This Feels Like Falling In Love
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Chapter 1 - First Meeting
From the moment she meets her, Lexa dislikes Raven Reyes.
The first time she sees her, Lexa is waiting in line to get coffee before her next class. The line is moving impossibly slow, and Lexa checks her watch repeatedly, worried she's going to be late. She wonders what's taking so long, normally the line goes much faster. She cranes her neck to look around the line and that's when she sees her. A girl with tan skin, brown eyes and wild, chestnut colored hair. She's wearing a red bomber jacket and flirting with one of the baristas. They're both just standing there, smiling and staring at each other as they talk, and Lexa couldn't be more annoyed. Is she seriously going to miss her daily caffeine intake because some girl is trying to get into the barista's pants?
Thankfully, one of the baristas seems to be doing her job, and Lexa sympathizes with the look of irritation that crosses her face as she glares at her coworker. She finally gets to the front of the line with fifteen minutes to spare before her next class. She orders her usual—an unsweetened Americano Misto with almond milk—and the barista smiles and gets to work.
Lexa tries to ignore the pair that has been holding up the line in an attempt to keep her cool, but she can't help but hear them flirting. They're not exactly being quite or discrete. The brunette is trying to get the barista's phone number, but the barista is playing hard to get and really, Lexa's irritation just continues to build.
She doesn't even realize she's been staring until the brunette turns and catches her, giving her a once over and a wink. Lexa blushes and quickly looks away, completely mortified at having been caught, and flustered by the way the brunette was checking her out. She feels her palms start to sweat and is relieved when her coffee is ready, so she can grab it and leave. She makes sure to leave a large tip, and gives the brunette and flirting barista a scowl before she walks away.
The second time she sees Raven Reyes, the feeling of dislike only increases.
She's sitting in her Research Methods class later that day. It's a required class for her Political Science degree, and she's paying close attention as the professor reviews the syllabus. The class is bigger than Lexa had anticipated, the room almost at maximum capacity with only a few seats remaining in the first and second row.
Lexa is sitting in the front row.
She knows she's in the minority. That most students prefer to avoid the first and second rows in a college classroom, but Lexa enjoys them because she's an overachiever who wants to make a good first impression on her professors and it helps her pay attention. She's read in numerous articles that developing positive relationships with professors is a key part of academic success in college. Since Lexa is trying to get into law school, she figures the more networking and academic success she can achieve, the better.
She's following along with the professor's PowerPoint as she goes over the syllabus. She's taking notes and asking questions when appropriate, when suddenly the class is interrupted by the loud sound of the classroom's heavy metal door creaking opening and slamming shut. The professor stops speaking and the whole class turns to look at the intruder and Lexa feels immediately annoyed. It's the chestnut haired girl from the coffee stand. She strolls into the room all cool, casual, and nonplussed. Her too cool for school attitude combined with her bomber jacket, aviator sunglasses perched on the end of her nose, and obnoxious gum chewing really irritate Lexa.
Class has already been in session for nearly twenty minutes, which means that the girl has already missed a third of the class. On top of that, she doesn't seem to have any of the required class materials with her, which really irks Lexa. It's one thing to be late for a class, but to be late and unprepared is like the ultimate academic sin and a clear mark of an entitled student who doesn't care. Lexa got into Stanford by working her ass off to get good grades and scholarships. She didn't have any alumni family members helping her get in. Clearly this girl must be one of those spoiled rich kids who's parents are paying for college, or someone with special connections who doesn't take her academic career seriously.
It's one of Lexa's biggest pet peeves.
The girl saunters into the classroom, scanning the room, although Lexa can't really tell due to the tint of her sunglasses. She lowers her sunglasses, and her eyes lock with Lexa's and Lexa squirms uncomfortably in her seat as the girl wiggles her eyebrows before giving her a cocky smirk. Lexa quickly looks away, feeling her cheeks flush as she intently studies her syllabus.
"It's nice of you to finally join us Miss?"
"The name's Reyes. Raven Reyes." She says, like she's fucking James Bond, and again, Lexa has to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the girl's antics.
"Well, Miss Reyes, it seems like you are quite late, considering class started twenty minutes ago."
"Yeah, sorry about that doc, I kind of got caught up in something important that I needed to finish." She says smugly, clearing her throat, before turning to look Lexa in the eyes and wink. Lexa finds herself blushing again and looking away, feeling irritated by how easily Raven seems to be able to fluster her.
"Well Miss Reyes, if you would be so kind as to find a seat so I can continue going over the syllabus..."
Raven doesn't respond at first, just keeps her eyes locked with the professor while chomping loudly on her gum, and Lexa nearly jumps when she pops a loud bubble that seems to echo through out the whole classroom. She hears a few snickers in the back of the class. Some slackers who are no doubt impressed by the gall Raven has to be so inappropriate—clearly lacking any type of respect in the face of authority, as well as social etiquette and decorum.
"No problem doc." She drawls out, and honestly Lexa can't believe Raven's nerve.
The professor is clearly annoyed too, though Lexa thinks she is doing a pretty good job of keeping her cool considering the circumstances. She turns back to the board, continuing where she left off, as Raven saunters her way across the room at a leisurely pace and unceremoniously plops herself down in the seat beside Lexa. She immediately pulls out her phone and starts typing away, and Lexa takes a deep breath and tries to exhale her irritation so she can focus on the class.
Despite her best efforts, Lexa can't help the way her eyes keep trailing back over to Raven. Raven is distracting—chewing her gum loudly and letting out little noises as she scans and types out messages on her phone. And really, if the girl was better behaved, Lexa might actually think she was kind of pretty.
