Chapter Text
Mathias wishes someone would’ve warned him about how difficult it would be to navigate his own way around a college campus.
He’s already felt a bit out of place the past few days trying to settle into a country where no one knows him and most people only speak his second language, so now, after walking around lost for what feels like an hour, he’s not feeling very hopeful about his time at this school. This is to say, he hasn’t even made it to class yet and he’s already having a bad day. Of course, that isn't helping the fact that he’s been having a bad year.
Mathias hoped that attending university in America could offer him a new beginning. A chance to start over. And after a long year of arguments and heartbreak, he really needs it to go right.
Mathias completely fell out with his family over his career aspirations this past year. It was expected of him by his parents and his now ex-girlfriend Sara to move to Bergen after finishing high school, so that he could take over his father’s business. Unfortunately for them, this has never been the plan Mathias had in mind for his future. He’s known for years that he wanted to attend university to study aquaculture and, eventually, become a fisherman. He finally built up the courage to tell his family this the year before, but things didn’t go so well for him.
At first, no one believed him. Mathias told them his dream and they tried to brush it off as a joke, which he thinks only hurt him more than if they had outright rejected it. It wasn’t until Mathias broke up with Sara and moved out of his parent’s house that they realized he was serious. But even at that point, his parents still refused to accept that he wasn’t going to follow their plan.
Mathias was devastated by their reactions, but, still, he refused to let go of his dream, even if it meant pursuing it all on his own. After moving out of his parents house the year before, Mathias started doing research on universities that specialize in his desired field of study. While conducting this research, he discovered the University of Vesterøy (UV) located on the coast of Belford, NJ. The university, which is only an hour away from Bergen County, NJ, is known for its Fishery & Aquaculture Sciences program, offers scholarships up to a full-ride for eligible international students, and has a substantial Norwegian/Norwegian-American student population.
Studying at an American university isn’t what Mathias originally pictured when envisioning himself living his dream—although he didn’t really plan for a major fall out with his family either—but this is the life he’s living, so he’s going to make the most of it.
Unfortunately, his new beginning isn’t starting off very smoothly. It’s Mathias’s first day of classes at UV and he’s already managed to miss his first class—after sleeping through his alarm—and he’s found himself completely lost while trying to make it to his second one.
Mathias spares one last glance at the map of campus he downloaded onto his phone the night before hoping it would help him to avoid this exact situation, before deciding he ought to just ask somebody for help. He looks up at the sea of students moving around campus in front of him, searching for someone he thinks might be willing to lend him a hand.
Thankfully, a girl approaches him as he’s looking around.
“Hey!” she says, effectively grabbing his attention. “Do you need help? You look a little lost.”
Mathias turns to his right to look at the girl in question, studying her for a moment to take in her appearance. She’s about the same height as him, with brown skin and an afro, and she’s wearing a backpack with a pride pin attached to one of the straps. He watches her smile fade to an expression that he can only describe as growing concern before realizing he should probably respond.
Mathias shoots her a nervous smile. “Yes, sorry, I do need help,” he says. He looks down at his phone and swipes to the class schedule he also downloaded and proffers it to the girl. “I think I’m looking for the Fishery Sciences building.” Mathias can’t help but notice her smile brighten a bit as he relays the building name.
“Oh, are you a Fishery and Aquaculture major too?” She takes his phone and peeks at his schedule. She gives the screen a brief once-over before looking back up at him. “This is so cool, we basically have the same schedule.”
“Really?” Mathias asks surprisedly, as she hands his phone back.
“Yup! Just follow me, I can show you where our next class is.” The girl shifts her backpack and beckons him to follow as she turns to join the sea of students making their way around campus.
Mathias slides his phone into his pocket and jogs a bit to catch up. As he falls into stride beside her, he goes to thank her and realizes that they haven’t properly introduced themselves to each other. “Hey, thanks for offering to help back there. I’m Mathias.”
She turns to him with a smile and offers her hand to shake as they keep walking. “Olivia. Nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
As Mathias shakes her hand, he can’t help but return her smile, pleased by the fact that he might’ve just stumbled into making a new friend.
