The Night We Met

Chapter 11

a/n: hey, so, um, let's just ignore the fact that I haven't updated this in over a month. I've written a couple more chapters so updates should be regular again. Sorry about the wait😬

Riley's POV:

"Hey," I say, smiling as I spoke to James over the phone when doing my make-up on Friday night in the bathroom. The girls quieten down the moment they heard I was talking to him and they begin to eavesdrop, creeping closer towards me to hear his voice - even though Michelle already knows what he looks and sounds like.

"Hey, I'm waiting outside like you told me to," he says.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't even realise the time. I'm still not ready. I guess you can come up to the dorm? The girls are here with me. It might be nice for you to meet them," I tell him. Giselle and Thalia grin as Michelle stands there, looking quite smug. I roll my eyes at the look on their faces.

"Oh, sure. Sounds great. How do I get to your room?" he asks me. I turn around, trying my hardest to block out the girls' irritating squeals.

"You have to walk up the nearest path - a sign will be there, saying North Side, so just follow that and then the doors will open automatically and you'll find yourself in a lobby. Just go to the elevator, press floor 3 and then when you come out, follow the signs and walk in the directions of the female dorms. My room number is sixteen," I recite.

"Okay, I'm walking up the path now."

"Okay, see you in a bit," I tell him, before declining and pulling the phone away from my ear. I turn around when I face the girls. "What the hell was all that about?" I whisper sternly to them.

"Nothing, he just sounds so soft when he's talking to you," Michelle gushes.

"Yeah, and we wanna meet him, duh!" Thalia chimes. I roll my eyes at them playfully but my bite my lip, thinking over how excited they seemed to be about this.

It's only about three minutes later that there's a knock on the door and the girls start talking again, all lively and hyper.

"Calm down, guys," I try to hush them, failing to suppress my laughter, but as I approach the door, their chatter slowly dies down and they begin to act casual, sitting down on either one of the beds. Michelle takes her seat on the spinny chair, opening her MacBook to make it seem like she hadn't just been fangirling over my 'boyfriend'.

I push down the door handle before pulling it back to find James stood there and when I see him, I smile, before reaching up to hug him tenderly. He hugs me back, his arms gently relaxing on the small of my back as mine wrap around his torso in a quick embrace before we pull away.

"Hey," I say sweetly. "You look great," I tell him, citing how he was dressed in a black shirt with navy blue jeans to match.

"Yeah, well you look amazing," he whispers in my ear. I was wearing a sleeveless, cotton, black turtle neck top with a denim skirt and a silver necklace, my hair packed into a messy high bun with earring hoops, white trainers on my feet.

"Thank you." I kiss him on the cheek and he chuckles, worming his arm around my waist as I lead him inside. I lay my hand on his chest, making the girls aware that we were together, even though I don't know if we officially were just yet.

"Girls, this is James. James, this is Michelle, Thalia and Giselle," I say, introducing them one after the other as I pointed with my hand, making sure to distinguish each of them. Each of the girls wave when their name is mentioned and James smiles.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey," the three of them sing in response, almost flirtatiously. I roll my eyes at the lot of them.

"You're all really pretty, by the way," James tells them. I smile at how nice he was being and they all blush.

"Aw, thanks," Michelle says - obviously. She gets up off her seat and walks towards him. "But you've got Ri, and she's more beautiful than any of us could ever be," she says. But then she reaches us. And her serious face takes over. "Just know that we're watching you, though. So if you do anything to hurt my best friend, so help me, James, I will-" She releases her hands and steps towards him, like she was about to crush him to pieces, so I quickly pull myself out of James's grip to stop her.

"Okay, Michelle . . . !" I say, emphasizing my words. "I'm sure he gets the idea." James chuckles behind me, watching as my friend walks away before I turn around to face him. "What time's the movie?" I ask.

"Six-twenty. It's six o'clock now," he tells me.

"Oh, okay. We should get going now then." I turn to face the girls when he nods and I clear my throat to get their attention. "I'll see you all later, James and I are leaving now," I say. They nod.

"Okay, bye!"

"Have fun!" Giselle calls after us, wriggling her eyebrows.

"Sorry about them," I apologise when we step out of the room. James shakes his head.

"No, don't worry. They seem like really good friends." He begins to walk in the direction of the male dorms but I notice Aiden walking down the corridor, so I quickly take James's hand and shake my head.

"Um, we can go the other way," I tell him. "It's quicker."

"Oh, okay." He keeps his arm wrapped around my waist as we walk in the opposite direction, but I gulp, knowing full and well that Aiden was watching us. I just curl up to James more though, resting my head on his shoulder and when he notices, he kisses the top of my head.