A/N: Hey guys, back with the first update of the year! Here ya go!
She's got a midterm and project in two days (because her professor is evil like that) and she's only halfway through the project and no way through the studying.
Home alone for the time being since her roommate is out, it's the perfect time to get things done. But her focus is straying from the screen in front of her to the window, where dark clouds are rolling onto the last rays of the day.
It's the kind of night that makes her glad she doesn't have to leave the warmth of her apartment to venture into the January chill. She pulls her blanket up closer as she watches the stray foot traffic of the street below.
What if the girl looking at her phone bumped into the guy carrying what seemed to be a fundraising bake sale poster? What if they smiled shyly as their hands met, what of they ended up talking? What if they fell in love?
She smiles at the fanciful notion.
Of course, it doesn't play out and the guy just moves to the right to avoid walking into her and they continue on their way.
Sighing, she turns back to the laptop screen that has blacked out from inactivity. Fanciful notions and dreamy what ifs aside, she has a project to finish, but the complicated diagrams and math equations once again fade out after a while as her mind begins to drift once more.
The clouds are reflecting the light of the city and the beginnings of what's sure to be snowfall are brewing. The perfect weather to curl up in a blanket.
It's in these moments, tucked away from the world, does she allow her mind to let loose and fall into the world of chance meetings, tentative looks and fairytale love.
Dimming her laptop is easier than turning on a light and she goes from staring at equations to watching Never Been Kissed for the fourth time.
-.-
It's not all she thinks about. After all, she is working towards a STEM degree and all of her two braincells are hard at work on that.
But sometimes her mind slips in those moments when she's by herself, staring out a window, or on exceptionally cold and cloudy nights, and the movies come back to her.
They get her every time, when the characters are racing against the clock to confess their love and her heart is racing despite knowing they'll get there in the end.
That's the best part.
Even if it's the same kind of ways for people to meet and fall in love. There's a comfort to it actually, in knowing how it will go, that it will be alright.
A comfort that life often doesn't provide.
So she finds herself melting into the stories, slowly but surely falling in love with falling in love.
-.-
It's not something she necessarily hides, it just doesn't come up in conversation. People talk about classes and finals and where free food is on campus. And even she agrees that knowing about free food is more important than love.
Also, she's single, so it's doubly not a conversation that people would start with her. Besides, she's got a busy life, good friends, and knows better than to place her self-worth on a relationship.
But it's on those cold, cloudy nights when her roommate is out with her boyfriend and her friends are on dates or hookups that she can't help but feel a pang at the fact that she doesn't have that someone she bumped into on the street or knew since childhood or met while doing an undercover story about high school. (So, she just really vibes with Never Been Kissed, sue her)
But the feeling passes, and she goes back to normal life, leaving love to her daydreams and 2 am binge watching sessions.
-.-
It's on a tired morning after some late night/early morning movie watching, when she shows up to her 8am Calc 3 class that something happens that feels a little bit like a movie.
Or maybe it's wishful thinking and the guy who looks like the physical representation of the concept of mixing an energy drink and coffee that slumps down beside her is just an average college kid (and not the potential future love of her life).
He's a weird in between of exhausted and hyperactive and it's ten times more fascinating than whatever is happening on the board so she tries not to stare but looks over all the same.
A few minutes into her (apparently obvious) glances, he looks over and whispers.
"What?"
It's so off putting that she's taken back. She does not in fact know, what.
"What?"
An eloquent response. She's proud of that one.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Ironically enough, when he says that is when she actually turns to look at him properly for the first time. Shaggy black hair, slumped forward like his body, frame his tired looking face. But his eyes, his eyes are a shocking green that are a kind of wide awake that doesn't fit with the rest of his vibe. His leg is bouncing so quickly, he looks ready to dash out any second.
"I'm sorry?" she offers, knowing she can't deny it now that she's actually completely looked at him (also with how tired she is it was probably a level of staring worse than before).
He waves it aside impatiently, so much so that she almost misses the motion. "It's fine, but like why though? Do I have something on my face?"
It's your face, she wants to answer, but she shakes her head no and turns back to the board. They're five derivatives into a problem and she's hopelessly lost now.
If this was a movie, or if she was a little more daring, or if it was fate, she would have given her original answer, started a back and forth, bantered or flirted and maybe left class with a number.
Instead she spends the next few minutes messily scribbling down the notes from the board in hopes that they'll make sense when she goes back to them.
