when in college

five

It had been a week since the encounter with Zayn and Niall and I hadn't seen either of them once. To be completely honest, I hadn't even thought about them until I realized I had a missed call from Zayn. Luckily, I had saved his number in my phone when he gave it to me at Starbucks or I would have no idea who called. Hitting his name in my contacts, I decided to call him back as I threw my bag on the floor and plopped on my bed. Today had been exhausting. It's only been about two weeks and the work is already starting to pile up. I rubbed my head as I thought of the essay I had to write and the test I had to study for tomorrow. I was interrupted by my stressful thoughts when I heard Zayn's voice greeting me through the phone.

"Hello?"
"Hey Zayn, it's Tiffany. Um, I was just calling you back because I saw you called me earlier. Is everything alright?"
He chuckled before answering, "Yeah everything's great. I was just calling to invite you to a..-a get-together this Friday. You can even bring your friend if you want."
My first instinct, as always, was to hesitate. "A 'get-together?' By that do you mean a party because I don't think that will work too well. I'm not really a party person. Beside, I have-" Zayn cut me off before I could burden him by talking about homework.
"Relax, relax. It's not a party. It's just going to be a few friends; nothing like the wild parties we usually have."

I sighed. Christy is always trying to get me to come to parties when I should be studying and I always decline. If we're being honest, I'm also very, very tired of her calling me a prude or boring. Would it really hurt me to let loose a little bit? Besides, Zayn said it wasn't going to be a wild party like they usually have, so it couldn't be that bad.

"Are you sure there's not going to be loads of people there?" I quizzed.
"Positive." Zayn answered confidently.
"Okay." I smiled. "I'm in."

___

I was surprised to realize that I was actually excited about going out tomorrow night. I usually spent my late Friday nights lying in bed and watching re-runs of That's 70s Show. It felt nice to switch it up and have something to look forward to. The minute I told Christy about it, she was estatic and insisted we go shopping after school but for now, I'm stuck in this excruciatingly boring class- counting down the minutes until it's over.
You know when someone walks into the classroom during a boring lecture and everyone's head turns to the door at the same time, trying to entertain themselves with anything besides what the teacher is saying? Well, that's exactly what happened when the door to Mr. Seeder's room slammed shut. Everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to the door as if it was an alien coming to abduct us all. I absentmindedly tilted my head back to see what all the commotion was about but when my eyes reached the figure standing at the door, I has to do a double-take. Apparently, this movement caught the blonde soccer players attention because his eyes met mine and he flashed me that damn signature grin. That same grin that I'm positive could bring world peace was directed to me; and hell if I didn't feel my cheeks heat up at that simple gesture.
"Mr. Horan, nice of you to finally join us." Mr. Seeder spoke sarcastically.
"Likewise." Niall answered charmingly as he took at seat in the very back row.
"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up to class. You weren't here for a week."
"Ah, but Mr. S, I'm here today and as ready to learn as ever." He smirked before leaning over to the blonde girl's seat beside him, and whispering something in her ear. She giggled before giving him her notes to copy. Of course, he can charm anybody into giving him what he wants. I roll my eyes before turning back to Mr. Seeder.

"You may continue." And even though I was facing forward, there was no doubt in my mind he had that dumb smirk on his face.

___

"No way, so he just busted up in class like that? For the first time?! We've been having classes for almost a week!" Christy exclaimed.
"I know! I couldn't believe it either. He was so cool about it, too. I would be shitting myself if Mr. Seeder was looking at me like that."
"That's because you're a wimp." Christy chuckled as she pulled into the parking lot at the dorms.
"Oh, shut up!" I yelled, chuckling.
After shopping with Christy I was ready to throw on some sweats and hit the sack. Our shopping trip was very successful if I do say so myself. Christy got a midnight blue, one shoulder dress and I got a little black dress. It's a v-neck that goes down to mid-thigh and although the sleeves go down to my elbows, the sides are cut out to make up for it. It was the perfect choice. It's amazing how much more confident and ready you feel for something if you get a new outfit. I was pumped.