what a waste
of a lovely
night

-

-

For at least an hour, Will had gone quiet. His eyes were closed and his mouth open as he snored slightly, mumbling every so often in his sleep.

Emi was thankful he'd drunk so much for the simple fact that once he was asleep that was it. He would sleep for a while now. He didn't seem horrible, just awfully sarcastic and stubborn, like her, really.

The sound of the party still going on outside steadily grew frustrating. While Emi knew there wasn't any way they could get out until someone came close by the door, she still worried. It had been over an hour and her friends would be worrying where she'd gone by now.

Although, they might just think she went home.

Beside her, Will stirred. He groaned, rubbing his eyes as he rolled over.

"We're still locked in?" He asked in a sense of disbelief. His voice was slightly croaky from his sleep and his hair a tussled mess. In response, Emi just nodded, turning her page. He sighed, flopping back down into the beanbag. "What a waste of a lovely night."

"You're telling me," Emi grumbled as she turned onto the final chapter. "Go back to sleep for at least five minutes so I can finish my book in silence, ok?"

"No, I don't want to sleep."

"Then don't. Just be quiet."

"Your book isn't going anywhere and I'm bored so can you please talk to me?" It almost felt like he was begging.

Emi laughed. "Fine, what do you wanna talk about." She closed her book, dropping it to the side. Honestly, she was curious as to what he had to say to her. They didn't know each other and she didn't know if she cared enough to get to know him.

"Just talk about ourselves. Before I came in here, I didn't even know you existed. So, what's your full name?" He asked, sitting up.

"Emi Hana," She replied, picking at the hem of her dress. "You?"

"Will Lenney," He said and then asked, "What do you study?"

"English Literature, hence the obsessive need to read," She joked and he chuckled, shocking her that he didn't roll his eyes at her or claim she was a pretentious twat.

"Why?" He asked before she could question his area of study.

She had to be honest. His question surprised her, causing her to cut her murky eyes right to him, meeting his. And he looked genuinely interested. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she first thought.

"Growing up, it was always my best subject. I had a knack for picking out meanings and reasons and symbols. But, I also read a lot of books when I was young. I'm not kidding when I say I probably used to read a book a day, pretty much," Emi explained. He could see her eyes glistening in the dull light of the bulb hanging above their heads as she spoke about her passion with such happiness.

For the first time, he saw her smile, and it was wonderful.

He must've been just staring at her because she breathed out a laugh and then asked, "What about you? What do you study?"

"Engineering," He answered. "But I was thinking about dropping out," Will admit, toying with the loose threads on the knee of his ripped jeans.

"Why would you?" Emi screwed her nose up. Dropping out was and always had been the last thing she ever pictured herself doing, or anyone else. It was a mistake, on her account, unless it was for a solid reason.

"Well," He began, a goofy smile spreading across his mouth.

"If you're about to tell me it's for a girl, I will slap you," Emi warned, pointing her finger at him. Joking, but not really.

"No, nothing like that. It's actually for a job, of sorts." He shifted in his seat. "It's hard to explain, but I'm thinking of dropping out to go into YouTube and make videos."

Emi frowned. "How does it work?"

"You make videos and then companies advertise on them, so you get paid. I'm doing well at the moment and I really think I want to drop out and focus on it full time."

"Have you spoken to anyone else about this? Because I'm really not the best person to talk to about it. I'm a lover of education." Emi pushed her hair behind her ear as she looked over his grinning face, clearly passionate about this new career choice he was making.

"No, not yet."

"I think you should."

"Maybe," He said quietly, looking down at his hands.

-

-

"What about you?" He asked, turning the conversation away from himself. "What are you planning on doing once uni is over?"

"I was one of the few people who came into uni with a five year plan. Once these three years are over, I want to go straight into employment."

The sheer thought of organisation and her future made her cheeks glow and her lips curl into that wonderful smile. The smile he could barely see through the dim light, but the smile he saw nonetheless.

"Employment in what? Writing?"

"That'll be a side project to being a publishing proof-reader. So, I'll get to read lots of books before they're published and go through to make sure they're... accurate." She rest her chin on her palm, looking at him with eyes begging for questions.

Emi could talk all day about her future. It didn't terrify her like it did for others. She couldn't wait to get into employment and to finally be making money instead of spending it on university.

"Wouldn't that get... boring?" He questioned honestly. If you did what you loved too much, didn't it get old? Like listening to the same song you love on repeat. Eventually, you get fed up of it and stop listening.

"There's so many different genres of books, so many different styles of writing that I don't think I could ever get bored." She pushed her hair behind her ear. "It's the same with people. You don't get bored of meeting people because everyone's different. Everyone has a different story to tell."

"I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, you know," Will admit, eyes flickering around her face as he smiled at her as if she'd told him the secret to staying young forever.

And she smiled right back.

-

after that episode of got, I need to lie down