HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIA
A pop-up jumped out on my screen as I tried to refresh Tumblr...again.
"Browser can't connect to the internet. Please check your connection and try again."
God fucking damnit this is the third time the internet has stopped in the past hour. I swear to god I'm gonna need two more fucking coffees to deal with this shit internet. Fucking 'free wifi' my ass, fuck it all.
I was mentally fuming, and apparently my face showed it because the girl next to me whipped her head towards me, her blonde hair flying off her shoulder.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Oh fuck, is she talking to me?
I slowly turned my gaze towards her, and when I saw her staring I responded.
"Yeah, I'm just fucking peachy over here. My internet won't work, just when I need it." I spat bitterly. "Does yours work?"
"Yeah," she giggled. "It's working fine over here."
"Well then what the fuck?!" I slammed my laptop shut and crossed my arms over my chest, upset with the situation. Just my luck that I would be stuck at a Starbucks for hours between classes with no internet and a girl that thinks I'm crazy. This day is just fucking great.
"Hey, calm down." The girl said soothingly, reaching over to tug my arms free from my chest. "You can see if it works at my table. You might just be out of range."
I watched her carefully, trying to see if she was lying. Her already small table was covered with papers; I doubted there'd be room for me there.
"Are you sure? Won't it be a bit of a tight fit?"
"Nah, I'll just move some stuff around." She patted the chair next to hers, so I picked up my stuff and moved tables.
It was cramped. Like I could feel our knees touching under the table, my worn jeans rubbing against the bare skin of her legs.
"I'm Sarah." She said, holding out her hand for me to shake. I wiped mine on my jeans (not cute I know) and held it out to meet hers.
"I'm Lia." I smiled. She tilted her head a little, like she hadn't heard the name much before, but she continued to smile.
I opened my laptop and tried to connect to the internet. This time it worked, although it was still extremely slow. I guess shitty internet is better than no internet.
"What're you working on?" Sarah asked, sitting up in her chair to try and see over my laptop.
I looked down at all my papers spread out around us, and I decided to tell her the honest truth. Well, at least part of it.
"I'm supposed to be studying for an exam."
"And why aren't you actually studying for an exam?"
"Because exams make me want to embrace death with open arms and studying just reminds me of that."
"So what are you doing instead of studying?"
"I'm...." I trailed off, panic rising in my throat. I was worried that she'd judge me if she knew what I was actually doing. "I'm writing a story."
"Do you mean fanfiction?" Sarah piped up. "Sorry, I just saw you we're on Wattpad so I figured..."
"Haha, yeah. I am writing fanfiction. I need to get this update done, since it's been like a month because of these fucking exams."
"Haha, I'll let you get back to it then."
We fell into a comfortable silence; the only sounds the clacking of fingers on a keyboard. It was almost half an hour before one of us spoke out. Actually, it was more like a groan of frustration followed by me slamming my head on the table.
"What's got you stumped?"
I looked up at her in surprise. How did she know I was stuck?
"Oh, I write too." She clarified. "We kind of all do the exact same thing when we have writers block."
I sat up a little straighter. "It's just a minor thing, I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out..."
"Maybe I can help." she offered. "Shoot."
"Well..." I scratched at the back of my neck. "I need a really cheesy pick up line."
"Oh! Are you writing fluff? If you are I so want to read it. I don't even care who the pairing is." She hummed happily, taking a sip of her coffee. "As for the pick up line dilemma, on a scale of one to ten how cheesy does it have to be?"
"Like at least a 100." I groaned internally. I struggle so much with this kind of stuff, but it's what everyone else wants to read.
"One that always works is 'did it hurt when you fell from heaven?'" she winked.
"Are you implying that I'm Satan?" I asked in the most monotonous voice I could muster.
"No! No-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to direct it at you-" she blushed, covering her burning cheeks with her hands.
"Because I am. I'm literally Satan."
"Oh." She shrugged. "Can you do me a favour then? Can you sacrifice someone so I pass my exams?"
"Of course," I laughed. "Only if it's a double sacrifice."
We both turned back to our work, although I was probably still grinning from ear to ear. I could've sworn I saw Sarah staring at me, but it might've been my eyes playing tricks on me.
"Listen, I have class that starts in fifteen minutes." Sarah said, gathering up her things and stuffing them into a backpack. "Maybe we'll have the pleasure of sharing a table next time the wifi isn't working. Until then, bye!" she waved and scurried out the door in a hurry.
Once she had left, I noticed she had forgotten a piece of paper on the table. I grabbed it, ready to chase after her to return it when I noticed the message scrawled in her neat handwriting.
Lia -
I didn't know Satan was so cute. We should go out sometime.
555-0125
Sarah xx
(I'm sorry this is so awkward I tried)
