Chapter 171 - New Friends

The three-day camp was finally over and Scarlet was nervous for a different reason. Ever since she left Joyville, Scarlet didn't have any proper education. She was very busy with her career and neglected to put any of her knowledge to practical use. From what Scarlet heard, university lectures were rather fast-paced and there were no textbooks. Students had to listen to the lecturer and take down notes on their own. These notes will be used to help students study for their exams.

Orita prepared a small recorder so that Scarlet could tape down the lecture if she wasn't able to copy the notes as quickly. Scarlet was thankful for the gift and promised to put it to good use. The friends she made during the three-day camp proved to be very interesting and the group chat was constantly flooded. Scarlet didn't always read through the spammy messages but she did become closer with Joanna and Ryan.

At the same time, Scarlet wasn't expecting her first accidental encounter with the senior named Alicia to progress so quickly into texting buddies. Alicia was a very cheerful person and reminded Scarlet a lot about Alex. The girl was bubbly and quick-witted. She was outspoken and had a great sense of humour. With no familiar faces in her course, Scarlet was happy that she had some people she still knew around the campus even though she didn't think that there will be any chances of bumping into them anytime soon. The university was simply too huge!

Although it was a bridging course and a refresher for many, Scarlet felt oddly out of place. The room was full of a.d.u.l.ts who had recently left work and came back to study or men who had left the military service. There wasn't a single person in the bridging course younger than twenty and Scarlet didn't know who to sit beside. She didn't know how to behave or who to talk to even if everyone was friendly. When she was working, she learnt that respect was to be given to one's seniors in the industry. Usually, she only bowed and smiled, leaving all the talking to Pamela. This time, she had nobody beside her to help.

"Hello, can I sit beside you?" a lady asked and Scarlet nodes even though she felt uncomfortable.

The class slowly filled up and all sorts of people appeared. The bridging program was slightly different from regular university classes that took place in lecture halls or online. For the entire riding program, Scarlet's classes will take place in this same classroom. There were about thirty students who were studying the same things and Scarlet wondered if there would also be tests at the end of it. The recorder was placed neatly on the table along with her notebook and pencil case. It was five minutes before lessons officially started but the teacher was nowhere in sight.

Ten minutes later, the classmates were busy socialising while waiting for the teacher who was already tardy. Scarlet fiddled with her phone. Should she send Jedd a message? She didn't have any friends and the lady sitting beside her was more interested in fixing her make up and taking selfies.

The lecturer finally burst through the door looking breathless as he apologised for being late. Scarlet thought that he looked rather busy. The teacher took five minutes to set up his laptop and connected it to the screen. Scarlet thought it was rather odd that he didn't take the class attendance. Instead, he merely threw a file to the nearest student and told them to sign on the list then pass it around.

The list reached Scarlet and she looked for her name. Thankfully, nobody put two and two together seeing her name printed so clearly. The Wilde surname didn't seem to make anyone suspicious and Scarlet mentally sighed in relief. It would be best if she could continue this all the way until graduation. While signing her name, Scarlet couldn't help but be curious at the other students in the bridging program and scanned through the list briefly before passing it to the lady beside her.

The lecturer didn't take any questions as he ran through his lesson slides and Scarlet was thankful for Orita's thoughtful gift. Although classes were two hours long, Scarlet couldn't understand why the lecturer finished the lesson in an hour. The lecturer slides were rushed through and a copy of the lessons slides will be uploaded to the student portal for them to download and review.

"Any questions?" the lecturer asked.

Hands started shooting up and Scarlet struggled to keep up with the rapid-fire ask and answer session. She didn't understand how these students were able to keep up with the lecturer's pace of teaching. Other than basically reading out from the teaching slides, the lecturer didn't do anything much. Although the bridging course topic was new to Scarlet, she didn't have problems with it. The program was called the Art of Communication and the first lesson was all about presenting oneself for a good first impression. Scarlet had enough experiences with her work history so it was a breeze for her. Still, the technical terms flew over her head. Things like "Imprinting" and "Individualism" threw her off very badly.

By the end of the lesson, Scarlet could only numbly pack her belongings while half the class dashed out for work and other classes and the other half of the class stayed back to exchange numbers and get to know each other more. The lady beside Scarlet belonged to the latter group.

Scarlet's next class was after lunch in a different classroom in the same teaching building. She might have gone through a three-day orientation camp but the campus was still very big and she didn't know where to go for lunch.

Her phone buzzed and Scarlet quickly checked it.

Alicia: My class just ended! Want to meet up for lunch with a few of my friends? I bet you're lonely on your first day. Have you made any new friends yet?

Scarlet smiled and quickly texted back.

Scarlet: No. It's a little awkward as many of the people attending the bridging class are a.d.u.l.ts. There isn't anyone below the age of twenty except me. Also, where should I meet you and your friends for lunch?

Alicia: Seeing as you're still new to the campus, how about let me know where your teaching block is? I will meet you there directly while my friends find some place to settle down for lunch. You won't believe it but it is very hard to find seats during the lunch rush so we have to strategise a little... HAHA!

Scarlet took a picture of her timetable and sent it over to Alicia because she wasn't sure what the alphabets on the venue meant. However, Alicia got it immediately. In fact, the girl enthusiastically started to compare it to her schedule and made future arrangements so that they could meet up more often. Scarlet didn't mind. Talking to Alicia was fun even though she was slightly nervous about meeting Alicia's friends. What if Alicia's friends didn't like her? What if she was intruding on their get-together time?

Alicia: It's settled! I'll meet you there in ten minutes. The boys are finding places for us. My usual group of friends can be quite loud and rowdy but don't mind them. They're all nice people and when I told them about you, they couldn't wait to meet you because you looked so cute!

The writer blinked at the last line. Cute? Her? Surely Alicia must be joking. The writer took a quick look at herself in the toilet mirror. She was wearing fake glasses, an oversized hoodie, some cheap jeans and sneakers. This was as down-to-earth and as boring as one could look. Scarlet deliberately chose the more affordable line of clothing from Golden Frost to wear to school seeing as the rest of her wardrobe consisted of designer brands. Did she make a mistake somewhere?

In less than ten minutes, Scarlet spotted the cheerful senior making her way through the crowd. Even before Alicia reached Scarlet, she squealed and rushed over to give the girl a hug. Beside Alicia were two other girls who looked equally tall and outgoing. One of them wore glasses and looked like a cool beauty. The other girl was a sporty person with her hair pulled into a ponytail while she wore some loose tee and yoga pants as if she was heading to the gym.

"Hello again, Scarlet! Sorry to keep you waiting. These are my friends, Mandy with the glasses and Beatrice with the ponytail. Mandy is a little bit of a nerd and loves reading. Beatrice is a yoga fanatic so she's always wearing something that looks like that even though we're all studying psychology. The other two friends of mine are waiting for us at the atrium's cafeteria. They are Edward and Mike. Edward is the quiet guy and Mike is the loud jock. Don't mind Mike, he doesn't have tack but he's a good person. Come on, let's go before you starve to death. I'll recommend the tuna melt sandwich, it's brilliant!"

Scarlet remained silent the whole time, more than happy to listen to Alicia ramble on with some input from Mandy and Beatrice from time to time as they made their way over to the atrium.