Vanessa's POV

Friday would be my favorite day if it wasn't for him. Favorite class, favorite teacher and he messes it up for me. I put my fighter mode on. Alice and I talked about it yesterday and she prepared me for a proper battle. I do the talking, I don't take orders. She even wanted to show me a couple of moves since she's a pro at martial arts, but I tripped every single time I tried to catch up. The point is, Mr Nathan Parker will listen to me lecturing him and will finally give up his attitude. It's about time.

Unfortunately, he is nowhere to be found at class. And to make matters worse, Mr Theodors has announced what our assignment for this semester will be. Each team has been given a century and we have to work on whichever event of this century we want. We've been given the 16th century. Why do I keep saying we? It's me, myself and I, because I'm alone in this. No signs of partner around. In my attempt to find a solution and keep my head, I take an endless walk at the campus but it doesn't seem to help.

"Hey Vanessa!" Joseph waves at me from the parking spot.

"Oh, hi Joseph!" I approach him. "How are you?" He is wearing a green t-shirt and jeans, while his hair is falling on his forehead perfectly messily like always. He has a black laptop bag on his shoulder.

"I am fine! A bit tired, since I had labs really early in the morning." he answers with a smile. "You? I haven't seen you since the movie night" he makes a grimace with his face.

"Yeah, I have been busy with classes and all. You remember what it is like being a freshman, right?" I exhale.

"Of course I do! I am not that old!" he exclaims and pretends to be offended.

"I didn't mean it that way!" I explain myself laughing. "So, what are you doing here? Are you waiting for Sophie?"

"No! I am waiting for Nathan, a friend that I've met the previous week. He's about to finish basketball practice, so we are going to grab a bite at the grill." he informs and I frown hearing the name of his friend. There are a lot of people with that specific name right?

"Heeeey, Joseph!" I hear a voice behind me. "Sorry for being late, man. Coach kept us longer today. I can see you found yourself some company." Of course I know whose voice this is, but of course Mr Nathan Parker hasn't recognised me until he looks at me. "You?" It seems like he didn't expect Joseph and I to know each other. Well, there are people worth to have a conversation with and who know how to socialize. People nothing like him.

"Yes, me." I eyeroll. "A.k.a, your partner at today's class, which you obviously forgot to attend. I guess you have better things to do." My tone is sarcastic but I don't care. He should at least show up at a class he chose on his own.

"You guessed right." He gives me a fake smile and I wish Alice was here, so she could punch him in the face.

"Woah, woah, guys, what's going on?" Joseph chimes in and we both turn to look at him.

"Nothing worth our time." Nathan smirks. "Let's go, Joss." He starts walking to his car and Joseph follows him. And I follow them both.

"In case you'd like to know, Mr Theodors announced the project we have to do for the semester." I try to keep up with them. Woah, they both walk too fast. "We were given the 16th century and we have to-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would love to hear about that another time." He opens the door to his car. "Or maybe never." His smirk appears once more to irritate me. I stand still for a moment, unable to comprehend how he can be so rude and disinterested. "Will you move or are we going to run you down?" Joseph pops into the car kind of amused by this interaction between me and his "friend".

"I...I won't be the one to inform you about it another time. Or ever!" I shout at him. "Find about it yourself, and accept the responsibility for your class' obligations!" He starts driving like my words haven't affected him a bit.

"Bye, Vanessa." He waves at me as they get out of the parking spot, and I try my best not to scream at the top of my lungs.

Nathan's POV

"Dude what was all this? I have never seen Vanessa act like this before." Joseph asks me really confused.

"That's the only way I have seen her act since the day I met her." I raise an eyebrow at him. "She is just a pain in the ass."

"Little Vanessa Adams is a pain in the ass? Vanessa is one of the quietest people I know and I know her since elementary school." He does? "You don't truly know what pain in the ass means. I should better introduce you to her roommate."

"I refuse to believe that. Vanessa is your homie then? You are friends?" I ask Joseph without hiding my surprise.

