Date Published: 2025-11-09
Word Count: 1.9k
Summary: John tries to survive the first week of classes
Notes: Still written by a new gen, though we're up to 007207 now!
John stumbles through his first week of lectures. It’s not like things are bad, he’s actually enjoying it, most of the time. Half the classes are just going over syllabuses anyway. But John has a feeling that everyone else knows something he doesn’t. It’s like they were handed out a secret handbook on how to do college and already know what they’re doing, while he’s drifting, head fuzzy.
The lecture halls at Vassar are cavernous, humming with students who already seem to know where to sit, when to laugh at the professor’s jokes, how to scribble notes at lightning speed. John has a brand–new notebook that he bought from the campus store and a ballpoint pen that skips when he writes too fast. Half the time he can’t follow what the professor’s even saying, and the other half he catches himself staring out the window, blinking hard, realizing he just lost ten minutes of lecture to blank static.
There are exceptions. Computer Science, for one, where he spends half the lecture stealing glances at the cute blonde that sits next to him, who types so fast it makes his eyes go wide or doodles cats in her notebook when she’s bored. She seems bored a lot too. John almost wants to say something - to ask her out maybe but probably just about the notes or something - but every time he opens his mouth, his brain short circuits.
It isn’t new. He’s had these moments since he was a kid — zoning out, snapping back into his body like someone hit “resume” on his life, the sense of being somewhere without remembering how he got there. But here, it feels heavier, like everyone else is racing forward and he’s stuck in syrup. When he’s there he’s enjoying the classes, he enjoys the classes. He just… isn’t there often enough.
By Thursday afternoon, he’s trudging back across the quad with a math textbook digging into shoulder, head buzzing. The air smells like cut grass and rain that never arrives. His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he fishes it out, relieved for the distraction.
TG: shrimp guy added a second crab this week. i think its escalating.
TG: like at first i thought ok whatever. its just shrimp. and prawns. and one crab.
TG: people are weird. fine.
TG: but now he's building an underwater zoo in our dorm room.
TG: there's two tanks.
TG: this is how horror movies start.
GG: OMG DAVE!! please send pics 🦐🦀💖
TT: I'd like to remind you that all of this could be prevented if you simply boiled it alive.
TG: rose i cant just BOIL my roommates pets
TT: You can. You simply won't. There's a difference.
TG: ...John grins, typing in a check in after a pause.
EB: first week is going ok. i think.
TT: John is lost again.
GG: lol leave him alone!! he’s just shy!!! first week is hard!!
TT: Two things can be true.
EB: i’m fine i promise! classes are fun and room mates are crazy lol.
TT: Oh right, you said you were in mixed gender housing, right? Whatever happened with that arrangement?
EB: oh! well it turns out that it’s um three girls and me.
TG: nice.
GG: that sounds fun!! like you can have sleepovers whenever you want :)
TT: Mhm. Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it, John.
EB: i am!
John smiles despite himself. The weight on his chest eases a little. Then notices another text from an unknown number, though he realizes who it must be immediately.
AG: Hey pupa.
AG: Have you noticed that there’s like soooooooo many gay girls here?
AG: It’s fun 8ut you have to 8e careful.
AG: Half these college 8itches are gay until they gradu8!!!!!!!!
AG: I h8 it!
AG: Gayness is for life!
AG: Don't start playing without commitment.
John stares at his phone, trying to decide how to even respond to that. Eventually he just sends a laughing emoji and pockets his phone. A few hours later, he gets another ping from the same number, now saved under Vriska’s name.
AG: You’re so silly Eg8ert.
AG: 8TW.
AG: We’re doing like a whole suite group dinner tonight for like 8onding.
AG: IDK ask Merina.
AG: 8ut you’re not hiding in your room this time!!!!!!!!
EB: oh! well, okay. i’ll be there!
AG: Good! >::::)
AG: Now you have my num8er! So use it wisely.
John isn’t sure what “wisely” means in this context. But he decides to try.
As Vriska had warned, that night was indeed a ‘group dinner’ which turned out to mean everyone made something and shared. John wonders if he’d been told about this, and forgotten. Either way, 5:30 comes around and all four of them are here.
The kitchenette in their common room is barely big enough for one person, so they’re taking turns. Or John and Vriska are waiting for Meri to be done with whatever she’s making. Their patience doesn’t stop Amayah from barging in with a bag of quinoa. Her face is a mask of determination as she speaks.
“Alright,” she announces. “Time to show you girls how to eat right.”
Vriska rolls her eyes dramatically.
“Oh please. I’m ordering pizza. Quinoa’s for bugs.” She grins. “But not sexy, badass, cool bugs like meeeeeeee.”
Meri sighs as Amayah gets far closer then John would feel comfortable. She pulls out vegetables and spices from the fridge and small cabinet, moving with calm efficiency.
“We’ll figure something out,” she says, her tone a mix of patience and resignation.
Vriska laughs and kicks back on the couch, as Meri sends Amayah to grab a jacket before she goes on a quick run to get cooking oil. That leaves just John, uncertain what he’s supposed to add to this. Meri gives John a sympathetic look.
“You can chop peppers if you want to help.”
