Our Typical Love Story

Chapter 1

Just as I forced myself upright, my door burst open, loudly. And in came Harper, my roommate and best friend, with a grin that looked like she'd just struck gold. She was already dressed, her hair pulled up into a messy bun—and wearing my purple shirt.

That traitor. I remembered asking her if she'd taken the shirt, and she'd told me (very smoothly, might I add) that she hadn't and that it had probably "got lost in the wash."

Lost in the wash, my ass.

"You'll never guess what happened last night!" Harper announced, practically bouncing on the edge of my mattress. "I told you that you should have come!" she added in a side note.

I groaned, blinking myself fully awake. "Something definitely happened," I yawned.

"Guess?" Harper's tone was way too cheerful for this hour of the morning.

I yawned. Here we go.

"I don't know...you won the lottery?" I mumbled, running a hand through my tangled hair, detangling it to the best of my ability.

"No," she shook her head, eyes twinkling. "Well, maybe kind of, if you're into the idea of an admirer. He would not stop talking about you last night. Like, seriously—it was borderline embarrassing. I don't know what you did to him, but the guy's completely smitten. I need to know your trick for that by the way."

"Who and trick for what?" My state of awake-ness was definitely not right for this conversation.

"Jamie, and your trick for making a guy go cray-cray for you!" She says that little sly grin appearing on her lips, her finger twirling a strand of hair round and round.

I felt my shoulders slump as I let out a long sigh. Oscar. I'd met him a few times through Harper's friend group. He was nice enough, I guess.

You know, in that "just a friendly acquaintance" way, but that's all it was. I wasn't looking for anything more, and Jamie hadn't exactly given off subtle vibes the last time we'd hung out. Still, the idea of him actually pining over me was... well, not exactly ideal.

"Oh, Harper, no," I groaned, standing up and stretching. I reached for my robe, draping it over myself as I shuffled past her and into the bathroom. "Tell me you didn't encourage him."

Please, dear god, tell me that she told him that I didn't want or need anything like that. Tell me that my dearest friend had the sense of mind that she could tell her friend no.

"I didn't!" she said quickly, following me round. "I told him you were busy and not really looking for anything, but he just kept going. I mean, I thought it was kind of sweet. He kept saying things like, 'There's something about her, you know?"

How cheesy. Beyond cheesy.

I rolled my eyes, stifling a yawn as I grabbed my toothbrush. "That's... great, I guess. But it's not going anywhere, it's not going to go anywhere either ,Harper. He's a nice guy, but I don't have the engergy for anything romantic right now. You know that."

Harper perched herself on the edge of the sink, watching me with a slight pout. Dang she looked disappointed. "Come on, Lil, you can't honestly say there isn't some teeny, tiny part of you that finds this flattering. I mean, it's Jamie! He's like... Mr. Campus. Practically everyone has a crush on him."

"Everyone in your friend group has a crush on him."I frowned, focusing on brushing my teeth and avoiding her gaze.

Maybe it would be flattering if I were in the mood to be flattered, but I wasn't.

I spat into the sink, rinsed my mouth, then looked over at Harper with a smirk. "You know, if you think he's so great, maybe you should give it a shot. I'll be fine."

She shook her head, laughing. "You know he's not my type. Also you know I have a boyfriend. And my dream is that we double date. But seriously, it wouldn't kill you to at least give the guy a chance. What's the harm in one date?"

"One date becomes two, and then two becomes three," I shot back, pulling my hair up into a quick, messy ponytail. "And then, before you know it, he's waiting outside my classes or wanting to FaceTime every night. No thanks."

Harper groaned, exasperated but still determend, I mean what did I have to do to get this girl off my back?

Trailing after me as I made my way back to my room to pick out an outfit for the day, Harper perched on my bed again. "You're so.." She struggled for words."Uhhh! Just because your last boyfriend turned out to be an absolute dick, it doesn't mean they all will. I mean, look at Jamie*! He's sweet, he's smart, he's got that whole 'golden retriever energy' thing going on. Aren't you at least curious?"

I pulled a sweater from my drawer, holding it up to inspect it. It looked different.

"I wore that yesterday," Harper added as a side note." That explains a whole bunch. I throw the sweater to my laundry basket.

"Curious, maybe. But interested? Not really. Besides, I already have plans tonight—to do absolutely nothing, and I'm really looking forward to them."

She crossed her arms, rolling her amber eyes as I started pulling my jeans from a pile on the chair. "Fine, but I'm just saying, if you keep acting like you're not interested in anyone, guys are going to assume you're, like, a widow or something."

"A widow?" I laughed. "I go out with you every Friday night! Just because I don't want a boyfriend doesn't mean I was once married and then my husband died. It also doesn't mean I'm a 50 year old woman" I tugged on my jeans and looked over at her with a pointed smile. "Maybe you should be less interested in my love life and more interested in your own."

She grimaced. She knew what I was talking bout. Harper had been head over heels for her boyfriend, Josh but she rarely saw him anymore. But I had to admit, when she did, they were the dream couple. "Hey, I'm not the one with a charming guy losing sleep over me."

I gave her a pleading look as I pulled on my sweater. "Please tell him not to lose sleep. If anything, tell him to take a nap." I groan.

Harper was silent, giving me a break for just a single second. As I glanced in the mirror, adjusting my sweater and brushing my fingers through my hair, I thought. Maybe Harper was right. Dang, I hate when she's right. But then again, she was always right.

I didn't exactly mind Jamie, and he'd always been nice to me.

But before I could get 3 seconds alone with my thoughts, Harper appeared again, now leaning against the doorframe with a sly smile.

"Fine," she said, raising her hands in mock surrender. "I won't bug you about it. But just so you know, he did say he'd try to swing by that art exhibit we're going to this weekend."

"Oh no," I said, trying to sound exasperated, though a smile tugged at my lips. I loved her efforts. "You're going to make sure we run into him, aren't you?"

Harper's face lit up with innocence. "Who, me? I would never." But she grinned.

"I'll make us coffee," Harper said brightly, springing up from her spot and heading toward the kitchen. As she grabbed mugs and prepped the coffee machine, she glanced back at me with a grin. "Just think about it, okay? Worst-case scenario, you get a free dinner out of it."

"Best-case scenario," I corrected, smirking.

"So," Harper said, as I slipped my backpack over my shoulder and checked my watch one last time, "you'll think about the art exhibit, right? No need to say yes, just... give it a fair chance?"