—
Class is good. It’s only the first day so they really only consist of introductions and syllabus readings, but Mathias successfully makes it through his second and third classes of the day without incident, and, it’s safe to say, he feels good.
After class, he heads to the campus dining hall with Olivia. Olivia just wants to pick up lunch before returning to her dorm, but Mathias is hoping to secure a job. Knowing he wouldn’t be receiving any support—financial or otherwise—from his parents after leaving for school, Mathias spoke with the campus career center the week before about the university’s work-study program. He was pleased to find out there’s a part-time position available at the dining hall pizzeria, he simply needs to go in and speak with the manager to apply.
There’s a surprisingly long line for the restaurant when Mathias and Olivia arrive. He looks around the crowd to get a peek at who’s behind the counter and is even more surprised to see only one person working to serve the growing horde of students. Surrounded by the buzz of people eating, talking, and moving throughout the building, Mathias gets in line with Olivia and pops his headphones in to pass the time.
When it’s finally their turn, Mathias lets Olivia order her food before he approaches the counter to speak with the girl manning the register. He considers her appearance and comes to the conclusion that she’s also a student, or at the very least around his age. Her hair is a dirty-blonde color and she’s wearing a dark green apron over jeans and a soft-looking sweater. The apron also features a little name tag that reads Synnøve.
“Hi!” Mathias says, maybe a little too cheerfully. “My name is Mathias and I was hoping to speak with the manager here about the work-study program.”
Synnøve eyes him up and down, before returning his cheeriness with a nervous smile, “We could definitely use the help, if you can’t tell we’re kind of swamped.”
Mathias gives her an apologetic smile and laughs a bit while running his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I noticed, maybe I could be of some help.”
“Yeah, why don’t you go into the back and talk with Andreas. He can help you get an application and everything,” she says, while pointing towards the kitchen and storage area through the doorway behind her.
Mathias turns to say goodbye to Olivia, with promises to text later, then heads behind the counter into the back room as the girl at the counter—Synnøve—goes back to taking orders.
He steps through the doorway into the kitchen and sees an older man at the stove preparing orders. The man turns as he walks in and meets his entrance with a confused expression.
Judging from the fact he’s the only person back there, Mathias assumes the man must be Andreas and reaches out his hand to introduce himself. “Hi, my name’s Mathias. The girl at the counter told me to speak with you about hopefully applying for a job here.”
Andreas’s expression immediately clears and is replaced with a look of recognition. “Oh, yes, of course!” He takes off his gloves and shakes Mathias’s hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Andreas. I actually spoke with the career center about you this morning, I have an application for you right over here.” He crosses the room to a clipboard hanging on the wall, before grabbing it and walking back to proffer it to Mathias. “Just fill this out and bring it back sometime tomorrow so we can get you all set up. Do you know when you might be available to start?”
Mathias accepts the clipboard with a grin. “I think I’d be available to start as early as Wednesday, but won’t I need to interview or something?”
Andreas returns his grin and laughs. “Well usually, but, I don’t know if you noticed, we’re a bit short-staffed right now, so we can use all the help we can get.”
Mathias lets out a little laugh in return. “Yeah, the girl at the counter basically said the same thing.”
Andreas’s grin widens and he looks down to tap the clipboard in Mathias’s hands, “Just fill this out and come back with your availability and we can go from there. I’m looking forward to having you on the team.”
“Thanks! I’ll get this back to you.” Mathias gestures with the clipboard and gives him a small wave before turning to leave.
Mathias heads back to the front of the restaurant with a smile on his face and a reinvigorated feeling of hope concerning the success of his fresh start at this school. Maybe things are looking up after all, he thinks.
—
Mathias’s first week of classes flies by in a blur of classmates whose names he can’t remember, a hectic first day at the pizzeria, and a surprisingly minimal number of assignments.
He’s successfully made it to Friday and he’s currently in his dorm with Olivia and his roommate Øyvind, debating whether they should do like every other first-year on campus and find their way to one of the many first-week parties.
