Chapter 147: Extracurricular Activities

The mid-afternoon sun hung high in the air, shining over the bustling campus grounds, the lively chatter cascading through the prestigious college akin to an obligatory background noise.

Away from it all was the coal-haired youth, seated on one of the benches of the gazebo a couple meters way from his department, the general atmosphere a bit quieter.

‘Yep. This campus’ as much of a party hub as it is prestigious.’ Aiden inwardly remarked.

He was currently waving goodbye to some of his colleagues whom were heading onto the fairground where most of the sylly week fanfare, freshmen events and club recruitment was happening.

Yet again, they had just invited him to another party… which by the youth’s count, was already nearing the seventh in the past hour and a half.

Returning his gaze to his smartphone, Aiden slightly leaned back into the chair, legs crossed as he began setting his class schedules.

Having attended the main freshmen orientation program about two hours ago at one of Pacific Heights’ biggest halls, he had proceeded to head back over to his block to inquire some information about his class schedules from their department’s academic advisor.

With all the information he’d gotten, he had realized that he could essentially cram all of his classes into the first three working days of the week and have the rest of the week off.

Obviously, that might have come off as too much workload for a freshman, but if Aiden was being honest, it was the perfect setup for him given how high his Mind attribute was.

That way, he would have some time, not just for himself and his hustles, but also college in equal measure.

In fact, with the way he was going about things, he would only have a single class on Wednesdays, which also happened to be around 9:00am to 10:00am.

That alone, almost gave him the rest of that day to work with.

However, Aiden had figured he could also spend the rest of that day doing other extracurricular activities.

Granted he’d juggled so many clubs and responsibilities in high school relatively easily, which was largely his own doing as he’d spent most of the first three years lazing around and needed to make up for it in his final year, he had no intentions of following that same path in college.

Rather, he wanted to have a good amount of them he could effectively juggle over the course of the next four years.

It was also why he soon tucked his phone into his pocket and inclined fully into the bench, his mind filtering through all the clubs he’d seen thus far today.

Then, after a couple minutes, he muttered audibly;

“Coding, Photography, Film and Animation, and Theatre Clubs…”

His interest in the coding club was explanatory enough as is.

Asides from the opportunity to learn new stuff and recruit some really good talent into Crashout Interactive in the possible future, he figured it might also allow him the avenue to form some really lucrative connections with like-minded individuals.

The photography club was a more passion-focused pick for him. With his growing interests towards artistic endeavors, he saw it as a gateway to fueling the zeal he already had for it.

That and naturally obtaining a new skill he could then proceed to improve upon with his system.

At the same time, it would allow him to naturally improve upon certain skills he already had as well, hence why he had chosen the Film and Animation club, as well as the Theatre club.

There was also one other reason he’d chosen both clubs though.

And that was to be a bit more in the know of Clarissa’s line of work and also help her out whenever he could.

Nodding to himself satisfactorily, Aiden’s thought briefly drifted to athletics.

‘You know, it’d be a shame if I had all these stats and I don’t find some proper use for it…’ the youth mused.

This was something he hadn’t had to worry about in High School due to their compulsory PE sessions every week.

Lump that in addition to his workout routine and Aiden hadn’t felt any reason to give it any major thought.

Now though, he found himself realizing just how much he’d taken those PE sessions for granted, hence why he was also considering getting into a sport.

Pacific Heights had no shortage of it, if he was being honest, with the football, soccer and basketball teams known for being amongst the best college teams in the country.

It was also why Aiden found himself uninterested in them.

If they already had enough talent in those brackets, then he found no reason to jump onto the bandwagon, and neither was he seeking any college popularity as a star jock.

If Aiden was also being honest, none of those sports… or even sports in general appealed to him.

That said, he was willing to give them a shot… especially since he had quite enjoyed their dodgeball sessions in high school.

It was also why he found himself settling on the one sport not only most students on campus, but even Pacific Heights athletics board frequently overlooked as they weren’t high-performing.

