Jinx

1

         "Dammit, Lou!" Zayn bitched, his voice echoing from inside the washing machine as he folded himself nearly in half to reach the bottom.

The sound of scraping continued for a moment while Louis held a finger to his lips, winking at Niall. Digging into his pockets, he dragged out a handful of change. Quickly, he started tossing the coins towards Zayn, laughing uproariously as they bounced off of Zayn and into the washing machine.

Zayn jerked upright, whipping around to glare at his roommates who were relaxing atop the dryers looking as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. "All you have to do is empty your damn pockets, Tommo." He rattled the change he'd dug out of the washer in his hands before sliding it into his pocket, giving Louis a look that dared him to protest.

It was a Tuesday night, they were hanging out in the laundry room of their dorm doing laundry. They'd discovered early in their Uni years that Tuesday was usually the quietest night down there, so this is what they did. Louis and Niall would hang out on the dryers harassing Zayn while he did all of the work. Zayn was secretly glad that, although this was their third year at Uni, this tradition still stood - he hated having piles of laundry sitting around the room.

"Hey! Did you hear who's living in our building?" Niall suddenly asked, looking up from his phone where he'd been texting non-stop with some bloke he'd met over the summer hols.

"Us?" Louis and Zayn asked at the same time before calling out "Jinx,". Niall reached out blindly to smack at them, but they both ducked out of the way with ease.

Zayn shook his head as he pushed Louis' legs out of the way to transfer the wet clothes he'd pulled out of the washer into the dryer. He closed the door to the dryer, moving Louis back around to how he was already sitting. He started the machine, laughing as Louis' entire body started to vibrate. Zayn moved to the dryer Niall was sitting on, smiling when Niall pulled his legs up to his chest while Zayn unloaded the dry clothes, folding as he went and putting them in the laundry basket to be sorted through later. Or more likely, set in the middle of the room so they could grab clothes as they needed, regardless of who actually owned what.

"You remember that show Two Bush Valley ?" Niall asked, Zayn smirking at the ludicrous name of the popular teen drama that had been cancelled the year before after a four year run.

"Everyone remembers that train wreck," Louis responded. "It had that one guy on it that covered Lottie's walls. What was his name?"

Liam James Payne. Zayn thought. That was his name. Or rather, his three names. He'd played the lead role of Chad on the show until it had ended. He was the only reason Zayn tolerated watching the show with his sisters. He'd sit listening to them drool over the actor, especially every time he appeared shirtless, which seemed to happen at least once an episode. He'd never admitted aloud to anyone that he secretly felt the same way.

Louis snorted. "Oh yeah, I heard about him coming here. Apparently he maneuvered his way onto the footie team and everything." He rolled his eyes. "I bust my arse for two years to get a starting position and he waltzes on as a freshman. Must be nice to be a spoiled actor type who can just wave his cash around and get whatever he wants."

Zayn felt bad for Louis, allowing him his anger, but he knew that Liam had been on track to become a professional footie player before he'd gotten the "role of a lifetime". Zayn decided he'd attend the first practice the next day to see Louis' face when he realized that he had some competition on the team this year.

While they waited for the load under Louis' arse to dry, they talked about classes, joking around and generally being obnoxious as only three mates can be. They stopped abruptly when the door to the laundry room banged open, revealing the back of someone tall with long curly hair pulled up into a bun.