Nick walked slowly across campus, watching the student body flow from building to building. Laughter seemed to be a constant, punctuated by joyful whoops of recognition.
What am I doing here? They all know each other, they all belong here. Damn this was a dumb idea. But his feet didn't stop moving till Nick was standing in front of the building which housed his first class.
The throngs of people continued to move around him as he looked over at the copy of "The Thinker" which sat in front of the impressive building. The statue seemed to look down at him with disgust. "Stupid, useless teen idol," it derided him. "Go back to your screaming teenies and syrupy songs. You aren't even smart enough to write a real song, you can't possibly survive here."
"Uh, excuse me?" Nick started, nearly letting out a yelp. The speaker was another freshman, looking as young and scared as Nick felt. A pair of sunglasses were perched atop a head of dark curls that reminded him faintly of A.J. He held out a wrinkled campus map. "Can you show me where Chandler Hall is?"
He had to laugh. "Sorry, it's my first day too."
The guy went red. "Oh. Oops?"
"I know this is Philosophy Hall..." Nick bent over the map and jabbed a finger at the building. "We're here. That help?"
The other student brightened. "Yeah, actually. Thanks!"
As he hurried away, Nick looked back at the statue and stucked out his tongue. He hoisted his backpack and continued inside. Once inside he noticed a few more lost expressions and red faces. One girl's books slipped from her arms and tumbled down the stairs, hitting several people as they fell. He felt a little better, until he reached the door of his lecture hall.
Nick wasn't wearing any disguise. He had a baseball cap on but that was more of a fashion choice than anything else. He had registered as Nickolas Gene Carter. As soon as he walked in that door he'd be laying himself open to exposure. Going to school under the eye of the media and the world was a fate worse than failing.
"For fuck's sake don't look like that!" Tricia's voice echoed in his ears. "You look like a hunted animal. If you look like you've got something to hide, like you're waiting to be recognized, of course people are going to stare."
So how should he look? He tried to stand up straighter, think "I belong here" thoughts...
"Oh screw it." Nick walked into the room.
He'd seen lecture halls before, this wasn't so foreign. It wasn't even that big, compared to all the arenas he'd played in. But it sure was packed. He walked up the aisle, and found a seat near the middle. The girl on its left had her back to the seat, but the guy on its right had a bag stowed half under it, half under his own chair.
Nick cleared his throat. "This taken?"
The young man tucked long brown hair behind his ears and looked up. "Nope. Sorry 'bout the bag, it's kinda huge."
"Sort of," Nick agreed and settled himself into the seat. He took off his cap, running nervous fingers through his hair.
"Carter," his neighbour said confidently. Nick stared at him.
"What?"
"The name's Carter McKinnon. It's the first day, I ain't met anybody yet, figured I'd start with you."
"Oh." Nick's laugh was a little shaky. "Nick Carter."
"Really?" Carter chuckled. Nick bit his lip, waiting for the inevitable. "That's like... fate or something."
"Could be," he agreed, relieved. "Could be."