THE PAIRING
1182 Words
Mia
“Wake up.”
I opened my eyes slowly.
Valerie was standing beside my bed with her hands on her waist.
“Wake up, Mia.”
“What time is it?”
“Six thirty.”
I immediately sat up.
“Six thirty?!”
Valerie laughed. “Relax. We have enough time.”
I looked at her suspiciously.
“Then why did you wake me up like the hostel was on fire?”
“Because I have news.”
I sighed and fell back on my pillow.
“If it's about prom, I'm going back to sleep.”
“It's not about prom.”
I looked at her.
“Then what?”
She smiled.
“We're having a freshers' welcome activity on Friday.”
“That was your big news?”
“Yes.”
I laughed. “Valerie, it's Tuesday.”
“So?”
“Why are you this excited about everything?”
“Because life is boring when you're not excited.”
Paige, who was already getting dressed, laughed.
“She has a point.”
Abby was quietly fixing her hair in front of the mirror.
Valerie turned to her.
“Abby, tell her.”
Abby smiled. “I think Valerie just likes having something to talk about.”
“Exactly!” Valerie said.
I shook my head.
“You people are too much.”
Valerie pointed at me.
“And you're too boring.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn't a compliment.”
“I know.”
We all laughed.
For a few minutes, the room was filled with random conversations about classes, teachers, clothes, and things that honestly didn't matter.
But somehow, I enjoyed it.
It felt normal.
Like I'd known them longer than a few days.
By the time we left the room, Valerie was still talking.
“I'm telling you, Mia, if they let us choose our own groups for the activity, I'm choosing you.”
“Why?”
“Because you're responsible.”
Paige looked at me.
“She just wants you to do all the work.”
Valerie gasped.
“I would never.”
Abby laughed softly.
I looked at them.
“You're all unbelievable.”
We continued down the hallway, still talking until we reached the point where we had to split up for our classes.
“See you later,” Paige said.
“Bye.”
Valerie and I headed toward our classroom together.
We had the same class that morning, and I was glad I wouldn't have to find my way around alone.
NOAH'S POV
I wasn't expecting to see her again so soon.
But there she was.
Mia.
The girl who had walked into my room two days ago and confidently asked if it was Room 96.
I still found that funny.
I was sitting at the back of the classroom when the teacher walked in and placed a pile of papers on her desk.
“Before we start today's lesson, we're going to do a short assignment.”
A few people groaned.
She ignored them.
“I'll be pairing you up.”
That got everyone's attention.
I looked around the classroom.
Honestly, I didn't care who I got paired with.
As long as they did their part.
The teacher started calling out names.
Then—
“Noah Blake and Mia Carter.”
I looked up.
Mia was sitting a few seats away.
She looked at the teacher, then at me.
The expression on her face told me everything.
She wasn't exactly thrilled.
I almost laughed.
She picked up her books and moved to the empty seat beside me.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi, Room 96.”
She gave me a look.
“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”
“Probably not.”
She sighed and opened her notebook.
“Can we just finish this?”
I smiled.
“Sure.”
The assignment wasn't difficult, but Mia took it seriously.
She kept checking her notes and making sure we were actually answering the questions instead of just writing whatever came to mind.
“You're very serious about this,” I said.
She looked at me.
“It's an assignment.”
“I know.”
“So?”
I shrugged.
“Nothing.”
She shook her head and continued writing.
For a few minutes, we worked quietly.
Then she pointed at one of the questions.
“I think this answer is wrong.”
“You think?”
“Yes.”
I looked at what she'd written.
She was right.
I corrected it.
She smiled slightly.
“See?”
“Don't get too excited.”
“I wasn't.”
“You looked excited.”
She rolled her eyes.
I laughed.
Maybe she wasn't as quiet as she seemed.
---
After class, I caught up with her outside.
“Mia.”
She turned around.
“What?”
“The assignment.”
“I know.”
“When are we finishing it?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Okay.”
She nodded.
Then she started walking away.
I watched her for a second before calling after her.
“Try not to walk into the wrong room today.”
She turned around.
“I hate you.”
“You barely know me.”
“Exactly.”
She walked away.
I laughed.
She was interesting.
Not because of anything special.
She just didn't seem to care about impressing anyone.
And somehow, that made talking to her easy.
I was about to turn around when I heard someone call my name.
I looked over.
One of my friends was standing nearby.
“What were you laughing about?”
“Nothing.”
He looked in the direction Mia had gone.
“Who was that?”
“Mia.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“The new girl?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded.
Then we walked toward our next class.
I didn't think much about it.
At least, not yet.
---
Mia
By the end of the day, I was exhausted.
I had survived classes, an assignment, and Valerie's constant questions about everything that happened during the day.
Apparently, being roommates meant I had to give a full report.
“So you got paired with Noah?” Valerie asked.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
I already knew where this was going.
“Interesting.”
“There's nothing interesting about it.”
Paige looked up from her book.
“She's right. It's just an assignment.”
“Exactly,” I said.
Valerie shrugged.
“Fine.”
Abby was sitting quietly on her bed.
She wasn't paying much attention to us.
I looked at her.
“You okay?”
She looked up.
“Yeah.”
She smiled.
“Just tired.”
I nodded.
That seemed reasonable.
I picked up my notebook and started going through the assignment.
A normal day.
Nothing strange.
Nothing exciting.
Just school.
For once, I thought maybe my semester was finally becoming normal.
Then Valerie looked at me.
“So, when is the prom again?”
I stared at her.
She laughed.
I shook my head.
“So much for normal.”
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