I close the door behind me as I enter the apartment. I take off my jacket and my backpack and sit on the sofa next to my roommate who's sitting there watching TV.
"Hey, how did it go?" he turns to look at me. I don't answer, I just stare at the TV in front of me and sigh heavily. "Okayyyy, do you want a beer?" He offers getting up, I nod as he walks towards the kitchen.
He is my best friend, he knows me better than anyone, probably better than my own mother. Hell, he probably knows me better than I know myself. He and I grew up together in Brooklyn and we're basically like family. When we both got accepted to Berklee our families helped us look for an apartment off campus so we could live together and wouldn't feel so homesick. We have another roommate whom we went to school with back home, between a little help from our three families, our scholarships, student loans and part time jobs we manage to pay the rent and all the other expenses. The three of us and our friend Marcos have a band that we started back in high school and we do small gigs every Friday at a local bar near campus. Sometimes we get an extra gig on Saturdays. We don't get paid much, but it helps.
I hear him humming some tune while getting the beers, unlike me, he's always in a good mood. I take off my boots, and put my feet up on the sofa to get comfortable.
"Two beers coming up!" He says as he comes in to the living room, two beer bottles in one hand, a bag of chips and salsa on the other and a big smile plastered on his face. "Thought you might be hungry too," he winks at me as he puts the bag and the salsa jar down on the coffee table and hands me a beer.
"Thanks babe," I say as he sits down beside me and I rest my legs on his lap.
"So, are you gonna' tell me what the hell happened?" He says taking a sip from his beer, his blue eyes beaming at me.
He listens as I tell him about my collision in the hall and what happened with the professor. He drinks from his beer eating some chips with salsa while at it. Not only is he always in a good mood, he's also always hungry.
"Well, I don't know but that professor sounds like an asshole to me," he says as he takes a bite on another chip, his brow furrowed, "I mean you weren't even that late and it wasn't your fault."
"I know, but he said there's no exceptions," I say trying to imitate his British accent and he starts laughing at my failed attempt so I punch him in the arm.
"Ouch, that hurt," he says rubbing his arm, I know he's just messing with me so I just roll my eyes at him.
"Anyway, when I came out of the class room, I ran into that dorky guy again," I say as I grab some chips from the bag.
"So, whatcha' do? Don't tell me you punched him or something," he says looking at me opening his eyes wide.
"No, I felt like it, though," I admit with a smirk, "but no, I just threw my music sheets at him and walked away."
"You what?!" he runs a hand through his hair and looks at me, I can tell that he's mad at me, "Jenny, are you insane? That's your fucking music! Please, tell me he gave it back."
"I- " I look down avoiding his gaze and scratch the back of my neck nervously, instantly regretting what I did.
"Wait, don't tell me, he tried to give them back," I nod, " but you were so damn pissed that you didn't take them," he says, clearly annoyed. I just look at him and he knows the answer, he knows me too damn well.
"I know, I'm an idiot, when I'm angry I don't think straight. Now this guy I don't even know has my music and I have no grade on a midterm assignment which means I'm going to lose my scholarship," I say and I feel the frustration building up again, tears threatening to come out any second now.
"Hey, don't say that, you're not an idiot," he says as he cups my face with his hand and strokes my cheek with his thumb.
"I sure feel like it," I say closing my eyes to fight back the tears, but it's too late for that.
"You're not gonna' give up this easy, you're a fighter Jenny, " he says grabbing my face between his hands, his blue eyes focused on mine. I nod and try to calm down, but the tears just keep coming out.
"Listen to me, you're gonna' go talk to the Dean tomorrow, I'm sure they'll give you a chance," he strokes my cheeks wiping away some of my tears, "for God's sake Jenny, you're one of the best students in your damn department."
He's right, I should go talk to the Dean, I'm sure he'll be on my side, why didn't I think of that. This is why I love him so much, he always knows what to do, I don't know what I would do without him.
"Yeah, you're right, I'll do that," I say and wipe my tears away. I move to sit on his lap and give him a tight hug, "you're the best Niall," I tell him and kiss him on the cheek before I get up to go to my room, my mood much better now.
+++
"Niall!! Come 'ere!" I yell at Niall from my room. I wait a few seconds with no response and yell again. On my third attempt he shows up, he's hair is all messy and I can see that he was already asleep since his eyes are only half open.
"This better be good, I was having the best dream ever, I was playing guitar in the Mets Life Stadium in front of like 80,000 fans all screaming my name," he says as he plays air guitar and mimics the screaming fans.
"Sounds awesome, someday baby, you'll see," I smile and gesture for him to seat next to me on the bed, "come see this."
He pulls the covers and sits next to me, then covers himself up to his waist. I move my laptop so that it's half on his lap and half on mine and I point to the email that's displayed on the screen.
"Read it," I tell him, he looks at me and furrows his brows as if saying can't you see I'm too sleepy to read. I sigh and roll my eyes, "fine, I'll read it."
"Now we're talkin'," he winks and gives me one of his big smiles and rests his head against the bed's headboard.
"Dear Miss Rodriguez, I hope this email finds you well. After some consideration, I've decided to give you a second opportunity to present your assignment. Please be at my classroom tomorrow at 10:00 AM SHARP. This will be your last chance, so please don't be late again. Regards, Prof. Sheeran."
"What?! This is great Jenny!" He looks at me, his eyes beaming with excitement.
"I know, I couldn't believe it, I wonder what made him change his mind," I say looking at Niall who still looks like a little child during Christmas Eve.
"May be he's not such an asshole after all? Or maybe he thought you were hot," he says moving his eyebrows up and down.
"Seriously?" I look at him arching one of my eyebrows.
"Why not, you're one hot babe," he says putting his arm around my shoulder and kissing my cheek. He's always saying things like that, but I know he doesn't mean it in a sexual way, he's like my brother.
"Shut up Niall, you can go back to your room now," I say closing my laptop and putting it on the floor next to my bed.
"No way, it's warm and cozy here, I ain't going anywhere," he slides down so his head is resting on the pillow and pulls the covers up to his chin.
"Fine, but don't you dare fart on my bed," I say turning off the light on my nightstand and lying down next to him. I stare at the ceiling for a while still thinking what could've made Professor Sheeran change his mind.
"Niall, do you think this has anything to do with that dorky guy?" I ask Niall, but he doesn't reply. I turn my head to look at him, and sure enough he's already fast asleep.
YOU ARE READING
Our Song
Fanfiction"I was going to make it on time, I swear, but this ... stupid guy ... he was texting and he didn't see me and my sheets went flying across the floor and ..." I act the whole thing out as I'm telling him the story but he just sits there staring at me...
