I just came up with this when I was laying in bed this morning. I don't know. Just a fun lil drabble.

Enjoy and keep smiling xoxo

BlueOleander123

Astrid scowled down at her physics assignment. She had fluffed about all weekend, putting off the inevitable. Procrastination was an art that she was skilled at, an art she had mastered. Now, here she was, the day before it was due, smashing it out like nobody knew how. She had taken the initiative of going to the library today. She found it so much less distracting to work there. She had settled herself down in the silent section, which was packed with other students cramming for their finals too.

All had been going well, a great amount of work was underway until he walked in.

She had lifted her head momentarily, to think through an equation. That was the moment when he walked through the glass doors at the entry of the silent section. Her head perked up— not at the sight of him, but at the sound of him.

She could hear it from where she sat almost 20 meters away.

He was making his way through the tables and chairs. His backpack was slung over his left shoulder and he lazily flicked a pencil between his fingers. He was tall, lanky, not particularly built, but he had sweet eyes that a puppy dog would be envious of. His hair was scruffy and all over the place, as if he'd just swung out of bed, and on top of it sat a pair of glaringly loud headphones.

How can anyone listen to music that loud?

It was getting louder as he weaved his way through the library towards her.

No, no. Please don't sit near me.

Please.

Astrid looked over the tables and noticed the only empty spot was the one across from her.

Damn.

Before she knew it, he was pulling out the chair in front of her and slumping into it. He bobbed his head slightly as he listened to his music. It was so loud, Astrid was practically listening to it too.

She rolled her eyes and looked back down at her work, trying to retrace her thoughts. She tapped her pencil on her lip and furrowed her eyebrows. She was stumped now. She couldn't think. All she could think about was this guys music, and how annoying it was. She glanced back up at him again. It was as if he was trying to be noisy. He unzipped his bag and pulled out a textbook, it got stuck though, so he rattled his bag around until it came loose. He must have had a tin of mints or something in there too because there was a twangy clatter as he did so. He thumped the book onto the table and started tapping his pencil on the edge of it as he tumultuously ruffled through the pages.

Could he be any more irritating?

Astrid, looked around at other people on her table. They hadn't even seemed to acknowledge his infuriating presence. She looked around her, no one even seemed to care.

This was a silent section for Gods sake! He was being so rude and inconsiderate.

Astrid sat and brooded, staring vexatiously into her book.

The worse part was, she knew the song. It was by the Killers, she couldn't remember the name but she knew all the words, so she could not ignore it. Part of her brain was automatically singing along to it, despite herself.

Ugh.

She tried to continue with her work. She started on another paragraph — a clean slate. Shoving her palm over her left ear, she continued to work. She got through a couple of paragraphs, and all was going well, when he sneezed. Loud and violently.

She rolled her head and looked up at him, glaring. She tried to breath normally, but her lungs were huffing her breaths out as she started to fume.

He didn't stop moving either. He tapped his fingers on the edge of the table, or flicked his pencil around his fingers. It was visually distracting as well as audibly. She clenched her teeth and looked back down to her work— lost again. She chewed on her pencil, shaking her head as if trying to shake sense into it.

He opened his book and started writing something.

Astrid froze.

She didn't think it was possible. How can he do this? How can he be even more maddening?

He had pulled out a felt tip pen, and was scrawling something across the page. Astrid cringed as it scratched the paper. It was as if each movement was a score through cardboard. It was so loud, she could hear him dotting his 'I's and crossing his 'T's. She then heard a clicking.

Clicking? What could he possibly be doing now?

She glanced up in time to see him turning up the volume of his headphones. The music was blaring out the sides of his head, so loud she could almost see it exploding from his ears.

Astrid threw down her pencil and pulled her note book toward her. Flipping through the pages until she found the middle and tore out a page.

She snatched up her pencil again and wrote in a neat hand:

— Sorry to be annoying, but could you please turn down your music?

Astrid folded the paper, creasing it down the middle and hesitated, before she slid the paper across to him assertively.

She looked back down to her work, not wanting to see his expression. Not wanting to meet his eyes, because even though she meant it, she was a little embarrassed.

She heard him pick up the paper and unfold it.

She expected him to just turn down the music and say nothing, but then she heard scratching of his felt tip pen.

Curiosity took her.

She peeked up and saw him writing a message back to her. He dotted his 'I' and crossed his 'T' and slid the note back to her. She looked at it questioningly. He made no move to turn his music down.

She picked up the note and turned it over in her hands. His messy scrawl wrote:

— no, i think i'll keep it like this. i like it

She wrinkled her nose as she read the last bit— glowering at the 'it' with its dotted 'I' and crossed 'T'.

She looked up at him, with a scrutinising 'Are you serious?' expression. He was studying her, watching her reaction. The corner of his mouth turned up with mirth. He raised his eyebrows, as if he were challenging her.

She took the challenge with vigour, pulling the scrap paper towards her and writing hastily:

— This is a silent section, so if you want to play your music, perhaps you should move elsewhere.

She passed it to him, his hand was held out, awaiting her reply. Astrid noticed the freckles dotted all over his forearm, even flecked on his fingers. She looked down at her book again, thinking that would be the end of it. Again, expecting the music to die down. But no. The note was passed back to her reading:

— hmm nah

Is this guy serious? This was beyond belief. She shot her gaze up at him and narrowed her eyes. She was testy now. She decided to change her tact:

— You know music that loud is not good for your ears.

Passing the paper to him, he started mouthing the words to a song in his ears. Bobbing his head back and forth. It was as if he was trying to bug her. She decided he probably was. She considered getting up and finding another spot.

But why should she have to leave? He was the problem! He should leave! Astrid was too proud and continued to work, ignoring him as he scribbled down a response. He scrunched the paper into a ball and tossed it to her, it hit her shoulder and fell in her lap.

