Ch. 9
The time for the welcoming party was upon Evan before he knew it. He donned his favorite polo shirt and a pair of jeans and felt confident that he was looking good. However, he did not feel confident in his ability to make small talk with strangers. Evan often got nervous when put into unfamiliar social situations, but that didn’t mean he would shut down completely. He could always talk and joke around without much effort. The problem was it drained him of energy quickly, and if he made even the smallest faux pas, he would relive it endlessly in excruciating detail later. Each time this happened, Evan would spend a few days swearing to never leave his comfort zone again. But Evan had decided to be an improved version of himself while at college, so he was determined to do his best.
Evan took a big breath and made the short trek down the stairs to the common room. There were more people in the common room than he had seen up to that point. Groups of girls were sitting on all the couches and standing up around the room talking in huddles. At the side of the room, tables were set up with boxes of pizza, and there also looked to be cookies and brownies for dessert.
He scanned the room looking for any familiar faces and landed on one he didn’t really expect to find. It was his security agent, Robin. Robin was talking to an older woman dressed in a similar security outfit. She met his eyes as he saw her and gave him a small smile. Desperate to do something besides stand in the entrance, he decided to go talk to her.
“Hey, Robin,” he said. “How are you?”
“I’m good, Evan,” she said. “Have you been settling in well?”
“Yeah, I think so. Still a lot to adjust to, but I’ll get there.”
“Anything I can help you with?”
“Nah,” he said. “I just saw a familiar face and decided to scoot-a-boot on over.”
Scoot-a-boot? Jesus. That was going to be a big one for the nightly embarrassing memory highlight reel.
“Hey Evan, I’m Trish,” the other security woman said taking the opportunity to introduce herself. “We haven’t met yet, but I’m actually the dorm manager here. I was away when you moved in, or I would have introduced myself then.”
“Ah, ok. Good to meet you.”
“I handle all dorm matters,” she said. “So, if you have any issues with your room or neighbors, let me know. I also put together a party or two throughout the year, like this here banger.”
Trish had short reddish-brown hair, and she was about Evan’s height. She looked to be in her forties if Evan had to guess. He had forgotten that Robin mentioned a dorm manager, but it made sense there would be someone to handle all those things. Once their short introduction was over, Trish looked at her watch and nodded.
“Looks like just about everyone is here, so I guess I’ll get things started,” she said.
“This is everyone?” Evan said.
The seats were full, but the room wasn’t exactly jam packed. It fell well short of the numbers Evan had envisioned in his head. He had been under the impression that most of the academy’s college students would be in attendance.
“Yep,” Trish said. “There are only about thirty students per year on average, and a majority of them choose to live with their parents. This crowd looks pretty decent for us actually.”
“Wow,” he said. “I thought there’d be more. Are there not any non-mage students?”
“No,” Robin said. “Monstrum Academy was founded to be mage only. The only regular humans in town work at the base, and they don’t bring their children to live here with them. Children aren’t the best at keeping secrets.”
“…”
Trish then stepped forward to address the room.
“Alright everyone,” she said to get their attention. “It looks like we’re all here. Thanks for joining us tonight. As most of you know, we like to have a little meet and greet for the new dorm residents every year. Now, don’t freak out too much, there won’t be any hazing!”
“Aww,” someone in the crowd said in mock disappointment, earning some laughs.
“Yeah, yeah,” Trish continued. “We just want everyone to have an opportunity to get on a first name basis before you all get too busy with classes. So, with that, I’d like all the first-year students to come stand over here and then introduce yourselves.”
As Evan was already standing nearby, he only had to take a few steps to reach the designated area. Consequently, he ended up being the first in the line as the others started to file in. It looked like there were about twenty or so first-year students. If what Trish said was right, this was a little greater than average for new arrivals to the dorm.
“Ok,” Trish said when they had all gotten into place. “We’ll start at the end. Just tell us your name, and what you plan to study at the academy.”