Raven lifts her head up and catches Lexa staring. Lexa is again mortified at being caught and she quickly turns away to focus her attention back up front. She can feel Raven continuing to stare at her and tries not to blush.
"Hey there, nice to see you again." She hears Raven's smug voice, and tries her best to ignore it, writing something down on her syllabus. "Oh, so you're just gonna ignore me then? Okay. Whatever. Your loss." She says and goes back to typing on her phone.
Once the PowerPoint is done and the professor has answered everyone's questions, they move on to a class activity. Lexa hates class activities. Especially on the first day and especially when they're the icebreaker type. She's not here to make friends, she's here to get a degree. But alas, the professor forces the class to participate in a get to know you type of interview with one of their peers, putting a list of questions on the board for them to ask one another.
Lexa turns to her left but the person beside her is already paired off with someone else, as is the person sitting behind her. Everyone else around her seems to have paired off with someone, and much to Lexa's dismay that leaves Raven as her only option. If Lexa wasn't such a rule follower and over achiever she would seriously consider skipping the activity altogether, but unfortunately for her she is.
So Lexa takes a deep breath, trying to calm her irritation and low-key hatred for the girl before turning to look at her. Raven is still looking at her phone, her sunglasses now tucked in the the front of her shirt and she's laughing at something, completely unaware of the task at hand. Lexa clears her throat, trying to get her attention, but Raven is too wrapped up in her phone to notice. She rolls her eyes, feeling her irritation building again, taking a deep breath before making a second attempt.
"Excuse me, would you like to partner up?" She asks, congratulating herself for managing to sound so nonchalant. It seems to get Raven's attention though, as she puts her phone down on the desk before turning to look at her.
"Oh, so now you want to talk to me?" She snarks, giving Lexa yet another cocky grin. Lexa just narrows her eyes.
"Want is a strong word. More like, I have no other choice. Everyone else is already partnered up." She grits out and Raven just rolls her eyes.
"Oh please, I am an awesome partner and you are lucky to have me." She retorts and Lexa just sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Can we please just get this over with?"
"Oh trust me, once you get to know me, you'll never get over me." Raven smirks.
Lexa swallows down her biting remarks feeling the tension building in her body. By some miracle Raven seems to realize that she's pushed Lexa too far and eases up. And Lexa is grateful for small miracles.
The interview ends up being frustratingly annoying, and Lexa has to hold back her wrath, and finds herself flustered more than a few times as Raven seems to be intent on making her blush. They find out each other's majors during the interview, as well as where they're originally from. Lexa thinks they couldn't be more different. Raven's from LA and Lexa's from New York. Raven's studying engineering and Lexa's double majoring in political science and psychology. Raven is an underachiever but a self proclaimed genius and academics come easy to her, something Lexa still has doubts about. Lexa on the other hand is smart and an over achiever, but has to work really hard to achieve success.
One thing they do seem to have in common is that they both love NASA and outer space.
Supposedly Raven is studying engineering because she wants to get into Caltech's graduate engineering program so she can work for NASA one day, which again Lexa is somewhat skeptical of. Especially with Raven's seeming lack of discipline, preparedness, and punctuality. She doesn't even bother to question it, not wanting to deal with the annoying conversations she knows it will no doubt lead to.
Lexa talks about how she's planning on going to law school because she wants to help people. Citing her desire to help kids, sharing a story about a friend in high school who had an abusive father and how the legal system failed them. It's part of what motivated Lexa to go to school to become a lawyer. Raven gets uncharacteristically quiet, a far off look in her eyes. Lexa frowns, unsure of what to do.
"Raven?" She asks quietly, not wanting to startle her.
"What? Oh, right sorry. That's cool you want to do that. You know, help people. Not a lot of people out there like that."
And something about Raven's words combined with the look in her eyes gives Lexa a pang in her chest, makes her wonder if she was wrong in her original assessment. Of course the moment of concern is quickly over when Raven makes an inappropriate sexual comment about lawyers to her, and Lexa rolls her eyes.
Eventually the interview ends and the professor tells them that the person they interviewed is the person they will be paired up with for the semester-long research project they'll be conducting. Lexa is practically seeing red, trying not to hyperventilate. Raven looks far too pleased and Lexa literally has to clench her fists at her side so she doesn't accidentally punch the cocky grin right off her face.
"Looks like you're stuck with me after all." Raven says smugly wiggling her eyebrows, and Lexa just sighs.
How did she get so unlucky?
Raven asks for her phone number, and Lexa knows she's being irrational but she refuses to give it to her, not trusting that Raven won't send her annoying messages or inappropriate texts. So she compromises and gives Raven her email addresses instead. Raven gives Lexa her phone number despite Lexa's unwillingness to do the same. "You know, just incase you change your mind or something." Which Lexa most definitely will not, but she pockets the number anyway, knowing that if they're working together all semester, it might come in handy at some point.
As soon as she leaves the classroom, Lexa rushes over to the student activities board, searching for a yoga class she knows she'll need to sign up for if she has any hope of surviving the semester with her sanity intact.
At the end of the day, Lexa is cleaning out her pockets before changing into her pajamas and finds Raven's number. She begrudgingly puts the number in her phone before she loses it. Lexa texts Raven to give her, her phone number, convincing herself that she's overreacting, and that she needs to be professional considering Raven is going to be her partner for the semester and that contacting each other by cell will be the most efficient method of communication.
Raven texts her a flirty comment back that she doesn't respond to, and Lexa is already regretting her decision.