What Is This... Love?

  • So many newbies lately! Here is a very important PSA about one of our most vital content policies! Read it even if you are an ancient member!
J

Jovian

Guest
Original poster
Jesse was just wandering through campus. Night would be falling soon, and with it curfew would hit and she would be required to return to her dorm room to deal with a roommate that hated her. It was the whole gay bashing thing all over again with the girl. Jesse didn't like being in the room with her as much as possible. She was trying not to start trouble. One more incident and she was out of here, they said. She would be excused if she lashed out in self-defense, but that was it. And there was no need to go that far with these people. Jesse wouldn't even mouth off to the people who lashed out at her. She just ignored them.

She soon discovered early this year that walking through campus late at night, when she had just gotten off work and still had about half an hour until curfew, was relaxing. So she started doing it more often, until it became a nightly activity that she looked forward to. It was better than dealing with her roommate, or trying to do her schoolwork in the library. No, she didn't do that anymore after the last fight she was in. If she needed to go to the library for research she went into town to the public library.

Sitting on a bench in the middle of the courtyard that was surrounded by the different buildings, she began to people watch while others walked through the courtyard on their way to their own dorms after studying, working, or doing whatever extracurricular activities they were involved in. Not that she cared what they were doing.

At least, that's what she told herself. Then she caught sight of the girl.
 
Jessica swore as she looked at her watch. She was at the library, doing research and she'd stayed later then she had originally planned, getting wrapped up in her paper, and if she didn't hurry, she'd be late for work. Speed walking across campus toward the parking lot, Jessica thought briefly of calling in sick, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. She may be rich and she didn't have to worry about tuition and student loans and things like that, but that didn't mean she wanted to coast her way through life; she wanted to work.

ignoring the stares and cat calls directed at her from some of the students headed back to their dorms, Jessica kept her eyes in front of her, her head held high, giving off an I'm-too-good-for-you air of superiority. They weren't worth her time; she had higher standards that the males chasing after her couldn't reach.

'For one, they're the wrong gender' she thought to herself with a smirk. Reaching her car, she threw her bag into the passenger seat, pulled out of her spot and booked it back to her apartment to change. She was going to be so late
 
Jesse caught the look and groaned. Great. Another snob. She sighed and decided to walk again. It was starting to get chilly at night, and she chose not to wear a jacket. She didn't want to go back to her dorm, but with as late as it was for campus, there wasn't much of a choice. She looked in the direction the girl went. She was rather good looking, even if she was a snob.

Sighing, she started for her dorm. Hopefully she could go to bed without much of a confrontation with the roommate tonight.
 
Jessica sighed as she closed her apartment door behind her. She had made it to work on time, barely, and had been kept on her feet the entire time. It had been a busy shift despite being so late. She yawned; she'd have a quick shower and then go to bed. She was glad she didn't have any early classes tomorrow, she was looking forward to sleeping in.

Stripping off her uniform, Jessica stepped into the shower, groaning as the warm spray worked out the knots in her shoulders and neck. Closing her eyes, she let her thoughts wander to her studies. She liked her her school and her classes were good, even if most of the students bothered her. She thought back to that evening as she left the campus. The boys eying her like a piece of meat made her feel nauseous, though she'd noticed someone else watching her. A girl sitting on a bench in the middle of the campus courtyard. Turning off the water, Jessica stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel

'She was kind of cute,' Jessica thought as she dried off and slipped into her Pj's. Climbing into bed, the girl smiled to herself, maybe she should get to know her. It could be fun.
 
Jesse woke up before the sun, and her roommate, was up. She showered quickly, dressed in her usual baggy jeans and some jersey from a college her father wanted her to go to, the jersey worn over a white spandex shirt. She was a true disappointment to her family. Grabbing her bag of books and her laptop case, she left quietly and headed for the courtyard again to sit on that same bench. She pulled out a notebook and began to sketch out a building. She had wanted to only go into drafting, but in order to do drafting one must go through the engineering program at this school. She could have chosen another school, but this one was far enough from home to make her feel independent while still being close enough she could feel like she could go home anytime.

