His Harvard Girl

Chapter Twenty-Nine

E L L E

I woke the next day to the sound of pounding at my door. Confused, I groaned, tucked my head under the pillow, and tried to fall back to sleep. 

The pounding continued. I sighed heavily, threw my pillow at the door and yelled, "go away!"

For a moment, it stopped. Happily, I slumped back onto the pillowless mattress and tried to curl up into my favourite sleeping position: the one of fetal variety.

Then the pounding continued, and with it, came a shriek. "Fire!"

I launched out of bed. Crap! A fire? The only fire drill our college had run was the day that Noah and I went on our date and we'd missed it. Where was I supposed to go?

I lunged for the door. I didn't know where to go, but surely out was a start. Then I looked down at myself. Jesus Christ. Of course I'd slept naked.

I cowered back into the room and rifled through the cupboard, making a mental note not to sleep naked ever again, just in case of emergencies. Frustrated, I pulled on my clothes as quickly as I could. The sudden movements set off my stomach, and the familiar weasy feeling from the last few weeks returned. Instinctively, i reached for the medication on my dresser and plunged the packet into the pocket of my jeans. There was no way I was letting them go up in smoke.

Smoke.

Why was there no smoke?

I sniffed the air. Yep. Definitely no smoke. Just how far away was this fire? 

I grabbed the rest of my essentials - my phone, room key, and shoes - and leaped for the door. The knob was cold in my hand. Good, I thought. The fire isn't close yet.

Even though I figured that, I still expected the hallway to be somewhat chaotic. I expected students to be running with their hands in the air, their hair a mess and their clothes daggy as they made their way to safety.

But there was none of that.

As the door opened with a squeak, there was just Lee.

Just Lee, his wispy brown locks strewn all the over the place, and a huge, dorky smile plastered on his face.

"What the-"

"Elle!" He squealed, wrapping me up in his arms and spinning me around in a circle. 

"I thought there was a fire!" I yelled at him when he put me back down on the ground.

"Yeah, a fire-hot best friend," he laughed, and I punched him on the shoulder. "Aw, come on. Aren't you going to invite me in?"

I pushed my door wide open and ushered him into the room. I slammed it behind me and frowned. "You scared the shit out of me," I said.

Lee dropped onto the bed, his smile never faltering for a second.

"How didn't you recognise my voice?" He asked, laughing.

"I don't know!" I screamed. "I was more focussed on the fact I thought I was about to die of smoke inhalation!"

Lee was roaring with laughter now, lying back on the bed with his hand on his stomach. "For someone so stressed about smoke inhalation, you sure took your time opening the door."

I picked up the pillow I'd thrown earlier and hurled it at his face. "Yeah, well, I needed to get dressed, you idiot."

Lee threw the pillow straight back at me. "You gotta admit it was at least a little funny."

I rolled my eyes. When I'd finished being dramatic, I joined Lee on the bed, tilted my head onto his shoulder and smiled. 

"Okay, it was," I said. "I'm so glad you're here."

Lee rested his head on mine in return, and for a second we just sat in the moment enjoying each other's company. Even though it'd barely been two minutes since he'd arrived, I already felt so much more like myself. I felt like everything was going to be okay.

"That's enough lounging around," I said. "We need to hurry up and get ready. Morning worship starts in fifteen minutes."

Lee looked at me quizzically. "Um, what?"

I stood from the bed and straightened out my haphazard outfit in front of the mirror. "Yeah. Every morning at nine, the college goes to church for worship. Surely Noah told you that?"

Lee was shaking his head. "Oh," he said. "Um, maybe I'll just go on a tour of the campus or something while you do that. I'm not really religious..."

His face was riddled with confusion and disappointment. My face was filled with delight. He looked at me, his eyebrows raised.

"I'm totally kidding!" I screamed. "You're such a loser, Lee. Seriously, though, let's get out of this place before I go stir-crazy. I've spent way too much time inside lately."

"You're so freaking mean!" He yelled, tugging on my shirt as he leaped up from the bed. The tug jerked me backward, and he started for the door. "Last one to outside owes the other a milkshake. And, go!"

I immediately pumped my legs after him, but Lee was way taller than me, and I wasn't exactly a normal height to start with. My short, little legs put me at a severe disadvantage, and Lee was smoking me in this race to the outside world.

My only advantage was knowing the twists of the college halls, so when he stopped up ahead at a T in the hallway, I whizzed around the corner in front of him, and made laughed as he had to watch me from behind.

But then I tripped.

Hard.

My knees gave way, and my feet stumbled over one another. My face hit the floor with a loud crack and, from my spot on the ground, I watched Lee's feet shuffle past me.

"You're not even going to help me?!" I screamed, trying to pick myself up.

"Not when there's a milkshake on the line!" He screamed back.

I jumped up from my feet, but didn't bother running. For starters, I knew that I'd already lost. But more importantly, my knee caps felt like I'd just bashed them with a hammer. 

I walked the rest of the way, meeting Lee just outside the main doors.

"There reception lady totally just scowled at me," Lee said when I reached his side.

"That's Rita," I said, out of breath. "It's what she does."

I looked at Lee in the sunlight and realised he looked a whole lot healthier than last time I saw him. His skin was a shade of tan I hadn't seen it in a while, and I knew that meant he'd taken up some of his favourite sports again. His brown hair had been sun-beached and now had little streaks of gold through it, and, oddly, his shoulders had started to broaden.

"Have you been going to the gym?" I asked him, taken aback.

"A little," he said, almost embarrassed.

I smiled at him. "Nice!"

He lifted his hand in the air and I met it for a high five. "But I'm not one of those crazy gym dudes," he explained. "I believe in balance. So, with that in mind, milkshake?"

I shook my head at my best friend. As annoying as he was, I knew we were going to have the best time together.

_____________________

Author's Note:

OK, so I know that Vampire Diaries is long finished, but would anybody be interested in reading a TVD fan fiction? I was thinking of either setting it after Elena and Damon have just started a human life together, or from Katherine's perspective in 1864, which I think would be so much fun. Any thoughts?

Much love!

xo

Hayley