The next couple days went by in a blur.

Astrid found herself more involved with her phone than her actual study work, talking long into the night and getting to know her new friend Theo more. She would laugh out loud at something he'd said, even though it was pushing past two in the morning. And as the long nights stretched on, she found it even harder to get out of bed the following morning, and would wind up snoozing her alarm in order to gain a couple more minutes of rest. In short: Theo Francis was turning her life upside down.

Astrid shuffles into the studio a minute before class began, with bags under her eyes. She automatically turned to sit with Lily – the only person who she considered close enough as a friend – but found that the easel next to her was taken. Lily gave Astrid a what-can-you-do-about-it kind of shrug.

Astrid sighed, taking a seat next to a girl who sat at the other side of the classroom. She gave Astrid a small smile, brushing her short hair absently behind her ears.

Astrid returned her smile. "Hi, I'm Astrid."

She stuck out her hand. "I'm Scottie."

Astrid shook it, trying to place her accent. "American?"

Scottie laughed. "Yeah. I'm studying abroad here for a semester."

"Cool. Where are you from?"

"New York."

"I've always wanted to go there! Do they really have horse and carriage rides around Central Park?"

Scottie laughed again. "Yeah. Although my brother hates them, says that they are taking business away from the taxi drivers of New York. But he's a bit biased."

"Oh," Astrid said, nodding as if she knew exactly what Scottie was talking about. "are you an art major?"

"No, Psychology and Religion Studies. But I've always loved drawing."

Astrid looked over at Scottie's canvas, which was covered in intricate designs.

"Okay, I love to doodle." Scottie admits with a grin.

"No, these are really good. It'll look so cool if you do some water coloring underneath it, make the images pop."

Scottie examined her canvas, thinking it over. "Hmm. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll try it."

Astrid smiled, before focusing her attention back on her work. As soon as she brought her paintbrush to her canvas, she was sucked away into her own little world. Her mind went blank, only focusing on the image in front of her. Astrid swirled green and blue together on her pallet until it resembled the ocean back at Brighton, and in quick strokes she replicated the waves hitting the pier. She could almost smell the sea salt and hear the stony beach washing up on shore. God, she missed home.

Suddenly, Theo and his wavy locks popped into her head, making her stop. Astrid cleared her throat uncomfortably, making Scottie give a her a questioning glace, but Astrid just smiled and continued painting.

Once class was over, Astrid packed her things with a vigor she didn't know she had. Theo's sudden appearance in her mind really threw her off, and she wasn't quite sure what she thought about it. She has thought of boys she fancied while she was painting before, but she didn't see Theo that way. Perhaps all those hours talking to him online has really messed up her head.

Lily walked up to Astrid, pulling the strap of her satchel bag higher over her shoulder. "Wanna get lunch at Nando's?"

"Yeah," Astrid said, putting her things away in her rucksack. She looked over at Scottie, who was quietly sharpening her drawing pencils. "Scottie, you want to come with?"

Scottie looked up and smiled, quickly getting up and grabbing her bag. "Yeah, that'll be awesome. I'm starving. What's Nando's?"

Astrid and Lily looked at each other, before grinning wildly. Lily laughed, turning to Scottie and said, "America girl, today you will witness the staple of British cuisine."

"Oh my god," Scottie mumbled, her mouth full of food. "this is so good."

Lily laughed as Astrid smirked, taking a sip of her ginger beer. The restaurant wasn't too busy, and the girls were able to find a table and order quite easily. Astrid and Lily have been waiting anxiously for their food to arrive, while Scottie was calm and collected. Scottie didn't understand why Nando's was such a big deal at the time, but when she finally took a bite of her sandwich, her whole face melted into pure bliss. And each time since then, she couldn't help but let out an audible noise of appreciation.

"I want to sneak a whole tray of this chicken in my luggage when I head back to New York." Scottie said lovingly, after taking another mouthful of her sandwich.

"Well you can't," Lily said, waving a chip at her. "this is England's pride and joy, and no American is going to take that away from us."

Scottie groaned. "Why did the U.S. have to leave the United Kingdom?"

Astrid laughed, shaking her head, "You two are ridiculous."

Scottie and Lily continued to banter back and forth, when Astrid's phone buzzed. She fished it out of her pocket and clicked the home button, illuminating the screen: it was a text message from Theo.

Astrid rolled her eyes, before typing out her response.

Astrid disregarded his request and rejoined the conversation with Lily and Scottie, laughing softly when Scottie accidentally flung some lettuce down Lily's shirt, her eyes wide.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." Scottie said, trying to bite back a smile.

"You so did that on purpose, you wanker." Lily said, reaching down her top and searching for the foreign object. "Ugh, I think it's stuck under the wire of my bra."

"If you need any help, I'm happy to oblige." Scottie said, full on smirking this time.

Lily crinkled her nose at her. "Oh, nic off."

Astrid was still laughing, her chest and mouth aching from the effort. She checked her watch. "Guys I better get going. I got class at one."

"Alright," Lily said, giving her a small smile. "see you later then."

"Have fun learning!" Scottie exclaimed, waving goodbye.

Astrid returned the gesture as she turned to go, walking out of the restaurant and towards University. It was about a twenty-minute walk to campus, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed seeing the sights of London, watching cars and people zoom by. The city was always moving, and compared to her slower-tempo beachside town, it was a drastic change.