"Yeah, we are friends. Not really close, but we catch up from time to time." he replies to my question with his eyes on the road in front of him.

"I admire you. Like seriously. She is driving me nuts and I've only seen her a couple times, I can't imagine being stuck with her for my whole life." I tell him while tick tocking my fingers on the wheel. "Speaking of, how did your damn chore thing go? If I remember correctly, that was what was driving you nuts last time I saw you."

"Yeah it did, but now it's over! Thank God!" he cheers. "That girl always wants a piece of me, but I really enjoyed it yesterday. Unfortunately, I can't tell you why, because I don't want to be the protagonist to a Godfather's sequel." he smirks and puts his hands behind his head to be more comfortable.

"Ha, so you got laid and you want to be a gentleman to protect the lady's honor?" I smirk back at him. There is more story here. For sure.

"Got laid? With her? Nooooo! Last time I checked, stupid loudmouths were not on my to-do list. Also, I have some standards, and I don't lower myself for such a desperate woman like her." He declares with a majestic tone.

"Woah, that bad huh? By the way you describe her, I can picture her as a younger version of Mrs Fitz." I tease him laughing.

"Well she hasn't reached the levels of Mrs. Evil Rotten Witch yet, but as she grows older, she will definitely get there." he responds laughing as well.

"Oh man, all this laughing got me famished." I tell him truly meaning it. "Plus, coach fucking frazzled us today." I say as I am parking outside the grill.

"I am fucking hungry too. I spent too much energy writing thousands lines of code for this Security class. My brain needs the calories."he huffs and steps out of the car with his laptop bag on his shoulder. Sometimes I forget that he is an IT guy indeed.

"Let's go get 'em then." We sit at a table outside after talking around 20 minutes to the cheerleading team who has stopped to grab a bite as well. What can I say, it's not our fault that we are too irresistible for them to let us go so easily.

"Well, I want a different kind of sandwich right now." Joseph smirks as he looks at the cheerleaders.

"You'll get one for real now, and afterwards, there is time for dessert." I wink at him while raising my hand so the waitress sees we are ready to order.

"Hi. What can I get you guys?" She fixes her hair and gives a wide smile to both Joseph and me.

"A BLT sandwich for me." Joseph orders as he's checking the waitress out.

"Make them two, gorgeous." She nods and blushes. Or should I say she blushes first and nods afterwards.

"Anything else boys?"Nothing appropriate really.

"A coke" Joseph says, without taking his flirtatious eyes from her.

"Water for me." She writes them on her notebook and leaves staggering.

Our order arrives pretty quickly, and Joseph and I start talking about some serious injury of one of his favourite Knicks player had. Poor guy, this is the worst way to start the season. As we try to think of all the possible players who can fill his shoes, I spot Robin coming out off the grill with a paper bag in her hands.

"Ro! Hey!" I raise my hand in the air and greet her.

"What's up guys?" Robin greets us back and comes to our table.

"Hey Ro! Just talking about basketball. You?" Joseph flashes her a smile.

"Doing pretty good, but bored as fuck. What are you guys up to?" she asks as she sits next to Joss, sighing.

"I have the best idea to get you out of your boredom. Why don't you go home and get pretty, we have a party tonight at the frat house." I invite her with a smirk.

"Oh god, party time! Yes! Have been waiting for this for days, dude!" her face lightens up at the invitation. "I'll tell Sam, she is bored as hell, too" she says next, typing a quick text on her phone.

"Great. I am expecting to see you too tonight, Joss. You can't miss an opportunity like this. Even if you hate fraternities." I wink at him.

"I never say no to party! You know that." Joseph smirks. "Maybe I'll bring a friend with me." he adds and takes a sip of his coke.

"Sam is not really keen, but I will figure something out. We will be there." she says winking at us both.

"Cool. I'll see you both tonight, ladies. Joss, you ready to go?" He nods and I call the waitress to bring the check. Robin waves at us goodbye while jumping around, pretty excited for tonight. It's a party after all, it should be fun.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Any feedback is appreciated.