My phone buzzed loudly, waking me from my slumber. I reached for it, my hand slapping the table a couple of times before I grabbed it, accepted the call, and put it to my ear.
"Hello?" I answered, aware of how groggy I sounded.
"May I speak with Clara Elliot?" the voice on the other line asked. They had an accent and they were a male.
"Speaking." I slowly got up from the couch, untangling myself from the sleeping Harry. His mouth was slightly agape and his hair was even more unruly than usual. I smiled fondly before stepping into the kitchen so as not to wake him.
"Hello, Clara," the man said. "It's Tom from NYU, I'm just calling to confirm your registration to our journalism program."
I blinked. My what?
"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," I said slowly.
"No?" Tom sounded genuinely compassionate, I guess is the word I could use, as opposed to being annoyed that I was wasting his time.
"May I ask to learn more about my, uh, registration?" I leaned against the counter, one arm crossed across myself. How did I get registered to an amazing university for the program that I dreamed of, without me knowing? Was this some sort of prank?
"Yes, of course." I heard the clicking of a keyboard in the background. "Just the other day, we received your submission and portfolio under our late entrance submission thread. Now, normally, we don't accept applications this late; however, your submission really caught our interest. You really have a knack for journalism."
Was this a dream? They liked my journal articles? I racked my brain for any possible solution to this. The only person who had copies of my mock articles was Allie. I suppose my parents also had access to them, but I quickly ruled out that option. There was absolutely no way in hell.
"Sorry, but I can't pay for that," I said, a sad tone having crept into my voice. I was sure the man had heard.
"Your first year has already been paid for," he responded. "In fact, your whole four year program has already been paid off."
I gawked silently. What?!
Tom chuckled slightly. "It seems that you're quite unaware about this whole thing?"
"Do you have access to who paid it off?" I asked, biting the nails on one hand nervously.
This didn't seem like the type of thing for Allie to do, though. Yes, she had been pushing for me to attend university with her, but she didn't have that much money. She was lucky her parents were paying for her education; it would be pushing it to ask them to pay for me as well. The only other person I knew who was well off enough to pay for four years of university was currently sleeping in the room next door.
"Sorry, I do not have access to those files," Tom said apologetically.
"Oh, okay." I removed my hand from my mouth. "Well, thank you. Is it fine if I think about it?"
"Of course," he said. "You can accept the offer online, so you don't have to call again if you make up your mind, just make sure if you decide that you want to accept the offer, do so by the end of this week." He proceeded to give me the online login information, and then the call ended.
I stood in the kitchen for a moment longer, trying to process and think about everything that had just happened, before I headed back over to the living room to question Harry.
He was still sleeping, sprawled out on the couch, filling up the space that I had previously occupied. Soft snores were emitting from his slightly agape mouth.
I stood there, deciding whether or not I should wake him. On one hand, I was feeling really antsy and wanted answers, but he looked really adorable when he was sleeping. I figured that I should let him rest, so I turned around to sit in an armchair, and promptly bumped into the side table and knocked over the lamp that was sitting upon it.
I winced as it clattered to the ground, thankfully not breaking. I picked it up gently and set it down once more, but not before I heard Harry stir and mumble, "Clara?"
I turned around, meeting his sleepy green eyes. He didn't bother lifting himself up, he simply looked at me drowsily.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," I greeted. He rolled his eyes, grinning slightly, and grabbed his phone. He checked the time, and then his eyes widened.
"It's eleven-thirty?" he asked me incredulously. Oh, I didn't realize it was so early. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"I thought you should get your beauty sleep," I remarked, laying down on the couch and cuddling up next to him.
"I thought I was beautiful," he pouted. "Isn't that why you fell madly in love with me?"
"I fell in love with you because you're adorable," I said, bopping his nose, which he proceeded to crinkle in annoyance at me. "Your 'mad good looks' are just an added bonus."
"Well, that's good to know," he murmured.
"Anyways." I rolled over so I was face to face with him. "I need to talk to you about something."
"Go for it." He studied me, trying to figure out what I would possibly want to discuss. Maybe trying to see if he did something wrong.
"I got a call today," I preceded. "From one of the administrative staff at NYU."
"Did you now?" I could see that a smile was tugging at his lips. "What was that about?"
"Apparently they had received a submission and a portfolio from me," I said, keeping my eyes trained on his face. He wasn't giving much away, however, and was in fact doing the same thing with me. "One that I certainly didn't send."
"Did they like it?" he asked. "Submission for what?"
"For their journalism program," I said, "and yeah, he said they loved it. And when I told him I couldn't accept because I couldn't pay for it, he simply told me that the whole four year program had been paid for."
"Really?" Harry raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise. "Would you be interested in going?"
I sat up. I had not really been thinking about whether or not I wanted to go and instead had been pondering over who did this.