Not that she wanted to go home.

She was so involved, she didn't notice when the sun began to rise into sight and the school's other students began to stir.
 
Jessica woke up earlier then she had wanted and couldn't get back to sleep. Looking at her alarm clock, she flopped back on her pillow with a groan. It was only 6:30, her first class didn't start until eleven. Coming to the conclusion that sleep was a lost cause for now, Jessica got up and dressed in a pair a grey skinny jeans and a dark purple sweater over a black tank top. Shuffling into the living room, she decided to play video games until she had to leave since she was caught up in class work.

Jessica was the odd one out in her family. While she liked shopping and going to parties as much as her socialite mother, Jessica also liked video games, manga and anime and she refused to be married off into another equally rich family and be a trophy wife. That's why she'd applied to the English program at this collage; she wanted to be her own person. Her parents had grumbled about it for a while, but had agreed that it was her life, and payed for her tuition and living expenses.

Jessica shut off her game and looked at the clock, it was now eight. She still had a few hours until class, but she was bored. Grabbing her bag and her laptop, Jessica picked up her keys and headed to her car. She might as well go to the campus.

Maybe she'd run into that girl from yesterday.
 
Looking at her watch, Jesse groaned. It was only 8 am. Her class started in an hour, and she didn't feel like going. It was only classic lit, a class that wasn't important to her. Looking back at her design work, she shrugged. Since the class wasn't that important, who cared if she went? All that would happen would be a disapproving look from the professor when she entered next time.

Stretching out, she looked around. There wasn't really any activity yet.
 
Stepping on to the campus, Jessica looked around. The area was mostly empty, only a few stragglers running for the classes they were late for.

Well except for one person resting on the bench.

Walking closer, Jessica say it was the same girl from yesterday. Perfect. Time to go say hello.

Striding over confidently, Jessica tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hi," she said, "I'm Jessica Sanders."
 
She stared at the girl with a blank look.

Then she realized what was going on.

"Hey. Uh, Jesse. Halloway. I'm Jesse Halloway," she stumbled out. "N-nice to meet you."

What was wrong with her? Her confident demeanor was nowhere to be seen right then. She was a flushing, stumbling fool. Why did she have this effect on her? Jesse shrugged if off and smiled brightly at Jessica.
 
Jessica smiled widely, "Hi Jesse." She sat down next to Jesse and sighed.

"So what are you doing up this early? Most people only get up this early if they have class, and since you're sitting out here I take it you don't have class yet. Or you're skipping. The only reason I'm up right now is because I couldn't sleep. I mean, I don't have class until eleven. I was looking forward to sleeping in for once and I couldn't." she took a breath, "So do you sit here a lot? I saw you sitting here yesterday as I was leaving. Not that I watch you," she added quickly, "just that I noticed you..."

Jessica realized she was rambling and trailed off, a fierce blush on her face. Talking to this Jesse girl seemed to make her lose her head completely.
 
Jesse rose an eyebrow, but didn't stop the girl as she seemed to talk endlessly. She had a pretty nice voice, she admitted.

"Uh, my roommate and I don't get along, so... I try to stay out of her way as much as possible... And, I have a class soon, but... it's just classic lit, and that seemed a little pointless this morning," she said, chuckling. "And I suppose I do seem to sit here quite often. It's a nice place to just... relax."
 
Jessica made a face. "Erugh. Classic lit. I totally agree with your choice to skip it. As to the roommate thing, that sucks. That's why I like having my own place; I don't have to worry about living with someone who doesn't like me." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she thought for a minute, "If it's really bad, why don't you ask for a room reassignment? It's no fun living with someone who doesn't like you."

She smiled, "I can't think of a reason why anyone wouldn't want to get along with you. You seem nice."
 
"I won't ask for special treatment just cuz my roommate doesn't have all her screws tight," Jesse scowled. Her opinion of most of the people wasn't all that high anymore. She would rather be alone than have to deal with anyone.

She glanced at Jessica. Well, maybe some people aren't so bad.

