Disclaimer: all characters belong to Disney, blah blah blah, borrowing, blah blah, don't sue, blah.
Bridge's bag bounced against his back as he strode down the bland hallway. He stopped in front of a door. Three-oh-five. He checked the scrap of paper in his hand. Bridge Carson, 305. "Whee." He stepped up, and the automatic door opened.
The room was divided in half. One side was barren. The other side might as well have been. A bed was neatly made, and sitting in front of a desk, with a reading lamp on, bent over a book, was Bridge's roommate, in a bright blue t-shirt. "Hey, guy, can I get a little welcome here?" he asked, and the guy looked up.
"Hello." Satisfied by this, he returned to his book.
Bridge huffed slightly. Okay, so this was going to take some adjustment. Whatever. He scanned the other side of the room, and spotted the academy uniform hanging on the closet door. It was identical to the uniform tucked in Bridge's bag. The nametag read Schulyer Tate. "Hey, Shool-yer. I'm Bridge."
The guy looked up irritably. "It's Schulyer," he said. "I go by Sky."
"Sky?" he echoed. "You wear blue, and your name is Sky?"
"Like I've never heard that before." I-go-by-Sky rolled his eyes, and went back to his book. The guy had a stick up his butt the likes of which Bridge had never seen.
Bridge threw his bag down on his bed and plopped down on the mattress next to it. He eyed Sky's side of the room. "Looking kinda plain, there, man. The decor, I mean. How long have you been here?"
"A month," he said tightly.
"Oh," said Bridge, looking away. He could feel Sky glaring at him, and heard the faint slap of the book being shut.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"Doesn't mean anything, man," Bridge backpedaled. "I'm just...so, when's lunch?" he asked brightly.
"At lunchtime."
"Oh, you're quick-witted, aren't you? Usually that's me." Sky was definitely looking pissed off. Bridge fought to keep the smirk off his face; it was way too easy to get a rise out of Sky Tate. "Look," he said, standing up and crossing over to the Sky's desk. He held out his hand. "We got off to a bad start, and I feel kinda bad, since we're supposed to be roomies and all. I'm Bridge Carson, D squad."
Sky stared at Bridge's hand, then at Bridge, then finally shook. "Sky Tate. Also D-level."
"Cool. Have you met any of the rest of the class yet?"
"Only one of them has checked in so far, but she just did it today. We'll meet her at lunch."
"Is she cute?"
"We're training a team here, not running a dating service." And just like that, the vague hint of warmth and maybe even humanity Bridge had seen in Sky's eyes was gone.
"Right, right, only kidding. So, whatcha reading?"
"Academy handbook."
"There's a handbook?"
Before Sky could answer, there was a light beeping sound. He pushed his chair back and stood up, then was careful to push his chair back in. "That's the lunch bell," he said. "Let's go."
Bridge followed Sky into the hallway. This was going to be an interesting semester.