You sat in the class room, waiting for your lecturer, all the while trying not to fall asleep. It wasn't that you had stayed too long at this horrible party yesterday evening, but getting Raven into bed had turned out to be a more difficult task than you had thought. And once she had finally fallen asleep, it seemed impossible for you to do the same.
You had always been a night person. You became the most creative, the most productive always in the late evening, being able to stay awake for hours, doing whatever it was that needed to be done without falling asleep.
The downside of that was simply that it resulted in you being incredibly tired, and even more useless than normally during day time. In the last few weeks you had managed to bring this under control, waking up early, going to bed early, but yesterday you couldn't do anything else than lying in your bed and thinking. About everything that came to your mind.
Your exams, the party, Raven, her ex-boyfriend Finn...John Murphy.
You groaned slightly and looked at your watch. It still were at least ten minutes until the teacher would come, but you knew, as soon as you'd rest your head on the desk the chance of falling asleep was too high. Three hours of sleep were definitely not enough for you.
You kept sulking in your own thoughts, cursing yourself and Raven mentally, until someone sat down next to you, ripping you out of your thoughts.
„So that's what a class room looks like."
Confused you sat up straight, and turned your head to the person on your right.
„Why that look? Didn't expect to see me again so soon?"
You shook your head. „No. Actually not." It wasn't that you had forgotten about him, it was just that you had never thought that he'd show up, let alone sit down next to you.
He scoffed and leant back in his chair. „Looks like you aren't quite the morning person."
„Oh, how could you tell?", you asked back sarcastically and ran a hand through your hair, in the slight hope to make it look somewhat decent. Because you didn't really know what it was, but something about this guy seemed incredibly interesting to you. You barely knew him, and it wasn't as if you'd have a crush on him, but in some way, even though you couldn't really place it yet, you felt attracted to him.
Quickly you changed the subject to lead your thoughts in a less confusing direction.
„I see you're perfectly prepared", you said, your gaze falling on the empty desk in front of him. The boy didn't answer, instead he lifted both his index fingers, gesturing you to wait, before he grabbed his bag next to him and pulled a rather old looking notepad and a halfbroken ballpen out, placing it proudly on his desk. Afterwards he returned his bag down under his chair and held out his hands, presenting you what he had brought with him in an exemplary manner, obviously awaiting some sort of reaction from you.
You scoffed and started to laugh, as you looked how serious he seemed. You shook your head and turned your gaze away from his tattered notebook to him. „I'm so proud of you, John."
A smirk had grown on his face, as he opened his arms, praising himself for his great achievement. „Thank you, thank you."
He lowered his arms again and leaned on the table, opening his mouth to ask you something, when he was interrupted by the lecturer entering the room.
You smiled at him in fake pity, and opened your own folder and notepad, before turning your attention to the front, ready to listen and take notes of whatever you considered important.
You hadn't payed any attention to Murphy for the last twenty minutes or so, but when your gaze fell onto his notepad – which looked like he had tried to take notes for about five minutes before he got bored and started to draw tiny sharks – you turned your head a bit more, only to see him trying to balance his pen on his forehead.
You should have known. Softly you kicked him under the table, making him flinch, and sending the pen to the ground. You looked at him, and smiled mockingly, mouthing that it was his own fault, before turning your attention back to the front.
Out of the corner of your eye you saw him leaning onto the table, after he had picked up his only pen, bringing his face closer to yours. „Okay, I really don't get how-"
„Shush", you whispered back, not turning your gaze away from the front, yet, not able to hide the amused smile on your face.
Murphy scoffed and leaned back again, only to pick up his pen a few seconds later and began to scribble something on his notepad.
Your gaze turned back from your own pad to his, trying to figure out what he was writing. It definitely wasn't any kind of useful stuff. He was writing way too eagerly for that.
But your question was answered a few moments later when you heard a ripping noise, closely followed by a piece of folded paper landing on top of your notepad. Raising one of your eyebrows you looked over to Murphy who now himself had his gaze trained to the front, acting like he'd listened to every word the teacher said. You wet your lips and tried not to laugh, before unfolding the small paper.
