Bella is claiming a table from Suze, who has already finished eating and is going to go get a jump on some work for the term. Suze helps her re-check the table just this once and then leaves her there alone. When Bella spots Raleigh she waves.

"Hey!" Raleigh waves back, and heads over. "Is this spot spoken for yet?" 

"Nope, sit right down. How's it going?"

"Pretty good, I think! No one from Sacramento is dead! That was a huge relief. I met lots of people and I got a pretty good start at organizing my room. You?" 

"Met lots of people. Some of the Mandarin kids are friendly, which is good because I'm not as solid as I'd like on it. Had to ask one how to say 'coconut'."

"- Tragically I should not be trying to learn Mandarin, so I shouldn't ask how you say 'coconut' even though I'm very curious!" 

"I don't think 'coconut' would snag you the coursework - most English-speakers know more than a handful of words that were at least originally in other languages! - but I do understand wanting to leave slack for less optional coconuts. What languages do you have?"

He thinks this might've come up before when they first talked? Maybe? It's hard to remember what he's said to who, he's met SO many people today and presumably so has Bella. "French and Spanish and Latin." And English but that's obvious, they're speaking it. 

"Right, sorry if I asked that already, I'm just ninety percent made of small talk scripts today."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. It's - been a pretty overwhelming afternoon–" 

He breaks off, and twists around to wave. "Shannon! Hey - want to come sit with us?" A slightly sheepish glance back at Bella, "- uh is that all right?" 

"Sure, that's fine by me."

Shannon comes over, smiling in a nervous-and-overwhelmed sort of way. "Hey. Uh, you're not sitting with Sacramento?" 

"Not tonight. I wanted to take the chance and talk to more of the other freshmen. And, um, the Sacramento table is kind of depressing." 

Shannon looks curious, at this, but nibbles her lip and doesn't ask. She has a very sad tray with only a bread roll and a carton of milk. 

"Here, you should have my meatloaf!" He slides it across to her.

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy is he being so uncomfortably nice??? Shannon is so confused!!! 

"Were they out of sprouts or can you just not stomach 'em?" Bella herself has meatloaf and milk and brussels sprouts but no roll; someone was having a fight with a mal among the rolls when she got to them.

"I guess I should at least try them?" Shannon gives the extra sprouts on Raleigh's plate a dubious look. "They really don't look appetizing." 

"You'll have plenty of opportunities to try them later! - Bella, I grabbed extra bread, want some?" 

....Okay it's a little reassuring that Raleigh is apparently inexplicably generous to everyone, not just her. 

"Wouldn't turn you down." Bella takes the bread and assembles a small meatloaf sandwich with it.

Marcy shows up on Bella's other side, having just traded a roll to Kevin in exchange for half his applesauce. He managed to collect a nice big bowl of it while avoiding the slowly-dissolving lumps of unidentifiable undesirability scattered throughout, and also separately collected a few of the lumps to see if Abigail wants them. She said "What the hell, Kevin" but she can't even be that surprised because Kevin is always like this, and it's good that he's like this because now she has applesauce to go with her half-slice of meatloaf and pile of sprouts.

"Hello," she says to everyone, and adds "I don't think we've met" to Raleigh and Shannon.

"Hi, Marcy, these are Raleigh and Shannon."

"Hi Marcy! Where are you from? I'm from Sacramento, languages track. Shannon's from Canada but came in on our spare slot. She has an affinity for healing and is doing alchemy track." 

"Boston, languages and artificing--my affinity's projectiles--but my friend Abigail's doing alchemy and hers is sensory stuff. Healing is always a good one."