(They probably won't but it's the thought that matters.)
Bouncy guy, her newly coined name for him, had also turned back to the board after her answer and since then has increased his bouncing to vibration levels and hasn't gotten farther than writing the question in his notes.
It seems like he's all but given up on notetaking and she feels his gaze on her as she finishes up the last equation before the professor starts to wipe the board.
Her peripherals can make out that he's turned towards her, which only adds to the feeling of being watched, making her turn quickly towards him.
Their eyes meet.
He doesn't look away.
She does.
"What?" she whispers to him.
He gives her a blank look that probably mimics the one she gave him earlier. "What?
Not this again.
"What are you looking at me?" she asks.
Oh, how the turns have tabled.
He shrugs. "You were looking at me."
"You're vibrating." It's honestly not that far off.
He looks at her, then down at himself as if he could see his own vibration, then looks back at her.
"Fair."
They don't talk the rest of class and he leaves five minutes into the mini exit quiz at the end.
She's not confident she's got it right, but there's no way he came even close.
She spends the rest of her day wondering about him.
-.-
Next class she's more awake (kind of) and sits in the same place as usual (because certain lecture centers just have that specific spot), wondering if Bouncy Guy ™ is going to be back.
Ten minutes into the lecture and she's sure he's not coming. Or maybe he just sat somewhere else.
She blames the romantic movies for giving her hope.
Exactly thirteen minutes in (she wasn't counting) he slides into the seat next to her.
A slight thrill spreads throughout her body at the sight of him and she's pleased at the sequence of events. But she keeps it to herself and continues taking notes.
The note taking lasts for two minutes before she's glancing at him again.
It's like the kid did a 180 in the day they didn't have class. He's completely slumped over and might actually fall asleep at any given moment.
He notices her watching him. Again.
"What?" he whispers in a way that ends up sounding more like a drawl.
It's lowkey attractive. Like his jawline. Not that she'd ever say it.
She skips the second what this time. "You're not vibrating."
He just nods and turns back to blankly stare at the board.
If this was a movie she'd ask what was up, or offer her notes, or continue the conversation outside of class.
Instead she turns back to her notes, and wonders if she should rename him to Sleepy Guy™.
They don't talk for the rest of class.
-.-
They have a test in five days and for the first time all week Bouncy/Sleepy Guy™ shows up on time, operating like how normal functional human beings do. It's fascinating.
The news of the test is a clear surprise to him (which makes sense since he was half-dead when it was announced last class). He turns to her, eyes widening.
"We have a test?"
Well, they're on this level of communication now. She wonders if it was the second What that really sealed the deal. She nods. "Yeah, on Wednesday."
"Shit." He turns back towards the board and starts scribbling everything down, as if it'll save him.
She gets it.
It's actually kind of cute, in a relatable sort of way.
If this was a movie, she'd invite him to study together, or he'd ask her for help, or they'd get paired up to work on practice problems together.
Instead, she spends the rest of class wrestling with the idea of either asking him to study or saving herself the embarrassment to any awkward or negative response.
Her debate gets her nowhere and her mouth can't form the words and they go their separate ways after class.
-.-
She's in the library in hopes that it will motivate her to study more than the comfy armchair back at home does. But calc 3 is hard and the example she wrote down four days ago doesn't make any more sense than it did when she first wrote it.
One day, this strategy will work. One day.
She's given up in a fit of despair when she looks up to see Guy™ (her even more creative new name for him) looking around the library like he was in search of something.
Probably a seat.
Or maybe friends.
He's got a backpack slung over his shoulder and he's scanning the crowded tables (it's midterm season which means ever seat is taken). He's much taller than she noticed before. They'd make a good height match.
Not that it matters.
She has no idea what in the world possesses her to wave at him.
"Hey—"
Luckily, the fact that she doesn't know his name prevents her from further antics.
The wave and hey is enough to get his attention and he weaves his way through the tables towards her spot.
The best thing about college is the sense of comradery over difficult classes, which means said classes are always a valid form of communication.
"Did you see the old exam he posted on blackboard?" she asks by way of conversation.
He nods. "It looks horrible, I have no clue what I'm doing in that class."
"Same," she agrees.
There's a beat before she continues. "You looking for a seat?"
If this was a movie, she would have asked him exactly that.
He nods and she gestures to the empty chair in front of her. "Feel free, and if you're working on calc then you can join in."