So this is what you do in your free time? Next time I decide what we're gonna do. Not that it's not incredibly entertaining here.
You shook your head, and for a second you thought about whether you should answer or pay attention to the lecturer, but the answer had been obvious from the beginning. You were tired, and John Murphy had caught your attention ten minutes ago, making it almost impossible to listen to the man in the front, so you honestly doubted, that this lesson would become any kind of productive for you.
Shifting on your chair you sighed and started to scribble your answer.
I'm sure you're the master of fun, Mr I'm-practically-always-bored.
You flipped the note back to him, and it didn't take long for him to write back.
That's not me, that was your grandmother's party. And this guy there at the front. Please tell me that's not your grandfather. I'm scared that he dies before the lecture ends. ...Actually that wouldn't be too bad.
You looked up to stare at Mr Wallace. You would never be able to look at him again, without that comment on your mind. Thanks, John.
You looked at your watch. There were only five minutes left, and you hadn't the slightest idea what the last twenty minutes had been about. There went your afternoon.
5 minutes left. Try to survive.
Murphy took the message from you and unfolded it, only to close it again and shove it into his pocket.
„I can't promise anything", he whispered, making you nudge him again. „Ouch. And I thought you liked me."
Thankfully you were spared the answer, for in this moment the lecturer had left the room and the other students around you started to pack their things together, talking loudly to each other.
So you just smirked, and closed your folder and notebook, before you put everything back into your bag and stood up.
Murphy watched you before packing away his things as well. „A pity we both survived. And I had hoped there would have been at least something interesting", he said while trotting next to you out of the class room.
Murphy's POV
For once silently he walked past (y/n) out of the class room, rather indecisive about what to do next. On the one hand he could head back to his dormitory, maybe catch up on the precious sleep he had lost, but on the other hand he knew that he would meet Mbege there, and he was not in the mood to explain to him where he had been this morning. Weirdly, Murphy decided that his mood was almost to good to ruin it in a discussion with his roommate.
„So, what now?", he asked, looking at her expectantly.
„Now I ask you why you keep following me."
„Well, it's your fault that I'm even here, so live with the consequences I'd say."
„Okay, then. I'm gonna head to the library and print out the contents of this lecture, since I missed half of it. Thanks to someone." She gave him a scolding gaze.
„Really? Who was it?"
(Y/n) inhaled deeply, and shook her head, before she looked up at him.
„Hardly worth mentioning. Some kind of dork I met at a party. But you know, if you'd ask me, I think he has a crush on me."
Murphy's heart missed a beat, as she said this. Not because it was true, but because he remembered the actual reason he was talking to her in the first place. The bet. Mbege. Two hundred and fifty dollars. How on Earth could he have forgotten about that.
„You think so?"
She nodded. „Well, yeah, he's following me everywhere, it's kind of creepy, really." Murphy looked down at her. The light of the sun was reflecting in her (h/c) hair, framing her face and making her look even cheekier than she already was.
„Well, sounds like you should dump him if you ask me", he answered, only periodically looking away from her to not bump against somebody else.
„Nah, I don't know. He's a jerk, but he actually doesn't seem that bad, you know?" She smirked up at him. „Most of the time."
Murphy didn't answer, and instead looked at the ground. Well, she didn't know him after all. If she knew what he was up to, she would definitely be talking differently about him.
As she realised that he wouldn't answer she simply continued talking. „He's not stupid, you know? Just really lazy I guess. And I think if he would stop acting like he didn't care, he could do pretty good in the upcoming exams."
Murphy sighed. „You just proved me, that you're maybe not as boring as everybody's saying, and now you come up with exams?"
She halted, causing him to stop as well, and looked at him in mock surprise. „Was that a compliment, John?"
He adjusted his backpack and shook his head. „How on earth are you able to find a compliment in this?"
