~ The First Day ~

Danny sat in the back row, right in the middle, next to the aisle. It gave him the best vantage point of the room while still sitting in the back row. He had a thing about people he didn't know sitting behind him. He put his head down on the desk in front of him. Really, it was a long table that started where he sat and when all the way to the edge of the room to his left. There were four of these on each side of the aisle. He was early to class, since his previous class had released early due to the fact that it was the first day, and there really wasn't a whole lot to talk about except for what to expect. And to buy the books needed for the class. It was 10:00 a.m. and he had already been through two classes, this being his third. He was not looking forward to doing this every other day for fifteen weeks. He heard, but could not see, other students slowly coming in and taking seats. There were a few others who were there when he got there. He was listening to the nervous talking of people meeting for the first time. Slowly, the room got a little louder. All of a sudden, he heard a "DANNNNYYYYYYY!" and he looked up to see Jennifer and Thiago walking into the room. Jennifer let go of Thiago's hand and ran over to the sleepy boy and threw her arms around his neck. Danny just smiled. This was a moment he had been waiting for for years. But now that he was over her, it just felt strange. That, and Thiago was standing there smiling at him too.

"Danny, didn't know you were taking this class." Thiago said, sticking his hand out to shake Danny's as Jennifer let go of his neck. Danny shook his hand.

"Yeah. Wait, what class is this?"

Jennifer laughed. "It's intro to psychology."

"Oh, ok good. They changed rooms on me once. I sat in for twenty minutes on a senior ethics course before realizing it. Not only did I have to get up and leave in the middle of class, but then it looked like I was twenty minutes late to that class..."

"Oof... That's rough, dude. First day, and all..." Both Thiago and Jennifer made grimacing faces.

"Yeah, luckily I talked to the professor afterwards and he said I wasn't the only one to do that today. He seemed really nice about it."

"Hey, you mind if we sit with you?" Jennifer asked and Danny realized they were still standing there.

"Of course!" Danny moved his stuff out of the way, so they could sit. "It'll be nice knowing people in classes for once."

"Jenn and I planned our schedule so that we had most of our classes together. And the ones we didn't, we were at least close so we could walk together."

"Except for during football practice..."

"Baby, you know I have..." Thiago started whispering to her, but pretty loudly, so that Danny heard it.

"I'm not complaining sweetie, just stating a fact."

Danny realized this was probably a sore subject between them, and decided to leave it alone.

"So, y'all are dating now...?"

Jennifer got a huge grin "Yes! He asked me out over the summer!"

"It'll be two months on the 21st."

Jennifer gave him a hopelessly romantic look. "He even remembers our anniversary. How cute is that?"

"Disgustingly" was all Danny could say before the professor walked in.

The professor gave his introduction and started calling roll. He got through a chunk of names before pausing. "Is it Thiago Silva?"

"Here" Thiago said, raising his hand.

"Is... is that Brazilian?"

Thiago looked shocked that someone knew that. "It is... my parents are from Brazil. They moved to the U.S. in the 70's."

"Oh, how nice! My wife is from São Paulo. Where were your parents from?"

"They both grew up in Rio, but didn't meet until they moved here."

"Você fala o Português?"

"Um pouco. O bastante para sobreviver."

Danny leaned over to Jennifer and whispered, "What are they saying?"

"How should I know? Us Guzman's are pure Mexican. That's not Spanish..." She whispered back.

"Mr. Elliot, Ms. Guzman, you really should learn your friend's language..." The professor said, then continued, "also, I have very good hearing..."

"Evidently..." Danny said, before really thinking about it, but not in a mean way. The professor just smiled at him, and Danny was mortified. Some of the students snickered a bit.

"Mr. Elliot, we may get along... Now, Mr. Silva, do you go by Thiago?"

"Well, really, I go by Thi."

"T-E-A?"

"Well, T-H-I, but it sounds the same..."

The professor looked down at his roll sheet. "Oh, I guess that would make sense." He then continued on with the roll.

Class got out early, and Jennifer and Thiago said bye to Danny and they were off. The rest of his day was fairly uneventful. He and Blaine and ate dinner and chatted about their first day. Blaine was worried about not being as smart as the other kids in his class. Apparently they were all really smart and had taken coding classes back in high school, where Blaine had learned that all by himself. Chris was worried that all of her "three hour classes" were really six hours, once you counted all the "lab" work that went in to it. Danny told his story of being in the wrong room again. And that Jennifer and Thiago were in his psych class.

"Really? I bet that was awkward." Chris gave him a concerned look.

"Actually, it really wasn't. They were really nice. They even wanted to sit by me."

"What bizzaro world Jenn and Thi have replaced the ones we know?"

"Ha ha... No idea, but I really hope it's permanent."

"You just want it to be permanent so that you can hook up with Jenn..." The conversation was entirely between Chris and Danny, as Blaine was entirely enraptured with the fact that the cafe was all you could eat. And Blaine could eat a lot.


"Not really. I'm really over her. Plus, she and Thiago are official. And are probably going to end up being one of those repulsive couples who are all over each other all the time."


"Well, someone sounds jealous..."


"Not of the fact that it's Jenn, but of the fact that I wish I could be that couple with someone."


Chris punched his arm. "Aww, Danny... I'm sure you'll find some nice hot college girl and y'all can make out all the time, and we'll make fun of you for it."


Danny stared at his sort-of Chinese food and didn't smile. "Yeah... some girl..."


Chris kinda looked at Danny, wondering what he meant by that, but before she got the chance, Blaine came back with his third plate of food. This time it was a giant baked potato, loaded with everything imaginable. And probably some that you wouldn't want to know about.


"I can't believe this places exists! Look at all of this delicious food!"


"You know, Blaine, the freshman fifteen isn't just a myth..."


"With food like this, who cares!"


They finished eating with nothing more than small talk. All three of them walked back to their dorms exhausted from their first day in college.