Chapter 5
The following weeks pass in a blur of parties and lectures. Parties and lectures. Every day is the same. Why is every day the same? James needs some variety in his life. He needs something to keep him on his toes. And that is exactly what happens today.
James exits the lecture hall yawning; he hasn’t been sleeping much recently. Not since Lily kissed him. He doesn’t know why he was not ecstatic that night, the girl he has had a crush on since year 7 just kissed him. Lily Evans kissed him. Yet he can't seem to get a complete stranger out of his fucking head.
They talked the day after; James fell asleep on the floor of her dorm after holding her hair back while she vomited. That’s a plus side to not drinking. No vomiting. And no hangover. They agreed to just be friends, and Sirius chastised him later that day.
What do you mean you agreed to be friends? You’ve been in love with her for years!
While that was true, and he still does love Lily Evans, he doesn’t think he’s in love with her anymore. He knows it seems fucking insane, but he thinks he loves the handsome stranger. But he can’t love someone he hasn’t had a proper conversation with, right? Obsessed, more like. Why can’t he stop thinking about this stranger? A stranger who he has only seen twice. A stranger who is standing right in front of him.
“Hi,” the stranger says.
“Hi,” James replies, his voice suddenly very high.
“I was just walking past your classroom when I thought now would be a good time to give you this,” the stranger gives him a book titled ‘The Song of Achilles’, “I read this book and thought of you.”
“I- what?” Confused, James takes the book.
“Just read it, I'm sure you’ll enjoy what’s inside.”
Before James has a chance to say anything else, the stranger disappears. He’s got to stop doing that.
***
James returns to his dorm to find Remus and Sirius making out. This has become a daily occurrence.
“Can’t you go to your dorm once in a while,” James asked last week, looking in Remus’ direction.
“My roommate is um...very traditional,” Remus said in response.
James understands that. He was extremely fucking scared to come out to his parents, despite knowing that they are the kindest, most accepting people he has ever met. Not everyone is the same, unfortunately.
James chucks his bag on the floor and jumps onto his bed, still holding his book.
“What’s that?” Sirius asks, “I didn’t know you could read.”
“Piss off, a friend gave it to me.”
“Which friend?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course, it matters,” Sirius says, sitting up, “don’t you think I deserve to know if I’m about to be replaced by some loser who fucking reads?”
“Hey,” Remus says, feigning offence, “I like to read.”
“Well, you’re my loser,” Sirius smirks.
“And besides, you’re not being replaced, Padfoot. It would be impossible to find someone who can annoy me as much as you do.”
Sirius gasps dramatically and drops to the floor from his bed.
“You wound me, Potter! You wound me!”
“Get up, you drama queen,” James scoffs, “I’m almost certain you wouldn’t want to be in his shoes either, unless you want me to snog you.”
“I’ll have you know I am an excellent kisser,” Sirius declares.
“Oh, I know,” James winks.
Remus begins to violently cough and exclaims, “What?”
“A few years ago, we wanted to see what it was like to kiss a guy, so we just decided to kiss,” Sirius explains, “It was a one-time thing, I swear.”
Remus looks at James, who nods in agreement. He seems oddly jealous for a casual hookup. Maybe they will get serious – no pun intended. He'll be good for Sirius, he seems kind and caring, unlike most of his exes. They decide to get some dinner, giving James some much needed quiet and privacy. He goes to reach for his laptop to watch some Netflix when he remembers the book sitting on his bed. What the hell. James grabs that instead.
He reads the blurb, and it does seem interesting, though he doubts he will actually be able to make it past the first three pages. His attention span has been getting shorter and shorter in the past couple of weeks. Well, shorter than usual. He flicks through the book and sighs before deciding to open it fully and start reading.
As he opens the book, he notices some writing on the inside of the cover.
I know this may seem random, but I have been thinking about you ever since I saw you in that Psychology lecture last month. You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. I wanted to give you my number, but I didn’t want to seem so forward and pressure you. I have, therefore, written it here in the hopes that you will message me. I understand if you don’t want to, I am just a stranger after all, but I will admit I want you to.
- R.A.B
James cannot believe this. After over a month of obsessing over this handsome stranger, he finally has his number.