Notes:

Additional Cast:

 Jessica Parker Kennedy as Sam Harris 

Dulce Maria as Nina Andrews 

 Frances Fisher as Abigail Fitzgerald 

Sophie's POV

The first week of college went by pretty well. After the cinema fiasco with Joss and Alice, Joss and I stayed in and had a quiet weekend rewatching Star Wars and downing a tone of popcorn, which was pleasant enough. I teased him a bit, actually a lot, about the Alice thing and how pissed he had been. It was good to see him so worked up about someone.

As for Vanessa.....well let's just say that I didn't have an awful night. Like I said, maybe if we weren't rivals in high school, today we would have been maybe not besties, but at least something more that acquaintances. I might be willing to forgive and forget the high school drama and start over I guess... I know... Joss was right after all. I need to broaden my horizons, and meet new people, well I already know Vanessa is not a killer or a weirdo, so she can be the first. Right? But I will not make the first move here, I am not that desperate, she can do it, if she wants, I mean I hope she does..

I open the door to the small coffee house next to campus and see a huge line. I should have guessed it would be mainstream. There must be at least 15 people in front of me, so I pull my phone out and put my earplugs in. I look up to see if the line has moved a bit when I recognize a familiar mane,Vanessa's, a few people ahead of me, who at that time looks behind her shoulder, and notices me. She leaves her spot and comes next to me with a rather huge smile, to be honest.

"Hey good morning! Big line huh?" She asks, way cheerful in the morning. Was she always so bright in high school? I never noticed...

"Yes it is. You missed your spot in the line!" I point but she shakes her head.

"That's ok, I can wait a little longer. You have class?" She asks politely.

"Yes in 30 minutes actually, elective. You?" I should make polite conversation. People like you more when you seem interested in their routine. Not that I care is she likes me of course...

"I am here to buy breakfast for Alice. She is a sleepyhead so I thought it would be nice to be considerate." She says pointing the line of croissants.

Aww..that's nice.. Joss hasn't done that to me in a long time. He used to, in high school, but it's been 2 years...I would like some breakfast waiting for me when I wake up.. Lucky Alice.

"Good thinking, she will appreciate it." I say because there's nothing else to comment but the truth. I have to scold Joss for not being considerate. He is eating my stuff all the time! My thoughts are interrupted by a laugh, two actually, and a smiling Vanessa that's looking to her left, waving at someone so I turn my head to look at the direction too. First, I see a girl with light brown skin and curly dark brown hair with a big smile, leaning on someone's side, hugging them. Then my eyes fall to that someone...the girl from past Monday.

The same blonde girl with light blue eyes that irritated me the first day of class. Scratch that, I irritated her with my comment.... Wait, they are coming over?

"Robin, Sam hi! Good morning!" Vanessa says enthusiastically. She knows them? I see the moment the blonde girl's eyes widened. She stopped walking for a bit and the other girl practically dragged her next to us not having a clue. Vanessa looks at me and then at the girls.

"Sophie, this is Robin and Sam, I met them on our first week. Guys,this is Sophie, my hometown classmate." So the blonde one is Robin...

"I have met your friend, we share a class together, can't say the same about beliefs.. But whatever, right? Hi Vanessa how are you?" Robin comments as she momentarily looked at me with stone cold eyes. Guess she is still pissed? And sassy! Great!

Next to her, her friend, Sam, eyes me from head to toe and it makes me feel uncomfortable. I guess she made the connections in her head clearly knowing about our "fight". In all honesty I do know I shouldn't have said those things, but like always, my social skills made a fool out of me and I bet she thinks I am a raging homophobe, which is not true! She caught me off guard and my response was awful and offensive I guess... I now feel kinda uneasy next to her, thinking she may think the worst of me....How am I going to share a class with a person that hates me? Nice, another thing to worry about..

I zoom out, looking ahead, not bothering to listen to them talking. The line is moving fast and there's only 6 people in front of us now. Bored, I sing a song in my head in distraction, while the girls are still talking and giggling and stuff but I keep my focus on the song. I feel Vanessa tagging my arm at some point and turn to see Robin and her friend walk out of the door, and finally I relax.

