![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Original - Multi Chapter - A Series of What Ifs - Chapter 3
Title: A Series of What Ifs
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG13
Genre: Fluff, College Talk
Wordcount: 1,613
Author's Note: The usual standard disclaimers apply (*coughNano/inxperiencecough*)
Summary: Two college kids meet under unexpected circumstances and part ways, wondering, just maybe, what would have happened if life hadn't called them apart. This, was their first what if.
A Series of What Ifs
Chapter 3: Study Break
By
Parsnip
The tap, tap, tap of her fingers against the table was driving her friends nuts! Melanie and Vicky shared an exasperated look while Becca continued to drown out the incessant noise by talking under her breath. She was to busy looking at her notes to really know what was going on.
They got together regularly to study for immunology, finding it necessary that they keep up with the material least they got all the B-cells and T-cells and T-helper 1 and 2 cells and all of the respective ligand proteins mixed up. Yeah, major headache. Needless to say, it was a difficult task, made more so by the speed with which the professor lectured.
If it wasn’t for the fact that there were four of them taking notes, they’d be screwed. Often they’d find that they had to pool their notes together in order to get the main picture. Too, their textbook, Janeway, was a godsend, without which they’d be doubly screwed. So, as a result, they got together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for an hour or so to copy each others notes and fill in the blanks from the overly detailed textbook.
However, Selendra kept gazing off into the shadows of the little conference room they’d taken over at the local library and was tapping her nails on the wood, an obvious sign of her distraction. What she didn’t know, was that they were determined to get to the bottom of it.
Vicky cleared her throat inelegantly. “So, Selendra! What’s up?”
The object of their displeasure and intense curiosity jumped as the pencil she had been holding in her free hand clattered on the tabletop. “What?” she asked slightly disoriented.
“What’s up? You’re obviously thinking of something other then Immunology.”
Melanie nodded as Becca finally looked up from the textbook.
Selendra blushed a deep scarlet as she waved her hand negligently. “Heh, um, nothing really. Just thinking about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” asked Becca innocently, not quite getting what prompted this line of questioning but nonetheless curious. It wasn’t everyday they could get their friend to look like a tomato.
“Um, thinking about all the work I have to do this week?” She ended on a high note, turning the statement into an unconvincing question.
“Spill it,” Vicky brusquely said, shoving her papers away from her. She was tired of Immunology anyways. For three credit hours, it wasn’t worth the time they were putting into it despite the necessity of learning the material for the MCATs.
Selendra pressed back against her chair, nervous at all the bright, sharp-eyed looks piercing her skin. Since when did her sweet, good-natured friends turn into such predators? She swallowed, unsure where to start. She really didn’t want to reveal that she was thinking of a boy, much less one who seemed sweet and completely too chivalrous for his own good. There had to be something wrong with the man! One just didn’t expect to be given an umbrella everyday and a number to go with it.
Especially a no-strings attached kind of number.
Becca perked up, seeing the tell-tale signs of nervous shifting, and quick darting glances to the door. There was only one reason any female of sane disposition would act such. “It’s a guy isn’t it. You’ve finally got yourself a crush!”
Melanie and Vicky collectively gasped and squealed while Selendra’s head collapsed into the palms of her hands, an ineffective attempt to hide the blush that was now creeping down her spine.
“So who is he?” asked the entirely too perceptive one with the wire-rimmed glasses.
“No one, Becca. That’s who,” replied Selendra, voice still muffled by her effusively clammy hands.
“If it was no one you wouldn’t be blushing so badly,” pointed out Melanie, calmed down from her fit of giggling. She proved them all wrong though when she added in the next dig. “He must be pretty cute if you can’t even look us in the face!”
Selendra groaned again, wishing the floor would collapse beneath her. Maybe she’d get sent to the hospital so she wouldn’t have to deal with her friends or Immunology again for a long time. Better yet, make the earth swallow her whole. Then she wouldn’t have to deal with either of them ever again. Yes, she liked that choice much better.
“So what if he’s cute?” was her terse response however rather then the extremely rude tell off she had conjured in her head. How she so wished…
“Wonderful! So when do we meet him?” asked Vicky, pulling her chair closer to the action, making Selendra scoot her own back a few inches in retaliation.