As he looks around, a little confused about who she’s talking to, Amayah comes back into the common room, dropping a jacket on the couch and pointing him toward the cutting board.
“Chop. Small cubes. You can handle that, right, Johnny boy?”
“Uh—yeah. Sure.” He says, taking the knife.
It’s a lie, his dad was always too particular about dinner for him to pick up much, he usually stayed out of the kitchen to make things easier. But even with that, he grips the knife tightly, and goes over to the cutting board. He sees a small bowl of onions, assumedly by Meri, and starts trying to chop them the same size. He knows he’s holding the knife too tightly, but any looser and it’s a bit scary, so he tries to mimic Meri’s neat slices. It’s not that hard, but he’s nervous, and going rather slow. After a few minutes, he realizes the cubes are coming out lopsided.
John sighs, and wipes his forehead on his sleeve. At the sound of the sigh, Meri looks over at him and laughs a little.
“Those are cute, John. Good first effort!”
“Oh! Uh. thanks.” John looks away. He feels so warm, and doesn’t know what to say.
“Hehe oh goodness just a sec,” she says and reaches into her pocket. After a second she grabs a hair clip, and drops it into his hand. “Here!”
He blinks at it.
“Uh.”
Before he can figure out what to do, Amayah gets back, and hands Meri the oil. She turns, notices John just standing there, and grins.
“Oh my god. You’re hopeless.” She takes the clip out of his hand and, before he can react, snaps it into his bangs. “There. Now you can see what you’re doing.”
John freezes, face burning, but Meri just laughs and keeps stirring. He goes back to cutting up the pepper, pretending it’s no big deal.
Vriska wanders through at that moment, pizza box already in hand, and raises a brow.
“Nice accessory, Egbert. You trying to keep up with the girls now?”
She almost seems happy about it, which makes John’s stomach turn. He laughs it off, though it comes out awkward and high-pitched.
“Ha—yeah, maybe.”
By the time the pizza arrives, the stovetop is full: quinoa, veggies, and curry, which John’s not completely certain how Meri managed to pull off. The small table, one they barely fit at without any food, is a disaster, but when they do actually all sit down, plates full of mismatched food, it feels like something… meaningful.
They eat, they laugh, Vriska insults everyone’s cooking skills and Amayah throws a napkin at her. John doesn’t say much, but he’s swept along, warmed by the sound of their voices colliding. For the first time all week, John feels like part of something.
But later, when they’re cleaning up and he catches his reflection in the microwave door, clip still perched in his hair, he feels a dizzy jolt in his stomach. His breath stutters, just for a second, then he looks away and keeps cleaning.
He goes back to his room quickly after that and texts his friends.
EB: suite dinner tonight. chaotic but fun.
TT: That’s good. I was a little concerned for you.
TG: bro you’re def repressing something if you think quinoa is fun.
GG: but that’s so nice!! i’m glad you’re having fun!!
GG: and making new friends :)
TG: yeah yeah forget all about us now
EB: hehe i’ll never forget about you guys!
TG: i know you wont
TG: also no updates on the crabs. just more of the same creepy sea bugs
GG: omg!!! 🦐🍤 please send more pics!!!
TG: no. no pictures.
TG: i dont want them infesting my phone like my weird roommate is infesting my life with crabs.
TT: While Dave has whatever psychosexual power play he wants with his roommate, I’m doing well.
TT: My roommate is… quite interesting.
EB: that’s fun! what’s her name?
TT: Kanaya.
GG: cuteeee!
TG: sounds gay. is she gay?
GG: oh my god daaave!! you cant just ask people if theyre gay :B
TT: I haven’t asked.
TT: But based on the matching pride flags we put up, I’d hazard a guess she is.
TG: nice. representation.
John laughs, shoulders loosening. For the first time that day, he feels steady, able to properly relax. It feels nice He has friends here and online and it might all be okay.
After a bit, he decides to grab some water. He’s pretty sure everyone else is asleep. When he goes into the common room, the lights are low, shadows pooling in the corners. He was wrong though, as he sees Vriska sprawled across the couch, phone glowing in her hand, earbuds in.
He doesn’t think he’s being loud, but she still glances up, pauses her music and looks at him when he walks in.
“So, pupa. You survived your first week.” Her grin flashes sharp in the glow of the screen. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”
John opens the fridge, letting the cool air brush his face.
“Thanks, I guess.”
“You’re welcome.” She sits up, stretching lazily, more like a cat than any sort of arachnid. “Don’t get comfortable, though. I’ll break you in sooner or later.”
“You’ll wh-”
She tosses him the crust of her pizza like it’s a dare. He catches it clumsily. He laughs, because it’s easier than not. Grabbing some ice and water he hurries back to his room, Vriska’s eyes staying on him. But later, when he finally crawls into bed, her words echo in his head.
He stares at his laptop screen, dark and reflective, his hair still faintly mussed where the clip had been. Everything feels uncertain—like he’s standing at the edge of something big and doesn’t know whether to step forward or run.
Still, he smiles as he thinks about the suite: Amayah’s laughter, Meri’s warmth, Vriska’s sharp grin. He hides under the covers, pulse quick and confused, unsettled by how much he liked it all.