For Rohan, he follows the path to his next class, finding the tall building. He enters it, and takes himself to the elevator pads, where he then lifts himself up to the right floor.
Once he reaches the floor, he moves on foot towards the right class, hoping to get there relatively early, as they still had a lot of time before class started. In fact, the others had protested to mess around longer, and if it weren't for Rohan's suggestion for them just to hang around in the building's lounges, he would've probably not been able to secure an early time to enter his class.
He finds that the halls were near empty, meaning that there weren't many people there yet, and so he could hopefully find a good seat in the front, although usually that wasn't a challenge to begin with since those seemed to be the most undesired seats.
Rohan finds his classroom down the hallway and opens the door, entering the mock-auditorium of sorts in the way the classroom was set up, and finds that the class was empty, all but for two people, one being the professor who sits at her own desk, seeming to be doing work while waiting for the class to come, rather than coming in once everyone settled down like the first day.
The other person however was a student, who sat herself in the third row closest to the board, relatively close to the middle yet leaning to the right side.
As Rohan focuses on the person, he recognizes her to be Erica, who seemed to be now the first student rather than the last after the embarrassment before. He had guessed that she wouldn't have sat in the front row, but it only gave him an extra spot, even though there was nobody taking any spots at the front.
Fortunate to have the luxury, Rohan walks down the aisle and towards the centermost seat in the front row, seeing that it would give him the best view to pay attention to the class.
However, as Rohan passes the third row, he hears Erica's voice softly ask, "Wait-."
Rohan stops, and he turns to Erica, who seems to have temporarily closed her screens just to see Rohan, who was about to pass her. Her light amber eyes were wide, almost frantic, as she seemed to have panicked.
Rohan blinks twice, and he asks, "Yes?"
Erica seems rather lost in her words, as she sits there blankly, seeming to not know what to say. Rohan stares back for a few moments, and then begins to turn back ahead of himself to continue to his seat. However, before he could, Erica says, "Want to sit next to each other?"
Rohan changes directions back to face Erica, surprised by the request. It was odd that she had asked him such a question, as they hardly knew each other. She was simply another student, as while he felt a spark on the first day of campus, he himself shut it down before it could lead anywhere.
He has been in many situations of feeling pulled somewhere, and he has mastered the technique of domesticating those primitive desires to instead focus on his work.
But now, it was him who was being asked for, and if he were to reject it, he would not be rejecting himself, but someone else, a rather rude move especially against someone who did nothing wrong.
Rohan however turns back to face the front row, as he still longs for the front middle seat, where he would have no issue reading the screen or hearing the professor. It was the perfect seat, but he wouldn't be able to have it if he sat with Erica.
His only reason to reject the request was out of guilt of leaving her behind, or that was what he consciously contemplated, but it was a fight between what he needed to perform his best and not putting down someone else who seemed rather lonely as she was the only student in the classroom.
Rohan sighs, and he turns back to Erica, ultimately deciding what to say. Surprisingly, he asks, "Do you want to sit in the front?"
Erica blinks twice in confusion, not expecting the question back, as her question would've implied a predetermined seating, and yet it was now being challenged. She preferred not to sit in the front, as it was far too pressuring, since her every move could be easily stalked by the professor.
Especially after the embarrassing first day that she had still not let herself go from, she felt compelled to hide in the shadows rather than stand out in the open to be fired on.
However, it was clear that Rohan asked the question because it was either that, or he would say no to her first question, and sit on his own. She wasn't surprised, as she was most likely a bother to him in her eyes, and so he had no reason to sacrifice anything for her. But even then, she had hoped.
Erica sighs, defeated, and so she surrenders herself, knowing there was no other way. She stands up from her seat, which surprises Rohan, for he had guessed that she would've preferred the third row, letting herself distance from the professor.
Erica nods her head, and she says, "Sure."
Rohan nods back, as it seemed his compromise worked in the end, and so he didn't have to shoot her down but he also got the seat he wanted. He then continues walking down the aisle, and taking the centermost seat on the right side of the front row.
Erica notices that Rohan had boldly chosen the center seat, meaning she couldn't even sit on the edges, and she sighs to herself. She knew that she had to follow along anyways, as it was a question of survival, even if it meant risking her life in the process. So she follows down the aisle, and seats herself in the seat to the right of Rohan.
As the two sit down after the awkward back and forth, Mrs. Frieda watches from the corner of her eye, while continuing her own work peacefully and inconspicuously. However, she had read the whole exchange, and found slight interest in it, as she could tell who each of the students were.
Once Rohan sits down, he begins setting himself up, projecting his screens from his Connect and getting his work ready for the day. He has two screens showing the class page and the home page in case he needed it, and he has a third screen below which he had for note taking, which he knew was a necessity that too many students didn't seem to focus on.
As he sets his work up, Erica also reopens her screens to what they were before, which was done far quicker since she just needed to open what she already did, and so she waits around for a few moments before opening up the assignment page for the class, and opening one of the assignments due at the night of that very same day.
While Rohan has finished the work the day it was assigned, which was half a week ago, it seems Erica may have not even started, as she begins reading the directions as though seeing it for the first time.
She reads softly under her breath, which would be inaudible to anyone but those in a close vicinity, which Rohan was in. He turns to her, confused as though he thought she was talking to him, but he closes his mouth when he finds her focus directed not on him but her screen, as she seems to be anxious over the work she had due today.
