A/N: Already back with yet another modern college au? YOU BET I AM.

Hey everyone! I was truly not expecting to be back so soon with something new (especially since I'm also working on finishing RiM), but here I go at it again. This first chapter is sort of vague, since I've yet to figure the whole thing out. Though, I confess that I may or may not have some ideas and scenes and dialogues scribbled on the corners of my college readings.

I. SANTA ANA

Thinking 'bout the perfect sound.

Lately I've been taking my time just feeling the breeze of the sunny weather.

And it's crazy.

Her shoes barely scraped against the gravel as she walked fast through the street, taking her time to look around at the residential buildings on both of her sides and the nicely-kept gardens that decorated their entrance.

It was strangely quiet today, probably a symptom of the beginning of school season.

She was supposed to be jogging, after all, that's what she'd told Max she would be doing.

Truth was, however, that she was half-heartedly attempting to power walk near Santa Ana beach, just listening to music and taking her time.

Lately, her roommate and best friend, Max Mayfield, had been pestering her nonstop because, apparently, she was a victim of what the redhead young woman called an "unhealthy sedentary routine". Which, as it turns out, was something that could actually kill her early someday – Max, who was taking it seriously enough for the two of them, had even showed her a few statistics and a documentary about it.

Faced with such a dramatic situation and taking into account that her friend wasn't taking it nearly seriously enough, Max had taken it upon herself to pester her daily into having what she called a "better and healthier lifestyle". Which was something that, despite all her sarcastic jokes and grumpiness and annoyance, she actually appreciated. She'd never really had anyone caring about her eating or exercise habits and it was kind of nice to feel someone giving a shit about stuff like that, giving a shit about her.

However, Max – and her hyperactive demeanor – could be overwhelming at times, especially to someone as lazy and careless as her.

It wasn't really that she hated exercising. No, it was more that she saw no real, practical reason to do it. Plus, she hated sweating.

She figured that exercise would finally come in useful if like, for some remote reason, there was a zombie apocalypse… or the Pacific Ocean suddenly overflowed. But since none of those scenarios seemed plausible enough, she'd long ago decided that dedicating time to stuff like that was pointless and therefore settled into her "sedentary" routine.

All of those years of barely any activity, nonetheless, did seem to have taken a toll on her. She remembered that she was a decent – not good but not humiliatingly bad either – runner back in high school. Right now, however, her calves were starting to ache, despite her walk only having lasted about an hour.

This sucks so much, she thought in annoyance as she turned up the volume of the random song she was currently listening to in an attempt to take her mind of the discomfort in her unused muscles.

She walked for a few more minutes before finally stopping.

As she slowly breathed in and out, she admired the pink and orange hues mingling together in the sky. It was a peaceful sight, a pretty one. Something breathtaking in comparison to the sunsets back at home. She'd never considered herself a cheesy person but, right now, all she wanted to do was sit for a minute and listen to her (awesome) playlist and stare out into the ocean.

She had to admit that this was definitely better than staying locked away at home, which she probably would be right now if it weren't for Max's stubbornness.

Reassured by the emptiness of the streets and the overall quietness, she climbed over the ludicrous brick fence that divided the sidewalk from the cliff. She was very well aware that, despite the fact that the "fence" was mostly there for decoration – seeing as it was barely as high as her waist (and she was rather on the smaller side) – what she was doing was most likely forbidden.

It had been quite a long time since she'd given in to her reckless impulses like that. It'd been years even.

The beach was a few good meters down and she smiled as she sat on the soft grass, at the least steep part of the slope. To her left, she could see a few people paragliding. The way the wind swayed their bodies like boneless rag dolls seemed so surreal from where she sat at the moment. She couldn't help but get lost in thought.

"Is everything alright over there?" a faint voice asked.

It was way too easy to ignore it.

They are probably not even talking to me.

"Are you ok?" the stranger's voice sounded a lot closer now, there was no way they weren't talking to her.

She turned around, with every intention to tell whoever it was to mind their own business and leave her alone.

Concerned dark brown eyes were the first feature she focused on the second she turned around with an annoyed stance. Dark, observant eyes that somehow seemed to perfectly match the pale face of the worried boy who was currently staring at her from the other side of the brick fence.

She could actually feel all the anger and annoyance in her demeanor immediately dissolve, the bitchy remark dying on her lips.

"I'm just… I'm fine," she answered with a weak smile, looking down and trying not to stare at his face like a creep.

But he was cute.

Cute in a nerdy way, but cute nevertheless.

He seemed the weird kind of familiar. The kind of familiar one would feel about an old preschool classmate, or about someone that once stood out to you as you walked down the street. She blinked a little in confusion. She was trying to figure out why his face ringed a bell while, at the same time, trying not to appear like a complete moron to him.

