It was a surprisingly good night of sleep for Lily. It wasn't often she managed to feel completely rested without the help of her medication. On the other hand, having not gotten proper sleep in ages it was a bit of a shocking experience when someone gave her a gentle poke forcing her out of that restful sleep.
She let out a slight groan, easing her eyes open to see Serrah's smiling face only a few inches from hers, "Mornin' sleepyhead! Time to get up. I brought you coffee!" Serrah held up a Naturefoam cup which had steam rising from the lid to accentuate her point.
Lily grumbled and rolled over, tugging her blankets up and over her head, "Gimme a bit longer will you?"
Serrah set down the coffee cup and with a WHOOSH, ripped the blankets straight off of her, "Nope. If you sleep much longer, not only will you not make it to the trade show. You'll also not have enough time to get to Professor Barnes. So, up up up so we can go already! Also, there are some really cool demos at the trade show this morning!" Serrah was beaming from ear to ear as she looked down at the rather grumpy-looking Lily.
"Oh for fu......fine!." She said with a sigh, sitting and pulling herself from her bed. She was almost surprised by the pastel blue bandages around her arm and leg, "Right.... ponies." she mumbled, noting she was surprisingly sore this morning. Running around on a polo field trying to keep up was taxing, who would have thought?
Slipping into the bathroom, she cleaned herself up, donned her school uniform, and immediately scooped up the cup of coffee Serrah had brought her, "You're lucky you brought coffee." She mumbled softly, looking at the time on her clock reading 7 AM and wrinkling her nose, though it quickly unwrinkled when Serrah thrust a freshly baked apple fritter under her nose.
"And a fritter. Trust me, I know how to avoid sleepy Lily's wrath. It's still warm too!"
Lily huffed and took the pastry, "That's cheating."
"Maybe if it was a competition, my dearest Lily! Now c'mon, the trade show is in the Expo building on campus, so it's not TOO far a walk."
Lily moved to follow Serrah out of the dorm after tossing her messenger bag over her shoulder, "The expo building? I haven't been in there since I came for the big orientation thing."
"Only because you're bloody anti-social half the time!" Serrah shot over her shoulder as she led the way, her blonde ponytail swishing back and forth.
"Am not..."
Serrah turned about, walking backward and sipping her coffee, "No? Other than with me, what was the last social thing you actually did? Group activities? A social gathering of any sort."
Lily frowned and took a long sip of her coffee, "I worked on a group project for biomechanics."
Serrah snorted, "Oh yeah because classwork toooootally counts as socializing." Serrah somehow managed to dart and weave around people confidently as she kept walking backward. It was actually rather impressive to watch. Seeing her give her head a subtle turn to take note of anyone in the hall and adjusting her path accordingly.
"Depression sucks Lily. But did you ever stop to think that maybe part of it, is that you're so introverted? Social contact is a big part of our mental health after all!" Serrah said this without judgment, she knew Lily genuinely struggled in her day-to-day. The lack of sleep, the pressure from school, now from potentially failing out if she didn't take an extracurricular, she knew it was hard on her friend.
"I get more than my fill of social interaction from you. You're like forty people squeezed into one bubbly individual."
Serrah waved a dismissive hand, "True, but I'm still only one person. You need some variety. I think the whole extracurricular thing will be good for you. And if it isn't, well, then at least the pressure of your grades and stuff will be gone. Professor Barnes is really going to bat for you."
Lily sighed a little bit, "Just another person I'll owe."
Serrah spun about, flicking Lily's nose sharply, "Not everything comes with a bloody cost you know. He cares about his students. Otherwise, he'd have simply let you fail out and lose your scholarship. The only cost he's pushed onto you is getting you to join a club, which isn't so much payment for him as it is good for you."
Lily squeaked and rubbed her nose grumpily, "Fine fine. I get your point." She said, looking ahead at the entrance of the expo with the huge Holo-Board reading 'University Trade Show' on it in bright letters, a smattering of hoofprints running along the bottom, not surprising. MOST careers from here branched off of the pony track after all.
Serrah spun about, falling into step beside Lily and giving her a gentle nudge, "C'mon. We're out together, let's just enjoy the day and at noon you can give your answer to Professor Barnes! He's overseeing the derby demonstrations today."
Lily tilted her head, "Derby demonstrations?"
Serrah giggled, "Right. Derby is uhm...hectic pony obstacle races. Have you ever seen that show Transterran Ninja Warrior?"
Lily nodded, "Yeah."
"Well, it's like that. Except for ponies and it's a race with multiple ponies running at the same time. It's pretty action-packed and fun to watch actually. Ember is one of the top Derby ponies in the school!"
Lily squinted, "You know an awful lot about Ember, don't you?"
