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Original - Multi Chapter - A Series of What Ifs - Chapter 4
Title: A Series of What Ifs
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG13
Genre: Fluff, College Talk
Wordcount: 1,468
Author's Note: The usual standard disclaimers apply (*coughNanocough*)
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 4: Naps are Such Dangerous Affairs
By
Parsnip
Cal groaned in pain. He had smacked his hand —hard— against the edge of his desk. Cracking his eyes open, he tried to make sense of his blurry vision and failed, like usual, to do so. Bringing his still smarting hand to his eyes, he rubbed the edges in the hopes of dislodging the sleep from it.
He was so very screwed right now. At least that's what his clock was telling him. Ten in the morning. When the hell had he fallen asleep!?
Grunting, he scrambled for his back-pack and the phone that was sitting inside of it and ringing holy hell for not picking it up right away. Already, his mind was focused on all the chemistry he had failed to learn in the few days he had madly been attempting to study. He just didn't get it.
Flipping open his phone, he muttered into the receiver. "What is it?"
A small 'eep' was his only reply. Waiting, he ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at the oil that had built up. Disgusting, but he could ill-afford to waste more time sleeping when he needed to study. He had already lost hours of time when he wasn't supposed to. Whatever happened to all-nighters?
He couldn't do them anymore, despite the copious amounts of coffee he drank.
Speaking of which, Cal grabbed the nearest notebook and set it across his cup. Day old coffee always smelled rank.
A light, feminine voice cleared on the other end of the line. "Hello?" she asked, tentatively.
Cal wrinkled his brow. "Yes?" he said. "Who is this?"
The girl coughed again. "I'm Selendra. You, uh, gave me your umbrella the other day? I was, well…" She seemed to struggle to say what she wanted to say, but Cal was having just as much difficulty breathing.
No, strike that, he was having a difficult time thinking because god, she had called! He hadn't expected that for a minute when he had snagged her pen and scribbled his number down in the rain. Hell, he hadn't even thought it'd be legible by the time she got home.
His heart took off running, making his face flush and his hands clammy. "Yes?" He managed to strangle out as he listened for her melodious voice. Tongue-tied. That didn't happen every day.
"I was wondering if we could meet up sometime. Just so I can give your umbrella back to you. I really appreciated it. And, uh, well, maybe, if you were willing, I was thinking I could buy you a coffee or a drink or dinner or something. As thanks. It was a godsend."
Cal smiled. She was babbling, and he found it adorable.
"Sure," he said, interrupting her rush of words. "I'd love to. When do you want to meet?"
"Tonight?"
Cal cursed into the phone as reality intruded once again. He was going to kick his professor's ass for ruining his life. "Sorry. Can't do that unless you want to wait around until about nine or so. I've got an orgo exam."
He could hear Selendra wince on the other end. "Ouch. I'll definitely have to buy you a drink then to celebrate being done with it. Want to meet at the student center? Out front?"
Cal smiled. "Sure. Sounds great. I'll, uh, give you a call when I'm done so we can confirm?"
"Sure," she said, echoing his words. How cute. "I'll be waiting then. And good luck. You'll need it." Her voice was dry and he could almost hear the smile at the end of those words. They warmed his heart and made him glad that he had taken a chance rather than wondering.
Life seemed so much better all of a sudden.
"Okay. I gotta get back to studying then. Thanks for calling."
He was reluctant to hang up the phone.
"No problem. Bye." She seemed reluctant too.
He stared at his phone for a long minute as it beeped at him before he saved her number to his phone. He needed to do well on his exam first and then, then he could enjoy a night out on the town. He was almost looking forward to tonight.
Pushing himself away from his desk, he glanced around his room, noting the surfeit of laundry covering his floor and the haphazard piles of dishes lying everywhere. Snagging a clean sweatshirt out of the mix and a pair of jeans and boxers, he swaggered to the shower. There was no way he was going out tonight without cleaning up first.
Humming to himself, he began to plan out the remaining hours of his day (and made a mental note to call Joe to see if he could steal his notes for their Materials Science Course he planned on skipping ) until exam time. There was a lot to study, and not much time in it. At least he was finally beginning to make scene of acid/base chemistry.
The pain in the ass that it was.
_____________________________
Selendra hanged up her phone, and flopped down on her bed, turning over and covering her face with a pillow. She couldn't believe it. She had called. She had actually called a boy!
She screamed into the pillow as softly as she could. She didn't want to wake up her neighbors. They were notorious for staying up all night and as they kept their music turned low, it was the least she could do while they slept through their classes. It made no sense, but she was finding that everyone had their own way of studying, and as long as they passed, did it matter how much sense it made?