“Um, never?”
Three pairs of eyes blinked owlishly at her. Finally, light dawned within the giggle prone brunette. “You mean, you’re a stalker?”
Selendra sighed. Trust Melanie to see the light but come up with the wrong idea. “No, I’m not stalking him, and he’s not stalking me. We just…sort of ran into each other a couple of times.”
“But you like the boy, right?” bluntly asked Vicky, true to the point as ever.
“Uh, I don’t know! We only talked twice, but he was really, really sweet.” A silly smile ghosted across her face before she could wipe it off. However, it didn’t pass unnoticed.
Becca pounced before the thought was quite finished. “Hah! So it is a crush! Are you going to give us a name?”
Selendra frowned, trying to dredge up the name even though it had been echoing in her head for a good couple of days already. It seemed as though last Thursday had happened such a long time ago. It hadn’t helped that over the next few days the rain continued to pour giving her good use of the umbrella he gifted her. She had been worried he hadn’t had a spare lying around somewhere. Warmth filled her again at the thought that maybe he hadn’t. It would make the gift a truly selfless one indeed.
“His name is Cal.”
Sighing echoed in the room as the girls gazed dreamily into nothing. The mood was quickly dispelled though when details were demanded. “What does he look like?” was the first.
“Um, brown eyes, about my height, maybe a little taller. Uh, clean shaven, has a dark tan, and he has short cropped dark brown hair. Kind of the typical guy, really.”
“So what makes him so special?” asked Melanie knowing something had to have sparked some interest in her. It wasn’t everyday she caught her friend mooning over some guy. Heck, if they didn’t know her well, they’d say she was asexual considering how much notice she gave guys.
“Well, see, he, um, well, he kind of gave me his umbrella.” A bright red hue dotted her cheeks as she mumbled nearly incoherently.
Sweet smiles flitted over each of the three interrogators lips as they shared a special glance. Yep, she was hit hard by cupid’s arrow.
“And, uh, he kind of gave me his number as well.”
Dead silence filled the room, making the air heavy with surprise. “He did what!” squeaked Becca, unable to believe Selendra’s good fortune. They’d been trying to find her a guy for ages and all of a sudden this guy just fell into her lap and did all the right things. She was almost envious.
Selendra looked up and swallowed again. “He gave me his number. Said to give him a call if I wanted to be friends.”
“Ah! That’s just great! So did you call him yet?” Melanie was nearly lying on top of the table now as she eagerly leaned forward on her bent arms.
“No,” she said emphatically, wishing this conversation had never started in the first place. Of course, the whole reason it began was because she was still debating if she should call Cal or not and see if he wanted to get some coffee somewhere.
Or something.
She didn’t even know if he liked coffee!
She groaned in confusion. “I don’t know. Should I?”
“Yes,” said Melanie and Vicky at the same time.
“It’s up to you,” was Becca’s comment instead, ever the voice of reason. “Do you think this guy’s trustworthy?”
Selendra sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I think so. He seems nice enough anyways.”
Becca shrugged. “Then you have nothing to lose. Besides, if he turns out to be some kind of a sleaze ball, you can always just call one of us to come save you.” A merry twinkle showed in her eye, revealing her true thoughts about wanting to see what guy had finally made the ever impassive one swoon.
She was serious too though about the sleaze ball comment. As proven by history, the worst serial killers were often the most charismatic. Still, that’d be going a little too far for some random boy still in college. Most of the bad guys were all in their thirties by the time they started loosing control, right?
“Thanks,” drawled Selendra. “You’re a big help.”
“That’s why we’re here!” piped up Vicky smiling evilly. “If you like, we could stalk you two so we’re there to rush in and save the day.
“Oh shut-up!” said Selendra laughing as she threw her pencil at the girl. Laughter broke through the room as they continued to tease and jib at each other, concentrating mostly on the poor woman with a crush. Very little studying got done before they broke up to head home for the evening, a welcome respite from the drudgery of endless homework and exams.
And Selendra? She fell asleep with a smile in her face thinking of the phone call she would make the next morning.