Olivia sits next to Mathias on his bed and passes him the bottle of wine the three of them have been sharing for the better part of the last hour. “I really think we should go to the party the football team is throwing,” she says.
Øyvind smirks at her and speaks up before Mathias has the chance. “I’m down to go, but only if you admit you only want to cause that guy you’ve been obsessing over is on the team.”
Mathias smiles and takes a sip from the bottle, delighted by the banter between his two friends and the tipsy feeling he’s getting from the wine.
Mathias introduced Øyvind to Olivia when he and Olivia stopped by his dorm in between classes on Tuesday. He had forgotten his computer charger in his haste to leave that morning and Olivia volunteered to journey across campus with him to get it after his computer died in their first class. Øyvind was getting ready to leave the dorm as they arrived, so they decided to walk to their next classes together. It was during this short walk that Olivia and Øyvind quickly became friends.
Olivia smirks back at Øyvind and shrugs. “I have no problem admitting it. He’s hot and I have no shame.” She reaches over to tap Mathias on the shoulder and takes back the bottle wine. “What about you? You game?”
Mathias fake ponders the question for a moment before turning to Olivia with a smile. “Yeah, but we better get there before all the free drinks are gone.”
Olivia and Øyvind jump up with a combined “LET’S GO!” and a shared high five, before moving to grab their stuff and storm out the door.
Mathias laughs at his friends’ excitement and quickly grabs his stuff to follow.
The party is a 15-minute walk across campus. Olivia informs them that it’s being hosted at a house lived in by several of the players on the football team, including the guy she’s interested in.
As they make their way along the path to the house, they can already hear the music blasting from afar. When the house fully comes into view, Mathias is a little surprised by the size of it. It’s a white two-story home with several front-facing windows that sits on the edge of the path and has a clear view of the surrounding water. Although it’s only two-stories, the amount of windows and the sheer size of it are a clear indicator of the large number of rooms that must be inside.
As they approach the door, Olivia separates from their trio to head towards a guy standing to the left, near the edge.
Mathias and Øyvind can’t help but turn to each other and laugh. “Guess that means we’ve lost her already. Want to head inside and get drinks?” Mathias asks.
“Yeah,” Øyvind replies, before making eye contact with Olivia and pointedly raising his phone at her in a text if you need us gesture. He waits until Olivia raises her own phone in response before opening the door and letting Mathias lead the way inside.
The inside of the house looks… exactly how you’d expect a house owned by college students hosting a party to look. The walls have been decorated with various flags, signs, a dart board, and even Christmas lights—despite it only being August. Mathias also notices the heap of empty beer cans and bottles that takes up space on practically every empty surface.
There’s a staircase to the left of the entrance and a doorway straight ahead that leads directly into the living room. They walk through the doorway, where the music is originating from, and aren’t surprised to find a good amount of people inside. Mathias looks around the mass of people forming a crowd in the middle of the room and spots two shabby couches and a half-wall separating the living room from the dining room.
He leans over to talk in Øyvind’s ear so he can be heard over the music. “Hey, let’s see if the drinks are over there, yeah?” he says, pointing to the dining room.
Øyvind replies with a simple thumbs up before leading the way. As they enter the dining room, they spot another doorway to the right which heads to the kitchen. They walk through the doorway and approach the counter, which is home to an incredibly stocked drink station. There’s a container of red punch sitting in the center, surrounded by an array of liquor bottles filled to varying levels and a few non-alcoholic juices and sodas. There’s also an open bag of red solo cups sitting off to the side. Mathias turns around to open the fridge, wondering if there’s any other options in there. He’s a little surprised by the lack of food, but he’s delighted to see the cases of beer occupying the shelves. Mathias grabs one and closes the fridge, while Øyvind grabs a cup and tries the punch.
Øyvind sips the concoction and almost immediately spits it out in the sink, his disgust at the taste clear on his face as he forces himself to swallow.
Mathias watches him struggle to get the drink down and outright laughs. “That strong, eh?”