"Trust me, two years ago I wasn't a very nice person. A year ago I was only slightly better," she admitted with a smirk. "You're catching me on a good day."
 
"Alright, Alright. It was just a suggestion." Jessica held her hands up in a I-Surrender gesture. "You don't have to if you don't want to, it's perfectly fine if you want to handle it in you're own way."

Wait, what? She blinked, was she being somewhat tactful? Huh. That was new.

She glanced at the girl next to her, and blushed Jesse looked kind of, well, hot when she smirked.

Oh gods, did she really just think that about a girl she'd just met? 'Bad Jessica!' she scolded herself, 'bad, bad, bad!' "Really? A good day huh? I think I'd still want to get to know you. Regardless if you were having a bad day or not, I'd want to be your friend anyway."
 
Jesse rose an eyebrow. That was a first, someone wanting to be her friend. Had she not heard about her? Surely there were rumors here like there were in high school going around. After all, some people never truly grew up.

And there was the blush. She looked around. Was there a hot guy staring at them? Well, there were quite a few people staring at them. It was rare for her to interact with anyone, and- she looked at Jessica- to be seen interacting with a hot girl like her, it was understandably a shock. She was sure most of the stares were because of the other girl's looks.

"Well, if you really want to, I guess I won't stop you. But good luck with that," Jesse told her before going back to her design. She was fully aware of Jessica's presence though, and the proximity was making it hard to concentrate on just the design. Her eyes wandered down Jessica's legs, and then back up them, trying to be discrete. She couldn't deny the attractiveness.

And was it just her or did her heartbeat seem a little faster all of a sudden?
 
Noticing that Jesse was going back her sketch -a building design of some sort- Jessica reached for her bag. She was too flustered to carry on the conversation anyway. If she kept talking she might start rambling again or burst into a fit of giggles. And that would not do. So she decided to keep her mouth shut and enjoy the presence of another person in silence. For once.

Opening her bag, she debated with herself. Read Belgarth for about the tenth time, or play Pokemon? She decided to read; the book was good and would hopefully distract her and calm her down enough that she wouldn't lose her head the next time she spoke. It wasn't working. Every few minutes she peeked out of the curtain of her hair falling in front of her face to watch Jesse. She was cute when she was trying to concentrate, Jessica decided.

At one point, she thought Jesse had caught her staring and she turned away blushing deeply again.
 
Jesse was close to giving up on the design. She had only added a few details since starting back in on it. Her gaze kept wandering. It wasn't until she thought she felt eyes on her that she allowed her head to tilt and make it obvious that she was looking at the other girl. Jessica had a blush on her face. Looking at the book in the girl's hand, Jesse wondered what the blush was all about.
 
'Bad, bad, bad, Jessica! Can't you stop staring? Can't you control yourself at all?'

She glanced at Jesse and noticed she wasn't sketching anymore. "I'm sorry, I distracted you, didn't I?" She groaned, "It won't happen again, I promise. If I talk to much just tell me to shut up, I won't mind." She looked at the drawing. "Wow, that's amazing; it's really good. I wish I could draw like that." she bubbled, her embarrassment at being caught staring forgotten.
 
"Thank you," Jesse said, looking back at her drawing with a light blush. "And... you weren't really... bothering me. I don't mind, to tell the truth. I'm just not that... I mean, I don't usually have much company, so I'm not used to it."

She took a deep breath to cool the blush from her cheeks and looked back at the design. It was far from complete, but it was starting to look like what it was supposed to be - the inside of the school's theatre the way she would have designed it. She was doing the sketch as part of her assignment for her art class, which she was taking because she really wanted to be a drafter and it would be necessary to be good at drawing and sketching.

"So, what... what is your major?"
 
"Oh, I see. Well as long as I'm not bothering you..." she smirked, her eyes lighting up mischievously, "if I'm not bothering you, then you're stuck with me. Mwahahaha."

People turned to stare.

Jessica coughed, rubbing the back of her neck as people watched her. "Sorry, got carried away. Anyway, my major is English. I want to go into journalism. What about you?"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back