Puffs of smoke blocks the eye from peering down the front of the alleyway where the musky air filled. The only source of light is coming from the lit cigarette Jai, a good friend of mine that has stuck onto me since high school, has lit in between his lips. My fingers graze over the cool metal lighter in the palm of my hand, lighting the dry cigarette perched in between my lips creating a cloud of smoke around me. I could hear the heavy crunching of my boots on the ground as I walked down the dark alley with Jai by my side.
Accompanying us, Elizabeth, an attractive close friend of ours who always seemed to hang out with us, and Jason one of the most well known and eldest member of our group. Both of them walking hand in hand, in the back of Jai and I.
"Stop smoking so much." Jai demands.
"Take your own advice." I snap, taking the cigarette out of my mouth and blowing the last puff of smoke in Jai's direction to irritate him even further. He rolls his eyes and I am actually quite satisfied with his annoyed expression.
"Where the hell are we going?" Elizabeth whines.
"Back to my place, duh."
"Why couldn't we just take a cab?"
"What the fun in driving when we can just roam around the empty streets and do whatever the hell we want?"
"She's gotta point." Jason lazily wraps an arm around Elizabeth's waist and gives her a quick peck on the cheek. Elizabeth and Jason have been more than friends for quite a while now. Not exactly in a relationship, but more like friends with benefits. They usually get into fights and don't talk for about few weeks or so, but then they make up and it's the same stupid cycle.
"Before we go back to my place lets make a quick stop to the gas station." I eye Jai suspiciously and Jai nods his head in approval, knowing exactly what we are going to do next.
..
I walk into my apartment, not really caring about the noise the idiots behind me are making. Everyone's probably asleep even though it's only 1am. Jai slumps down on my couch with the bottle of vodka in his hands, I follow right behind him and fall back onto the couch beside him, resting my legs on his lap.
Elizabeth and Jason sit on the opposite couch molded onto each other. The pizza is passed around as well as the drinks, and music is playing in the background. Jai pressed the bottle to his lips before passing the bottle to me, I press the bottle to my lips, smiling, ready for a good night.
-
My mind is in a haze but I still manage to get up from the uncomfortable couch I slept on. An uncomfortable sharp pain strikes at the back of my head and my throat is unbelievably dry.
Jai's head is heavy on my lap and I slightly shake his shoulder, and rake my fingers through his hair to wake him up. He stirs a bit in his sleep before he finally awakes, rubbing his hands over his eyes like a child.
"What time is it?" Jai's voice is thick, laced with sleep.
"I just woke up," I say barely recognizing my voice. My eyes roam around my apartment, searching for Jason and Elizabeth. "Where's the other two?"
"They ran off last night when you passed out."
I stand from the couch, kicking off last nights six inch heels and slipped off my leather jacket. My stomach rumbles and I feel the burning bile rise up in my throat, threatening to spill over.
"What did I even eat last night?" I place two fingers over my lips and wait for last nights meal to come spilling out of my mouth.
Jai shrugs his shoulders and runs his hands over his face. My head pounds against my skull and now I am regretting last nights events. I mean, I had a great time but now I am dealing with a hangover and a very bad stomach and headache.
"I need a shower," Jai gives me a quick peck on the cheek before he rushes into my bathroom.
Jai and I were never really an item, yes we have had a few make out sessions and messed around but we were never really something special. We just share a few kisses now and then but nothing else.
After waiting a few minutes of waiting for my steaming coffee to cool down, I take some ibuprofen and wait for Jai to get out of the restroom.
After my shower, I pull my hair back into a high ponytail before I manage to put some makeup on. I change into high waisted shorts with my black leather jacket, and my combat boots.
"Ready?" Jai stuffs a pack of cigarettes in his pocket before stalking out of my apartment. I give him a quick nod and we begin our walk back to campus.
...
I grab my phone, checking the time. Great. Five more minutes to get to class. The campus is busy, full of teens, rushing to get to their next class, most of them clutching their textbooks and an occasional laptop tucked under their arm. I roll my eyes at how overly prepared they are, I usually bring a pencil and once in a while, I will bring my laptop for any studies.
I spot a tall man with broad shoulders walking towards my first class. I silently follow him hoping he is leading me to my first class. His towering height completely hides me behind him, his long legs taking long strides making my walking into a slow jog.
Relief flows over me when the man walks into my first class, sitting in the back of the class. I follow behind him and take a seat near him.
The old professor waits for the class to file in and quiet down before he begins. He takes time to introduce himself, which I think is unnecessary because at this point, no one cares.
I pick at the chipped black nail polish on my fingernails, while he lectures us about information I could care less about. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I quickly retrieve it, swiping my thumb across the lit screen.
"Excuse me?" A deep, shaky voice makes my head snap up to the front of the class. "I said no phones in class in the beginning of my lecture." The professor holds an annoyed expression on his face and the whole class stares at me with wide eyes.
"Oh right. Silly me." I sarcastically reply and slip my phone back into my pocket.
"Next time it's mine till the end of class." He snaps. I roll my eyes and draw my attention back to him. "I believe a lot of your writing should be creative, sure. It is a beautiful thing to be able to put a story together in your head using a bunch of fantasies from your head, but writing should be personal too." He licks his dry lips and continues. "Today you will be writing a paragraph about what you are most afraid of. Use personal experiences in your explanations and don't leave out any details."
"What if we do not have any fears?" I blurt, crossing my arms over my chest.
"You have to have at least one fear."
"Well I don't."