Ugh. She nervously looked around to make sure she wasn't bothering anyone. No one seemed to have noticed the silent conversation between the two strangers. She unravelled the paper again and read:

— wow
you're so sweet. A stranger who cares for my health and safety

She rolled her eyes at the paper and looked up and shook her head incredulously at him. He was mocking her. He was having fun watching her battle against him.

twat.

She made a show of putting the paper down on the table and picking up her pencil and continuing to write in her book. She was going to be the bigger person and ignore him and his music. He was just immature and selfish. The headphones continued to blare, he made no move to turn them down. She felt her skin prickle. Behind her blonde bangs, she could feel him watching her. She tried to disregard this, but it was making her self conscious. She heard him loudly tear a page from his book and the scratching of his pen started up again.

Another scrunched up message hit her on the shoulder, reading:

— am i bothering you

She didn't look at him, she just wrote:

— Yes.

And handed it back.

The song of a band she liked started playing. Her brain started singing along to it again as she began her work again. She had to admit, it was not as distracting as she thought. She even liked his taste in music. The thing that bothered her though was that his disregard of the rules in the library and she always followed the rules. She had to find the music annoying, on principle.

The paper ball dropping on her book pulled her out of her thoughts. She took it in her fingers and pulled it open, yet again. How is this still going on?

It read:

— what are you studying

She couldn't believe this guy. He was so nosy and frustrating! So annoying! It even annoyed her that he never used any grammar in his notes. No commas, no question marks, no capital letters. He was lazy. Yet, somehow, his languorous nature mildly attracted her. She looked up at him and he was looking at her, cocking his head to the side, eyes floating from her book and notes, to her eyes. She couldn't help but be softened by his innocently cute, green, puppy eyes. She wet her lips and wrote:

— None of your business.

She passed it back to him and pursed her lips as he read it. He smiled at the note in his hands and leant back in his chair, ruffing up his hair at the back. She was happy with his reaction for some reason. She pulled her gaze back down to her notes and tried hard not to let the smile that was emerging from reaching her lips. His music continued to forcefully seep out from the headphones.

Another note from him wrote:

— i like your t-shirt

She glanced down at her t-shirt. It was a band tee that she had bought at an Oasis concert a few years back. It was black with the bands faces printed on it, 'Oasis' written below. She had been to a few of their concerts. She wrote nothing, but handed the note back anyway. She didn't have time for silent chit-chat.

He took the paper and wrote:

— Oasis is boss

Beside his message was an awkward drawing of a thumbs up. Astrid had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling. She did not want to give him the satisfaction. Again, she threw the note back to him, not rewarding him with a response. The paper landed in the middle of the table, exactly between the two of them.

There was about 5 minutes when no messages were sent. She continued to work, as did he. His tapping and pencil flicking ceased though, which she was thankful for. However the music played on. She didn't mind as much now she had gotten used to it. She was almost finished this assignment anyway. She could leave soon, and leave this frightful boy behind. She looked up at him through her strands of hair hanging over her eyes. He was holding his iPod, flicking through his playlist. His brows were low with concentration, pen hanging out of his mouth. The song he was playing stopped abruptly and after a moment of blissful silence, it was replaced by an Oasis song. It was one that they had opened a concert with one time— 'Turn Up The Sun'.

She blushed as he looked up and caught her eye. He smiled at her with laughing eyes and she noticed his white gappy teeth under his lips. She half shook her head but this time, she couldn't wipe the smile that was escaping her lips. Her reddened cheeks tightened and she bashfully looked back down to her paper. Unable to handle him anymore. She let her lips pull over her teeth and she let the smile out. She tried to cover it with the palm of her hand. But it was too late, he had won. What ever game he was playing with her. She had lost.

He reached out to the abandoned paper in the middle of the table and began writing, yet, another message. He slid it over boldly. It wrote (with perfect grammar, she noted):

— What are you doing after this?

She stared at the note. She could feel her neck warming up and her cheeks reddening even further. The Oasis song, still played in the background. She couldn't look up at him. She couldn't let those green puppy eyes sway her. She couldn't let this boy win this game he was playing.

— Turn your music down.

She slid it over to him, not even bothering to fold it. She held her fingers on the paper, so he could not reply. He read it upside down and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a crooked smile. He pulled out a highlighter and highlighted his note again between her unmoving fingers and pushed the note back towards her.

— What are you doing after this?

She focused her gaze on him, and he pinned her with his green eyes, holding her there. She took a breath and wet her lips before writing:

— Nothing.

She didn't want to sound like she was too keen, but also didn't want to sound uninterested because, despite how annoying he was, he was rather endearing and not to mention cute. She tried to look indifferent, but thought she might have been failing miserably, as her red cheeks probably gave her away.

He ruffed up his hair at the back as he read her reply. Then he pulled his headphones off and rested them around his neck.

"W-want to go grab a coffee or something then?" He suggested timidly. It seemed all his confidence and nerve had come easy because of the indirect nature of their communication. Now as he actually spoke, he sounded nervous and apprehensive. His voice was deep, yet with a nasal twang that pulled at her ears and her heart, it seemed. He spoke directly to her, not taking his eyes off her. A few people around them looked up as he spoke.

"Sure." Astrid replied out-loud. It seemed that actually speaking was a new, exciting 'twist' in their relationship because they both grinned stupidly at each other.

"Okay, give me another 10 minutes though." He said, nodding to his work in front of him.

"Me too." She agreed.

They both stuck their heads into their work. The silent notes were left on the table. Astrid listened as she heard a clicking of the headphones and she looked up to spot him turning the music down enough, that it was the faintest of hums. He peeked up at her and the corners of her mouth turned up.

She was sad she didn't get to hear the end of the Oasis song.