He climbed off his bike and hesitantly got closer to the fence – which looked even shorter and useless next to his ridiculously tall frame.

"Is it too nosy of me to ask why you are over there?" he wondered, looking warily at the beach and the cliff she was currently sitting by.

"Yeah, it is sort of nosy," she blurted out without really intending to.

He's going to think I'm such a bitch, she thought with concern.

She scoffed at her uncharacteristic thought shortly after, Why do I care? Let him think I'm a rude bitch.

However, Bicycle Guy blushed.

Cute, the uncalled for thought just popped into her head, catching her off guard and leaving her speechless for a moment.

"I was just taking a break from walking," she finally offered with a hesitant smile.

Of course he wouldn't want to know that the beauty of the sky drew me in during my fake jogging session, she thought darkly.

"So you sit in the verge of a precipice every time you take a break?" he joked.

She glanced at him and couldn't stop the grin that tugged at her lips.

Why am I acting so fucking weird?

She couldn't even remember the last time she'd felt this insecure –not even right before the interview before getting admitted to college, she recalled.

"It's far enough from the edge, actually," she said rather dryly, glancing at the beach bellow.

A few moments passed in silence.

There also was this weird sinking, tickling feeling in her stomach. It was unsettling.

Then she heard a clank metallic noise, as of something had dropped on the ground.

"It unnerves me to see you over there," he confessed as he took a hesitant step in her general direction.

She was still looking at the beach ahead.

"How do you think those people feel?" she asked randomly, gesturing towards the people swaying several feet above the ground, the very people she'd been observing.

"Huh?"

"I always sort of wondered what it felt like to fly, isn't that close enough?" she whispered, as she turned to glance at the rapidly darkening sky once more.

"Probably but, uh, I heard that wing suit flying is the closest," Bicycle Guy said, scratching his jaw thoughtfully.

"If I had to choose a superpower, it'd be flying," she casually said.

"Really? That brings up so many things!" he blurted out excitedly.

"For instance, do you mean flying because you'd grow wings like Archangel, The Wasp, or Pixie? Or flying because you could somehow manipulate gravity like Graviton? Or maybe by wind control like Stor-"

However, as he glanced at her and registered the look of utter confusion on her face, he abruptly stopped and cast his eyes downwards.

"I'm such a nerd," he said apologetically, his pale freckled cheeks reddening by the second.

"Oh, it's alright," she answered with a smile, for the record, she had actually thought it was pretty damn adorable, "really."

Bicycle Guy, however, did not seem to think the same. He was still blushing as he bent down to pick up his bike, which had lain forgotten down on the pavement.

Her heartbeat sped up in sudden incomprehensible panic.

What the actual fuck?

She didn't want him to leave.

I don't even know the guy!

Oh but maybe she did? What was that weird feeling she had when she first saw him? It was like she recognized him somehow… her gut kept telling her that she did, and if she trusted something it was her instincts (they were never wrong).

Say something, anything.

"I'd never actually thought about the mechanics of the whole flying thing," she commented, "which one of those you mentioned is the best?"

At that, he stopped fidgeting with his bicycle and propped it carefully against the concrete fence as he pondered about all the choices. After what seemed an eternity, his excited dark eyes once again settled on hers.

"Well, flying through wind control like Storm sounds awesome, especially since she can control the weather," he answered offering her a small smile.

She smiled back at him, finding his boyish excitement amusing.

For a while, he continued to ramble on about all the different powers that could allow people to fly. Surprisingly, and despite never having been a big fan of superhero movies or comics, she found herself hanging on to his every word.

She wished she could feel such passion for something.

"–but… I definitely think I'd like flying like Justice," he continued, grinning at the very idea, "he's a telekinetic and he can use his power on himself to fly really fast and even carry people and heavy stuff… it's awesome."

They went on to talk about what it would be like to have secret powers and, before long, the sky went dark and the lights of the street became the main sources of light. Absentmindedly, she glanced at the time on her phone and realized it was already late. Really, really late. Later than she'd planned on returning. Max would probably be worried if she didn't make it in ten more minutes.

She hated the fact that she'd have to cut her conversation with Bicycle Guy short – it was the longest she'd had with anyone in a while –, but she figured it was best to walk home now rather than later.

"Do you have to go?" he asked, almost immediately perceiving it from her fidgety behavior.

"Actually, I do," she answered getting up from her place on the grassy area.

All that time, he'd been casually leaning against the brick fence that divided the sidewalk and the broad edge of the cliff. He readily offered her his hand to help her jump down from over the rustic fence she had managed to get perched over. She took it without hesitation, despite not really needing the extra help (the fence was not even that high).

"I had a good time," she smiled, still not letting go of his hand, "we should do this again."

