<NORMANI POV>
It had been several weeks now since the party incident and Lauren was happy to see Connor and Normani really get along now. The three of them actually were able to hang out together and they had even developed some inside jokes. Finals were approaching and Normani spent 96% of her time in the library studying or preparing for her law class. But the 4% of the time when she wasn't reading over court cases or studying ferns for plant biology she was in the dorm with Connor and Lauren watching movies and playing card games.
She felt really bad because with all of her school work, and new friends, and just being so far from Texas she didn't get to talk with Kevin a lot. They tried to text a little every day but it was usually just a "hi whats up? Nothing much, you?" type of thing. They would call each other once a week at most and the conversation would only be about 30 minutes long before one of them had to go. It was really hard being that long distance. Normani still really liked Kevin, and Kevin was still crazy about Normani, but it was difficult.
But in a couple of weeks it would be winter break and Normani would go home to Texas where she would finally be reunited with her boyfriend she hadn't seen since September. Wow had it really been that long? The time was flying, and Normani had been so busy with school she really hadn't noticed how long she had been at school already. What she wasn't used to was this cold ass weather. Normani owned one winter coat in her entire life before she came to Northwestern, in fact she hadn't even seen snow before until last week.
She woke up one morning to get ready for class and looked out the window, immediately she screamed. Lauren woke up with a jolt thinking something terrible had happened only to find out Normani was just excited to see the fluffy white snow for the first time. It was so beautiful and perfect...until she stepped outside and wanted to die. She had not packed enough layers for this. So the next day she went and bought some winter gear, a new coat, some gloves, scarves, and cute winter boots.
Currently Normani was curled up in her bed with her textbook and a highlighter marking up every page in preparation for her final exam. Lauren and Connor were curled up on Lauren's bed watching a movie with headphones on, only making noise every once and a while when something funny happened and Lauren couldn't suppress her adorable childish giggle. She had to have the cutest laugh on the planet. It was somewhat a mix of a five-year-old child and a hyena. It was cute though, just like her...whoa I gotta stop thinking shit like this, I sound like I have some weird obsession with her.
Connor usually didn't make much noise even when a funny part happened, he usually just looked at Lauren and smiled. Normani didn't exactly know what those two were. They weren't really dating but they weren't really just friends either. Not like friends with benefits or anything but, it was complicated. They had gone on a couple of dates and they hung out almost every day but they didn't kiss or anything and Connor hadn't asked Lauren to be his girlfriend. Normani was okay with that, even though she shouldn't care, Lauren could date whoever she wanted, and Normani did like Connor a lot more now.
College had been interesting so far for Normani. She had been reunited with her best friend, and then semi had her best friend stolen from her. She had been swamped with work for her law class, but she absolutely loved it. They had a couple of mock trials already and Normani's group had won both cases so far, Normani being their main attorney both times. She was incredibly persuasive and her knowledge of the law was natural. Her groupmates were surprised at how well she worked under pressure, it had been a no brainer to have her lead the cases while they did most of the background work. This was really want Normani was made for.
Now her other classes however, she could do without those. Plant biology was easy but literally the most boring class in the history of ever. And her history class with Dinah was...forgettable. She spent most of the time drawing on Dinah's face with pen while the Polynesian girl slept.
Normani finally closed her book and stretched out a little on her bed, it was around 3:00 in the afternoon and she hadn't eaten since breakfast. She grabbed a pillow from her bed and chucked it at Lauren and Connor's faces to get their attention.
"Mani what the fuck?" Lauren said throwing the pillow back at her roommate.
Normani rolled her eyes and hopped off her bed, "I was just trying to see if y'all wanted to go get some food with me, I'm starving."
"I'm good, I just had some popcorn." Connor replied.
"Yeah I'm not very hungry right now," Lauren agreed, "But you go ahead."
Normani just shrugged figuring she could ask Dinah or Ally to join her. She slipped on some sandals and grabbed her keys heading next door to bang on Dinah's door. When her roommate Erica answered and said that Dinah had gone home for the weekend, Normani went down a floor to see if Ally wanted to join. After several times of knocking and no answer Normani finally gave up and just went by herself.
