Little Moments

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

-Five days later-

Getting back to a normal routine had been comforting in a way. Schoolwork kept me too busy to be able to think too much about those few days in Vegas. Exams were around the corner and I'd began outlining my revision timetable so that I'd be able to cover everything in time.

I grabbed my bag and laptop case as I was on my way to hand in my article in the newsroom before class. I also had to pop by the dining room and grab some breakfast. I was quite proud of what I'd written, but if it would be good enough would remain to be seen.

Fetching my keys I left the dorm and bumped into Penny who seemed to be in a hurry. If memory served right she should be in a lecture by now.

"I forgot my bag," she rambled. As she passed me she turned around, walking backwards as she continued to talk. "By the way, there's something going on in the main quad, I'd take a different route if I were you. It'll take forever to get through, hence why I'm late. I had to take a detour."

"What kind of something?" I asked.

"Dunno, probably the drama club doing some performance stuff."

"Okay, thanks!" I shouted after her as she ran through the door to our dorm. Taking her advice I opted for the long route to the media room where I left my article on the editor's desk before leaving, but he caught me on the way out.

"Did you come to drop off your piece?" Tom asked.

"Yeah," I answered, "I left it on your desk."

"I'm looking forward to reading it. Who knows, maybe you'll find yourself doing more of it in the fall," he winked at me and I smiled.

"I hope so! See you later, Tom!"

I felt slightly crippled without my phone on me because I had no way to keep track of the time, but I was pretty sure I still had a good margin to eat my breakfast. I'd talked to the hotel again two days ago and they'd then proceeded with mailing my phone to me, so in theory it should be here any day now. Why it had taken them three days to mail it in the first place was beyond me.

The dining hall was unusually empty when I walked in and I fetched some breakfast pancakes and an apple for myself before sitting down next to Bill and Trey that I had my morning lectures with.

"Where the hell is everybody?" I asked as I sat down. "Did the entire student population suddenly decide they don't need food?"

"You haven't heard?" Bill asked in disbelief.

Trey looked amused and chuckled. "How is it that you haven't heard? Almost every female is shrieking about it."

"I don't have my phone, remember? What have I been missing?"

They stayed quiet, silently mocking me no doubt.

"Tell me!" I prompted, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"Okay, so I don't know why," Bill began, "but apparently that actor you gave that award to, Tony Mason, is here on campus."

My fork froze midway to my mouth and I felt my eyes widen as I looked back and forth between the two of them.

I pinned Trey with my eyes. "Is that true?"

He ignored me and instead pointed a lazy finger at me while addressing Bill, "see, this is the kind of effect that dude has on women. It's mental."

"Oh shut up and just tell me where he is." My heart felt as if it was coming up my throat. Xander was on campus. Why?

It could be a coincidence of course, it could, but it wasn't very likely. Maybe he'd decided he wanted to start studying and was checking out the school? It wasn't the explanation I wanted, but it was what I had to tell myself in order to not go completely paralyzed.

"Apparently he's out on the quad," Bill said and continued to eat his cereal as if everything was completely normal.

Of course, the quad. The throng of people wasn't the works of the drama club at all. It was the result of having an award winning actor on the grounds.

I abandoned my breakfast and began running out of the dining hall and through the hallway. When outside I quickly went through what would be the quickest route in my head before opting to go through another building.

My pulse was running wild as I walked through the door and laid eyes on all the people, but only part of it was from exhaustion. I sat down on a bench and observed as the crowd got smaller and smaller, as people had places to be, until there weren't many left and his face finally came into view. My memory had not done him justice and my heart soared in delight. Keep yourself together, Scheana, you don't know why he's here.

I watched as he signed autographs and took picture with people and I silently wondered how he did it. I would probably go insane if that happened whenever I showed up somewhere.

Xander looked up just then and when our eyes met my stomach knotted and my breath caught. My entire body tingled as I stood up. He handed the girl back her phone and then gave them a winning smile before walking towards me, the people that he'd left behind looked thoroughly confused.

My face broke out into a grin and so did his. "What are you doing here?" I gushed and threw myself around his neck before I could think better of it.

Xander laughed and squeezed me tight before stepping back. His eyes were gleaming and his smile was wide. "I tried calling you, but figured I'd make an appearance instead when you didn't get back to me."

"I forgot my phone at the hotel, I haven't gotten it back yet!"

He chuckled and stepped closer to me, I had to crane my neck slightly to look at him. "Look, Scheana. When you left I realized it was time for me to do something for me for once."

If was as if I was floating on cloud nine, was I reading too much into what he was saying now or was he actually here to see me?!

"Yeah, and what did you decide to do?" I grinned.

"This."

And before I could process another thought his lips came down on mine and my stomach did multiple somersaults and my heart came to a stop in my chest. I wrapped my hands around his neck and tried to keep the grinning to a minimum as I reveled in the feel of his lips on mine. It was even better than I'd fantasized it would be.

Unreal was the only word that came to mind.

When we broke apart I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

"I don't know what this is," Xander admitted, "all I know is that I'm not ready to let you go just yet."

"This is insane!" I voiced my thought and placed a hand across my mouth to cover up my chuckle.

"Maybe," he said, "but it feels too right to be wrong."

Xander was absolutely right on that account and instead of saying anything else I kissed him again to let him know just how onboard I was when it came to this crazy declaration of his.

Life's so unpredictable that you never know what will happen next and it all boils down to the little things. I would never have been standing there with Xander if it had not been for the little things like me submitting an article just for practice, like him stealing my phone, me choosing to reply back to him, him convincing me to go to dinner, me declaring an impromptu movie night.

Those small things had led us here.

A moment. That was all it took to alter my reality completely, tiny, simple acts. This thing between us was electric and I wasn't ready to let it go just yet either.

--

Thank you for taking the time to read Little Moments. I really, REALLY (!!) appreciate it! The gold star on the right (look how happy it is!) is for you, yes you, a special gold star for the special reader that you are because I love you for taking the time to read this short story, but shhh don't tell the others, they might get jelous ;)

Mushy song because I was in a happy, mushy mood :)) Thanks again all! x