He nods fervently, setting his bag down. "Please."
He pulls out his notes and she moves her laptop in between them so he can see the questions.
"Any idea how to do the first one?" he asks.
She shows him the notes she took. "It's supposed to go something like that, but I don't get the example."
He stares at it long enough to make her wonder if he's zoned out.
But just as she's about to say something, he speaks. "Actually…"
And together they manage to piece together an answer. When it's correct he stares up at the sky and says. "There's some hope."
They start the next question and it takes them double the mount of time to so but by the end of it she knows his name is Percy, he has a little sister in middle school, and he's 1/8 Greek.
And as a result, he knows her name is Annabeth (and she doesn't like Anna), her brothers just started high school, and she's 1/3 Italian so she knows how to make a mean spaghetti.
If this was a movie, they'd give up on the math entirely and just spend the time getting to know each other and leave with phone numbers and a date.
Instead, they leave with half a test and a promise to meet up again.
(It's close enough).
-.-
There's something to be said about the clichés that make up these movies and it's the inherent irony in the phrase that clichés don't exist. Because in order for something to become a cliché, it needs to have happened enough times to establish itself as such. So, anyone claiming that they aren't real, well, they're fighting against the very definition of a cliché.
But if there's something Annabeth wants to add, it's that while clichés do happen, they don't happen perfectly so.
The difference between life and movies is that life doesn't get a script to cut out the awkward moments or slightly embarrassing ways to find out is someone is "available" or the random bits of conversation that don't fit in.
Like a discussion on derivatives and integrals, or awkward silence when a friend walks up to the table and starts chatting with one of them, and the subtle indications that she does not have a boyfriend.
Actually, the whole process, which is generally smoothed over with a time skip, is kind of messy.
"So why were you vibrating that day?" she asks over the textbook.
"Adderall."
She looks up to a completely straight face and she doesn't know Percy well enough to know if he's joking or not.
"Really?"
Her surprise must be apparent because he breaks into a laugh. "Nah, five hour energy an hour before a Red Bull."
She just stares at him. "Jesus, why did you do that?"
He does the little half-shrug thing he does when he's embarrassed. "I forgot?"
"You forgot?"
"I was still kinda tired and it's second nature to drink an energy drink. It wasn't till my heart started beating really fast did I remember the five hour energy."
"You," she says, pointing at him with her pencil, "need to be more healthy."
"Tell me about it… it's hard though."
He's not wrong and she's about to agree when a girl with red hair shows up behind Percy and hugs him from behind.
He jumps at the motion before turning around, standing up and giving her a full-fledged hug.
If this was a movie, she would leave dramatically, heartbroken that he doesn't love her only for him to grab her hand to stop her declaring his love.
Instead, she sits there awkwardly, looking in between them and the textbook in front of her as he catches up with his friend? Girlfriend? She's not sure.
For once, she's glad to stare down at the pages of her Calc textbook.
The thing is, she's not sure if they're on the friendship level that warrants an introduction to other more established friendships, since they only really meet for class related things, so she's probably on the class friend leve-
"Annabeth, she's in my calc 3 class," Percy introduces.
Well, that's something at least.
"And this is my friend, Rachel."
Was that an emphasis on friend? She's probably imagining it.
She smiles and waves and greets Percy's friend who's an art major and beyond grateful to not be doing calculus and leaves them to it with words of luck.
"She's nice." Which is maybe the most awkward thing for Annabeth to say, but she feels the need to react to the situation.
Percy nods. "Yeah, we've been friends since high school, she's one of my best friends."
Okay that was also something…unless she was a best friend he wanted to date.
But let's not mix clichés here.
"That's cool."
And the conversation drops for a moment as they stare at their respective materials before bringing up something about an integral.
-.-
Annabeth is totally cool.
She invited Percy over to her place to study, because she's cool like that.
And his wide grin and acceptance was also totally cool.
Her roommate winking and telling her to be safe as she walked out of the place for a few hours was even more cool.
She's not nervous when he knocks or when he comes in or when he glances over the place.
Except she is, and she's not sure if being nervous is the cliché or being smooth, it's starting to get really convoluted. She should lay off the movies.
She ends up being a little of both, and they end up laughing on the couch, textbooks pushed off to the side, so she's probably doing well.
He's even better the more she gets to know him, and if she was dramatic she'd say his laugh was becoming her favorite sound.
