After waving goodbye to Cassandra and Meghan she had tried to enter room 23 yet realised dismally that Cassandra had failed to remember to supply her with the key. Out of options she started to panic and considered going back to the administration building to request a spare. But it was already quite dark and, being slightly directionally challenged she feared getting lost.
Moreover, since it was only the first day she didn't yet know where the other's rooms were. She paced around along the second floor corridor anxiously, debating on whether to knock on someone's door and ask or make the trek to the administration building.
In the end she decided she didn't want to disturb anyone because she hadn't yet got the chance to get acquainted with them and she felt that knocking and asking would be rather awkward and too confrontational for her liking. So in the end she resolved herself to go to the administration building.
She made her way out of the building, and walked along the asphalt between the buildings, actively looking for signs. Just as she found one she heard hurried footsteps behind her. Alarmed she turned around quickly, subconsciously clenching her fists at her sides. However, the figure turned out to be a very flustered, panting Cassandra who, clutching a key in her hand, visibly expressed relief upon seeing Emily.
"I'm so so sorry, I completely forgot to give this to you." She said, passing a small grey key attached to a lanyard over to her.
Emily smiled. "It's ok. I was just on my way to administration; they would've been able to give me a spare even if you didn't realise."
Cassandra gaped at her, "On your way to admin? At this hour? On your first night? Are you stupid. Of course they're closed now, its almost 8…" her voice trailed off as she realised Emily likely didn't remember. She covered her mouth with her hand, "My bad my bad, I shouldn't have said that, you wouldn't remember a ha ha.." she laughed awkwardly.
"Oh right. At least you came, otherwise I would've been in a bit of a situation…"
The two stood in silence for a minute before Cassandra cleared her throat, "Great. I'll walk you back then, let's go."
"Its fine, you don't need to walk me back I know the way I don't want to trouble you"
"Trouble me? I was the idiot who forgot to give it to you in the first place it's no trouble. Let's go."
"Seriously, you don't have to. I'll be fine walking back on my own…"
"No really I insist."
"You insist?"
"Yes." Cassandra looked away and fidgeted with her hands behind her back. "If you don't want me to its fine but I'd rather ensure you get into your room okay…" After a moment's hesitation she added, "But if you want to walk by yourself that's fine. It's up to you." I'll just follow from a distance.
But Emily just shook her head and laughed before agreeing, "Alright then, since you're so insistent let's go".
Cassandra just grinned in response and the two walked back to the building.
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Emily was about to take the lanyard off from around her neck, when she felt a piercing gaze on her hands, shifting her head to the side she noticed Cassandra's confused expression.
"What?" Emily asked, perplexed.
Cassandra didn't say anything and just reached over to grab the lanyard. Emily flinched back subconsciously, and Cassandra's hand hesitated before retreating. She instead held up the lanyard around her own neck.
"See, there's a clip here" she said pointing to the lobster clip that was currently attaching the key to the lanyard itself. "It's easier" she said, demonstrating single quick motion needed to detach it.
Emily stared blankly before going "Oh I see" and unclipping the clip herself and fitting it into the door.
Once it opened she turned to Cassandra, "thanks for the help today, it was really appreciated".
Stunned, Cassandra hesitated before replying, "No problem at all, I'm sorry it had to be so eventful, with the way you met me until now it's a bit of a mess…." She scratched her head guiltily.
"It's no problem at all, it was a fun day."
Cassandra smiled, "Ok then, have a good rest, good night."
"Good night." Emily replied. After a moment's thought she added, "Make sure you sleep enough, you looked tired this morning. Sleeping is important."
Cassandra felt the tips of hear ears turn crimson, she chuckled and said "I'll try. Goodnight"
"Goodnight"
"One more thing, Meghan and I usually have breakfast downstairs in that dining hall at around 9.30, if it's not too late or early for you feel free to join us." She smiled and then turned around, making her way back to her own room.
Emily watched her retreating figure for a couple seconds before entering her room. The room was larger than she expected, and she was surprised to see that there was even a kettle, microwave, and a miniscule fridge in what appeared to be a very basic kitchenette setup.
The garbage bag she had brought with her was placed in the centre of the room, along with a few documents on the table next to it. Looking at the single garbage bag from a distance, she hoped that she had brought a wide enough variety of clothes so as not to appear too boring. For her, she knew requesting some extras would prove tedious given that she doesn't have anyone on the "outside" who knows her size and preferences.
She found herself to be quite tired after today's events, so she opted to unpack tomorrow, only rifling through to try to find only what she needed for tonight.
After a while she found everything she needed and she went to the bathroom to shower, change and get ready to go to bed. Once in the bed, she fell asleep almost instantly.
