside the lake with a stack of books and papers scattered around him.

A big gust of wind grabbed her loose pants and made them flow around her uncomfortably. She tried to straighten the legs of her pants as a piece of paper flew past her nose. Joanna quickly looked up and jumped to catch the paper with her hand. Her fingers curled around it in a firm grip.

"Oh my... Thank you so much," a voice from behind a tree said.

"You're very welcome," she answered and walked over to the tree, where she saw a man struggling with keeping his papers captured under stacks of big, heavy books. He looked up at her and gave her a big smile.

It was him! She could feel her face turn red and her heart beating faster. "Oh no!" She gasped.

He got up from the grass, brushed the dirt of his pants, straightened his clothes, and put his hand out to greet her. "My name is George Petersen."