(But she's not so she doesn't, even though his green eyes are totally fall deeply into material…she really needs to take a break from the movies).
It's all absolutely great up until he has to leave and it's awkward again.
"So um, thanks for coming over. Sorry we didn't get as much studying done," she says as he's packing up his stuff.
"Nah, it's fine, hanging out was way more fun," he responds with a smile.
She nods back, unable to be the one to ask him to do it again.
"Most things are when compared to math," she jokes back.
They walk to the door. "True," he agrees, "but this was really fun. We should do it again sometime?"
There's a hint of a question and she nods. "Yeah, definitely."
If this was a movie, they'd lean in for a quick kiss that would leave her feeling all blushy.
Instead he gives her a warm smile and asks her to hang out a few days later.
Her giddiness might be akin to the two protagonists sharing a cute cliché moment in the starlight.
-.-
There's a stage in between officially being together and getting to know each other. It's the weird in-between phase where all signs are pointing to a relationship, but it just hasn't happened yet.
That's where they're at.
Movies are so much nicer when they cut to the chase.
If only they could cut this weird part out and just get to the kissing already.
And then she realizes she technically can. And then she realizes she's not the only one up to bat here, so she needs to be wary of the other part in the equation.
Did she just mix analogies?
It's a sign she's too tired and should have gone to bed instead of staying up reading the Legally Blonde fanfic she found (which totally gave her all the relationship moments the movie didn't).
This is the part where they really should DTR.
Which, by the way, no one ever does.
She realizes that sitting down to Define The Relationship is awkward and weird and actually hard to do so she leaves the topic alone and hopes that he makes a move.
Percy has made the move to sit closer to her on the couch, so that even though they're facing each other, his knee is touching hers. It's a nice gesture.
They're talking about…something, she actually lost track because of her thoughts and so she ends up staring at him again.
He stops his story to give her a fake exasperated sigh and amusement lights up his face.
"What?" he asks, nudging her with his knee.
"What?" She's still a little lost.
"Why are you looking at me?" he asks, a playful smile making its way into his face.
She recognizes this conversation. This is what they call a bit, or a motif, or just her cue to say what she said like a month and a half ago. Luckily, she still remembers it (not that she could forget with how many times she replayed it in her head with a different outcome ever time).
"I'm sorry?"
And now she's looking at him, properly so, taking in his leaned-in figure, wide gorgeous green eyes, hand inching closer as if he might grab hers any second.
He waves it aside impatiently, grin getting wider. "It's fine, but why? Is there something on my face?"
She remembers the answer her filter hadn't let her say the first time and decides to go for it.
"It's just your face."
She ruined the flow because, well, life isn't perfect.
He makes a face at her words. "What do you mean?"
"I mean…" she starts slowly, "it's hard to look away."
So maybe she just added in a cliché instead.
His smile is blinding and he's so close all of a sudden.
"I get the feeling," he says softly, staring into her eyes and oh god, is this what they feel? The butterflies in your stomach and the tug in your heart that makes you want to squeal a little because it's just so beautiful?
"You're shaking," she replies.
See, she brought it back, it just deviated a little. Most things do.
Including clichés.
If this was a movie, this is the part where they'd kiss.
Instead—well, actually, they kiss.
-.-
They go on a date that is everything and nothing. It's not a coffee shop or a fancy restaurant, it's not fast food or a local diner. Those have been done before.
Too cliché.
But maybe the way he stares at her over their Noodles and Company dishes and the way she locks her foot around his or the way they link fingers as they walk through the streets to get milkshakes from Steak and Shake is cliché enough.
And maybe it doesn't matter.
Because they're Percy and Annabeth and however they're story goes, cliché or not, it's special.
Because it's them.
And on the next cold cloudy night she bundles up with a blanket and a sleepy boyfriend and watches Never Been Kissed for the fifth time.
A/N: So what did you think? Just wanted to put out my take on cliches and romantic movies and all that (I love em) but life isn't always as nice (but it can be, you never know!) I thought of actually posting this for February but then I thought it's actually more apt to the theme to have it before then so here we are.
I hope you guys liked this and the start to your 2020 is going well, and if you're like me and it's not that great, just hang in there, it'll get better!
Updates for this series are going to continue like normal and feel free to follow my other series on this site, Semantics of Love or any of my oneshots on my AO3 (foreverfangirlwrites) and tumblr (forevfangirlwrites)!
Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)