Bad Reputation - Shawn Mendes

20 - Normal Life

Eleanor.

Hugging Shawn made me feel complete and whole. As much as i didn't want to, we had eventually let go. I look up to Shawn and see the biggest smile plastered on his face. "May i?" He asks while taking his hand out. I place my hand on top of his and our hands intertwined as we walk towards the cashier. I honestly don't know why i was overthinking this whole thing, Shawn really has a special effect on me that i simply couldn't deny. Once we were at the cashier and ready to pay, the waitress shakes her head. "It's on the house! Please come visit more often!" She exclaims. "Thank you so much and we definitely will." Shawn promises. We then walk out of the restaurant hand in hand after saying our goodbye.

As if on autopilot Shawn opens the door for me and i thank him. He jogs over to the other side and quickly hops in before driving off back to the dorms. Shawn drove with one hand on the wheel and one hand holding mine. I can't believe Shawn Mendes is my boyfriend now. Once we were at the dorm's parking lot, Shawn turned off the engine and faced me.

"Eleanor, if you don't mind me asking, what made you say yes?" Shawn asks. "I stopped being afraid." I tell him. "Afraid of what?" He asks as he shifts his body towards mine. "I was afraid of how fast i was falling for you. I never felt like this about anyone before." I say as i stare at our intertwined hands. "And I was afraid that i didn't deserve your love because of my past." I add. "I'm glad you stopped being afraid because now i get to show you how much you deserved to be loved." He tells me as he rubs circles with his thumb around my fist. "Honestly, sometimes i wish i had a normal life." I bite the inside of my cheek, thinking about how shitty my life has been until i met Aaliyah and Shawn. "Me too." He replies and there's a pause between us. "Why?" I ask, confused as to why he wouldn't want to be famous. "Being famous when you're young makes you miss out on a lot of things like going to college for example." He says and an idea pops up in my head.

"Are you free next Tuesday?" I ask with a grin on my face. "I should be, why?" Shawn replies, knowing that I'm up to something. "I have a big lecture of over 200 people, you should come and have the college experience. People won't even realise you're there because of how big the lecture hall is." I propose my idea. "I-i don't know Elle." He stutters. "Come on, this is your chance to have a 'normal' life." I try to persuade him. After a few seconds of silence, he finally gives in. "Okay I'll go." He says. "Great see you at 2." I tell him and he smiles.

Shawn then unbuckles his seat belt and hops out of the car to open the door for me. I thank him before going inside and up to my room. I open the door to see that the room is empty. I kick off my shoes before laying down on my bed and pulling out my phone to text Aaliyah.

E: I did it, i said yes.
A: Yay, I'm so happy for you.
A: Can't believe my brother and my best friend are dating.
E: You're crazy, did you know that?
A: I do but you love me.
E: I do.
A: I love you too.

I lock my phone and plug it in to charge. I lay in bed feeling serotonin because of what happened today, it feels like I'm on cloud nine. I slowly close my eyes and fall asleep to the thought of Shawn.

———

I'm waiting for Shawn at the school's parking lot for him to attend my lecture. I had a few classes in the morning which is why he's only meeting me now. I immediately spot his car and wave towards it. He parks the car and steps out wearing a hoodie and sweatpants and a book in hand. I love seeing Shawn dressed so casually because it reminds me that he's just a human being after all. "Hey beautiful." He greets me and hugs me. "Hi." I reply and hug him back.

We intertwine our hands and walk hand in hand towards the lecture hall. We were kind of early so the place was still empty. We decided to sit at the back so that people won't really notice us. Shawn places his book on the table while i take out my laptop. "You brought a notebook?" I asked, a little amused. "Yeah, to write down notes like a college student." He answers confidently and i laugh. "You're cute." I say and he pats my head which sends a warm fuzzy feeling through my body, a feeling that i only have when I'm with Shawn.

My lecturer walks in and our attention moved to him once he speaks into the microphone. "Good afternoon class, today we're going to go in depth on how to use psychology in our everyday lives, so please pay attention because this would be very useful in your upcoming assignments." Mr Jones announces. As he goes through the slides, i look over to Shawn occasionally who's paying attention very seriously and writing down notes with lots of doodles on the side which was very adorable of him. I continue typing into my laptop and writing down all the important examples that Mr Jones gave.

After 3 hours, the lecture finally ends and everyone makes their way out. "I don't know how you do this everyday." Shawn remarks while stretching his arms upwards. "I told you college life ain't that fun." I chuckle and he nods in agreement. Shawn watches me as i pack my stuff into my bag. Once i was done, we both stood up and i link my arm with his and walk out of the lecture hall. As we were heading towards the parking lot, a voice calls out my name.

"Elle!" She exclaims and we both turn around to find Chloe standing there wearing a very short dress and loads of make up. "Shawn?" She questions and he walks towards her but i try to pull him back because i didn't want to talk with her. That doesn't work very well because Chloe is running up to us and i have to face my fears. "Shawn, I'm a huge fan of yours so I just want to let you know before it's too late." She says while looking at him with puppy eyes before pausing to look at me. "You're making a very big mistake here." She spits and Shawn laughs. "I don't think so." He responds and looks at me. "Is she the girl?" He asks me and i nod. "Please don't go around spreading false rumours of others, it's really a very petty thing to do." He says in a polite tone which leaves Chloe in shock.

Shawn then turns around and pulls me with him towards the parking lot. "Shawn, that was awesome!" I exclaim and Shawn chuckles. "Anything for my girl." He winks and my heart races. No one has stood up for me like that. And the fact that he said that dating me isn't a mistake just made me feel like i was on top of the world.

Author's Note!

Thank you guys for 100+ reads, it's so unreal! I really appreciate the support. Please stay safe everyone and know that i love each and every single one of you.