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Emily always found herself to be an early riser and so, she wasn't surprised that, even despite the new environment she woke up at 6 am. Yet even though she was awake she was reluctant to get out of bed and instead opted to lie there and try to plan out today's events. Her brain was still slightly foggy, so she felt her thoughts wander, unable to align themselves with her initial intentions…
When she groggily opened her eyes again and checked her watch she was surprised to see that it was almost 9 am. Startled, she practically jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to shower.
She came out of the shower in a bath towel and once again rifled through her belongings trying to find something to wear. Eventually, she got frustrated and decided to open the garbage bag and chuck most of her belongings unceremoniously onto her bed.
After staring at the few pairs of clothes she had picked out, she settled on a simple tank top under a hoodie and a pair of sports leggings. On her "tour" with Cassandra yesterday she had seen the facility's gym and she was keen to go take a look. She also wanted to see the library, but she felt she could leave that until later in the day.
Almost ready to go, she tied her short hair into a half-up ponytail before grabbing her lanyard and leaving the room to head to the dining hall.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------She was surprised to see both Meghan and Cassandra seated at one of the smaller tables in the dining hall when she walked in. Perhaps it was due to the influence of her first encounter with Cassandra, but she felt it unlikely that they would arrive before her and so, she had purposely tried to arrive a couple minutes later.
Cassandra saw her walk in and waved her arm eagerly, a fork gripped tightly in her hand as she not so subtly pointed out their table to her. After a few waves, Meghan looked up to see what she was doing, and her eyes widened. She hurriedly grabbed her wrist and yanked her arm back down to the table before shaking her head and continuing eating.
Emily waved back a couple times in response and walked over to the counters to get herself a plate of food. There wasn't exactly a large selection, but she wasn't one to be picky, particularly given that it could be much worse. She poured herself a cup of breakfast tea and grabbed 2 slices of bread, smearing a thick layer of peanut butter on them. She then walked over to the pair.
Cassandra was wearing a similar outfit to yesterday, still looking rather formal. Meghan on the other hand was dressed more casually, in a t-shirt and jeans, so she didn't feel too out of place in her own casual clothing.
Once she had sat down, Cassandra immediately asked her, "Sleep alright?"
"Yeah I slept fine I was pretty tired."
"That's good. I have quite a bit to do today so I'm sorry I can't show you around more."
"It's fine, I saw most of it yesterday. I have a couple things I want to check out on my own anyway."
"What sort of things?" Meghan interrupted.
"Well… I want to check out the gym first, then perhaps the library a bit later."
Meghan scoffed, "The gym? I can see that given your clothing but the library?"
"I'm thinking of enrolling into an online university course next term, so I want to look into a few things"
"Makes sense." She then went back to eating her food.
"What sort of course are you thinking of?" Cassandra inquired.
Emily looked down before replying, "I'm thinking of psychology…."
The other two looked up at her after she said this. "Woah that's so cool. You'll do great I'm sure. Go for it" Cassandra said encouragingly.
Emily smiled and asked, "what about you guys, are you considering any courses?"
Cassandra replied, "In all honesty I haven't looked into it too thoroughly yet but I'm thinking of doing a course in criminal justice. Ironic isn't it seeing as I'm here."
"Not at all. That seems quite interesting… Meghan what about you?"
Meghan looked up, "I'm considering doing a photography course at one of the creative institutes. Nothing as ambitious as you two, I haven't quite decided what I want to pursue in the future, but photography is nice."
"Interesting."
"She's pretty good already" Cassandra chimed in. "Since she's came here she's become the "official photographer" of sorts, you know for events and things." She smacked her fist on her palm before exclaiming "Oh yeah how could I forget, speaking of events there's a recreation day coming up."
"Recreation day?" Emily asked.
"Yeah. You joined at a great time, our branch of the facility and the conjoined other side come together before the beginning of an online course semester to have a bit of fun. It's pretty much just a social event that happens every once in a while."
"What sort of things happen"
"There's sporting matches where teams from each side of the centre verse, since we're all adults we also get in a rare supply of alcohol if you can handle it for later in the evening when there's usually a movie night of some sort. There's lots of things I might've forgotten a few…"
"When is it?"
"Uh… I think two weeks….maybe 2 and a bit" She looked at Meghan for help.
"Three weeks Friday" Meghan replied bluntly.
"Yeah that's right" Cassandra said.
"That sounds pretty fun." Emily added.
"Yeah it's a lot of fun, I'd ask around, see if there's any sporting teams you want to join or anything else you want to be a part of. It's more fun if you're involved."
"Yeah I will"
At this point, the three had long finished eating so, once the discussion had naturally ended they decided it was time to put back their dishes and go off to do their own thing. After agreeing to meet back in the dining hall for dinner at around 6 they parted ways, Meghan following Cassandra back to her room to grab some documents, Emily heading off to venture around the centre.