You Look Happier

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen walked down to the Student Lounge. He had only been at the school for just under five weeks so this was really the first time he had been to the lounge. It seemed rather empty the moment he walked in, just a few others there. He had hoped to find someone to talk to, even though he wasn't the most confident in his ability to speak English, writing had come faster to him and listening. He had only used his English name a few times and though he was shy he wanted to practice saying his name he had picked out for himself more. "I'm Cullen," he whispered under his breath as he moved around the room. Everyone seemed rather busy and he didn't want to be a bother so he sat politely at one end of an empty couch and looked at the fire burning in the fireplace in front of him for a few moments before feeling the couch shift as weight was added on the other end. Turning, he obviously had no idea who this person was but he thought now was the moment he needed to introduce himself. "Hello, I'm Cullen," he said with a small nod of his head towards the person.
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[Caro Taylor]

Taking a lot of photos meant a lot of looking through them to try and decide which were the best, and though Caro was by now running out of interesting places in the castle to photograph, she could at least sort through the pictures she had and try to figure out which angles and lightings worked or not and why. It seemed to her that that was about all there was to do around here. So Caro had carried a box of her photos up to the student lounge to relax and go through things. It would be nice to sit somewhere warm around other people and sort through her things, and the student lounge always reminded Caro pleasantly of the lounge back home. She wasn't paying much attention to the sofa's other resident as she took a seat, opening up her box of photos. It was a bit of a surprise when the other boy spoke to her, and she turned to him, surprised. "Oh..." Caro said uncertainly. "Hi. I'm Caro." The boy didn't look familiar, but Caro kept to herself for the most part, so she assumed he must be an older student she had never encountered before.

 

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen was surprised the girl who sat next to him seemed surprised by him talking to her. He wondered if this was not the place for talking? People had said the Student Lounge was where people went to meet with friends. Maybe this girl was waiting for a friend and didn't think anyone else would talk to her. "You..have.nice photographs," Cullen said glancing down to what the girl was looking at, trying to make the conversation relevant to her. He wasn't really sure why he had decided to do this today, he was rather nervous about speaking to anyone, but he hadn't really made a friend during the first semester so he knew he needed to let go of his nerves and try to make friends. It was hard, everyone already had their own friends and not many people transferred into the school, he knew that. But he also came here to improve his English, besides the fact that his entire family moved to New Zealand as well.
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