The Price of Power

The air in the common room hung thick with the scent of stale pizza and nervous energy. It was the Tuesday after the orientation fair, and the usual post-move-in euphoria had begun to curdle into the low-grade anxiety of impending academic rigor. My own anxiety, however, was a different species, a cold, calculated hum beneath the surface of my manufactured indifference.

Daniel, ever the organizer, was meticulously highlighting passages in a thick economics textbook, his brow furrowed in concentration. He’d already declared his intention to join the Investment Club and the Computer Science Society, his path forward seemingly charted with the precision of a GPS. I’d signed up for the Argentum Review and the Political Science Forum, two more pieces placed on the board, appearing to be earnest student pursuits.

“You seem quiet today,” Daniel observed, not looking up from his book. “Everything okay?”