UnderSwitch

New Faces

Nora awoke to sunlight streaming down on her face. " Damn. I forgot to close the blinds" she mumbles to herself. She rolls over to look at the clock next to her. 6:30. She groans and flops back over. She had wanted to sleep longer. Nora sighs and rolls herself out of bed. " Might as well get up now." She sighs and shuffles into the bathroom. She flips the bathroom light on and squints in the bright light above her. Yawning, she rubs her eyes and looks at her face in the mirror. One green eye stares back at her. She sighs and undresses for the shower. She turns the handle of the tub and waits for the water to get warm before turning the shower part on. She runs through her routine and shuts the water off. She steps out and shivers. " I forgot how cold it is in the mornings." Nora mumbles to herself, quickly toweling herself off and wrapping the towel around her hair. Wiping the steam off the mirror with her hand, she makes a hole in which to see her self. Opening the case that holds her eye, she leans into the mirror and places her false eye in its socket. Nodding, she walks out of the bathroom and over to the dresser to pick her clothes for the day. After some internal debate, she decides on a knee length black skirt, a deep red 3/4 sleeve v neck shirt, black knee high socks and a beanie. She throws on her underwear and dresses in the rest of her clothes. Undoing the towel on her head, shaking her hair out, she grabs a brush from the bed side table and brushes her hair out and lets it air dry. once its dry she puts the beanie on and heads out of her room and down the stairs.

It was quiet, "Seems like Marri is still sleeping," Nora thinks to her self. She walks to the kitchen and fills the kettle for tea, puts on the stove and waits for it to boil. Grabbing a mug from the cupboard, she pops the tea bag in and sets it next to the kettle. "Hmm, toast sounds good." She puts two slices in the toaster and starts it. Walking to the fridge, she slips on her socks and starts to fall and in a panic grabs for the fridge door and pulls the handle off on the way down. " SHIT!" she yells as she hits the floor. Nora hisses at the pain in her elbow as she sits herself up sighing. Grabbing the counter, she pulls herself up and fixes the fridge door. She leans against the counter, rubbing her elbow and shaking her head. "Man, I really need to be more careful." She says into the silence of the kitchen. She pulls butter and jam from the fridge and sets it on the table as the kettle starts to whistle. Turning of the heat, she lifts it and pours the hot water in her cup and lets her tea steep. The scent of toast preceded its arrival and shortly after the bread popped out of the toaster, hot and crispy. She grabs a plate and slings the toast out of the toaster onto it, burning the tips of her fingers a bit. Grabbing the mug from the counter and her toast, Nora seats herself at the table. Forgetting a knife, she then stands back up , grabs one from the drawer and a spoon for her tea and sits back down. She spreads a small amount of butter and jam on her toast and takes a bite. She takes the teabag out of her mug and puts it on a napkin. She pours some sugar in her tea and stirs, taking a sip and smiles. Nothing like a good cup of tea in the morning.

Nora is just finishing her toast when she hears her cousin walking down the stairs. Marriott shuffles into to kitchen yawning, her short blond hair a mess and eyes half closed. " I see you're up and at it early this morning" Marriott says through a yawn. Nora's ears turn red with shame " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Or fall for that matter" Nora says quietly. Marriott just chuckles " You didn't wake me up. I was already up when I heard you crash" she winks at her cousin. Nora just takes a sip of tea and looks away. This makes Marriott laugh more. She walks over to her coffee maker and starts it up. "So what are your plans for today nori?" she asks to her cousin. Nora finishes her mouthful of tea before answering. "Oh i was going to go down to the college and finish the paper work they need for my transfer. Then im not sure after that. Maybe wander around town for a bit, see whats new" she rambles for a bit and then goes back to her tea. Marriott thinks for a sec and then grabs her coffee and sits at the table next to Nora. " Well, i have some running around to do today, so if you want i can drop you off at the collage on my way" She tells Nora. "That would be great, if its not too much of a bother." Nora says, not wanting to throw her cousin off her routine. Marriott just shakes her head " Its no bother at all. Its on the way" she tells her as she walks back to the coffee pot, as it had finished it brew. Marriott pours a cup and takes a long sip. Nothing like a hot cup of black coffee to get you going in the morning. Marriott pops two pieces of bread in the toaster and takes a seat next to Nora. They sit in a comfortable silence until the toaster pops and the toast is ready. Marriott slathers butter and jam on her toast and digs into it.