Once back on campus she walked towards the science building. As much as she wanted to do art all of the time, she still had certain classes she needed to take before she graduated, and one of them being science.

Her classroom was actually a lecture hall, and half of her classmates had already taken their seats. She decided to sit near the back, feeling like it was the least likely place to get called on, and also avoided the majority of her classmates' gazes.

"Alright, settle down." Astrid's Professor said, standing behind the podium at the front of the class. The room went quiet. "We are going to pick up from where we left off, so please turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four."

Astrid took out her text and flipped to the designated page, before pulling out her notebook.

"The overhead shows three different graphs." Her professor said, pointing to the projection on the board. Astrid propped her chin in her palm. "One: Action Potential in skeletal muscle. Two: Tension response to the action potential. And Three: Cardiac Action Potential in the ventricle. Notice that it looks totally different! So the question is; why does the Cardiac AP look this way?"

Astrid suppressed a yawn, her eyes slowly drooping closed. She tried her hardest to stay awake, but each time her eyelids came close to closing, the heavier they were.

"The T tubule system of the heart is not as sophisticated as in the skeletal muscle. In fact—"

The door burst open, causing every single student's head to look up and swivel into that direction, including Astrid herself. In strolled in a young man who looked oddly familiar, but after one look at his blue hair Astrid let out a gasp.

"Can I help you?" the professor said, giving him a questioning look.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late." Theo said, putting on a huge grin. "Traffic was really bad and I got lost. Mind if I sit in the back?"

"Not at all," the professor said, gesturing to the back hesitantly. "please take a seat."

"Thanks so much." Theo walked straight toward her, that grin still plastered to his face. Astrid couldn't do anything except gawk back at him, completely unable to believe her eyes. He was wearing all black today, with high top Chuck Taylors. Once he sat next to her did Astrid snap out of her daze.

"Evening," Theo said.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Astrid hissed, as her professor continued to drone on about Purkinje Fibers.

"What's it look like?" Theo said, no care in the slightest. "I'm getting educated."

"Do you even go here?"

"Nope." He said matter-of-factly. "Is that a problem?"

Astrid stared at him in disbelief. "Someone's gonna catch you."

Theo smirked. "I don't think so."

"Theo!" a boy in front of Astrid exclaimed, who had spun in his seat to face him.

"Oh hey Mike," Theo said, grabbing his hand and shaking it. "How you been?"

"Good mate, good." Mike said, nodding. "I haven't seen you much around campus. Did you switch out of Literature 101?"

"Yeah," Theo said, shrugging. "wasn't feeling it."

"Bugger." Mike sighed, slouching lower in his chair. "Well, it's not the same without you mate. We gotta grab a pint sometime."

"Yeah, sounds brilliant."

"Alright. I better pay attention now or Prof's gonna piss himself."

Theo chuckled as Mike faced the front of the class again, before catching Astrid's gaze. In the beginning she was shocked, but now she was completely stunned. She couldn't believe that people actually thought that Theo was really a student. Wouldn't professors notice that he wasn't on the roster, or even registered at University? She wanted to laugh at the absurdity, but she was too gobsmacked to do anything.

"What?" Theo asked.

Astrid blinked. "Nothing."

Theo smirked. "Not nothing. I could see your mind going in circles."

Suddenly the students around them started to get up, signaling the end of the lecture. Astrid collected her things and ignored Theo, following her classmates out the door and into the quad. She quickened her pace and kept her gaze straight ahead, but eventually Theo caught up with her, jolting from a jog to a walk once he reached her side.

"You left in a hurry. Are we avoiding someone?" Theo asks, slightly out of breath.

Astrid just snorted, suddenly going right and causing Theo to go into a jog in order to catch up to her again.

"Okay, stop doing that." He panted, putting a hand on Astrid's shoulder to halt her. "I have the lungs of a smoker."

That caught her attention. "You smoke?"

"Not anymore. I've quit." Theo puffed out his chest proudly. "Been six months since my last cig."

"Congratulations," Astrid said dryly. "unfortunately it ruins your whole I-don't-play-by-the-rules-I-make-my-own-rules vibe you got going on."

His smile faltered. "Are you mad at me, or something?"

Astrid sighed, releasing the negative energy that she didn't know she was carrying. "No. I just... I just didn't expect you to show up to my class today, that's all."

Theo nodded his head in understanding. "You don't like surprises."

Astrid chuckled, causing Theo to smile again. "I guess I'm not the biggest fan."

"Noted." They approached the bus stop and stood under the canopy by the side of the road. "I wanna show you something."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Theo's hole-in-the-wall tour?"

"The very one!"

"And let me guess," Astrid said, trying not to smile. "it's a surprise?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Theo admitted. "But don't worry, they are only nice ones."

The bus came to a screeching halt in front of them. Theo gestured to entrance with a smirk, his lip ring glistening. "Shall we?"

Astrid smiled, looping her arm through his. "We shall."

Hey guys!

Sorry for the wait, but I really enjoyed writing this chapter. The chemistry between Scottie and Lily just sort of happened, but I kinda love it.

Speaking of, ANYONE RECOGNIZE SCOTTIE? if you do, I appreciate it my love :)

If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, check out my novella Taxi Service. The cover matches this one.

Anyways, thanks so much for reading, and as always don't forget to vote, comment, follow, and have a lovely day :)

-Yours Truly.