"Aren't they great?" she asks and I dont have the energy to tell her about the incident, so I nod. When we finally order and are ready to go, we reach the door parting ways, but not before she hugs me lightly leaving me stunned for a sec. People don't hug me.. I don't hug people I don't know.

Lost in my thoughts I make my way to class. As a person of habit, I reach for the same row I sat last week. With my head down, I turn my phone off, I sit in the middle of it not before noticing there's a figure sitting 3 seats way. As I make myself comfortable getting ready for the lesson I focus on the people in front of me. I think we are around 60 people here, mostly women with a small male crowd amongst us. People seem to already have created groups as I see them chatting animatedly and laughing together, while I don't even have a person sitting next to me. There goes my goal of making friends in this class. I am a Sheldon, aren't I?

Some girls are taking a selfie in the front rows, taking their tongues out and I gag. We are in a classroom for God's sake, not a Miley Cyrus concert. I turn to my left to the seats on the other side of the room, where a few guys talk loudly about gym routines, and I eyeroll. Guess it's not my fault I am a Sheldon here. Ignoring them, I turn to the person on my right to take a good look at them.

To be honest when I first saw Robin at the coffee house, I had forgotten about the incident and that I would find her here. This time, when I turned my head, the shock was limited, I was just shocked she is sitting there, 3 seats away. I don't think she has noticed me, because she is writing something on a notepad listening to music, so I take the time to inspect her. She is wearing a pair of marine-blank loose fit floral trousers, with white stan smiths and a see-through white button-up. Her hair is straight, and a pair of brown Ray Bans are on the top of her head. She is tapping her left foot and shaking her head to an unknown rhythm, and I can hear a muffled sound coming out of her earplugs. As I am staring at her more closely, I can spot a small tattoo on the outer side of her left wrist and I can count 3 piercings on her left ear as well.

Zoomed out, I didn't hear the professor greeting the class nor the students opening their notebooks and the textbooks. When the lights turned off for the projector, thought,I finally wake up. And she does as well. That's when she notices me. She looks at me briefly and then she turns away.

As the class progresses, I find myself distracted again when I hear a faint hum from her, so again, I turn to look her way.She still has her earplugs in while she copies the slides on the screen, ignoring the professor and his lecture. I find myself trying to make out the song she is humming but that's not what I hear.. instead..

"As we move on to the next slide you can see how the ancient Greeks.." shit I didn't finish the previous slide... shit shit shitttttt. I panic but I can't bring myself to ask the professor to go back to the previous one. They will think I am a loser that can't write fast enough! I try to look over to the person in front of me but he is covering the page..damnnnn..what do I do?

I fuzz and move nervously around my seat trying to figure out what to do, looking like a kicked puppy. Resigned I look at the slide on the screen again. Nice, now I have missed 2 slides....I wanna die....

That's when I turn to my right. I see Robin with a smirk on her face, looking at me and I am about to struggle her for making fun of me, when she shakes her head and reaches for her notepad. Next thing I know she is handing me over her notes with a puff and a pissed " hurry up", and I take it stunned and utterly confused. I quickly find the page and start copying it, relieved I wouldn't have to ask anyone for the notes and that the professor is explaining thoroughly the current slide. Five minutes and a cramped wrist later, finally caught up with the current slide on the screen, I give it back to her and she takes is abruptly. I mutter a "thanks" and pay attention to class as she does too, not looking my way again. When the class ends she gets up before I do, and disappears.

Alice's POV

Today's classes are over and it's only 4 o'clock. "Yokatta" as I would say in japanese, meaning "great".

"Do you want to grab a bite?" Nina, a red headed classmate I met in my second day of classes asks me.

"Yeah! I am starving! Let's go buy something from the canteen and sit on the grass" I propose seeing the nice weather. "The sun really invites you in."

"That's a great idea! I need to preserve my sun tan." she jokes and I giggle.

