The chaos of Freshers' Week had finally settled, leaving a trail of hangovers and awkward introductions in its wake. For Jay, it had been a blur. He'd survived, but he'd only managed to make one real friend.
His name was Leo.
Leo was a quiet lad from Essex with a decent, unassuming nature, but Jay could already tell there was a mischievous streak hiding just beneath the surface. By some stroke of luck, they were both on the same Computer Science course. They'd ended up clinging to each other like life rafts during the exhausting whirlwind of induction week, a hellscape of campus tours, faculty meetings, and endless 'ice-breaker' projects.
One of these projects involved splitting the entire faculty into random groups of twenty. The official reason was a load of corporate-sounding bullshit about "fostering inter-departmental unity."
Jay knew it was just a way to force them all to talk to each other.
To his relief, Leo was in his group. It was a welcome coincidence that made the whole ordeal seem slightly more bearable. They were in different halls of residence, but Jay had a feeling they'd be seeing a lot of each other.
His eyes scanned the eight girls in their new group. There was a mix of styles, one in a hijab, a few with long, flowing hair, another with a messy bun, but none of them really stood out. A wave of disappointment washed over him. It seemed his year was seriously lacking in the kind of stunning girls he'd been hoping for. Maybe it was just the curse of the Engineering and Computing faculty.
And then he saw her.
She was the exception. Her name was Lina. A British-Iranian girl with a sharp, intelligent face that immediately set her apart from everyone else.
Okay, Jay thought, a new mission forming in his mind. Plan A is a go.
During a tedious planning session, he leaned over to his new best mate.
"Leo," he whispered, "you know Lina, right?"
"The Iranian girl?" Leo replied instantly, not even looking up from his phone.
"Yeah, her. Who else?"
"What about her?" Leo said, finally showing some interest. "You gonna talk to her? We'll all get to know each other eventually, mate."
"Nah, it's not like that," Jay said, a confident smirk spreading across his face. "I'm thinking of properly grafting. What do you reckon, are we a good match?"
Leo snorted, a loud, undignified sound. "You're a daft sod. Have you looked in a mirror recently? She's way out of your league. Half the senior lads are probably after her already."
"Oi, you bastard, why are you having a go at me?" Jay shot back, shoving him playfully. "It's called trying, mate. You never know. If I pull this off, I'll be a legend in our faculty. A legend!"
Leo just laughed. "Look, Jay, do what you want. Just don't come crying to me when she shuts you down in flames, alright?"
"Piss off, Leo," Jay grumbled, though he was smiling. "I'll prove you wrong. In my entire life, I have never been rejected. The first girlfriend I ever had, she asked me out."
That got Leo's attention. "Did she now? You cocky bastard! Fair play if that's true, though. You'll have to give me some tips."
"Sorted, mate," Jay said, puffing his chest out. "I'll teach you the ways of the master. It's all about confidence."
A few days later, after they'd all bought the stupidly expensive materials for their project, Jay saw his chance. Lina was standing alone by the window in the student union café. He took a deep breath. Right. Here we go.
"Hi..." he said, trying to sound a thousand times more casual than he felt.
She turned. "Oh, it's Jay, right?"
A jolt went through him. She knew his name. His heart did a little jump. Winner.
"I'm Lina," she continued, her voice calm and even. "I went to school at Northwood College in London. Your home address isn't far from there, is it?"
Jay was completely floored. She knew his name and roughly where he lived. This was insane. He felt like he'd already won the lottery.
"Yeah... how did you know that?" he managed to ask.
"Oh, our course coordinator sent out a list with everyone's basic details," Lina explained, turning back to sort through a stack of papers. "I was just reading through it and noticed your address was near my old school."
"Ah," Jay said. His high spirits instantly crashed back down to earth. "And there I was thinking you'd been properly stalking me."
"Lina's fine," she said, finally glancing at him for a second before returning to her work. Her focus was absolute. "I just want to get to know my group members. It'll make working together easier."
His ego deflated in an instant. So, she wasn't interested, she was just... efficient.
As he stood there awkwardly, he took in the details. She looked like an actress, maybe someone like Tala Ashe. She had a sharp nose, and her shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair was tied up in a neat ponytail. Her eyes were a warm, intelligent brown. She had an incredible natural charm, but it was shielded by a layer of aloofness. She was direct and no-nonsense. And smart? Jay had no doubt about that.
The stupid induction tasks began to take over their lives. But amidst the pointless errands and late-night project work, a silver lining appeared.
Their group needed a leader.
In a quick vote, Lina was chosen as the group secretary. And by some twist of fate, or perhaps because of his over-enthusiastic suggestions earlier, Jay was chosen as the group leader.
He was now officially in charge of organizing everything. Which meant he had a perfectly valid reason to talk to the one person he wanted to talk to most.
Jay looked over at Lina, who was already making notes on a new to-do list.
He could already tell this was going to be an absolute disaster. Or the best thing that had ever happened to him.