______________________________________________________
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
Back to Fic Archive
______________________________________________________
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG13
Genre: Fluff, College Talk
Wordcount: 1,613
Author's Note: The usual standard disclaimers apply (*coughNano/inxperiencecough*)
Summary: Two college kids meet under unexpected circumstances and part ways, wondering, just maybe, what would have happened if life hadn't called them apart. This, was their first what if.
Chapter 3: Study Break
By
Parsnip
The tap, tap, tap of her fingers against the table was driving her friends nuts! Melanie and Vicky shared an exasperated look while Becca continued to drown out the incessant noise by talking under her breath. She was to busy looking at her notes to really know what was going on.
They got together regularly to study for immunology, finding it necessary that they keep up with the material least they got all the B-cells and T-cells and T-helper 1 and 2 cells and all of the respective ligand proteins mixed up. Yeah, major headache. Needless to say, it was a difficult task, made more so by the speed with which the professor lectured.
If it wasn’t for the fact that there were four of them taking notes, they’d be screwed. Often they’d find that they had to pool their notes together in order to get the main picture. Too, their textbook, Janeway, was a godsend, without which they’d be doubly screwed. So, as a result, they got together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for an hour or so to copy each others notes and fill in the blanks from the overly detailed textbook.
However, Selendra kept gazing off into the shadows of the little conference room they’d taken over at the local library and was tapping her nails on the wood, an obvious sign of her distraction. What she didn’t know, was that they were determined to get to the bottom of it.
Vicky cleared her throat inelegantly. “So, Selendra! What’s up?”
The object of their displeasure and intense curiosity jumped as the pencil she had been holding in her free hand clattered on the tabletop. “What?” she asked slightly disoriented.
“What’s up? You’re obviously thinking of something other then Immunology.”
Melanie nodded as Becca finally looked up from the textbook.
Selendra blushed a deep scarlet as she waved her hand negligently. “Heh, um, nothing really. Just thinking about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” asked Becca innocently, not quite getting what prompted this line of questioning but nonetheless curious. It wasn’t everyday they could get their friend to look like a tomato.
“Um, thinking about all the work I have to do this week?” She ended on a high note, turning the statement into an unconvincing question.
“Spill it,” Vicky brusquely said, shoving her papers away from her. She was tired of Immunology anyways. For three credit hours, it wasn’t worth the time they were putting into it despite the necessity of learning the material for the MCATs.
Selendra pressed back against her chair, nervous at all the bright, sharp-eyed looks piercing her skin. Since when did her sweet, good-natured friends turn into such predators? She swallowed, unsure where to start. She really didn’t want to reveal that she was thinking of a boy, much less one who seemed sweet and completely too chivalrous for his own good. There had to be something wrong with the man! One just didn’t expect to be given an umbrella everyday and a number to go with it.
Especially a no-strings attached kind of number.
Becca perked up, seeing the tell-tale signs of nervous shifting, and quick darting glances to the door. There was only one reason any female of sane disposition would act such. “It’s a guy isn’t it. You’ve finally got yourself a crush!”
Melanie and Vicky collectively gasped and squealed while Selendra’s head collapsed into the palms of her hands, an ineffective attempt to hide the blush that was now creeping down her spine.
“So who is he?” asked the entirely too perceptive one with the wire-rimmed glasses.
“No one, Becca. That’s who,” replied Selendra, voice still muffled by her effusively clammy hands.
“If it was no one you wouldn’t be blushing so badly,” pointed out Melanie, calmed down from her fit of giggling. She proved them all wrong though when she added in the next dig. “He must be pretty cute if you can’t even look us in the face!”
Selendra groaned again, wishing the floor would collapse beneath her. Maybe she’d get sent to the hospital so she wouldn’t have to deal with her friends or Immunology again for a long time. Better yet, make the earth swallow her whole. Then she wouldn’t have to deal with either of them ever again. Yes, she liked that choice much better.
“So what if he’s cute?” was her terse response however rather then the extremely rude tell off she had conjured in her head. How she so wished…
“Wonderful! So when do we meet him?” asked Vicky, pulling her chair closer to the action, making Selendra scoot her own back a few inches in retaliation.
