"Have you heard? The latest protest had three people in the hospital."
"Really? Damn, the military sure is taking it up a notch, aren't they?"
"Well, the Governor did order to use whatever method to take down the riots. That's pretty brutal, if I say so myself."
"Kol, how many times do we have to remind you to call them protests and not riots."
"Oh shoot- sorry, I keep forgetting. That's how the others call them."
Nate lets out an audible sigh, causing those at his table to immediately shut up. He looks up at his friends, Salvadore Merlo, Raphael Niloh, and Nikolai Menlozin; they can see the weariness dripping off his face.
"Can you guys shut up about the protest already?" He asks them, a frown on his lips. He could've let them go on and on, but he couldn't really focus on what he's reading if they're being noisy. "I know it's a hot topic since there's another one this month, but.. can you quit it for now? I just want to study."
"Sorry dude, we'll just continue later." Sal says, turning back to what they were doing. Nate himself lets out another sigh and turns back to his notes, knowing that he has a test in the next period he needs to study for. His grades are slowly slipping, and finals are quickly coming up. It's only the first sem of his second year but he really couldn't help but stress over the tests.
"You guys want anything? I'm going to buy something from the snack bar," Kol says, knocking the table twice to catch everyone's attention. "What'cha guys want?"
"I'll have some soda, thanks." Sal mumbles, typing into his laptop. He hums a tune before typing once again, they could tell he's composing yet another song. It's in his major, after all.
"Orange juice if they have any," says Raph, waving as he scribbles notes onto his notebook. He looks up, smiling at Kol, "Or apple juice. Any juice really."
"If you say so- you want anything, Nate?" Kol asks, tapping at the guy's shoulder. Nate looks up at him, eyebrows furrowed.
"Nothing much, thank you, though." He offers a kind smile, turning back to his notes. He used to be one of the top students in his class during Devel but now he feels like he's turned into one of the average ones. He's passing classes, yes, but some of them barely passing. He needs to keep his grades up since he's only in the university in the first place due to a scholarship.
Another sigh escapes from his lips, remembering the reason why he was in the university in the first place. It's not like he wanted to study in Valnix in the first place, but being offered a scholarship after being the top student of his school- he couldn't really refuse that. It was still surreal for a Pykrest like him to end up in such a prestigious school from across the country where he lives, but he took the chance at least.
"You made a mistake here."
All three of them on the table look up to the source of the voice, seeing a black-haired girl taking Raphael's pencil and erasing the entire equation he just wrote.
"You scared the crap out of us, you know?" Raph chuckles, taking his pencil back as the girl sits across from him. He rewrites the equation as the girl dictates his mistake.
"Welcome back, Lynn! Back from the org?" Sal asks, setting aside his notes to make space for their friend. Nate braces himself for another set of noise, focusing on his notes.
"Nothing much happened, really. I just passed the edited articles since they were supposed to be passed today." She lets out a breath, leaning against the chair. With eyes closed, she speaks, "Nate, you mentioned being part of your journalism club back in Devel, right?"
Nate looks up, seeing that she's now looking at him. He would have just said yes, but he felt like there's something more to her query. He raises an eyebrow in question, saying, "Yes I was, why do you ask?"
"Mind filling in as a news editor along me? There is so much news to edit and there is only one of me to edit." She states, now leaning against the table. "I could ask the President for a sign up slip right now."
"Are you asking me to join your org?" He asks, an incredulous look on his face. He glances down at his notebook, continuing, "I'm not sure if I can handle the stress of that- I remember that scandal last year where the head of the Akadem sector threatened to shut down the org because of some gossip article."
"But it didn't, the org's standing strong, right?" Sal says, smiling at Nate. Nate gives him a deadpan stare, knowing that the guy has a knack for pulling him into schemes. Sal adds, "Also, joining an org means plus points for your grades. Joining an essential org like EONS would give you a grade raise or something."