"I think so," I said finally. This is what I wanted. I've been dreaming of becoming a journalist, never actually thinking that I would be able to go to a local college, let alone a high end university in New York. I had dreamed and dreamed about, but I knew I would never have been able to afford it. "Who would have paid the tuition off, though?"
Harry smiled sheepishly before raising his hand.
"I knew it," I said. "How'd you get my mock articles though? Allie?" I guessed.
He nodded simply. "After our talk about what you wanted your future to be like, well, you sounded upset when talking about university, and I just want you to be happy, so I talked to Allie about which university you actually wanted to go to and which exact program and she also gave me your rough drafts of some articles for English class, and then–"
I cut him off by kissing him. He was taken aback but brought his hands up to cup my face gently.
"Thank you so much," I whispered.
"It gets better," he said, curling a lock of my hair around his finger. I looked at him curiously, wondering how this could possibly get better. This was already more than I could have ever imagined.
"I, ah..." He looked almost nervous to tell me, even though he had been the one to bring it up. I squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I also happened to apply to the same university, and also happened to get accepted."
I hate to admit that I squealed, quite loudly and incredibly girly.
"No way!" This was fantastic. My dream university and my dream program, coming to life, with a better twist than even I could have dared to imagine: my boyfriend by my side. "What program?"
"A double major in business and fashion," he said. "I'd like to follow my mother's footsteps in this industry."
"You'll do very well," I assured him. "This is incredible! I don't even know what to say to you!"
"You don't have to say anything," he said in a low voice, before pulling me in and kissing me gently. I kissed him back, amping the passion. I don't think I would ever get used to this: being able to call Harry mine, being able to kiss him anytime.
My phone buzzing again interrupted us. The caller ID showed that it was Allie who was calling me, and I figured she was about to freak out over the news with me.
"I should probably answer this," I said softly. "It's Allie, who really knows what she'll do if I don't answer."
"Yeah, go ahead," he encouraged.
I stood up and accepted the call. "Hey, Al."
"Claire Bear!" she exclaimed. "Do you know the news yet?"
"Yes, I do!" I said enthusiastically.
Allie responded with a squeal so loud, I pulled my phone away from my ear, and I questioned whether that would be enough to render me deaf.
"I'm so excited!" she shrieked. "You and Harry, in New York, with me and Zayn! This is a dream come true! We could all get an apartment together, or even if not, we have to plan get together sat least once every week!"
I laughed. "I'll have to talk to Harry about housing and all that, but of course we'll have get togethers! Nothing can keep us apart, Al."
"Good," she said, in an attempted threatening tone. "Anyways, I have to go, 'cause long distance calling and all that. I just missed you and figured that an occasion as great as this deserves a call from yours truly. Bye, Claire Bear! I'll see see you soon enough!"
"See ya, Al, and thank you for the call," I said, smiling before we hung up.
"Calling about the whole uni thing?" Harry quipped as I sat down again.
"You guessed it," I answered.
"I could hear her squeal from here," he grinned.
"What can I say," I laughed. "She's got a loud personality."
Harry and I spent the next hour or so figuring out the online application system for NYU, both of us accepting our offers and going on to pick our courses and electives. We didn't plan on having our free days off on the same day, but it worked out to be that way, and we didn't complain.
Then we went on to discuss housing. I did bring up the fact that Allie wanted to stay together, and he didn't seem opposed to the idea, so I figured I would discuss it further with her later tonight before we finalized things. We did go searching on the internet for nice places for rent for students, and we did find some nice ads.
Later on in the day, Harry suggested that we go out to dinner to celebrate this special occasion, and I agreed. It's always nice to go out now and then, plus I was quite hungry.
"Harry," I asked once during the car ride there, "how did you manage to get us such late acceptances?" I had realized that our classes started in two weeks, so we'd have to move out soon.
"You'd be surprised what money can get you," he said, and that was all that was discussed on that topic.
We ate at a nice, not to mention expensive, sit in restaurant.
When the server asked what we wanted to drink, I went to order a plain glass of water, but Harry cut me off.
"We'll have two glasses of champagne," he said, smiling at me after they left.
"I don't drink champagne," I said awkwardly.
He cocked his head at me. "Do you even drink?" he asked. "Have you ever had a drink in your life?"
"Yes," I said indignantly. "Like, maybe once," I added shamefully. "At a party in high school that Allie dragged me to."
Harry was grinning at me. "I just thought we should celebrate this special occasion. If you don't want it, let me know."
"No, I'll have it," I said, sticking my tongue out when he raised his eyebrows.
The server brought our champagne to us, and we clinked our glasses together.
"To new beginnings," he said.
"And to new adventures spent together," I added, and then we both took a sip.
~~
I'm a terrible person and I'm so so so so sorry
I won't make you guys wait another two years (yikes) for the next update, I promise
thank you for being patient and understanding (I hope at least) ilyasm
xx