"Fear is what makes us- us. Fear is so traumatizing yet beautiful, If we didn't have fear, what would you look forward to in life? What's the fun in life when you don't have fear?" He continues. "If you say that you have no fears, then that is just complete crazy talk. Now get to work."
I look around the classroom and surprisingly, everyone is scribbling away, pouring their hearts out on a sheet of paper, revealing their worst fears and why they are afraid. Well, not me.
The bell rings and the professor asks to turn in our papers by his desk. I drop the blank sheet of paper on his desk and head out of the classroom.
-
"Ariana?" A voice calls as I am walking back to my apartment, -right off campus- from my last class.
I take a quick glance over my shoulder, taking notice that Jai is jogging over to me. His hair is slightly messy from the wind, his cheeks have a light flush to them and he is wearing his usual ripped skinny jeans, boots, and a black nirvana shirt. His presses a quick passionate kiss to my lips and takes my hand in his.
"Where are you going?" Our foreheads touch and I momentarily forget that we are just friends.
"Back home." I shrug my shoulders and begin to walk off campus.
"Can I come with?"
"Yea, I guess. Don't you have a dorm here on campus?" A gust of wind flows past my hair and a shiver escapes my lips.
"Yeah but my roommate is disgusting. I barely got the time to meet him and next thing you know he sleeps with a girl in our dorm. Those assholes didn't let me fucking sleep that night." He rolls his eyes at the disgusting memory.
A wide smile creeps it's way onto my face and I give his hand a light squeeze. "You're welcome to my apartment anytime,"
"But first, I need to drop off some shit in my dorm. I'll come by in about an hour okay?"
"Yeah, okay." Jai presses a long sweet kiss on my lips, before running off to his dorm.
I silently walk back to my apartment, humming a familiar song that has been stuck in my head all day. Suddenly, I hear footsteps behind me. It can't be Jai, he just left. I am about a block away from my apartment complex and if I keep on hearing the footsteps, I will make a run for it. My heart erratically beats in my chest and my feet pick up their pace, just to be safe. I hear the footsteps become louder and faster as I make the final decision to go for a full sprint. The only noise that is heard through the silent parking lot is my heavy breathing and the crunching of my boots. I think I lost them.
"Shit," a deep raspy voice curses behind me. I peer my head past my shoulder and take notice of the tall man in my first class. Oh.
His eyes are glued to the small lit screen of his phone and his brows are pulled together. One of his large hands fly to his hair as he pulls back the curly mess and slightly pulls on the roots. Dark tattoos are visible under his white t-shirt, making him a lot more attractive.
"Can I help you?" His voice is demanding and has a slight edge to it.
I didn't even realize I was staring at him until now. He doesn't bother to take a glance at me, making me angry.
"The question is, can I help you?" I cross my arms over my chest, standing my ground.
He immediately snaps his eyes to me, I guess he was expecting me to stay quiet. He has a small smirk on his face so I turn back on my heel and stalk towards the building, heading to the elevator.
I step into the small elevator and my heart stops beating in my chest when I see him follow behind, stepping into the elevator as well with a devilish smirk plastered onto his face.
I huff in annoyance and press the button, his cold hand presses against mine, pressing the same number. Oh no.
"Problem?" his eyes are taunting and I take a double take.
"Don't tell me," I jam. "You live in the same floor as me don't you?" His emerald eyes are dancing with excitement and I know that he is enjoying this.
His smirk gives it all away.
A loud groan escapes my lips and I mentally slap myself for moving into these damn apartments.
"Why are you following me?!" I slightly raise my voice when the elevator doors shut.
"No I'm not. I just happen to live in the same floor as you."
"And the same building," I add.
"That was one show you put back there, I saw you run for your life when you heard my footsteps."
"Shut up." I snap. "Who are you anyway?" I run my hands over my face and let out a sigh.
"Harry," his blazing eyes burn into mine, "Harry Styles."
"Nice," I retort.
"What?"
"Nothing man, chill out." I playfully put my hands up in defense.
"Ariana, Ariana Grande." I pull my hand out for him to shake it, and he gladly does. His hand is rough and large compared to mine as he shakes our hands.
"Cool," he lamely says, pulling from my hand and stuffing it back into his pocket.
"Where were we?" I sarcastically fake smile at him and continue. "Oh yea, you were following me home and apparently live in the same floor as me."
"I do!!"
"Prove it. Call your little girlfriend and-"
"Who said I have a girlfriend?" He says and my jaw drops.
"You don't have a girlfriend?" By the look on his face, I think he took that wrong.
"No Ariana. Is that a problem?" he huffs.
"Not at all. I just thought that you were the one who got around and slept with the girls in high school. I mean look at you!! I bet you were the preppy popular hot guy who dated the head cheerleader."
"You think I'm hot?" A wide smile pulls across his face and I playfully punch his arm.
A few moments pass as we ride the elevator. Suddenly, there's a loud bang and the elevator screeches to a stop, the lights flickering before going out.
***
a/n: hi guys I'm back oh my gosh it's been so long and i really missed writing. well as you all know this is a new story and i am beyond excited to share it with you all, now this time i have many plans for this story and hopefully i will end up finishing this story lol.
i will be updating like once a week bc I already started school ): but now I am starting this new thing where I want to reach goals to update. like I will set a goal for how many votes and comments a chapter gets and if it does get that much then I will update, don't worry I won't make them stupidly high :) the reason why I am doing this is bc whenever you guys comment or vote it motivates me more to write and your comments make me very happy and they mean the world to me.
well anyways i love you all so much I'll talk to you all later :-) thank you x
please share this story with your pals and if you did please tell me so I can follow you and read your story if you're writing one :D