the reason i smile; closed.

(I'm so sorry this sucks. D:)

With it being his first day of college, there was a lot for Cory to do. Not only did he have to move into his dorm, but he also had to wander around the campus for a while to get used to the layout - though he figured he could do that with his best friend, Shawn. That way, if he got lost, at least he'd have somebody with him and he wouldn't be alone. His relationship with Topanga had ended a few months back, due to disagreements about how they wanted to proceed with their relationships, but they were still on relatively good terms. That didn't mean that he wanted to wander the campus with her, though. Along with wanting to explore the campus, he wanted to see what college life had to offer for Freshmen like him.

Maybe it would be simple to get into the life college had to offer. Or maybe there was way too much for him to get used to at once. He didn't really want to think about it, honestly, so he focused on the task at hand: finding his dorm. It took a few tries, but when he eventually found it, he sighed with relief as he entered and dropped his luggage. Now he just had to wait for Shawn to show up and they could start exploring their new home.

---

It felt weird, knowing that she was going to college. When she was younger, Aria had never even considered college as an option. Having lived in the trailer park for most of her life, things always seemed so bleak and hopeless, as if that place was all she would ever really have as a home, as if she wouldn't ever really accomplish anything in life. But, then, she moved away and got more interested in school. And, as the years passed, she started deciding what she wanted to do with her life, where her life would progress to. College had somehow worked its way into her plans and she didn't regret it at all. Instead, she was looking forward to it entirely.

Especially since her best friend was joining her. The two had gotten a dorm that allowed families, so that her friend's son could join them as well. Upon arriving to the campus, she stepped out of the car and gathered her luggage before looking towards her friend. "Parker? Noelle? Are you two ready?" she asked with a grin.

Shawn Hunter

College was the absolute last place the teenager saw himself after high school. Honestly, who would have thought it? Definitely not him, definitely not anyone who knew him. He was just a poor kid from the trailer park, not the stereotypical college kid. Despite all the odds, the youngest Hunter couldn't help but be oddly excited. It was the next chapter in his life. He was progressing and he was going to make something of himself. Besides, it wasn't as if he would let Cory have all the fun. Still, as he unloaded from the bus he took he couldn't help but feel a bit on edge. Was he really cut out for this? Nervously he pushed his hair from his eyes and began to pull his luggage up the stairs, trying to remember what his dorm room was. He probably should have wrote it down, or asked Cory once more, but he hadn't put much thought into it.

Glancing back and forth he hoped something would come to him, only to turn up with a blank. Great... However, his gaze did skim over a familiar face. He furrowed his brows in concentration. How did he know her? What was her name? Aria...no, it couldn't be here - that would be highly unlikely. He stole one more glance before turning away from the two girls and beginning the search for his dorm - he would have to bring it up to Cory, he would probably know who she was. He was better at remembering faces.

Noelle Roux

The majority of Noelle's adolescence she focused on college - not attending just was not an option for her, it wouldn't be. She knew if she ever wanted to get anywhere in life she needed to get into college, she knew if she ever wanted to be noticed by her parents college was definitely in her future, but she got pregnant it was as if all of her dreams crashed around her. What teen mom actually got the chance to live her dream? She was doomed to be a stay at home mom, working late shifts to help support her son - since her parent's basically out-casted her after Parker's birth.

"Just one second!" The blonde called in response to her friend, her son clinging to his mother as his seat belt was unbuckled. She didn't know how, but somehow her friend, Aria, stumbled across a college that allowed boarding for families. It would be a big change for her small family, but she hoped it would be one for the better. With her son on her hip and her luggage in one hand she stood beside her friend, "Excited?" She asked with a grin, she knew Aria never imagined being here, but despite all odds here she was and Noelle was proud of the two of them. They were the girls who nobody thought would make it, but despite all the stereotypes the girls were proving their peers wrong.

[ This is terrible, please don't hate me. ]

(1. It's nowhere near terrible, and 2. I could never hate you, don't worry! :) )

It was taking Shawn too long to find their shared dorm, Cory realized, and he assumed Shawn couldn't remember where it was. Better to go out and find his friend before he walked into the wrong dorm and got in trouble, he decided as he set his boxes to the side before making his way out of the dorm. He made sure to lock it, because his parents told him it was better to do so - otherwise, there was the risk that somebody would go in there and steal his things (not that there was much that was worth stealing, anyways.) Making his way along the hallway, he couldn't spot Shawn, so he assumed the boy was still outside. Figuring that that was why it was taking so long to find his friend, Cory quickly made his way out and it didn't take him long to spot Shawn - it was kind of hard to not notice his best friend easily, after all. "Shawn!" he greeted with an excited grin as he rushed over, taking some of his friend's items out of his hands. "Can you believe we actually made it here?"

Cory hadn't ever really thought about going to college, not until Mr. Feeney convinced him to. And, now that he was here, he wasn't going to waste his opportunity. He could actually do something with his life if he survived made it through college. And so could Hunter. They were in this together, just like they had been with everything else. It was then that he noticed that his friend seemed a little distracted, though, and Cory arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Is something wrong?" he asked after a moment, because he was a little cautious about asking personal questions to Hunter - not that he was even sure if his question was even personal, but still.

---

Was Aria excited? She wasn't entirely sure if it was just excitement, so it took her a moment to answer before she nodded. "Definitely excited. And nervous. And mentally freaking out over everything here," she said honestly before she let out a quiet laugh. She wasn't really entirely confident with this. She was worried about messing up, about putting so much effort into trying to make something out of the nothing that she had been back at the trailer park, that she wasn't entirely sure how she should feel. With a smile, she lifted her shoulders. "We should go find that dorm, yeah?" she suggested before setting her things down just long enough to ruffle Parker's hair. "I'm sure Parker's dying to play with his toys, since he didn't get to during the drive here," she joked lightly before gathering her things again. She adored her friend's son and had even made sure to schedule her classes around her friend's so that somebody would always be at the dorm with the boy so he wasn't alone.

Turning, she gathered her courage and started heading towards the dorm building, only to pause for a moment. Just ahead, she saw somebody she knew from the trailer park. Shawn. It was difficult to not notice any of the Hunters, really, and she wasn't sure what to think about seeing him here. She hadn't seen him since she moved away and, since she was certain he wouldn't recognize her (and, admittedly, a little worried that he would, since she didn't want to deal with questions,) she ducked her head and made her way into the building.