Øyvind takes another sip, still looking mildly disgusted. “Yeah, way too strong,” He places the cup down then points through the doorway, in the direction of the living room. “I think I’m going to try and find a bathroom.”
Mathias nods in response. “Okay, I might head back to the living room and try to find a seat.”
Øyvind makes his way around the crowd and Mathias walks through it to find his way to the couches he spotted on the way in. He’s lucky enough to nab an empty seat on one of them. He sits down and takes a sip of his beer, comfortably looking around and smiling at the party happening around him. Unfortunately, that comfort doesn’t last long as the space next to him is soon occupied by a couple aggressively making out, causing him to spill some of his beer.
Mathias gets up to survey the damage of the spill on his clothes, forfeiting his spot on the couch in the process. He puts his beer down on the nearest surface and wipes his wet fingers on his jeans. Fortunately, the beer mostly spilled on the arm of the couch and not on him. He glances back at the couple, still making out on the couch and completely unaware of his presence, and lets out an annoyed sigh. He turns and moves through the crowd in the direction of the house’s entrance, electing to step outside and get some fresh air before something else happens to sour his mood.
As Mathias steps out of the house, a cool breeze washes over his skin. He basks in the feeling for a second before looking around to survey his surroundings. He’s surprised to see that Olivia’s no longer out there, the only other person standing outside now is a blonde boy leaning against the house to his right, gazing out at the water.
Mathias takes a few steps closer to the boy, curious to know what’s got him standing out there alone. “You need a break from the party too?” he asks.
The boy immediately turns to look at him and almost falls in the process, while still managing to look somewhat indifferent. “What?” he blurts out.
Mathias looks at his clearly startled and somewhat closed off appearance and can’t help but smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just asking if you needed a break from the party too.”
The boy rights himself and goes to shift his gaze back towards the water. “Oh…I guess,” he says.
Mathias, unaffected by the boy’s attempt to convey disinterest in the conversation, reaches out a hand to introduce himself. “Well, hi, I’m Mathias.”
The boy turns and looks at the hand for a few seconds before deciding to take it. As they shake, he finally looks up and meets Mathias’s gaze. “Erik.” Erik studies Mathias’s face for a second, before shooting him a puzzled look. “Have I seen you on campus before?”
Mathias takes his hand back and self-consciously swipes it through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve seen you anywhere before,” he says, “but I actually just started working in the dining hall so you might’ve seen me there.”
Erik’s expression lights up for the first time since their conversation started, as recognition flashes across his face. “Oh! Wait, do you work at that pizza place?
Mathias’s grin widens. “Yeah, that’s the one! Have you–”
“ERIK!”
Mathias is cut off by a boy standing in the doorway to the house. He turns to the voice and is surprised to see the football player Olivia was flirting with earlier.
“Ah, there you are,” the boy says, taking a full step outside. “The guys are looking for all the first-years for some kind of initiation ritual or something, come on.” He motions with his hand, but doesn’t wait for a response before turning to the door and heading back inside.
Mathias turns back to Erik and is disappointed to find the same closed off expression he donned at the start of their conversation. Erik moves to follow the boy and Mathias waves at his departure. “See you around…maybe,” he says, as Erik makes his way back inside without saying another word.
Mathias’s gaze remains fixed on the door that closes in his wake. So he plays football, huh? he thinks. Unfortunately, his thoughts are interrupted as his phone starts ringing in his pocket. He pulls it out and is disappointed to see it’s a call from his mom.
He quickly sends her to voicemail and opens his phone to check his notifications. He has a text from Øyvind—asking where he is—and two texts from his mom.
[Mom]: Mathias we really need to talk.
[Mom]: Can’t you just come home?
Mathias swipes the texts away, but he can’t erase the damper that her reaching out has placed on his mood. He thinks for a second, before moving to open his group chat with Øyvind and Olivia, sending a message to let them know he’s not feeling well so he’s gonna head back to the dorm.
Mathias lets out a sigh and spares one last glance at the party. Guess things couldn’t look up forever, he thinks, before sliding his phone back into his pocket and turning to start his walk back home.