It was still interesting though.
She kicked her feet a little against the bed sheets as she squealed again. After a minute, she surfaced from beneath her pillows. Her face was flushed, although some of the color was due to oxygen deprivation, and her pulse was erratic, but that was because her heart had to pump faster to compensate for the lack of oxygen.
She grinned and that was unusual.
"I have a date!" she said breathlessly to no one. Thank god her roommate was gone. There was no way she would have been able to call and she had stayed up half the night debating if she should or not. It had all been so clear when she spoke to her friends at the library. She hadn't been able to contest a single argument that they had made.
She jumped to her feet, and scrambled to her closet. What to wear? She started rifling through her clothes and emptying out the shelves she had somehow managed to cram in there. She needed something nice, but not to flashy. They were going out for a drink, nothing more. She whined softly, looking at her mirror image on the door holding up a nice, three-quarter length shirt to her chest. Green wasn't her color, but t-shirts were definitely out of the question.
Selendra glanced at the clock. Was there enough time to do her laundry? She bit her lip. She couldn't skip her lab class and neither was being late a possibility. They locked the door five minutes after the bell, and skipping class lowered your grade by half a letter; more if class couldn't be made up later and a lab report never turned in.
She worried at her lip, and began digging through her laundry basket. Clothes were thrown even more haphazardly on the floor and the only thing that kept the clean separated from the dirty was the bed. She had the good sense to toss the clean stuff on it before making havoc of her room. Lily was going to kill her later, probably, but Selendra was sure that she'd understand.
All for a good cause, right?
Selendra giggled and continued to sort her laundry. She'd run downstairs and put her laundry in the washer. She had time to wait for it to finish, but not enough time to wait for the dryer. Lily, if she was in a benevolent mood, would pick it up for her. If she was lucky. If not, well, it was a Thursday. How many people do laundry on a Thursday? After that, it was only a four hour bio lab and a two hour lecture before she'd be back home, stomach in knots, and running around trying to eat and get ready.
She hadn't felt this excited in years.
She smiled and hummed even as she crammed her feet into her sneakers. Grabbing the handle on her basket, she slung it over her shoulder and headed out the door. So much to do and so little time.
She couldn't wait for tonight.
______________________________________________________
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5
Back to Fic Archive
______________________________________________________
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG13
Genre: Fluff, College Talk
Wordcount: 1,468
Author's Note: The usual standard disclaimers apply (*coughNanocough*)
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 4: Naps are Such Dangerous Affairs
By
Parsnip
Cal groaned in pain. He had smacked his hand —hard— against the edge of his desk. Cracking his eyes open, he tried to make sense of his blurry vision and failed, like usual, to do so. Bringing his still smarting hand to his eyes, he rubbed the edges in the hopes of dislodging the sleep from it.
He was so very screwed right now. At least that's what his clock was telling him. Ten in the morning. When the hell had he fallen asleep!?
Grunting, he scrambled for his back-pack and the phone that was sitting inside of it and ringing holy hell for not picking it up right away. Already, his mind was focused on all the chemistry he had failed to learn in the few days he had madly been attempting to study. He just didn't get it.
Flipping open his phone, he muttered into the receiver. "What is it?"
A small 'eep' was his only reply. Waiting, he ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at the oil that had built up. Disgusting, but he could ill-afford to waste more time sleeping when he needed to study. He had already lost hours of time when he wasn't supposed to. Whatever happened to all-nighters?
He couldn't do them anymore, despite the copious amounts of coffee he drank.
Speaking of which, Cal grabbed the nearest notebook and set it across his cup. Day old coffee always smelled rank.
A light, feminine voice cleared on the other end of the line. "Hello?" she asked, tentatively.
Cal wrinkled his brow. "Yes?" he said. "Who is this?"
The girl coughed again. "I'm Selendra. You, uh, gave me your umbrella the other day? I was, well…" She seemed to struggle to say what she wanted to say, but Cal was having just as much difficulty breathing.
No, strike that, he was having a difficult time thinking because god, she had called! He hadn't expected that for a minute when he had snagged her pen and scribbled his number down in the rain. Hell, he hadn't even thought it'd be legible by the time she got home.
His heart took off running, making his face flush and his hands clammy. "Yes?" He managed to strangle out as he listened for her melodious voice. Tongue-tied. That didn't happen every day.
"I was wondering if we could meet up sometime. Just so I can give your umbrella back to you. I really appreciated it. And, uh, well, maybe, if you were willing, I was thinking I could buy you a coffee or a drink or dinner or something. As thanks. It was a godsend."