Rohan realizes that she had to do all the work on the day it was due, or she would be given late credit at best, which was most likely pressuring since even Rohan felt uncomfortable having work on its due date, and he guessed that if Erica put the effort to come to class early, she'd also care about times.
However, as always, he decides not to push on her, as he never has, and he redirects his attention back to his own work. Now with the thought of late assignments in his mind however, he makes the journey to check and confirm that he had everything done for all his classes, so he quickly checks through each of the assignment pages on all of his classes, and finds relief in the fact that he had nothing left assigned.
He then returns back to the class page of Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, and now with nothing left to do, he waits.
However, he then hears Erica again, but this time her voice was louder, and more directed towards him. She asks, "Hey, Rohan?"
Rohan turns his attention to her, now just waiting for class to begin, even though he had ample time before other students would even roll in. He asks, "Hm?"
Erica sighs to herself, feeling embarrassed by the fact that she needed help to do something most people could easily do themselves, but she asks anyways, "Could you help me with the homework due today? I uh...don't really know what's going on."
Rohan sighs, as while there was time before class, he knew what assignment she was referring to, which took him about an hour to complete, and he knew it would take more time for someone who didn't have a full mastery of the material.
He answers, "I don't think we have time right now, sorry."
Erica frowns, and she looks down for a few moments. She then asks as a followup, "Do you think we could...after class?"
Rohan blinks after the question, as he usually spent his time after class with his friends, and while they didn't have a concrete plan, they were on the verge of making one.
However, it would most likely be unproductive anyways, while Erica's request, while not benefitting Rohan directly, would at least yield more positive results for someone.
Besides, it wouldn't take much time for him, and he guesses that it would just be directly after class, either inside the classroom or in one of the lounges of the building, so it wouldn't take much time away from regrouping with his group.
So he asks, "You mean like, right after the lecture ends? I guess, like in this room or the lounges here?"
Erica shakes her head, and she sighs before answering "I can't right after class actually, a friend needs help with a project. But uh...I think I should be free around...maybe six. Could that work?"
Rohan tilts his head in confusion, as it would've been awkward to walk back to the building far after the class would've ended, and at that point he was unsure if it made sense to offer help to begin with.
He points out, "You want to come back here at six? Are you sure you have to go right after class?"
Erica shrugs her shoulders, and she reluctantly suggests, "We could just work in the dorms."
Rohan's eyes widen for a moment, as the suggestion hits him like a bullet train, one he didn't expect. An invitation to dorms by even a friend was a bit weird unless it was truly close or best friends, as in a way, the dorms were their rooms, like their homes.
But for a female to invite him to their dorms was something even more, as it had a far more personal and intimate aura that any other public rooms, and especially if it was at six, that would've been relatively late into the night, which was also usually a more intimate time.
However, before Rohan's mind could continue falling down the pit, he snaps back to reality, remembering that this is simply a request for help from one classmate to another, and nothing more. They were at most acquaintances, not even friends, as they knew nothing of each other outside the class, and there was no reason to suspect anything greater.
Perhaps Rohan's mind was being twisted by that old strand of feelings he had on the first day, but that was so long ago, and so it made no sense for him to use it as a basis of present thought.
It was immature for him to think in such a way, and there was no reason to suspect anything of Erica, who was clearly an innocent and respectable female student who just needed to get through her work, and clearly was only falling behind due to the fact that she seemed to keep concerning herself over other people's needs before her own.
He was overthinking the suggestion, as in the end, it was a classmate asking another classmate for help over homework with an imminent due date.
Rohan takes a deep breath, and he nods his head, responding to Erica "Sure, just tell me when and where."
Erica nods her head, and she opens another screen on her Connect, and navigates to the Contact app. She then opens it, and sends a local request to Rohan's Connect, which would answer his questions.
Rohan notices an alert from his Connect, which he opens, only to find a request to download the Contact of 'Erica Castus.' He stares blankly at it for a few moments, but then surmises that it was yet again just another means for him as a fellow classmate to help another, and any other context was simply a myth perpetuated by society and its obsessions over immature topics such as romance, making every act somehow have an imitate connotation.
Rohan accepts the request, and he turns back to Erica before saying "Okay, I got it. I'll make sure to have my schedule open to help."
Erica nods her head with a smile, and she says, "Thank you! You have no idea how much I needed this!"
Rohan smiles back, and he nods his head back, happy to have helped someone who very clearly was struggling.
Mrs. Frieda, who was eavesdropping on the whole conversation, struggles to keep her face calm and straight after the incredibly insane exchange she had witnessed.
She keeps her eyes on her screen, which is going through the notes she had prepared for the lecture she had to give, making sure to keep her attention on her teaching.
However, she couldn't help but keep her mind on everything she had just heard, as she didn't know who was more extreme, Erica or Rohan.
One was so forward, and the other was so oblivious.
She keeps her laughs silent, as she expected such an exchange to transpire during grade school, as by college everyone would've become so much more transparent, but it was clear there were outliers.
The doors of the classroom open once again, and students start to enter the room, taking up different seats that were mostly in the farther back rows.
Rohan turns to see that more students are entering, meaning class would be starting soon, and so he turns his head back to his screens, ready to begin learning.
Erica watches as Rohan returns to his working state, evident by his sharp eyes and serious demeanor. She smiles softly, and readies for class as well beside him.