Once all the breakfast had been consumed, the pair went about grabbing their stuff, putting on their shoes and coats and heading out the door. Marriott turns the key to lock the door behind them and unlocks the car door. Nora gets in the passenger side and buckles up, safety first and all. Marriott follows suit, adjusting her mirrors before starting up the car. Nora looks down at her phone. It was now 8 o'clock, the collage administrative building wouldn't be open til 9 so she had so time to kill. The collage wasn't too far from the house just a 15 minute drive, or a half an hour walk, and that's if you walked slow, so Nora would be able to sleep in before her morning classes, of which she was thankful for. Marriott backs out of the drive way and makes her way down the street. The radio was on low, set to some morning talk show Nora didnt recognize, the MTT Radio Show. She paid it no mind as she looked out the window at the houses and cars whizzing by. Soon the houses turned into building and stores as they made their way into town. Up ahead Nora could see the clock tower of the collage. She sits up in her seat and geta good look around. There are students walking up the street, some with backpacks, some just carrying their books in their arms, but all of them looked tired. Nora knew she would fit in well on that aspect of things. Collage was collage no matter where you were, tired students chugging coffee and energy drinks before a big test they had stayed up all night studying for. Soon Marriott had the car pulled into the parking lot of the admin building and in a parking spot. "Well this is you Nora, do you need any help getting where you need to go?" she asks her " Ive got some time before i need to be anywhere"

Nora shakes her head " Nope, I think I can manage, and if not I'll just ask someone. I do pretty good on my own for the most part" This was partly true. While she did find her way, she was pretty directionally challenged, getting lost fairly easy if the directions weren't very clear. "Well okay then, if you need anything call me, okay?" Marriott says, a little concerned for her cousin. Nora nods and leans over to get Marriott a quick hug before getting off the car, grabbing her bag and jacket as she does. She waves Marriott goodbye as the car pulls out of the spot and eventually out of the parking lot, on its way to its new destination, sputtering along as it did. Nora looks at her phone again. It was now 8:25, so she still had time before the building would be open. As such, Nora decided she would walk around a bit exploring her new campus, to get a feel for the place.

Students were slowing making their way to their classrooms, some sat at tables outside with the books out around them. There was a large courtyard with benches and tables with shading umbrellas above them. In the middle of the courtyard sat a fountain spewing water. A few birds were taking a drink at the edge, some bathed themselves in the cool water. A few trees were placed here and there, their leaves not yet fully grown as it was still the beginning of spring. Four tall buildings surrounded the courtyard in a square. These appeared to be the classrooms, for students and teachers were coming and going from the doors of said building. A smaller building sat in the back of the four buildings. It was labeled "Muffets Cafe". She would have to stop in later for a snack. Outside of the courtyard and the four buildings was a large music hall and a gym. Nora didn't think she would ever have a need to walk into those buildings as she had no real interest in such things. Still not see what could be the admin building she glances at her phone again while she walks, it was now 9:10. The Building would be open now, but that knowledge would be no use to her if she couldn't find the damned building. Still looking down at her phone as she walked, she didn't notice that she was walking right into someone. she looked up right as she made contact. "Oh no, im so sorry! i should have been paying attention to where i was going" she stumbles over her words in embarrassment. The woman she bumped into just gave her a patient smile. She was tall, even taller than Nora and she was a good 5'9". The woman had silver hair, which one would assume meant she was an older women, but she looked quite young, too young to have silver hair at the least. She would a light colored suit jacket and purple skirt and shirt, ankle length socks and ow heeled black pumps. Nora stared up at her for a moment before blinking and picking up her phone that she had dropped. The woman then spoke to her in gentle voice.

"It is quite alright, my child. No harm done. You seem to be lost, is there anything i can help you with?" she smiles at Nora. Nora pockets her phone before giving an answer. " Ah, well uh, I'm Nora. I'm a new student here, I've transferred from the collage in the next town over. I was looking for the Administrative building. Do you know which way it is?" She says, shaking slightly, very nervous for some unknown reason. The woman nodded " Why yes i do, ill show you the way" She extends her hand to Nora, who takes its and gives a quick shake. " I'm Toriel, by the way, a teacher here. Its very nice to meet you" Toriel smiles once again. "Come with me my child, i will show you the way" And so Nora adjusted her bag on her shoulder and followed Toriel to the admin building to start her adventure in this new place.