He blushed a deep red and just blinked at her stupidly, his brain trying and failing to come up with something to say.

Without waiting for him to answer, she turned around and jogged away.

-…-…-…-

She's not easy to find and if I see her again

We should get together.

His mind was working overdrive as he pedaled home.

What does it mean? Does she want to see me again? I didn't even ask for her name, he thought thinking back to his conversation with the girl that had (in the span of a couple of hours) pretty much become the girl of his dreams.

Not only was she beautiful – probably the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen –, but she was really nice and overall his dream girl. For hell's sake, she had even seemed interested in his nerdy chatter! And that was really saying something, since most girls he'd tried talking to about comic books and superheroes vanished faster than he could say "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters".

…Well, thinking back on that one, he reckoned that maybe he and his overall weirdness (and not comic books and superheroes) were the actual reasons the girls vanished. His friends would probably agree on that, too.

He just wasn't good at small talk and he was really, really awkward around girls… especially around the ones he considered pretty.

And man, had that girl at the beach been pretty. How could he even begin to explain it? She was pretty in a simple, unassuming way. Pretty in the way all of her features – despite their individual imperfections – fit together in the most breathtaking, perfect way.

In a daze, he remembered her soft, brown hair barely falling past her shoulders and those two cute dimples that appeared on the corners of her lips and mouth when she smiled. And the way she'd actually been enraptured throughout his superhero ramble, which was probably due to his amazing story-telling skills – something he'd never been prouder about.

Plus, she was smart and funny too, he could tell from her witty remarks and sarcastic answers. And her lively almond eyes had lit up captivatingly when she talked about flying and when he explained why he'd choose his superpower to be telekinesis (he had ultimately managed to convince her that it was the best thing ever).

And she'd said she'd like to see him again.

But left without introducing herself, or giving him the chance to ask for her name.

What does it mean?

There was definitely a connection, he thought dreamily before mentally slapping himself for having such stupid and cheesy thoughts.

When he finally got to his building, the climb up the flight of stairs carrying his bike didn't seem as tiring, long and tedious as it always did. He was dying to discuss this recent turn of events with his three best friends (who also happened to be his roommates); he was pretty sure they'd probably have a better idea of what the heck had actually happened and what he was supposed to do.

However, when he entered the narrow door of his shared apartment, the only one on the living room was Dustin. His curly-haired friend was currently playing a videogame and screaming at the screen in frustration.

"Mike you're making me lose!" he said as a way of greeting.

"What?!" Mike exclaimed in fake indignation, throwing his hands in the air dramatically, "I barely even walked in."

"Well you've jinxed me somehow!"

Mike smiled at his frustrated friend, as he made his way to his room.

"Son of a bitch!" he heard Dustin screaming at the TV before he closed his bedroom door and plopped down on his partially made bed.

It seemed that his talk would have to wait for the time being.

-…-…-…-

Baby we could stay in the sun, maybe if you want we could go downtown.

Baby I've been dreaming 'bout you and I'm feeling naïve of the sunny weather.

The first thing she did as soon as she got home was drink a lot of water. It was incredible just how dehydrated she'd become after the jog home.

Max watched her best friend from the living room couch she was currently lounging in.

"Was the workout that intense?" she asked, lifting a red eyebrow in amusement.

As an answer, she gave her friend a dirty look.

"Anyhow, I'm proud of you, El," Max said honestly, "I knew you had it in you."

"I won't get used to this," she replied miserably as she joined her redhead friend on the living room.

"You will, and you'll feel better because of it," the redhead said condescendingly.

El threw one of the nearby pillows at her.

The redhead easily dodged it.

"Stop treating me like a baby," El complained loudly.

Max stuck her tongue out at her.

"I had been willing to forget that today is your turn to cook us dinner but since you don't want to be treated like a baby…"

"Oh fine, but I'm going to take a shower first," she said, getting up from the couch and rolling her eyes. Everyone knew how much she hated cooking.

As El stood under the hot spray of the shower, lathering her wavy hair, her mind couldn't help but obsessively replay the moment Bicycle Guy and she had briefly held hands. She'd gotten weird tingles on her palm. It was uncomfortable. Now that there was no other distraction, the tingling seemed to only get stronger somehow. With a huff, she tried scratching her hand.

Weird.

A/N: As a side note, something to bear in mind is that the story takes place in California and that the characters all go to Berkeley. Also about that, I have to admit that I've never been to that part of California, in fact I've only ever been to San Diego. Santa Ana beach is a creation of mine, it doesn't actually exist.

So, take that into account if my descriptions are completely inaccurate and suck. Also, English is not my first language, so please be patient with any and all grammar/spelling mistakes. Though by all means feel free to point out my errors out so I can improve my writing and make the story better.
Anyhow, I'd love to hear what you think so far.