Chapter Text
The clock on the wall ticked in perfect rhythm with Nina’s bouncing leg. She should have been paying attention in her French class, but her mind was drifting as usual. She willed the time to move faster, as if she glared hard enough the hands of the clock would bend to her will. With only 15 minutes left of class, Nina would have to practically jog back to her apartment to make it home by 7pm.
Nina discreetly pulled out her phone, pretending to nod along with her professor and their discussion on French poetry. She sent a quick text to her roommate, and best friend, Inej.
Don’t start without me! And you better have picked up popcorn.
The response was almost immediate, and Nina could feel Inej’s chastising look through the phone.
Pay attention in class!
Nina rolled her eyes but not before a second text popped up: Of course I got the popcorn, who do you think I am?
She smiled to herself and pocketed her phone, trying to focus on the last bit of the lesson. The season finale of Love Island was airing that night, and though Nina recognized that there were far better things to watch, reality shows were a guilty pleasure. It took a lot of convincing, and promises to clean the apartment by herself for a month, to get Inej to watch with her. Nina shrieked in delight when Inej had finally agreed and despite Inej’s protests, Nina could tell she was enjoying the show too.
Nina had been lucky enough to be placed with Inej as her roommate her first year at university and they’ve been inseparable ever since. It took a bit of time at first to get used to each other - Nina was loud where Inej was reserved, sarcastic where Inej was sincere. But their friendship worked, and there was nothing they wouldn’t do for each other. Even in their third year at university, Nina studying Linguistics and Inej Medical Physiology, they hadn’t tired of each other.
“Classe ajournée!"
Madame Perez, Nina’s French professor, brought her back to reality when she realized class was over. Nina threw her notebook into her backpack before booking it out of the lecture hall, gently pushing her way past her classmates to the door. What was normally a 25 minute walk back to her apartment became 15 as Nina slung her backpack over her shoulders and broke out into a jog.
The doors to the apartment building came into view as Nina pulled her keycard out of her pocket, flashing it toward the censor before pushing the doors open. The elevator would be too slow, so Nina raced to the stairs, climbing up three flights. Out of breath and sweat trickling down her forehead, she threw the door open and ran straight into a wall. Or, at least, Nina thought it was a wall. It sure did feel like a wall, hard and unmoving, but she heard an oof and felt the steady rise and fall of someone’s chest.
Nina stumbled back, catching herself on the doorframe to avoid falling. She looked up at the supposed wall, which turned out to be a human man, his hulking figure staring at her in annoyance.
“Watch where you’re going,” he growled under his breath before pushing past her and heading down the stairs. He had a thick accent, Scandinavian sounding. Nina went to make a snarky retort back, but the man was long gone. He didn’t even apologize , Nina thought as she practically flew down the hallway, jamming her key into the lock and pushing the door open. Inej, who was perched on the couch, jumped at the clammer.
“Two minutes to spare, perfect timing.” Inej smiled.
Nina threw her backpack and jacket in a crumpled heap on the floor and plopped down onto the couch next to Inej, dunking her hand into the popcorn bowl that was waiting for her.
“Can you believe it, some asshole just rammed into me in the hallway!” Nina let out a frustrated sigh before wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Do you want me to fight him for you?” Inej asked as she turned on the television. Her dagger earrings flashed in the light. Nina reached out a hand and lightly tugged on one.
“Yeah with these?” she chuckled.
Inej rolled her eyes, slapping Nina’s hand away, and the two turned their attention to the show, Nina momentarily forgetting her lingering rage at the stranger who was more like a brick wall than a man.
Nina woke up the next morning to the sound of her alarm wailing in her ear. She and Inej had stayed up far too late after Love Island ended, and it felt as if Nina had just fallen asleep. She aimlessly reached out to find her phone, ready to hit snooze and fall back asleep, but sat up in a hurry when she realized what time it was. The time on her phone read 9:30am, and even though it was a Saturday, Nina had slept in too long.
She shot out of bed, frantically tugging on black leggings and an oversized graphic t-shirt with an image of a bird surrounded by flowers on it. There was a soft knock at her door before it slowly creaked open, revealing Inej waiting with a travel mug of coffee.
“You’re late...again.” Inej offered Nina the mug before crossing her arms.
“Well someone didn’t check to see if I was awake!” Nina chugged the coffee, cringing at her now burnt tongue before setting the mug down and lacing her trainers.
