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Allegra Gorey - Autumn, Year One - Sim State University
Allegra really wasn’t sure how to deal with her roommates. Martin seemed like an absolute recluse, but at least he tended to agree that frat boys and sorority girls were too much by default.
Allegra, of course, had gone out of her way to dislike the sorority girls by default, just on principle. She wasn't like the other girls, so why would she get along with them. They clearly wouldn’t understand her taste for black coffee and poetry, so why bother trying.
Besides, all they ever did was talk about makeup and boys, so what was there in common? Nothing.
And yet, somehow Allegra had roomed up with Jane Stacks. Pretty, naturally cute and playful, and surprisingly popular even though she didn’t fit the “cool girls” body type or interests. Allegra didn’t mind Jane, don’t get her wrong. The problem was that the sorority girls also liked Jane. and Jane liked them. Somehow. Which meant they came over. And gave Allegra dirty looks and threw shade behind her back, she was sure.
So, without anyone else to talk to in their student apartment, Allegra now sat at the coffee shop drinking an espresso and reading the newest publication by Sim Publico Press. It was a pleasant day out, which was nice since she knew the weather would be changing all too soon. Unfortunately, Sim State was not far enough south to avoid snow. So she would enjoy the sun on the deck of the small café for as long as the season would allow. She had been excited to find that the university had a coffee shop like this in the first place. It was nice and quiet, nestled away over a small pond. And it seemed as though it wasn’t the most popular place, which suited Allegra just fine. She didn’t need to be surrounded by sorority girls and their “coffee” frappes and giggling about the newest member of the sports team. She got enough of that at the apartment from Jane.
She sighed happily and turned the page of her book while the smell of pastries drifted out of the open windows.
“Hi there, is this seat taken?”
She sighed internally, wanting desperately to say yes. Glancing up, she took in the completely average man in front of her. Dreads, bandana, one earbud in his ear, and a basketball shirt hidden under his blazer. Typical college freshman. Great.
“No, but I have class soon. I suppose you can sit if you’d like though.”
“Awesome. Thanks.“ He gestured to the other tables, and for the first time that morning, Allegra noticed that they were all filled up. Maybe she'd been wrong about how popular the cafe was. The boy sat quietly drinking what looked like a regular latte. At least he wasn’t drinking some fake sugary drink like many of the others here, she thought.
“So… “ She gritted her teeth. She’d just picked back up where she’d left off in her book. “What are you drinking?”
“An espresso macchiato.”
“Ahh, cool. Nice and simple. You can really taste the flavors of the espresso blend that way.” She glanced up. Maybe this kid wasn’t completely terrible. She nodded slightly, and he grinned. “My mom loved coffee. She was super intent on trying all these new blends all the time when we could afford it. I was a little too young though, so I didn’t really get it.”
“Ah, yea. My dad’s the same way,” she laughed lightly, “he’d probably rather die than drink gas station coffee.”
“Yeaaaah. To be fair, that stuff is normally awful.” The boy grinned, “anyways, that isn’t actually what caught my eye over here.”
She tried not to roll her eyes. Was he about to hit on her with that line?
“You know, besides the table being empty and all, I was actually curious about your book.” Allegra raised an eyebrow. That was a surprise. “My dad loves that author. He’s got like every other volume by them. I was thinking about picking it up, but honestly I don’t know that much about art and art history, so I have no idea if it’s good.”
“You know the author but not anything about art?” He scratched his head lightly, “Yeah, well, I know a little. I’m actually going to school at Académie Le Tour, so I’ve picked up on some stuff…”
That is an even stranger combo, Allegra thought.
“Okay. So… you’re going to a school famous for its art program, and you recognize the author, but you don’t like art,“ she paused and he looked up sheepishly. She figured she’d throw him a bone. “yes. It’s a good book. It really goes in depth to a lot of the modern artists down at the Sim City museum, and how their pieces have contributed to society today.”
“Awesome. That will literally be perfect. I’ll probably pick it up then on my way back so I can give it to my dad as a gift during the holidays! Thanks” He was actually quite pleasant, if Allegra gave it some consideration.
“Sure thing. Can I ask, what are you doing all the way over here, if you go to Le Tour?”
“Oh, sure. I’m actually visiting my girlfriend. My friend and I come down here once a month or so to visit.”
Ah, that made more sense then, Allegra nodded.
“Actually… you would probably get along really well with her. I know she hasn’t made too many friends yet. “ Allegra glanced down at her hands. She also hadn’t made many friends, and she was a sophomore already. Really only Jane and Martin were friends with her. She chalked it up to being too different and artistic for a school like Sim State. Jane said she could stand to be a little nicer, but she was plenty nice. It wasn’t her fault everyone here was boring and basic.
“If you want, we can meet up later, and I’ll introduce you guys? I’m gonna be down here til Thursday night.” He smiled again. He seemed genuine.
“Okay… I guess that could be fun.” Allegra wrote down her number, and her apartment number. She doubted she'd get along with this guy's girlfriend... but she really did need some friends that were more similar to her. So... why not?
“Nice! I’ll text you a little later and we can set up a time!”