A/N: I know, I know. I should be updating the next chapter of Secret Admirer. It's been a month since I last updated. I'm sorry for that. *bows* Anyway I still hope that you'd enjoy this.
This is AU, since in this story Hermione only meets Ron at University. And since I don't live, nor have I ever been to UK, let's just pretend that 7.30am is still VERY early. In the country where I live right now, it's still quite dark even at that time.
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me.
THE FIRST DAY
My first class of the semester started at 8am. I had to get up at 6.30am so I wouldn't be late. This was my first time I had to go by the public transportation since I moved out of my dorm which was a 10 minute walk from the university. The dorm was too expensive so my cousin offered me to stay with her and the family until I graduated.
I heard my alarm go off at 6.15am, so I pressed the snooze button in order to get more sleep for another 10 minutes. 10 minutes passed like a minute. With eyes still tightly closed, I turned off the alarm and slowly folded the blanket. My attire was already prepared the night before so I picked it up and walked to the bathroom to take a shower.
An hour later, I found myself walking towards the train station. It was still dark and only a few people were awake. All the sounds heard were the cars moving about and the traffic light for the pedestrians to cross the road.
I switched on my iPod and started listening to the playlist. After I was inside the station, I went to the lower ground and waited for the train to come. There were actually more people here than outside. A few minutes later, the train arrived and some of us went in.
I quietly sighed as I found that all the seats were taken. I walked to the middle of the train and saw this guy offering his seat to a middle-aged woman. I looked away as I smiled at his politeness. He then stood next to me.
He smelled very nice in the early morning. I took another sniff before looking away again, not wanting to be called a weirdo. Wonder what time he woke up this morning, I thought.
Standing all the way to my destination felt like an hour when it was only for a half hour. I got off the train as soon as the door was opened. As I walked to my class, I realised that he was walking right beside me.
When I was about to reach my destination, I suddenly tripped over something invisible and dropped my water bottle. "Why am I so clumsy?" I muttered, as I made the move to take my bottle. But someone else beat me to it. I looked up from my position on the ground.
"Are you all right?"
I never realised how handsome he actually was.
"Are you all right?" he repeated the question, with a smile on his face.
"Ah, yes. Yes, I'm fine," I immediately answered. Before I could stand up, he offered me his hand. I received the offer and he pulled me up gently. "Thank you."
He smiled again. "No problem," he replied. He then gave me back my water bottle. "This is yours, I think."
"Ah, yes. Thank you." I felt so stupid, repeating the same words twice. I cleared my throat. "Is your class here as well?" I asked as I pointed to the door in front of me.
"Yeah," he answered, before he walked towards the door and opened it. "Ladies first."
I blushed as I entered the auditorium. I muttered a thank you at him before finding an empty seat. Settling down, I saw him walking into the room and taking a seat right behind me. I could faintly smell his scent again. I immediately placed my hands on my face. I'm turning into a weirdo!
"Excuse me."
I looked up as I felt someone tapping me from behind. I turned around, fully hoping that my face looked normal. "Yes?"
"Can you lend me a pencil or a pen, please?" he asked. "I forgot to bring mine."
I handed him the pencil I was holding. "Here you go."
The class was sort of boring. In order not to fall asleep on the first day, I decided to doodle on the paper in front of me. As I was about to finish drawing Elmo-look-alike, I heard a soft snicker behind me. I ignored it since it might just be my imagination, so I continued drawing.
Suddenly a small piece of paper flew into my desk. I opened it and it said, "Your Elmo is cute. But it's too fat." Then there was a perfect Elmo at the bottom of the page. "I'm better at drawing than you are."
It's embarrassing enough that someone saw my doodle, and it had to be him! I straight away turned the paper around and started concentrating on the lecture. It was only the first day but I still had to pay attention.
I sighed. It was only the first day but I already embarrassed myself twice in front of this guy whom I had just seen today. It couldn't get any worse than this.
I spoke too soon.
I once again had tripped over nothing at lunch. And he was right behind me.
"You really like to fall, don't you?" he asked, this time smirking. But he had his hand in front of me, offering help.
Blushing, I accepted his hand and he easily picked me up. "I'm really clumsy."
"I can't tell." He was still smirking when I was looking at him. "So, wanna grab lunch together?"
I must have looked confused since he continued his sentence, "So I could help you if you fall again. We don't want to waste any food, do we?" He smiled. "What do you say?"
"Err, okay. Yeah, I guess it's okay." Without my knowing, I just answered yes and nodded at his question. I guess it was because of his sharp eyes. My heart suddenly started beating fast.
Shoot! I just met this guy, but why was I nervous?
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," he said, as he started towards empty seats. "My name is Ron." He looked at me. "What's yours?"
"Hermione," I answered, trying my best to calm my heartbeat. A few seconds later, my heart beat like a normal person's would.
As we ate, Ron talked about his life. I laughed several times at his funny stories. Then I realised how his eyes lit up as he talked about his friends back then; how his jokes made me laugh so hard that my stomach hurt; how adorable he looked when he smiled.
I've never regretted that I've fallen in front of him twice that day. If I wasn't so clumsy, I might never get the chance to meet him. For the first time, I didn't hate myself for being clumsy.
But it was my first time hating myself for believing that there was such thing as 'love at first sight'.
A/N: Don't forget to review. Thank you so much. ;]
Btw, to those waiting for the next chapter of Secret Admirer, I'm in the middle of writing it. It might be out soon, or later. I'm not sure when, but I won't neglect it and leave it all to dust. Good things come to those who wait. ;]