That definitely got his attention. He knew that joining an org would grant him plus points in his grades for partaking in extracurricular activities, but that would also mean he'd be extra busy. It's not like he's doing much, all he's studying is his Literature subject.
"He's actually considering it." Raphael chuckles, causing Nate to sigh.
"It's wouldn't really hurt to join an org, would it?" Nate says, turning to the side as Kol comes back to their table holding a tray of snacks. Nate glances at Sal, who has the same look on his face.
"You sure you are alright abusing your allowance like that?" Lynn questions, though she takes a plate of strawberry cake for herself.
"Sheesh, it's fine! I'm allowed to treat my friends, alright?" Kol sits beside her, reaching over to kiss her on the cheek. "Anyway, finals are coming up, after first sem I heard that there's a party at the Mosh Garden."
"Heard from the heads, Lilian was talking about it in the lounge one time." Raphael mentions, taking his apple juice from the tray. It proved to be a task due to the amount of snacks, causing him to laugh nervously, "Damn, how much did you spend, Kol?"
"Doesn't matter, we have snacks now." Kol says with a smile, turning back to his laptop. He taps away on whatever he's working on, asking "What were you talking 'bout before I got here?"
"I asked Nate if it as alright with him if he joined EONS as a news editor alongside me," Lynn says, taking out her laptop from her bag. Looking back at Nate, she tells him, "Speaking of, do you mind considering it?"
"I already considered it when you asked me when I did journalism in Devel." Nate responds, closing his notebook. He muses upon the thought of joining an org. It wouldn't hurt to join one, would it? He fiddles with a pencil, asking, "Do I have to do an interview? Send an example of my work?"
"Wow, you're really thinking about this, aren't you?" Sal chuckles, leaning against the table. "Why, you got an example of your work right now? I wanna see what type of article you wrote back then."
"Oh, shut up, Sal."
"Come on, just a little?"
"Lynn?"
"Hold on a moment." She mumbles, taking her phone from her bag. They settle onto a comfortable silence, the sounds of the mess hall becoming background noise to them. Nate looks down at his notebook, getting another book from his bag. He really should be studying if he wants to keep up his scholarship.
"So guys, 'bout the party, you guys coming or what?" Kol asks, an excited smile on his lips. "All parties I've been to the past month are gaming sessions, courtesy of our dear prince of course."
"Erulia?" Sal says, raising an eyebrow. Nate looks at them, baffled at how they could talk about the Crown Prince so easily. Sure, it was surprising that the Prince of Rapille is merely a student at their university, but he surely would want to be treated with some respect at least. Sal leans against the chair, crossing his arms, "I honestly thought the Prince would be some stuck up guy but he ended up being more casual than I imagined."
"Wonder why the Prince decided to go to Valnix when he already had a future ahead of him as King," Nate mentions, chuckling lightly. "I'd honestly spend the rest of my life in the palace or wherever he lives if I were in his shoes."
"Guy has the easy life." Sal sighs dreamily. He nudges at Kol, saying, "Invite me next gaming night, huh?"
"I'll invite you to the group, the guys usually put up notices there."
"Ah, she replied." Lynn picks up her phone once again, as it had went off from a notification. Going through the message, she smiles, saying, "President agreed, I gave her your e-mail address so you should receive an e-mail from her that includes the form you need to send her."
"How did you get in the org in the first place?" Kol asks, leaning back against his chair to put an arm around Lynn.
"As Journalism major, I needed some place to practice my skills. Luckily the President is my roommate, so she roped me into joining the org." She answers, tapping away into her laptop. Making a face, she sighs, "I have received yet another round of news articles to proofread."
"How many are there?"
"My notifications show me ten e-mails, but it is still a pain to read due to grammar errors and wrong arrangement of words." She says, stretching her arms upwards. Her head tilts with a matching look of disdain, adding, "I still have a homework to pass in Literature class."
"Ah, yikes, me too." Nate mumbles, having forgotten his laptop back in his dorm. "I'll work on that later."
"What? Nate's procrastinating? Get a load of this guy."
"Shut the hell up, Sal."