As he thought, Evan was made to go first. He hated doing these types of introductions, but he had grown somewhat accustomed to them over time after having to do them for years at different school events.
“Hi, I’m Evan Matthews,” he said.
Someone in the crowd let out a wolf whistle, causing giggles to erupt around the room. He laughed nervously as well while beginning to feel his face heat up.
“I’m not sure what I plan to study,” he said. “I’m just planning on taking some basic courses, and umm, figuring it out from there?"
“Nothing wrong with that,” Trish said. “Alright, next?”
Thankfully, he didn’t have to say much. Going first turned out to be a blessing as he was happy to have it done with so quickly. He looked out at the crowd and noticed there were still several eyes on him even though the girl next to him had started talking. He did his best to ignore them and focus on his fellow first years. This chapter is updated first at novelping(.)com.
Evan looked down the line and was unsurprised to find he was the only male. Many of the girls looked like normal humans with no noticeable modifications to their bodies. But there were a few that did have some odd features.
A couple of the girls had furry animal ears on their heads. They looked feline or canine. Only one of them had an accompanying tail. Now that he thought about it, Clara had animal ears on her head, but she did not have a tail that he had noticed. Was it a racial difference, or was there a way to hide the tail when you wanted?
The ears and tails were interesting, but there were two other girls that had features that stood out even more. One had a pair of black horns rising from her head. They looked thick and sharp, and he estimated they were half a foot long. They curved outwards at the base before turning back in and straight up. The horns gave the dark-haired girl a slightly demonic look. As striking as her appearance was, it still didn’t stand out as much as the other girl with a special modification.
She was a petite blonde wearing a white blouse and tight blue jeans, and on her back were a pair of feathery white wings. The wings were huge. They were larger and more noticeable than any of the body modifications he had seen yet, and they moved and twitched independent of her body, so it was clear they were functional.
Evan was too busy admiring the unique appearances of the girls that he missed their names when they spoke. He felt a little guilty, but he usually had a hard time remembering names anyway. However, he did manage to catch the name of the last girl in line as she started to give her introduction.
“Hey,” she said. “I’m Alexandra Vaduva, go by Alex. I’ll be pursuing a degree in political science.”
This must be the daughter Ms. Vaduva spoke of. Just like her mom, Alex showed no outward signs of being a vampire. She also shared her mother’s dark hair and pale white skin. Alex was dressed in a loose-fitting hoodie and jeans, giving off the impression she didn’t put any effort into her appearance for the night. It didn’t seem to matter in Evan’s eyes, as it was obvious she was very pretty and would look good no matter what she wore.
With the introductions finished, Trish announced that it was time to eat. A line quickly formed as all the ravenous college students rushed to get a plate full of pizza and dessert. Evan got a few slices and was faced with the daunting task of finding a place to eat amongst strangers. After a few awkward seconds of looking around, he noticed the friendly goblin girl he had met in the hall the other day waving at him.
“Hey,” Zayla said. “Want to come sit with us?”
He glanced over to the couch she indicated and saw Clara smiling at him. He was thankful to be asked, especially by one of the only people he had met before.
“Yeah, thanks,” he said.
As he approached, Evan was surprised to find another boy sitting on the opposite end of the couch from Clara. Zayla sat down next to the boy and left a spot between her and Clara for Evan.
“You know Clara,” Zayla said indicating her friend. “And this here is my boyfriend, Barnaby.”
“Just Barry, please. She likes using my full name because she knows I hate it.”
“Nice to meet you,” Evan said.
It really was nice to meet him. Evan had started to wonder if he would be the only man living in the dorm, a prospect that somehow scared him a little. It was clear that Barry was a goblin just like his girlfriend. He had short black hair and green skin.
“Having a good time?” Clara said after he settled in next to her.
“It’s ok,” he said. “I’ve never enjoyed public speaking, though.”
“Oh, same!” Clara said. “I was so nervous when I did it three years ago.”
“I always thought this party was dumb,” Barry said. “Especially since everyone already knows each other.”
