The accordion style furnace buckeled and spit out small sprays of steam where cracks in the weathered metal had formed. The noise was painfully present throughout the entire dormatory, creeping and extending it's long arms up from the basement of Taylor Hall and into each room of male college students attending Northern Arizona University.

Bryce sat with his back to the window, starring at his empty desk that was covered with Biology notes and stacked text books weighing as much as they cost, less than a day ago during his first semester finals exams. The whiteout was blazing outside in chaotic shifts as the storm kicked up loose snow already fallen onto the dry desert floor. The wind caught the fresh layer and swooped it upward, spilling it into the darkness above while mixing it into the swirling, heavily saturated flakes still in pursuit of landing.