3~ New faces

          Having endless thoughts about someone I just met, I walked back to my dorm room.

          To my surprise, when I opened the door the rest three applicants had already arrived. Everyone echoed, "Hi" to me. "Hello," I said calmly taking time to digest the fact that I need to make good friends here. I sat by my bed; all four of us faced each other and began introducing ourselves. "Flare Dicken," said a girl with long blonde hair. She looked a bit too stylish; she wore a high waisted black skirt with a  designer white crop top, earrings and shoes of matching colour.  This made me wonder how my first impression would be? (Although I knew for a fact that clothes don't determine that). I was still in my plain black one-piece. "Linda Clare," said another girl. She looked calm and approachable (exactly my type). She had straight black hair and was dressed up in casual wear - a light green t-shirt and black jeans. "Hi, I'm Betty Stephen," said the last girl in the room. She looked bold and more confident than the rest of us. She wore a yellow jumpsuit and had short red wavy hair.

          It was my turn now. "Hi, I'm Vincet Grace, you all can call me Grace," I said rather nervously. Their eyes caught a glimpse of me from top to bottom - my dark brunette hair and my eyes which were smaller than my face (luckily my reading specs made the face look proper). I was the only one wearing spectacles. Linda had reading glasses.

            "Grace is a nice name !" said Linda (smiling). I smiled. For a minute we all were silent. Flare then initiated a chat.  "Did you girls hear about the three Princes of our university?" Flare asked (acting as if she was already in love). "Dan, Prince and Matt are the ones you are talking about, right ? " answered Betty. "Yes exactly! I heard Matt is from the Commerce Department; he is an amazing singer - I'm already in love with his voice clips, " Flare spoke honey-lipped. " I heard from my other friend that Prince is from the Computer Science Department; he is a national level swimmer, " Linda said softly leaping into the conversation. " And Dan is from the Arts Department; known for his basketball skills," said Betty.

            Now, everyone was looking at me; whether I was updated on any gossip news around this university. I didn't know much about the gossip part, except for the fact that I met one of the princes.

            "Umm, I guess I met Matt in the auditorium, " I said rubbing my forehead a bit. "What !!! You already met Matt !? " said Flare with a tone of jealousy. "Tell us more, " said Betty curiously. "I went for my usual dance practice to the auditorium. He saw me dancing and then approached me. We only exchanged our names. Later, someone called for him and he rushed outside," I answered. "How was he like ? " asked Linda. "He seemed rather calm and decent unlike most freshers, " I responded. "Oh no, Grace u got him wrong. These three handsome lads are our seniors, " said Betty giggling. My doubt about him got cleared. "Girls it's already 2 pm, let's continue the conversation while eating lunch in the canteen, " Linda suggested.

             Betty and Flare were so boy obsessed while Linda looked more of my type who is waiting for the "right one" to enter into her life. As I changed into my knee-length normal dress, I wondered what ideal type of partner I wanted? It's not that I didn't want to get committed too soon but I was not that outgoing or you can say the shy type of girl. I always wondered which boy would love me? Drake was someone who I actually spent all my time with apart from studying but now since he's gone, I needed to move on. His call usually came once a month or so but it never felt the same. Also, I had been in depression due to various broken friendships last year so I didn't want to look like a nerd or introverted type of girl in my first semester and wanted to invest myself in good friendships first. The term was yet to begin.

                The atmosphere around the campus was soothing. The warm breeze reminded me of home. Coming to this university made me feel closer to my mom. Grandma used to tell stories of how my parents found their love here.

                We four walked to the canteen which was on the ground floor. My thoughts were still stuck on the same question - "What type of love did I yearn for ?" Someone who made me smile for no reason, someone who I want to dress up for, someone who made me his priority, someone who stayed with me at my worst - at least that's the definition of love I had seen in movies. Maybe I just wanted a friendship that turned into a forever love story, a person who stayed side by side with me and we grow together. Yes, that's what I'm looking for, I summarised in my head.

              As we entered the canteen hall, we saw so many new faces; it was like entering into a new world. Some students were in line to take the canteen food, while some ate the food they brought from home.  The round tables were having four chairs each (maybe because each room had four applicants). Gossiping and chuckling we found a table for the four of us. Except for Flare, the three of us had brought homemade food. Luckily, grandma had prepared a lunch box for me for my first day, as I was lazy enough to stand in line. Flare went in line to get her food while we three chatted on random topics. Then, we all four began eating our lunch together. I had got cheese sandwiches(my favourite); Linda got red sauced pasta and Betty brought pancakes. The canteen food consisted of - Salad, a sweet bun, a bowl of rice (with cumin seeds and onions) and curry. Flare's face looked unsatisfied with the canteen food. But this was what we would be getting for the next few years - we had to get acclimatized to eating it happily. We shared our dishes. Linda ate Flare's sweet bun; Flare enjoyed Betty's pancakes; Betty tried my homemade sandwiches; I tasted Linda's red sauced pasta (which she claimed was made by her). It was delicious. Flare didn't try my sandwiches when I offered; neither did she share her canteen food. I didn't mind not getting to taste it. The only thing which aroused me was - there was a cold war between our perspectives even before we get to know each other well. I wondered why?

             We were about to finish our lunch when we all heard many girls squealing in a happy chorus near the canteen entrance. We turned to look around and found ourselves gazing at the entrance for a little while. "The Mysterious Princes" had arrived I thought to myself and shrugged. Flare and Betty were already standing next to the entry to have a closer look. I felt this was too overrated and continued eating my lunch. I guess Linda also felt the same way. We both quietly ate the rest of the food.