Author's note: Hello, new friends. This is my first writing project that I've done in quite a while, but boredom and summer break equal the ideal formula in this case! Hopefully there's much to come. xx
Cosima was nervous, yes, but she knew it had to be done now. Her fingers pecked at the keys of her keyboard, unsure of the words she was typing. Of course, it was only a research paper that she was writing, but she knew she had to finish before her plans tomorrow night.
Slumped over in her swiveling desk chair, she pushed up her glasses and rubbed her eyes. The clock on her laptop showed that it was nearly one in the morning, and Cosima knew that it never lied. Besides, outside her window, the moon eerily illuminated the side of the library a short distance away. The student still had a lot of work to do, but Scott would be coming early the next morning to walk Cosima to her first period class.
Disgruntled and tired, she saved her work and shut her laptop. The hardwood floor was cold as her bare feet shuffled over to her bed. Her glasses gently hit the nightstand, and before long, she was sound asleep.
A blinding light woke her up, seemingly moments after. It took a moment for Cosima to get her senses together; the old mattress creaked under her as she swung her legs around to hit the floor. And then a persistent knocking at the front door suddenly alerted her.
"Shit!" Quickly, she put her glasses on and looked at the clock. 7:02! Class started in thirteen minutes, so she immediately knew that it was Scott waiting for her outside. Cosima nearly ran to the door and swung it open. Sure enough, Scott was standing there, mid-knock. "One sec, Scott. I woke up a little late."
He pushed his glasses up his nose and ran his hand over his hair to smooth it down, looking a bit amused with Cosima's state of panic. "I can see that, Cos. I thought we went over this." He laughed.
The girl was too busy rushing around to answer him, however. She got dressed urgently, not even caring that Scott was watching her. He blushed and looked away as she slipped into a chunky-knit sweater.
Within minutes, Cosima was out the door, laptop bag in hand. By the rate that she got ready, it was fairly apparent that, in her words, she's "kinda always late."
It was cold outside as Scott and Cosima walked across the quad, but only cold enough to create a subtle sensation on her cheeks and nose. She was used to the chilly Minnesota weather.
Scott dropped a gloved hand on Cosima's shoulder. "So, my friend, concert tonight?"
She looked up at him and shrugged a bit. "Dunno. Depends."
"On what? You've been looking forward to this for weeks!" He threw his hands up to exaggerate the point he was trying to make.
She snickered to herself. "Yeah, well, it seems that I might have procrastinated on my Immunology paper a bit."
Scott pushed her with his elbow. "You mean the one that's due tomorrow and worth a gigantic portion of your final grade?"
"Indeed, my dear Scott. That's the one." She raised an eyebrow and smirked, despite the fact that she knew a lecture was going to be coming from her friend within moments.
He laughed, immediately notifying Cosima that he had no intention to be stern (Not that she had expected him to be). "Well get it done. I don't care what happens, but you're coming to this concert whether you like it or not."
"Don't worry."
The giggling pair sauntered into their Biotechnology lecture exactly five minutes late, rewarding themselves with the death-glare, courtesy of their professor. Cosima was used to it, but Scott's smile quickly faded as they found their seats in the back row.
After class, Scott and Cosima said their good-byes, and Cosima quickly started her walk to the library to finish her paper. The warm air from inside the building welcomed her chilled bones.
The dreadlocked girl took a seat at an empty table near the back of the main room. She was distracted by windows, but also by people. Cosima was definitely a people person. She took a moment to warm her fingertips against her jeans, and then she opened her laptop to continue her work.
She typed for hours, only stopping when hunger pains disrupted her. Her hungry suddenly reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything since last night. Luckily, she had been working for hours, and her research paper showed it. When she needed to, Cosima went on "auto-pilot" (as Scott calls it), and she can work for long hours at a time. That was definitely the case here, as she only had two pages left to write. Simple, she thought.
After a quick munch on a sandwich that she had packed earlier, Cosima finished what she was doing. She quickly saved her essay, and began the short walk back to her dorm. The sun was already going down, but she knew she wouldn't have to rush to get ready for her big night out. After all, she still had until nine pm, and the event was no more than five minutes off campus in a bar that she frequented with her fellow science majors.
The lock stuck as usual, and when she walked in, she saw everything exactly as she left it: desk messy with papers and knick-knacks, bookcase overflowing with novels and textbooks, and miscellaneous empty take-out containers. Her mother would be appalled at how cluttered she kept her workplace. After all, she had always taken after her father.
Cosima took a quick shower, warming her up, and then texted Scott to let him know that their plans were still on:
Cosima: "finished the paper. haha told you i would"
Scott: "knew u would, Niehaus. u never let me down. pick u up 8"
Since she had time, Cosima decided that she would put some effort into her appearance tonight. She knew she didn't have to impress Scott. After all, they were only friends. They had know each other since chemistry class in high school, although they weren't very close back then. Somehow, they found each other in college, and Scott's dorky charm combined with Cosima's people skills helped them reconnect. Two years later, and they couldn't be better friends.
