Thea

My alarm begins blaring at 7:30am and I inwardly groan but quickly find my phone to shut it off hoping to not wake up Stella. She's a heavy sleeper but I would hate to subject someone else to this early morning torture.

I rush to throw on jeans and a sweatshirt to ward off the chilly November air, throw my hair into a bun and quickly brush my teeth. On most days, I wear my contacts but I'm usually too lazy to slip them in my eyes this early in the morning . I quickly grab my backpack, slip on my glasses and sneakers and rush out the door.

Silently praising the girls who look so cute in their early morning classes and vow to attempt to wake up an hour early next time to try harder. I already know I'm lying to myself but hey, maybe it'll happen one day.

Just as I cross the quiet intersection between my dorm and the campus buildings, I hear a deep muffled male voice calling my name through the low music coming from my air pods. Ugh, I hope I'm just hearing things because I hate interacting with people this early in the morning. Can you tell I'm not a morning person yet? It's so difficult to have a conversation when my eyes are barely open.

I choose to pretend I don't hear anything and continue my walk towards my building. Central University is huge and I have about 15 minutes to get there but at my current slow and tired pace I'll be late and Professor Wang hates the doors that squeak in the classroom when students walk in; interrupting her train of thought during her lectures.

My name is yelled louder and I sigh preparing myself for my morning interaction. I take a deep breath of the cool crisp autumn air and look towards the colorful trees. Don't be a jerk Thea. Don't be a jerk Thea. I chant in my head.

Just as I turn around, a large arm is thrown over my shoulders and a breeze of pine and citrus attack my senses.

"Good morning Thea, didn't think I would actually bump into you" Will says, looking down at me with a cute smile and those beautiful eyes. Bumping would mean we coincidentally saw each other, this man had to jog up to me in my current half awake state.

But God, I guess it's kinda worth it because his morning voice is so sexy. Despite my morning grumpiness, I feel my stomach turn in a fluttery way. Just friends, Thea. Focus on school. Pulling out my airpods and placing them in my pocket I brace myself to not show my tired bitchy face.

"Hey" I say, doing my best to give him a polite smile but definitely failing from the sound of his low chuckle.

"You look like you want to murder me. Not a morning person? Cute glasses by the way" He says, playfully pulling on them.

I do my best to continue walking despite his heavy arm leaning on me and step over a curb onto more pavement.

"Thanks, and sorry, don't take it personal but I'm really not. I don't think any college student is a morning person to be fair" I say, a little crabby

He snickers, "I think I'm actually more of a morning person but that could be because I have no choice but to wake up early. Sometimes coach makes us get up at 6 instead for our pre workouts."

I cringe at that, "Of course you would be a morning person too. Even if someone is forced to get up early, they wouldn't be this bubbly" I say and roll my eyes

"You say that like it's an insult. Should I be offended?" he says with a twitch to his lips

"I don't know, you just seem like this energetic guy. I don't know where it all comes from. Where are all of your teammates by the way? Shouldn't they be walking too?"

"They were taking too long and I like to be the first one there. Devon came back to our room right as I was leaving to get ready. Coach is going to make him do 5 extra laps for being late. Come, let's get you some caffeine so you don't explode on a poor student in your class." He softly laughs, gently guiding me to a cozy coffee shop many students frequent

"It's fine, I don't want to be late to class" I say glancing at my phone to see I have 7 minutes left.

"The baristas are quick. Promise. I'm usually in and out in the mornings whenever I stop by since it's too early for many students to be out. Plus, your building is right across away from this place right?" He says angling his head towards my building and removing his arm from my shoulder to open the door for me instead. I immediately miss his warmth and can still almost smell his scent on my sweatshirt.

Walking through the door, I go straight to the counter. Inhaling the scent of fresh coffee and freshly baked pastries. My stomach grumbles from the smell of food. Its been a few months since school has started and I've never stopped at this coffee shop before class. I wonder if I would've bumped into Will here. Would we be friends/acquaintances the way we are now? Or would we politely wait for our coffee next to each other in silence?

I often catch myself thinking about how certain events happen in our lives. Would I be a different student or person if I didn't room with Stella, Kari and Sienna? Or were we meant to be friends and our paths would allow us to meet in some different way even if we weren't roommates? I shake myself out of this random stupor and focus my attention back on Will.

"Fine, but only because my Professor likes me. I need to stay on her good side though. I think I'd cry if she gave me one of her dirty looks for being late, I'm not a very confrontational person in that sense."

He smiles, satisfied from roping me into coffee, ordering after me and taking out his card to pay. Just as I'm about to interrupt to pay instead, he gives me a look to let me know he's not going to argue about this and I give him a grateful smile. "Thank you."

The barista passes us our orders as quickly as Will promised and we head out.

Will walks me up to the doors of my class just as several heads look our way, clearly recognizing him. Guess he's a hot shot after all. I've never actually asked what sport he plays here. He then passes me the croissant bag that I thought he ordered for himself and say's "Have a great day. That's yours, I knew you wouldn't accept it while we were in the cafe."

"What-t?" I stammer as he waves goodbye, slightly shocked by his kindness. Then again, he's never given me a reason for me to think he was a rude guy. Cocky, yes. Rude, no.

Once again, I feel those butterflies in my belly come to life but I quickly shut them down. I can't let him have this effect on me. He's probably moved his interest into another girl already, anyways.