Inej shrugged as she gathered her hair into a tightly coiled braid at the base of her neck. “I brought you coffee, isn’t that good enough?”
Nina couldn’t help but smile. Standing up, she grabbed the mug and placed a kiss on the top of Inej’s head. “Thank you my dearest. What would I ever do without you?”
“C’mon, I’ll drop you off at rehearsal.” Inej linked her arm through Nina’s and pulled her toward the door, grabbing her keys off the hook as Nina snatched her bag up from where it lay crumpled from the night before.
The ride back to campus was quick, especially with Inej driving - she seemed to know every shortcut in the city. Pulling to a stop in front of the theatre, Inej waved Nina off and continued on her way to teach her weekly acrobatics lesson while Nina rehearsed for the drama department’s play.
Though Nina was not a Drama major, the department allowed auditions for anyone interested in participating in the semester’s shows as a way to boost attendance. Nina had a thrill for the dramatic, drawn to the glittering stage lights and crowds hungry to divulge in fantasy. She loved stepping into a character’s shoes, completely engulfing herself in the role she was undertaking. That, and she had met some of her closest and most loyal friends through the Drama department.
Nina skipped up the steps, relishing in the sweep of cool air that met her as she pushed open the theatre doors. It was a relatively large theatre for a university, with intricate Baroque art and archways overhead. She made her way down the aisle, dragging her hand along the velveted seats, stopping in front of the orchestra pit, peeking her head over the rails. She gave a quick wave at Wylan, who was practicing a riff on his flute and received a quick nod in return.
Turning away, she tossed her backpack into one of the front seats and pulled her script out as the other actors filed in.
“Did you even brush your hair this morning?”
Jesper Fahey stood before Nina, hands on his hips, a smirk lingering at the corners of his mouth. Nina threw her script down, running a cautious hand through her loose waves.
“Did you shower this morning, because you reek of alcohol,” Nina barked back, raising an eyebrow at Jesper’s disheveled appearance.
Jesper rolled his eyes before collapsing down next to Nina. The two had met their first year of school in the hallway ahead of an audition for that semester’s play. They’d both been fighting off nerves, despite Nina’s aura of confidence, and started chatting to calm each other down. Since then, they've done every production together and even made friends with the red-headed flutist Wylan Van Eck.
“Kaz was brooding last night, as usual, so I brought out the drinks to loosen him up a bit,” Jesper grinned.
Nina didn’t know how Jesper managed to live with Kaz Brekker, but somehow they made it work. Kaz was cold and calculating on the outside but Nina knew there was more to him underneath his stoic appearance. Jesper, on the other hand, was always looking for an adventure, practically bouncing off the walls if he had to sit still for more than ten minutes.
An unlikely crew of friends blossomed between Nina, Inej, Kaz, Jesper and Wylan after that first year. Despite their different personalities and interests, they were bound together by this newfound sense of loyalty and found comfort in each others’ presence.
Reaching her hand into her back, Nina offered Jesper a piece of gum. “Well next time at least brush your teeth, you reek of vodka.” Jesper cursed himself under his breath and shoved two pieces of gum in his mouth
“What,” Nina chidded, “planning on talking to a special someone later?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him, nodding in the direction of Wylan who was too busy scribbling on his sheet music to notice the heat creeping up into Jesper’s cheeks. Nina did her best to stifle a giggle and pinched his cheeks.
Before he had a chance to reply, their director Mr. Davis made his way onto stage to call the actors up to start their rehearsal.
“Just to note, the tech crew will be coming in and out of the theatre during today’s rehearsals to start moving the props backstage. Don’t let this distract you, we are running out of time before we open, so let’s keep the focus on the art, shall we?” Mr. Davis clapped his hands together and stepped into the pit to watch the scene begin.
Nina took her place on stage, discarding her script to the wings. She rolled her shoulders back, standing up straighter and getting herself into character. Mr. Davis nodded to the actors, indicating they were ready to start. They began blocking through the scene, Nina fully entranced in the dialogue. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye as the tech crew came down the isles carrying boxes of props.
She stopped dead in her tracks, confusing the other actors, when she noticed one, ridiculously large man carrying multiple boxes on his own without assistance. Him. The brick wall who was not in fact a wall, the one who ever so rudely ran into Nina in the hallway of her apartment, was now standing in the aisles staring back at her.
You’ve got to be kidding me
. Nina hoped he could feel the daggers she glared into his back as he hurried down the aisle and exited to the backstage loading zone.