Sitting in her mismatched underwear, Cosima mentally went through all of her outfit options. Green dress with heels? No, too fancy. Jeans and sweater? Nah, she wore that type of thing too often. Eventually, she settled on a short-sleeved black dress and ankle boots. Not too fancy, but also a bit out of her comfort zone. Like always, she stacked a couple of rings on her fingers and put a few sentimental bracelets on her wrists. The jewelry never really changed. It was her thing. Besides the dreadlocks, of course.
For once, she had to wait outside until Scott strolled up the pathway to her door, dressed in a simple maroon cardigan and khaki pants. Cosima guessed that khaki was Scott's thing. She found it kind of cute.
He smiled when he saw her. "Wow, Niehaus! Lookin' good."
She mocked a surprised tone. "You sound shocked, Scott. Although you aren't looking bad yourself."
This brought a nervous giggle from him. "Well thanks. Anyway, we should go."
"Indeed, we shall."
The pair walked in comfortable silence to the venue. Before she left, Cosima decided to throw her red coat on, to avoid freezing her ass off on the walk there. She noted the way that it had become significantly more cold since this morning. The air was a bit more harsh as it chilled Cosima's face.
The cold didn't bother her though, and she maintained a happy face for the rest of the walk to the bar.
Music and voices could be heard from down the block, but it wasn't until Scott and Cosima made it to the entrance that they found the bar filled with people like sardines in a tin.
They both pushed their way past the crowds of people, stopping at the bar for a drink. Every barstool was full with people of many different breeds: college kids, older women, creepy guys. Cosima found great pleasure in being with people, though, no matter who they were. She had always been a social butterfly. Scott, however, was a bit more awkward in these situations. His comfort zone always consisted of people around his own intellectual level.
After ordering their drinks, the pair shimmied through another group of people to find an empty space on the crowded dance floor. The band hadn't started yet, so most of the people were fairly stagnant.
With the dim lights and enormous amount of people, Cosima had a hard time recognizing any specific faces. Despite this, she felt the same pair of eyes looking at her every so often- she just didn't know where they were or who they belonged to. Soon, though, the band started by playing one of her favorite songs. She had a couple drinks, and her inhibitions made a steady decline.
A couple songs later, Cosima was having a great time dancing with her friend. It seemed like every person there was captivated by the brunette's confident and fluid movements, dancing like water. Again, she felt the eyes on her, but no longer did she pay attention to whose they were.
When the band called for a short intermission, Cosima offered to go get more drinks for her and Scott. She walked back to the bar, leaning against it and wiping her forehead with the back her her hand. She didn't mind that the bartender was busy- after all, she could see how crowded it was and how many people were drinking. While she was waiting, she looked to her side and was met face to face with eyes that seemed familiar.
It was a blonde- dressed eccentrically in an oversized blouse and tight pants. She spoke, and Cosima could hear an accent over the loud chatter of the rest of the place.
"I'm sorry, I've been looking at you all night. You're gorgeous." The mysterious woman laughed at herself, shaking her head and holding out her hand. "Sorry. I'm Delphine."
Cosima chuckled and shook Delphine's hand. "Thanks, I guess. I'm Cosima. Nice accent. Do you go to school around here, or..."
The blonde nodded enthusiastically. "Oui. Yes. Art student. That must be why I observe everyone and make them uncomfortable."
"Art, huh? Sometimes I wish I was good at art." The science student tilted her head and looked at her new acquaintance. She was beautiful in the classic sense of the word- she had golden curls that swept past her shoulders and beautiful eyes. Typically Cosima's type, too. While she considered herself attracted to both boys and girls, there was no question that she was very very interested in women.
"Hey, I'm sure you're great." She giggled, and in the distance, Cosima could hear the singer of the band signal that intermission was over. Before Delphine took off, she leaned a bit closer to the shorter girl. She could smell alcohol and cigarettes on her breath. "I'd love to do a portrait of you sometime, if you'd be interested. I'm sorry, that's probably a strange request, but I don't see photogenic people like you everyday."
"Uh, yeah... that'd be cool. Here, I'll give you my number." She wrote it messily on a napkin with a pen that Delphine provided from her pocket.
Delphine put the pen back, along with the napkin. "You know, my boyfriend loves when I do portraits. Anyway, I'll call you!" With that, she disappeared back into the crowd, and the music started to play again. Boyfriend, Cosima thought. Just my luck.
Cosima watched as her new acquaintance started to laugh with a group of people she didn't recognize. All of them fit the typical art student stereotype. Then she looked down at herself, wondering why someone so carefree would be interested in someone like herself. She walked back to her place in the crowd, with no drinks in hand.