Cal smiled. She was babbling, and he found it adorable.
"Sure," he said, interrupting her rush of words. "I'd love to. When do you want to meet?"
"Tonight?"
Cal cursed into the phone as reality intruded once again. He was going to kick his professor's ass for ruining his life. "Sorry. Can't do that unless you want to wait around until about nine or so. I've got an orgo exam."
He could hear Selendra wince on the other end. "Ouch. I'll definitely have to buy you a drink then to celebrate being done with it. Want to meet at the student center? Out front?"
Cal smiled. "Sure. Sounds great. I'll, uh, give you a call when I'm done so we can confirm?"
"Sure," she said, echoing his words. How cute. "I'll be waiting then. And good luck. You'll need it." Her voice was dry and he could almost hear the smile at the end of those words. They warmed his heart and made him glad that he had taken a chance rather than wondering.
Life seemed so much better all of a sudden.
"Okay. I gotta get back to studying then. Thanks for calling."
He was reluctant to hang up the phone.
"No problem. Bye." She seemed reluctant too.
He stared at his phone for a long minute as it beeped at him before he saved her number to his phone. He needed to do well on his exam first and then, then he could enjoy a night out on the town. He was almost looking forward to tonight.
Pushing himself away from his desk, he glanced around his room, noting the surfeit of laundry covering his floor and the haphazard piles of dishes lying everywhere. Snagging a clean sweatshirt out of the mix and a pair of jeans and boxers, he swaggered to the shower. There was no way he was going out tonight without cleaning up first.
Humming to himself, he began to plan out the remaining hours of his day (and made a mental note to call Joe to see if he could steal his notes for their Materials Science Course he planned on skipping ) until exam time. There was a lot to study, and not much time in it. At least he was finally beginning to make scene of acid/base chemistry.
The pain in the ass that it was.
Selendra hanged up her phone, and flopped down on her bed, turning over and covering her face with a pillow. She couldn't believe it. She had called. She had actually called a boy!
She screamed into the pillow as softly as she could. She didn't want to wake up her neighbors. They were notorious for staying up all night and as they kept their music turned low, it was the least she could do while they slept through their classes. It made no sense, but she was finding that everyone had their own way of studying, and as long as they passed, did it matter how much sense it made?
It was still interesting though.
She kicked her feet a little against the bed sheets as she squealed again. After a minute, she surfaced from beneath her pillows. Her face was flushed, although some of the color was due to oxygen deprivation, and her pulse was erratic, but that was because her heart had to pump faster to compensate for the lack of oxygen.
She grinned and that was unusual.
"I have a date!" she said breathlessly to no one. Thank god her roommate was gone. There was no way she would have been able to call and she had stayed up half the night debating if she should or not. It had all been so clear when she spoke to her friends at the library. She hadn't been able to contest a single argument that they had made.
She jumped to her feet, and scrambled to her closet. What to wear? She started rifling through her clothes and emptying out the shelves she had somehow managed to cram in there. She needed something nice, but not to flashy. They were going out for a drink, nothing more. She whined softly, looking at her mirror image on the door holding up a nice, three-quarter length shirt to her chest. Green wasn't her color, but t-shirts were definitely out of the question.
Selendra glanced at the clock. Was there enough time to do her laundry? She bit her lip. She couldn't skip her lab class and neither was being late a possibility. They locked the door five minutes after the bell, and skipping class lowered your grade by half a letter; more if class couldn't be made up later and a lab report never turned in.
She worried at her lip, and began digging through her laundry basket. Clothes were thrown even more haphazardly on the floor and the only thing that kept the clean separated from the dirty was the bed. She had the good sense to toss the clean stuff on it before making havoc of her room. Lily was going to kill her later, probably, but Selendra was sure that she'd understand.
All for a good cause, right?
Selendra giggled and continued to sort her laundry. She'd run downstairs and put her laundry in the washer. She had time to wait for it to finish, but not enough time to wait for the dryer. Lily, if she was in a benevolent mood, would pick it up for her. If she was lucky. If not, well, it was a Thursday. How many people do laundry on a Thursday? After that, it was only a four hour bio lab and a two hour lecture before she'd be back home, stomach in knots, and running around trying to eat and get ready.
She hadn't felt this excited in years.
She smiled and hummed even as she crammed her feet into her sneakers. Grabbing the handle on her basket, she slung it over her shoulder and headed out the door. So much to do and so little time.
She couldn't wait for tonight.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5
Back to Fic Archive
______________________________________________________