“Um, never?”
Three pairs of eyes blinked owlishly at her. Finally, light dawned within the giggle prone brunette. “You mean, you’re a stalker?”
Selendra sighed. Trust Melanie to see the light but come up with the wrong idea. “No, I’m not stalking him, and he’s not stalking me. We just…sort of ran into each other a couple of times.”
“But you like the boy, right?” bluntly asked Vicky, true to the point as ever.
“Uh, I don’t know! We only talked twice, but he was really, really sweet.” A silly smile ghosted across her face before she could wipe it off. However, it didn’t pass unnoticed.
Becca pounced before the thought was quite finished. “Hah! So it is a crush! Are you going to give us a name?”
Selendra frowned, trying to dredge up the name even though it had been echoing in her head for a good couple of days already. It seemed as though last Thursday had happened such a long time ago. It hadn’t helped that over the next few days the rain continued to pour giving her good use of the umbrella he gifted her. She had been worried he hadn’t had a spare lying around somewhere. Warmth filled her again at the thought that maybe he hadn’t. It would make the gift a truly selfless one indeed.
“His name is Cal.”
Sighing echoed in the room as the girls gazed dreamily into nothing. The mood was quickly dispelled though when details were demanded. “What does he look like?” was the first.
“Um, brown eyes, about my height, maybe a little taller. Uh, clean shaven, has a dark tan, and he has short cropped dark brown hair. Kind of the typical guy, really.”
“So what makes him so special?” asked Melanie knowing something had to have sparked some interest in her. It wasn’t everyday she caught her friend mooning over some guy. Heck, if they didn’t know her well, they’d say she was asexual considering how much notice she gave guys.
“Well, see, he, um, well, he kind of gave me his umbrella.” A bright red hue dotted her cheeks as she mumbled nearly incoherently.
Sweet smiles flitted over each of the three interrogators lips as they shared a special glance. Yep, she was hit hard by cupid’s arrow.
“And, uh, he kind of gave me his number as well.”
Dead silence filled the room, making the air heavy with surprise. “He did what!” squeaked Becca, unable to believe Selendra’s good fortune. They’d been trying to find her a guy for ages and all of a sudden this guy just fell into her lap and did all the right things. She was almost envious.
Selendra looked up and swallowed again. “He gave me his number. Said to give him a call if I wanted to be friends.”
“Ah! That’s just great! So did you call him yet?” Melanie was nearly lying on top of the table now as she eagerly leaned forward on her bent arms.
“No,” she said emphatically, wishing this conversation had never started in the first place. Of course, the whole reason it began was because she was still debating if she should call Cal or not and see if he wanted to get some coffee somewhere.
Or something.
She didn’t even know if he liked coffee!
She groaned in confusion. “I don’t know. Should I?”
“Yes,” said Melanie and Vicky at the same time.
“It’s up to you,” was Becca’s comment instead, ever the voice of reason. “Do you think this guy’s trustworthy?”
Selendra sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I think so. He seems nice enough anyways.”
Becca shrugged. “Then you have nothing to lose. Besides, if he turns out to be some kind of a sleaze ball, you can always just call one of us to come save you.” A merry twinkle showed in her eye, revealing her true thoughts about wanting to see what guy had finally made the ever impassive one swoon.
She was serious too though about the sleaze ball comment. As proven by history, the worst serial killers were often the most charismatic. Still, that’d be going a little too far for some random boy still in college. Most of the bad guys were all in their thirties by the time they started loosing control, right?
“Thanks,” drawled Selendra. “You’re a big help.”
“That’s why we’re here!” piped up Vicky smiling evilly. “If you like, we could stalk you two so we’re there to rush in and save the day.
“Oh shut-up!” said Selendra laughing as she threw her pencil at the girl. Laughter broke through the room as they continued to tease and jib at each other, concentrating mostly on the poor woman with a crush. Very little studying got done before they broke up to head home for the evening, a welcome respite from the drudgery of endless homework and exams.
And Selendra? She fell asleep with a smile in her face thinking of the phone call she would make the next morning.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
Back to Fic Archive
______________________________________________________