She found a nice table in the dining hall in the corner and quietly ate her pasta, until she heard the sound of someone's throat clearing. "Uh, Normani right?" Normani recognized the girl instantly.
"Hey, you're in my law class right?" Normani asked the red-haired girl in from of her.
The red-head set her tray down on Normani's table, "Jessica, and yeah, do you mind if I sit here?"
"No not at all!" Normani replied clearing some of her stuff off the table so the girl had more room. Jessica was tall and lanky but had the most beautiful red hair and blue eyes.
"I just want to say, you are a fucking genius." Jessica said matter-of-factly.
Normani wiped her mouth with her napkin before smiling widely. She hadn't expected a random girl from her class to come up and call her a genius. "Thanks, I wouldn't say genius, but I try. You're pretty good yourself I saw you win your libel case last week."
The girls talked about class for a while and then started talking about other random things. Jessica was super sweet and very outgoing. She was from New Hampshire but had always dreamed of going to school in a big city. When she didn't get accepted to Harvard she decided to come to Northwestern and was pretty happy with the decision. The two conversed for half an hour or so before Jessica had to leave but they exchanged numbers and promised to hang out sometime.
Normani walked back to her dorm happy to have met someone really cool from her class. She really hadn't branched out a ton from Lauren, Dinah, Ally, and by default Connor. It was nice meeting other people she had a lot in common with. It wasn't snowing anymore but it was really cold outside so Normani hurried back to her dorm building as quickly as she could. She decided to stop by Ally's room first to see if she was there now. She knocked on her door and to Normani's delight the small girl answered with a smile.
"Hey Manibear! What's up girl?" the energetic blonde asked.
"Just taking a break from studying, god exams are going to kill me." Normani groaned as she plopped down on Ally's bed.
"Well why don't you stay and watch a movie or something with me?" Ally asked excitedly, "then you can go back and study the rest of the day. You deserve a break you are always studying."
Normani smiled, she had grown really fond of Ally, "that sounds wonderful, as long as we can watch Legally Blonde."
Ally rolled her eyes and laughed, "I should've known you would choose that one." Elle Woods was one of Normani's personal idols next to Olivia Pope. A fashionable badass female lawyer, what could be better?
The two sat on Ally's bed watching the movie as Normani quoted almost every single line. At one point she even got up and delivered one of Elle's monologues. Ally gave her a standing ovation when she finished and told her if law school didn't work out she should go into acting. The two of them laughed the whole time enjoying each other's company. When the movie ended Normani was sad to leave her friend but knew she had to get back to studying so she hugged the little sunshine and left to go back to her room.
She hadn't locked the door when she left so she just walked in and immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw something she was not expecting. Lauren and Connor were in a full on make out session on Lauren's bed and awkwardly stopped when Normani walked in.
"Oh my god I'm sorry I'll just leave you two alone." Normani said ducking her head and turning around to leave as soon as possible. She had to get out of there.
"MANI WAIT!" Lauren tried yelling before the girl left but the door room had already slammed.
A/N: Okay sorry I haven't updated lately life was a bit crazy with finals and being home and everything going on with 5H so I kinda forgot tbh but I already had this chapter written so I figured I could at least post this, even though it's short. I have a little bit of the next chapter written so I might try to finish that before winter break is over and post it but after that I might take a little break. I have felt a little uninspired lately with my writing I've either not been in the mood to write (probably cause I wrote so many research papers for class) or I have had some writers block with where to take the story next. So after the next chapter idk how long I will pick back up, sorry if that disappoints anyone but I am really just not feeling it and I don't want to write something half assed. My springs are always really busy between school and work so don't hold your breath is all I'm gonna say. That being said Fifth Harmony is now officially Fourth Harmony and idk about yall but I've never been happier (sorry but she was a cancer to the group and I do not like her one bit if you have a problem with that get over it). Anyway I am proud of the girls they've gone through a lot of shit but they are continuing to fight and work and I hope nothing but the best for them. Anyway after next chapter and until I get some motivation or can figure out what to write next good bye. Just please be patient and understand I have a life and other things going on outside all of this. :) -Jauredramatic