Divide and Conquer

Chapter 1

It's strange how things could be so different only a couple of thousands of miles away. It may seem like a lot to us, but in retrospect with the entire universe, it isn't too much considering we all are on one planet.

Mark was quick to see all of these changes as soon as he stepped off of the plane and a flight attendant wished him a good stay in an British accent that was regular for where he found himself now. England was quite different from America, there was just a different aura, and the accents made the boy feel like he was out of place. He wasn't able to take it in for too long since he had a tight schedule. As much as he wanted to say he was there because he was travelling the world, he wasn't. He was there for one sole purpose, and that was Universty. Granted it wasn't the most convenient option considering he'd been accepted into several universities, some even being an hour drive from where he lived instead of a seven hour flight, this university in particular decided to not only give him a scholarship, but pay for his residence. It was probably a way to get more foreign students in considering it was an international university. That meant there were bound to be a huge amount of diversity which soothed Mark knowing he wouldn't be the only one without an accent, hopefully.

After waiting for his luggage for around twenty minutes, he flagged a cab and read the address to the driver from his phone. It was about a half hour drive from the airport to get to campus, but he enjoyed it. He thanked the lord that he had a silent cabbie who allowed him to think in peace and plan out how exactly he was going to get through his day.

As soon as they pulled up to the gates, Mark thanked him and had the cash ready in advance. He paid for his ride offering a nice tip as well, thanking the cabbie once again, and quickly getting out so the man could get on with his day. Mark watched the black car rush into the street and let out a sigh pulling his luggage closer to himself as he overlooked the huge campus that had several buildings. He saw several students that were out on the green patches relaxing in the scenery. It was a beautiful campus to say the least; the landscape was well taken care off, there wasn't a single chip in the pathways, and even a fountain in the middle of campus as well as benches where the students could sit. Everything was conveniently placed for students. The buildings were relatively close to each other so that students wouldn't have to run to other classes, and there seemed to be a system in place.

As Mark had suspected, people were already grouped up, and most did a double take as he walked by. Yes, he had a blue fringe, was slightly short, and Asian, but he ignored the looks he got. He didn't really care much for them since his main focus was finding this main building he needed to get to.
He walked into the central building, and, as presumed, there was where he was supposed to be. A group of what he could only assume were new students (since they too were carrying around luggage) were all standing and waiting. One however seemed to stand out to Mark from the rest: a boy with  fading green hair and electric blue eyes. He was a little further away from the group with a drumstick that he was twirling around in his hand. Mark got so caught up at looking at the boy he hadn't noticed someone was calling his name. A nice girl who was probably getting into her final years as a student approached him and gave him a brochure, as well as a small binder of information that quite literally had his name on it. 

"Alright, you'll be having orientation with that group over there." She said sweetly pointing over to the group the green haired boy was in, much to his delight.

The blue haired boy nodded and thanked her making his way over. Sadly, he wasn't exactly one for conversation. Usually he kept to himself and buried himself under work or extra curricular activities like the robotics club or marching band back at his high school. So Mark, just as the others, waited in an awkward silence, although it didn't last long. Someone tapped the American's shoulder causing for him to turn around and be met with lit up electric blue eyes.

"Hey there, not from around here, are ya?" The boy asked quite loudly, with a hint of an Irish accent.

This surprised Mark; not the fact that he was foreign, but how loud the boy could be with his small frame.

"No," Mark answered calmly. "I just got here from America."

He smiled slightly since the energy from the boy somehow made him feel a little more at ease.

"Another American huh?" The boy asked. "Don't worry, there are loads of others here. They're upperclassmen but they're pretty alright. They actually gave me directions here." He scratched his neck awkwardly in the end.

"You'd have to introduce me to them, but how about we introduce each other first? My name's Mark, and I'm here for the engineering program." He said out offering his hand.

"Oh silly me, the name's Sean, though I prefer to be called Jack. I'm here for the music program." The irishman fumbled out grabbing the boy's hand and giving a firm shake.

Mark was about to ask what brought him to this university in particular, but he was cut off by his guide starting up the tour, leading their group outside of the main building. They began leading them elsewhere but they found themselves stuck at the fountain since a boy stopped them. He was tall, had blonde spiked hair, and blue eyes.

"Alright newbies, today's your lucky day." He said in a strange accent. "You are all invited to the party of the year which will be hosted by yours truly! Better not miss out. Hope to see all of you there, especially you."

He looked in Mark's general direction for the last part. Mark looked to Jack and apparently Jack looked to Mark as well. They both tilted their heads and shrugged. Mark wondered who the boy was referring to. The girl in charge of the tour shooed the boy away and they all continued their orientation. Mark swore he heard them say Caspar was his name.

The group continued moving, gossiping about the party, people already planning their groups to go to the party or not go. Mark and Jack exchanged words, though neither mentioned the party. The American considered going as a way to get out of his shell, and maybe meet some students while making connections or something of the sort.

The tour seemed to end far too quickly for Mark's liking. He wanted to spend more time with Jack, but he knew they had to unpack and get ready for their first day of classes tomorrow. The two exchanged phone numbers, and gave each other farewells as they went to their, sadly, to different dorms.As Mark walked down the pathways, thoughts swirled in his mind. Some including Jack, others revolving around how his day would go tomorrow. Once he got to his dorm, he didn't really mingle with others since he lacked motivation and simply wanted to get to bed to be able to stop these endless questions in his mind of how his first day would go. He went to an empty room that only had one single bed and claimed it for himself, unpacked, and settled down. He lied down on the bed and heaved a sigh looking to the ceiling before allowing his eyes to flutter closed. He supposed that changed wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

Hiya people! I love what Lynn did with the first chapter. I was so happy to read it, and it was great to finally get this thing off the ground. We have a plan where we each ask a question for you all to answer in the comments.
My question of the day is-Who do you think will get to Mark first: Jack or Caspar?

Hello there, T'is I Lynn. I want to thank Becs for baring with my probably horrific grammar, and I too am quite delighted to finally have this thing off way since we've been planning on this for like a week and have like 13 pages of scenarios typed. ANYWAYS since we both have questions.
My question is- Who else do you think will make their appearance in this tale?