After a while I am sitting on the grass with a sandwich at hand, enjoying the sun and chatting with Nina. I feel so relaxed, just hanging like that. Other students are relaxing like us too. Some sit at groups talking and eating, while others just sit alone listening to music, using their laptops or napping. The sun is irresistible to everyone.

"So have you thought what paper you'll do for Mr. Emerton's class?" Nina asks me while she's creasing her sandwich wrap.

"Not really. It'll definitely be on the Asian languages, but that's all." I reply raising my shoulders in uncertainty.

"Well you should think of it fast. The deadline is in two weeks and it's 40% of the final degree. Not to mention how strict Mr. Emerton is." she exhales.

"There's still time. Don't underestimate my powers." I wink at her and I fall down to relax.

"You say that because, you are kicking ass in his class. You are among the few students that can answer his bizarre questions." she smirks and I chuckle.

"Well it's one of the few classes that I don't get bored with, and even though Mr. Emerton is draconian, he's very interesting as a professor. He knows so many things." I say still leaning on the the grass, with one hand on my face to hide the sun from my eyes.

While I am at a nirvana state and feel the sun rays caressing my skin, I remember something. I have some exercises to be handed in tomorrow. Fuck! I completely forgot!

"Shit! I have to do some stupid exercises till tomorrow." I answer to Nina's confusing look as she sees me standing up in a blink of an eye.

"I am going to the library to borrow some books and then straight to the dorms to start." I inform her and I take off.

"See you tomorrow." she shouts as I walk away in a rush.

"Bye! Sorry for ditching you." I wave my hand and I increase my pace.

I enter the library building breathless and immediately go to the floor with the bookcases. The building has three floors and it's enormous. The first one is for group projects while the third is the cafeteria and offices for the library staff. When I reach the second floor, I am jaw dropped. The room is so huge and the bookcases are tall and endless. I can lose myself among them. The floor is wooden and the furniture is made οf mahogany. In the main corridor, there are desks for studying in the same colour of the bookcases.

There are not many people, since it's not finals' period, but I still have to keep it quiet. As I pass the reception desk I see an old lady with glasses and her gray hair in a bun, giving me a cold look and putting her index in front of her mouth to show me that I have to keep it quiet. Something tells me that I should not provoke her in any way.

I start walking in the the main corridor, while I am looking for a computer. There they are! In my right hand I see some tables with computers on them and I rush to their direction.

I find the two books that I need in the search engine and I collect them from the shelves. The last step is to print the professor's notes, since I am the traditional studying type. I prefer the paper to the computer or the tablet, because my head and eyes ache by looking at a screen for a really long time.

I am getting on the course's website to find the notes, but some windows pop up. I am getting irritated, because I want to get done with it and just shut them down, not giving any attention to what I click.

Suddenly when I am about to download the notes the cursor doesn't move.

What the fuck?

I begin moving the mouse nervously, but I don't observe any movement on the screen.

What the hell? It was working one minute ago. Then the screen turns off and a blue screen pops up. That can't be good. I am no IT expert, but blue screen isn't a good sign.

Did I click on something that I wasn't supposed to? Oh God! I am so screwed! What should I do? I put my face in my hands and I exhale.

When I raise my head I sense a breath on my neck and when I turn to look who it is, I bump into his face.

It's Joseph! His face is right next to mine and he's looking intensely at the screen.

Why does he have to turn up in the worst times? Just to make them worse, I answer my own question. It's his perfect time to shoot one of his famous quotes on my face, but I am in no mood to play his little game right now.

"This doesn't look really good." he says before I even manage to utter a word.

"Thank you Mr. Obvious. I haven't noticed!" I spat at him, trying to get my distance. It feels strange to be this close to him. It's a weird feeling that I can't describe. I observe that his face has splendid edges and that his hair hug them perfectly. Alice focus!

"When did you turn up here?" I ask without taking my eyes from his face so close to mine. "I mean what are you doing here?"

"It's the college's library. I am a student in this college so make the connection. It's not a high IQ problem, so you can solve it." he smirks as he takes his face away and puts his hands in his pockets.

"I am impressed that you know where the library is." I say in a huff. "Or did you follow an unaware girl with a tiny skirt to here?"