Zayla hit Barry’s arm and rolled her eyes when he just shrugged. He glanced at Evan and then looked a little guilty.
“Most everyone does anyway.”
“Most of us have gone to school with each other our whole lives,” Zayla said to Evan. “But there are usually one or two a year that come in from the outside. The meet and greet is mostly for them.”
“You’re the only new student from outside this year, though,” Clara said.
“I see,” Evan said.
It was weird learning the party was basically for him. Did that mean he would have to stay until the end? He hoped not. Evan turned his head around as he felt a weight settle on the back of the couch. There he found another boy he had missed in the crowd previously. This guy had long messy brown hair, and a couple of furry ears on his head.
“Evan Matthews,” the boy said. “Welcome to paradise, brother!”
“Paradise?”
“Hell yeah, man! A whole town full of horny women. It’s fuckin’ awesome!”
“Looks like this slut already has you in her sights,” he said. “Even though she has a boyfriend.”
Clara recoiled from his touch like she was disgusted.
“Derek, what the hell, stop!” Zayla said coming to Clara’s defense.
“Yeah, come on, man,” Barry said.
“Pfft, whatever,” Derek said. “Hey, Evan, here’s some advice. Don’t end up tied down to one girl like this lame ass.”
Evan could smell the alcohol coming from Derek’s breath as he talked. He had obviously been drinking before he showed up to the party. It was clear right off the bat that Derek was an asshole, but Evan didn’t really know enough about him to say much back. He was spared the need to when someone else spoke up from nearby.
“You’re not an expert on relationships just because some lonely old grandmas use you as their booty call, asswipe.”
Evan turned to see Alex leaning against the wall nearby with her plate. She was looking at Derek like he was an annoying bug she discovered on the ground.
“Everyone knows you wouldn’t be able to get laid in the real world with that tiny dick of yours.”
There was a chorus of oohs and laughter as all the people nearby turned their attention to the scene.
“What the hell would you know about dick you virgin bitch!?” Derek said.
Evan worried things were going to escalate into something physical, but Trish rushed over as soon as she noticed someone was causing problems.
“Derek! Are you starting shit again?” she said.
Trish stood between Alex and Derek so he was unable to get any closer.
“I didn’t start shit!” he said. “She was running her mouth, talking about shit she don’t know shit about.”
“That’s a lot of shit, Derek,” Trisha said sounding tired. “You’ve been drinking in your room again, haven’t you?”
“…”
“Come on, let’s go search your room… again.”
Trish led Derek away to the stairs, presumably to remove whatever alcohol he had smuggled into the dorm. With the drama over, everyone turned back to their conversations. Evan noticed that Clara looked upset.
“You alright?” he said.
“Yeah,” she said flashing him a smile. He could see her eyes were a little damp, though. “I’m just going to go to the bathroom real fast.”
She left quickly, and Zayla followed her, clearly worried about her friend. Evan noticed that Alex was over at the food table, so he decided it was a good time to grab some dessert. He wanted to see if he could maybe make a new friend on his own. He picked out a couple cookies and stood next to Alex who looked to be deliberating on which brownie she wanted.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.”
“That was cool what you did.”
“Was nothing,” she said with a shrug.
“You know, your mom was the one that brought me to the academy,” he said. “She’s a nice lady.”
“She’s alright.”
“She mentioned she had a daughter, but I didn’t expect you to be my age.”
“Hey, listen,” Alex said facing him for the first time. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but I don’t want anything to do with it. I’ve had enough of men tonight.”
She promptly turned and walked away, leaving Evan stunned. He had thought he had found a good opening for a conversation, but it blew up in his face. So much for taking chances on being more sociable.
Evan looked around and saw the two girls he had been sitting with had not returned. He suddenly felt very alone as he realized he didn’t have anyone to seek comfort with. It had only been half an hour since the party started, but he felt he had put in his required time, he didn’t care if the party was for him or not. He grabbed a few cookies and hurried up to the safety of his room.