Ashley and Tyler had made plans to meet up at her dorm after his practice, so around five o'clock, Tyler found himself standing outside her room, listening to the girl chastise someone into cleaning their side of the room.
"I don't see what the big deal is, 'Lee!" another girl replied, her voice just slightly deeper than his partner's. "You guys are just working on Chemistry! It's not like my side of the room is even that messy. Its actually a hell of a lot cleaner than it usually is."
"At least put your clothes away."
"Dude, chill!"
Tyler wondered if he should come back later, but against his better judgment, he knocked on the door. It was probably good that he did, considering how heated the argument was getting.
There was a beat before Ashley came and opened the door, a sunny smile on her face that betrayed none of the slight argument that had recently taken place. "Hi," she said cheerfully. "Come in."
After overhearing the two roommates talk, Tyler was surprised to see a relatively okay looking room. Most of the room was super clean except for the clutter on one of the beds that was unmade and had folded clothes on it, as well as another girl. She looked up from her laptop and gave him a grin. "Wassup," she said before turning back to her glowing screen.
Ashley rolled her eyes at her roommate's shoddy welcome. "Tyler, this is my roommate Jane."
"Hey," Tyler said dutifully. The girl gave him another smile.
Ashley gestured to her bed and Tyler took a seat, putting down his books. She watched him situate himself before excusing herself to the attached restroom.
"So," Jane said, when the door to the bathroom closed, "first day of the project being assigned and 'Lee is already working you, huh? Sucks."
Tyler shrugged, opening his Chemistry book. "I guess," he replied, reserved. He usually didn't talk to anyone outside of schoolwork or the Sons. Something about the easiness of this girl made him decide to step out of his usual short sentences. "Better her to lead then for me to procrastinate until later."
"This is true," Jane agreed. "True but boring."
Ashley stepped out of the bathroom. "You being a bad influence again, Jane?"
Jane smirked but didn't voice a reply.
Padding back to her bed, Ashley took a seat next to Tyler before opening her book to the same page, uncapping a highlighter. "Let's do this."
The business-like tone the rather small girl's voice took sent warning bells off in Tyler's head. The look Jane sent him that told he was in deep shit didn't help either.
An hour later, Tyler was exhausted. He felt like his head had been carved open, his brain taken out, and then rubbed against a cheese grater.
Despite his fatigue, Tyler couldn't stop smiling. Ashley had a lighthearted outtake on things despite her hardy work ethic, and her banter with Jane had him laughing. The three had been joking so much that Ashley and Tyler hadn't gotten much done more than a few pages of research. Tyler realized why Ashley insisted they start today – at the pace the pair was working at, they would barely finish their project by the deadline. Instead of feeling irritated that they were working so slowly, Tyler looked forward to spending more time with Ashley, and by association, Jane.
It helped that Ashley was getting prettier by the second.
TBC.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant.
A/N: I just want to share with you that I've just read the best Covenant fanfic since I discovered greyhaven11's writing. So, I was on Adultfanfiction . net, of course, indulging… lol. And, um, there was this wonderfully dark fanfic starring Tyler and Aaron of all people. It was so AMAZING! If you're interested in reading it its called Little Pieces of Nothing that Fall. So good, you should go read it right now.
And can I just tell you guys it's weird writing something where Tyler and Jane are mere acquaintances? And not in love with each other? So strange… That's when I know TCP was a job well done….