Not So Cliché

three

Me. I am Meilani Lin. I am partners with Brennon Huxley. I am partnered with the hottest and prettiest guy in this college.  Not only is he the hottest and prettiest guy in this college, but also I have a very much giant crush on him. This must be fate.

I am a sucker for romance novels. I read romance novels. A lot of them. And I know the main character and their love interest become partners for a school project and end up together in the cliché stories. They always end up dating.  Could there be a possibility that Brennon and I could date? Is there a possibility that the hottest guy in this college could date me? God, it would be a dream.

I start to panic and overthink this situation too much. There are so many different possibilities where our relationship would go in the wrong direction. I might make Brennon hate me.

I start doing what my sister always says to do when I overthink or get anxious: Don't let the negative envelope your happiness.

I end up spending the rest of the class hour thinking about how I can get close to Brennon while we're working on our project.

"Well, that is the end of our class! Have a wonderful day and get started on your projects," Ms. Lennon exclaimed, interrupting my thoughts.

I grab my backpack from the floor and started walking down the aisle towards the exit. Mila, an okay friend of mine, comes from the row in front of me and stops me in the middle of the aisle.

"Brennon told me he wants to talk to you," she revealed as I raised an eyebrow at her. Right after she says 'Brennon', my whole face gets on fire. Brennon Huxley wants to talk to me. Oh my god.

I see Mila wave to me as she heads towards the exit when she sees the blush on the cheeks. I trust Mila enough that she wouldn't tell anybody, she's not considered a chatterbox.

Brennon wants to talk to me. I hear footsteps behind me and I swivel around since I realize I'm frozen in the middle of the aisle.

"Hey, are you Meilina? You're supposed to be my partner, I think? That chick over there, what was her name again? Mia? Milly? Whatever. Anyways, nice to meet you. I'm Brennon," he greets as I'm staring into those vivid blue eyes. God, I really wish I didn't cry in the morning. With my bare face, I probably look absolutely horrible. 

He raises his eyebrows waiting for my response. That's when I realized I've been standing there for at least 3 seconds without a reply.

"Hi! Hi. Yeah... My name is actually Meilani, not Meilina. A lot of people make that mistake, so it's okay.. Um, when should we start our project..?" I ask hesitantly. I curse myself for having a voice that sounds like a cat screeching while having diarrhea.

I hear a scoff from behind Brennon, and that's when I realize that the green-eyed guy was there. I glare at him in response to the scoff. Why does he have to be here? It's even more awkward now. I hope he doesn't remember me, that would be so fucking embarrassing.

"Hey, aren't you the girl from the hallway?" Nathaniel questioned with his crazy, addicting hot voice.  Shit. He remembers me.

"You know her?" Brennon asks. He looks at us both with a confused look on his face. I would be confused if I were him, too. I'm sending Nathaniel a glare while he's grinning at me.

"Nah, just bumped into her ," Nathaniel shrugged. I mentally thank him for not mentioning the mascara, it would be so awkward.

Brennon slowly nods as he says towards me, "Well, we were thinking that we could do our project at Nathan's with Ariel since he's filthy rich and has the biggest apartment. Tomorrow at 7pm. That okay?" I nod quickly in response. I'm not all that happy with doing our project with Nathaniel and the party girl, I wanted to do it alone to get to know each other. But I guess it's the best I can get.

I'm not surprised when Brennon says that Nathaniel's filthy rich. He has this spoiled, cocky, and moody aura around him.

"So I can text you his address." when I raise an eyebrow confused on why he handed me his phone.

Holy motherfucker. My phone number is going to be on Brennon's phone. Goddamn I love this day. Our fingers brush when I gently grab his phone which sends tingles through my whole body. I nervously type in my number, my palms getting sweaty.

I hand the phone back to its owner while he grins at me, "See you tomorrow, Meilani."

The two guys walk past me and walk towards the exit. I don't ignore that Nathaniel sent me a glance when he went out  the door. That's weird.

Whatever. I love today. One, my partner is literally Brennon Huxley. Two, Brennon has my number on his phone. Three, I'm seeing him literally tomorrow (which is not stalking him, for once).

*****

I sigh happily on the couch in my dorm as my best friend, Rosamie Hoang, walks in from the bathroom.

She tugged her short, shiny, black hair into a tiny ponytail as she flopped on the couch next to me, "What's with you today?"

"Nothing," I grin.

"Aw, don't lie to me, bitch,"

"I may or may not be Brennon Huxley's partner for our econ project," I revealed

"Holy shit. Partners with your fucking crush? You're the literal main character," she gaped.

"Of course I am,"

"When are you guys going to have your 'study date'?"

"Tomorrow at 7pm. He wants to do it at his friend's house with his partner. I'm not that happy about it, but I guess it's alright,"

"Ooh, what if his friend is hot too? Kill two birds with one stone right? Who's his friend?"

"This guy named Nathaniel...What was his last name again? Roman? Rame-"

"Was it Nathaniel Romano?" she questioned hesitantly, interrupting me.

"Yeah! That was it, I forgot it. His partner is Ariel Caddel the party gi-"

"No. Fucking. Way." she interrupted me again, her eyes wide.

"What?"

"Do you not know who fucking Nathaniel Romano is?"

"Do I need to? He gives off jerk vibes"

"He's literally the next fucking CEO to Romano Industries!"

"I see," I turned my back towards her and wiped out my phone, quickly searching 'Romano Industries'.

"Are you fucking searching it?"

I see the words 'second most successful industry in the world' and understood why he was so popular now. So I bumped into a wealthy ass bitch who can buy a whole country with smudged mascara on my face and glared at him like five times. Ironic. No wonder Brennon said he was filthy rich.

"Hey, some people don't know what it is," I said defensively.

"Always caught up in those books, aren't you?" Rosamie sighed, rolling her eyes.

I frown deeply at this. Rosamie is in love with her phone and always keeps up with the latest trends on the internet. My closet is packed with clothes and shoes thanks to Rosa. But she never understands my love for books. She will never understand it.

"Whatever, I'm going to review one more time for midterms tomorrow," I sigh in exhaustion.

"Had dinner yet?"

"Not yet, I was going to get takeout,"

"I'll cook us some pho," she smiles while rubbing my hand.

"Thanks so much, Rosie," I smile lightly.

She rubs my hand one more time before standing up, "Go hit the books, girl."