"Believe me, if that was the case, I wouldn't be here talking to you right now."

I make a grimace to his comment, but I choose to ignore it.

"And that leads me to my second question. Why did you crop up next to me?" I ask, because he got my curiosity up.

"I was standing there and I saw your computer go wild and-"

"-you decided to gloat over my misery." I finish his sentence.

"That would be a good chance, but I prefer to be the IT God, who is going to save the day." he smiles, that smile that I hate so much, while he's pointing at the computer.

"I don't need your help!" I snap at him, because my pride doesn't let me accept it.

"Oh believe me you do. Shouting doesn't work very well with software problems. It doesn't work well with anything, but you prefer doing it anyway." he raises his eyebrow at me.

"I don't shout at anything." I snap again. "You are just the case."

"What an honour! Can I ask for a prize? Do you have a good friend or a cousin..." he started saying his gibberish again.

"I don't want to sentence them to death." I hiss. "Why do you even want to help me?" I ask, because I can't understand his attitude. It's so weird and erratic.

"First because I am not the Neanderthal you think I am and second because if Ms. Fitzgerald sees the broken computer she will be furious and you're going to have a hard time." he explains.

"Who's Ms. Fitzgerald?"

"She's the 1000-year-old lady, who is in charge here. She's the one who sits at the reception desk at the entrance. The one with the sharp glance you think it's going to turn you into a frog. If she could, she would prohibit us from breathing to keep it quiet." he informs me with a light smile. Not the arrogant one, but a small and warm. "She's such a hag" he adds.

I raise my head to look at him as I consider my options. I am screwed and I need help. But should I trust him? Maybe what he says it's just a trick to make things worse, and then mock me more. Maybe there's more to the old lady than meets the eye, but my memory of her doesn't give any points to that. Also, I have no time to get myself in trouble. I know it's difficult since I am a trouble magnet and Joseph's presence proves that, but I have to try.

"Fine!" I say, knowing that maybe it's the worst decision of my life.

A smile flashes on his face "Move and let these magic hands do their tricks."

"I just hope you have washed them first. I don't know where you had them before" I frown in disgust.

He laughs at my grimace and starts typing non stop.

"You did your guff again!" he announces. "You downloaded a virus. How did you manage to do that? Your IQ is lower than what I've assumed." he says without his eyes leaving the screen.

"WHAT?" I scream " I didn't do anything like that. I just tried to download some notes." I try to excuse myself.

"The notes are the only thing you didn't download. All the trojan horses have been installed here. Don't tell me you clicked on a pop up window." he exclaims.

I was about to answer back, but then I remembered the windows that I closed without paying any attention. My sudden pause and my face must have given me away.

"Of course you did! Did you see that you won an iphone or a trip to Bahamas? Or did you answer any of the stupid quizzes with 'Find the capital of France' type questions, by your excitement that you can finally answer something correctly?" he jibs me and he turns to look at me, with eyes full of fake anticipation for the reply.

I knew it was wrong to let him help me! Surely it was a chance to mock me and get some kind of stupid revenge for our previous encounters. What does he have to do that all the time? His amusement is obvious all over his face and he's longing for a shot back.

"Ok, that's enough! I won't let you insult me, just because you think you're doing this huge favour for me! I don't need it. Go and do that to your stupid groupies." I yell, having forgotten where I am.

"My groupies appreciate it when I am trying to help them." he yells too and stands up to face me.

"I would too, but you had to flavor the help with your idiotic comments. Thanks but I won't buy!" I shout going closer to him. My eyes meet his and we exchange angry glares.

"You did something stupid. Accept the fact and take responsibility." His eyes don't leave mine. The whole eye contact is intense and the heat of the dispute is rising.

"You remember the meaning of the word responsibility now?" I spat feeling furious and I really want to slap him again. "Because I didn't think it was in your vocabulary in that FREAKING ELEVATOR." I really high pitched the last words.

Suddenly I hear a cough. An angry cough.

A/N: Thanks for reading, any feedback is welcome.