New Beginnings

Chapter Twelve

<NORMANI POV>

It had been several weeks now since the party incident and Lauren was happy to see Connor and Normani really get along now. The three of them actually were able to hang out together and they had even developed some inside jokes. Finals were approaching and Normani spent 96% of her time in the library studying or preparing for her law class. But the 4% of the time when she wasn't reading over court cases or studying ferns for plant biology she was in the dorm with Connor and Lauren watching movies and playing card games.

She felt really bad because with all of her school work, and new friends, and just being so far from Texas she didn't get to talk with Kevin a lot. They tried to text a little every day but it was usually just a "hi whats up? Nothing much, you?" type of thing. They would call each other once a week at most and the conversation would only be about 30 minutes long before one of them had to go. It was really hard being that long distance. Normani still really liked Kevin, and Kevin was still crazy about Normani, but it was difficult.

But in a couple of weeks it would be winter break and Normani would go home to Texas where she would finally be reunited with her boyfriend she hadn't seen since September. Wow had it really been that long? The time was flying, and Normani had been so busy with school she really hadn't noticed how long she had been at school already. What she wasn't used to was this cold ass weather. Normani owned one winter coat in her entire life before she came to Northwestern, in fact she hadn't even seen snow before until last week.

She woke up one morning to get ready for class and looked out the window, immediately she screamed. Lauren woke up with a jolt thinking something terrible had happened only to find out Normani was just excited to see the fluffy white snow for the first time. It was so beautiful and perfect...until she stepped outside and wanted to die. She had not packed enough layers for this. So the next day she went and bought some winter gear, a new coat, some gloves, scarves, and cute winter boots.

Currently Normani was curled up in her bed with her textbook and a highlighter marking up every page in preparation for her final exam. Lauren and Connor were curled up on Lauren's bed watching a movie with headphones on, only making noise every once and a while when something funny happened and Lauren couldn't suppress her adorable childish giggle. She had to have the cutest laugh on the planet. It was somewhat a mix of a five-year-old child and a hyena. It was cute though, just like her...whoa I gotta stop thinking shit like this, I sound like I have some weird obsession with her.

Connor usually didn't make much noise even when a funny part happened, he usually just looked at Lauren and smiled. Normani didn't exactly know what those two were. They weren't really dating but they weren't really just friends either. Not like friends with benefits or anything but, it was complicated. They had gone on a couple of dates and they hung out almost every day but they didn't kiss or anything and Connor hadn't asked Lauren to be his girlfriend. Normani was okay with that, even though she shouldn't care, Lauren could date whoever she wanted, and Normani did like Connor a lot more now.

College had been interesting so far for Normani. She had been reunited with her best friend, and then semi had her best friend stolen from her. She had been swamped with work for her law class, but she absolutely loved it. They had a couple of mock trials already and Normani's group had won both cases so far, Normani being their main attorney both times. She was incredibly persuasive and her knowledge of the law was natural. Her groupmates were surprised at how well she worked under pressure, it had been a no brainer to have her lead the cases while they did most of the background work. This was really want Normani was made for.

Now her other classes however, she could do without those. Plant biology was easy but literally the most boring class in the history of ever. And her history class with Dinah was...forgettable. She spent most of the time drawing on Dinah's face with pen while the Polynesian girl slept.