Karl Jacobs frowned at the stack of flyers sitting in front of him, their edges slightly crumpled from being shoved into his overstuffed backpack. He was in way over his head, and he knew it. 

His calendar was already a chaotic nightmare of club meetings, group projects, and deadlines for his art classes that he was barely keeping up with. So why—why—had he thought it would be a good idea to start another club?

"Because I'm an idiot," Karl muttered to himself, slapping another piece of tape onto the flyer and sticking it to the already overcrowded announcement board in the campus common room.
The flyer wasn't even particularly good. It was bold, sure—big bubble letters at the top reading:

UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: CAMPUS EDITION 

"Do you love spooky stories, hidden clues, and solving puzzles? Join us for a fun, lighthearted dive into campus history—and maybe even crack a cold case!"

Karl had whipped it together in ten minutes using a free online flyer template. It had a grainy picture of an old library on it and what he hoped was a mysterious vibe. But the truth was, he'd only come up with the idea because he panicked at the club fair last week when a student volunteer handed him a clipboard and said, "What about you? Got any ideas for a club?"

He couldn't just say no. That would've been awkward. So now here he was, waiting for people to show up to his little mystery club—a club that he hadn't really planned for, didn't have time for, and wasn't even sure anyone would be interested in.

Quackity's voice broke through his spiraling thoughts. "What are you doing now?"

Karl turned to see his best friend standing behind him, arms crossed and holding an obnoxiously bright blue energy drink. Quackity was grinning, but there was that glint of judgment in his eye that Karl knew all too well.

"Nothing," Karl said, a little too quickly.

Quackity leaned over his shoulder to read the flyer. His grin grew wider. "Unsolved Mysteries: Campus Edition? Oh, this is good. You've outdone yourself this time, Jacobs. What is this, your fifth club?" 

"Fourth," Karl corrected. "And it's not a big deal. It's just a fun thing. People probably won't even show up." 

Quackity raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying you printed thirty flyers for something no one's going to care about?" 

Karl flushed, snatching the remaining flyers off the table. "It's not like that! Some people might come. You never know." 

"Uh-huh. Well, when no one does, you can always pivot and start a Karl Jacobs Sleep Deprivation Support Group. You'd be the president and the first member."   

"Ha-ha," Karl said, shoving the flyers into his bag. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Quackity."
"Anytime."   

---

On the other side of campus, Nick sat in his dorm room, staring at the signup page on his laptop.  

"Just click it, dude," George said from his bed, where he was scrolling through TikTok without a care in the world.   

Nick groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't even know what this is. Unsolved Mysteries: Campus Edition? That sounds... dumb."   

"You're dumb," George said, not looking up from his phone. "Didn't you say you were going to get out more this semester? Make some friends? Live a little?"   

"Yeah, but I didn't mean joining some random club run by someone I don't know."   

George finally looked up. "It's not that deep, Nick. Just go. Worst-case scenario, it's a waste of an hour. Best case, it's actually fun. Or you meet someone cool. You're way too into your head about this."   

Nick sighed. George wasn't entirely wrong. He had promised himself he'd make an effort to do something other than sit in front of his computer all semester. His coding assignments were already starting to feel like an endless loop of stress and deadlines, and it was only the second week of classes.   

"Fine," Nick muttered, clicking the signup button. "But if it sucks, I'm blaming you."
George smirked. "Noted."   

---

The first meeting of the Unsolved Mysteries club was set to take place in one of the study rooms in the campus library. Karl sat alone at the long table, fiddling with a dry-erase marker and staring at the completely blank whiteboard in front of him. He'd written "WELCOME!" in bright blue letters earlier, but it had looked so lonely and awkward that he'd erased it.   

He checked the time on his phone. The meeting was supposed to start in ten minutes. Not that he was expecting anyone to show up. Maybe Quackity had been right. Maybe this whole thing was stupid.   

The door creaked open, and Karl nearly jumped out of his seat.   

A guy walked in—a little shorter than Karl, with dark hair, a hoodie that looked well-loved, and an expression that could only be described as mildly annoyed. He glanced around the room like he was already regretting his decision.   

"Uh, is this the mystery thing?" the guy asked, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets.   

Karl scrambled to his feet. "Yeah! Hi! Welcome!" His voice came out way too enthusiastic, and he mentally kicked himself. "You're, uh, the first one here, so... feel free to sit anywhere!"   

The guy raised an eyebrow. "It's just you?"   

"No!" Karl said quickly, though the empty room betrayed him. "I mean, people are just... late. You're early!"   

The guy nodded slowly, clearly unconvinced. He took a seat near the middle of the table, dragging the chair out with a loud scrape. Karl felt his face heat up as the silence stretched between them.   

"So, uh," Karl said, desperately trying to fill the void, "what's your name?"   

"Nick."   

"Cool. I'm Karl. Nice to meet you!"   

"Yeah. Same."   

Karl sat back down, gripping the dry-erase marker like it was some kind of lifeline. This was so awkward. He needed to say something, anything, to break the tension.   

"So... what made you want to join?" Karl asked.   

Nick shrugged. "Honestly? My roommate made me. Said I needed to 'get out more.'"   

Karl laughed nervously. "Well, hey, I'm glad you're here. I think this is gonna be fun!"   

Nick didn't look convinced. "Sure."   

The door creaked open again, and Karl's heart leaped.   

Another student walked in—a girl this time, carrying a notebook and looking mildly curious. She glanced at Karl, then at Nick, then at the empty room.   

"This is the club meeting, right?" she asked.   

Karl smiled, relief flooding through him. "Yep! Come on in!"   

Maybe this wouldn't be a total disaster after all...