‘Volleyball.’ Aiden found himself smiling.

“It’s perfect.” he decided as he rose to his feet to head over to the fairground.

Having texted his buddies whom were currently at the fairgrounds–save for Theo whom had skedaddled to his dorm because his social battery was tanking at an alarming rate–Aiden leisurely strolled over.

Granted he still had the rest of the week to register at each club, he figured he might as well knock it out of the park right now instead of putting it off for later.

Upon arrival at the venue, the whole area was a hive of activity.

The usually open stretch of what Aiden assumed must’ve been pristinely well-kept campus lawns had been transformed into a lively carnival of sorts.

Colorful tents and booths scattered across the grounds, each bearing the names and banners of the various student clubs and organizations.

A few larger canopies had been set up for refreshments and food vendors, while several stalls offered games, giveaways, and other activities aimed at drawing in the freshmen.

Music played from somewhere nearby, occasionally drowned out by the excited chatter of students and the enthusiastic calls of club representatives trying to draw people over.

Groups of freshmen wandered from one booth to another, some already wearing club merchandise, while others gathered around the various activity stations.

All in all, it was quite the spectacle.

And though Aiden wasn’t certain, something told him they were just nearing peak activity… which in turn meant that festivities were probably going to go on late into the evening.

Navigating and squeezing his way through the sheer number of people milling about, Aiden began registering at each club, each one taking him roughly three to five minutes.

The theatre club however, had such a disgustingly long line, he found himself dipping the hell out of there the moment he arrived.

“Nope. I’ll come back later in the week.” he told himself, knowing fully well he’d be spending close to an hour there if he opted to stay in line.

Soon enough, Aiden arrived at the Volleyball recruitment booth.

He was also surprised to see that he was the only one there at the moment, with the senior in charge napping away even amidst all the noise.

Credit to her though, she did seem to have noise cancelling earbuds in her ears, and it took quite a bit of tapping from Aiden before she finally got around to waking up.

The recruitment poster she’d been sleeping on remained stuck to her face as she blinked her eyes a few times, trying to clear off the bleariness and sleep fog as she removed the buds in her ears.

Her hair was a jet-black styled in a classic pixie cut, and her irises were a cool-grey, further adding to her overall tomboyish look.

Then with cat-like yawns and stretches, the flyer still stuck to her face, she spoke;

“Do you… need directions to somewhere? Or was I… called by one of the fair coordinators? Do they need something?”

Aiden simply pointed at the recruitment clipboard on the booth table and said, clearly unperturbed by her actions;

“I’d like to sign up for the Volleyball team.”

“I see…” the lady yawned again, a vaguely incoherent sound escaping her as she stretched a bit more.

Then her eyes suddenly flickered, her gaze sharpening with clarity when the words finally registered.

“Wait, did you just say you wanted to sign up for the Volleyball Team?!” she suddenly demanded with enthusiasm, her hands subconsciously slamming onto the booth desk.

“Yeah.” Aiden replied with little to no reaction, then casually gestured at the clipboard;

“I can put down my details, right?”

“Yes! Please! Go ahead!” the lady gestured in excitement.

Then she proceeded to pepper him with questions, her form leaning forwards;

“Did you play Volleyball in high school?”

“Nope.” Aiden answered.

“Any other sports?” she pushed on.

“If dodgeball counts.” the coal-haired youth paid his response no mind.

“Oh.” she remarked, her enthusiasm dying just as quickly.

At the same time, Aiden had written all that he needed to, and his senior forced out a courteous smile as she said;

“Thank you for signing up. We look forward to having you on the team.”

In response, Aiden offered her a respectful nod. Then he peeled away from the area.

‘Aiden North…’ Paige read his name, which sadly, happened to be the only name on the page.

‘Well at least he’s handsome. Should bring in the ladies from time to time.’ she dismissively remarked with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Aiden had just received a text from his babe, asking for them to meet up at the cafeteria if he was free.

Thank for you reading!