She shrugged. „Let's call it optimistic world view. Still, you do know that you'll have to pass these exams, right?"
Murphy looked to the ground and continued walking, not saying a word. If there was one topic he didn't want to talk about than it were his exams. And what it would mean if he would not pass. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw (y/n) jogging back up to him, walking beside him once again. „I did not mean to taunt you with this, you know?"
He didn't answer. Instead he stopped walking once again and turned towards her. „What do you care? " He tried to calm down again. It wasn't her fault that he was a loser and couldn't even hold the one promise he had made in his whole life.
She raised her eyebrows at his harsh tone, and straightened her back, a somewhat challenging look in her eyes. „You just proved me that you're maybe not as big as an idiot as everybody's saying, and now you come up with this attitude?"
Murphy just scoffed. „Well, maybe they're right."
He turned around to walk away, as her voice stopped him in the middle of his movements.
„You know what? You can either continue to talk yourself down, or you can get off your ass and do something. There has to be a reason you're on this college. So don't be an idiot by throwing this away."
For a moment Murphy couldn't move as he processed her words. She was right. There was a reason, but that didn't change the fact that he had already ruined the one chance in life that someone had given him. All by himself. He turned around to look at (y/n), who stood in front of him, her bag hanging loosely over her shoulder, as she stared at him with a mix out of anger and disappointment, that was nothing new to him. But he could see something else in her gaze. Something that almost seemed to challenge him.
For a moment various possible answers flashed through his head, but he wiped them all away, and instead started to chuckle, before he abruptly stopped, and stepped closer to her.
„So you believe in me", he asked, his voice dry, almost sarcastic. „Well then, girl-who-doesn't-know-me, get yourself ready for disappointment."
She didn't yield, and instead stared directly into his eyes. „Well, boy-with-the-worst-attitude-ever, don't worry, disappointment is my middle name."
Murphy just looked at her, when a tiny smirk found its way on his face. „So you think I can do it."
She nodded slowly, obviously not quite sure how to interpret his smirk. „Prove it."
She didn't move an inch, but something changed in the look of her eyes. He knew he had her interested.
„We're studying together. If I pass, I'll do whatever you want. But if I fail, you have to obey me for one day."
None of them moved, instead they simply stared at each other, the smirk still plastered on Murphy's face. „That's a stupid-ass bet. How do I know you won't fail intentionally?"
„I guess you'll have to trust me."
He could saw her thinking, considering whether she should agree or not. For him this bet would be perfect. It wasn't as if he actually believed that he could pass. And he would spent a lot of time with her. Which would mean that his chances of winning this bet would increase.
Furthermore, it could be interesting to spend time with someone else than Mbege or his laptop for once. After all, it was only for a couple weeks.
„You're right I don't really know you", she finally spoke up. „And I probably shouldn't, but I do trust you." He held out his hand for her to take. „But I won't bet on your future, John." His eyebrows shot up, and his smirk vanished. He had definitely not expected this answer.
She adjusted her bag, and looked up to him, completely serious. „I must be crazy to even offer this to you, but if you need someone to study with... Feel free to talk to me. Oh, and it would be highly recommendable to visit some lectures and actually listen from time to time." She smiled weakly, and turned around. „I'll be in the library. That's this big impressive building you have probably never visited", she shouted, without looking at him again.
Not able to answer anything, Murphy just looked past her. She had actually made him speechless.
He shook his head.
This morning he had gotten up early, and actually visited a lecture. But it wasn't her that made him do all this, it was the prospect of winning against Mbege, seeing his face when he actually would have to fork out the money. Everything else would have been stupid. After all he barely knew her.
Ignoring the people that ran past him in all directions, he simply stood in the middle of the campus, staring after (y/n).
A bitter feeling started to grow in his stomach. A feeling he knew way too well. He shook his head again, once again telling himself, that here was absolutely no reason for him to feel this way.
Still, the guilty sensation remained, as he started to jog after her, the bet he placed locked in the back of his head.
Author: see-the-fandom-imagines