Let's Pretend It's Love

With her textbooks in hand, Elise made her way into the physics lab. She flipped on the light, brightening the dark room. She was the first one to arrive, but that was not unusual, as most of the students she tutored tended to be pretty late.

Placing her books on the round table in front of her, Elise sat in her usual chair, crossing her legs in front of her. She opened up her binder and turned to the lesson that had been taught that day. It was an entire chapter on the force of gravity. The material was simple for Elise, but it was the first chapter the intro class had on gravity, so she assumed she would have quite a few students come to her with questions.

After only a few moments, a student entered the room. Looking up, Elise found a boy with dark curly hair, whom she immediately recognized him from the Jamboree her sorority had held at the beginning of the year. She had bumped into Harry when she was dragging Ivy back to her room, but at the time, she hadn’t realized he was one of the physics students.

When Harry’s eyes fell on Elise, his face twisted in confusion.

“Sarah?” Harry asked. “I didn’t know you were my tutor.”

Elise paused for a moment, before remembering that she had, in fact, told Harry a fake name. There were two ways to go about fixing this. Elise could either tell Harry that she had lied, or play it off like he had made the mistake.

Taking a deep breath, Elise looked up at Harry. “It’s Elise, actually, but yes, I am your tutor.”

Harry shook his head, placing his hand against his face. “Sorry ‘bout that. I could’ve sworn you said your name was Sarah.”

“It’s okay. It’s an honest mistake.” Elise smiled. “You can have a seat.”

Nodding his head, Harry placed his books down on the table and took a seat next to Elise. His textbook was filled with sticky tabs pointing out of every end. He pulled a green tab, opening the book to that page.

“What can I help you with, Harry?” Elise asked.

Harry read quickly over the page, before pointing to an equation in the center. “This. I don’t get this. I mean, I get that gravity is going to make the ball bounce less high, but shouldn’t the momentum make it continue bouncing?”

Elise pulled a pen from the table, and drew a ball on a scrap piece of paper. Using the drawing, she explained to Harry that the ball was being affected by its momentum, but gravity was making it be affected less.

Once Harry fully understood the concept, Elise turned to him. “Is there anything else you need help with?”

Shaking his head, Harry shut his book. “I think that’s it.”

“Great, if you need help with anything else, feel free to stop by.”

Harry paused for a moment, holding his textbook in his hand. He bit his lip, before looking at Elise.

“Would you like to grab a cup of coffee?” Harry asked. “If you’re not too busy or anything.”

Harry’s big green eyes made Elise melt, and she wanted nothing more than to grab a cup of coffee with him, but when she opened her mouth to say yes, she thought only of the girl she had seen Harry in a lip-lock with the night of the party. That girl was just one of many whose heart Harry had broken.

Just a few days before, Elise had seen a girl crying in the library because Harry had broken things off with her. The word around campus was that Harry Styles was bad news.

“I’m sorry,” Elise said, looking down at the table. “I have to tutor until 6, and we’re having a movie night after that.”

Harry gave her a half-smile. “That’s alright. Maybe another time, then.”

Nodding her head, Elise smiled up at him. “Another time.”

Harry turned around and stepped out of the tutoring room, shutting the door behind him. The moment the door closed, Elise let out a deep sigh. Despite the fact that his dark curly hair and perfect green eyes sent her body floating, she was determined not to be another notch on Harry Styles’ bed post.

After nearly two more hours of students coming in and out of the tutoring center, Elise had finished her duties for the night, and packed up her things. With her large binder in hand, she walked out of the student center, and made the short walk back to the Zeta sorority house.

According to her clock, she was going to make it back just in time to start the Zeta girls’ movie night.

When she reached the Zeta house porch, she could hear Ivy’s loud laughter coming through the wooden door. With a quick twist of the knob, she opened the heavy door and found the girls lounging around the sofas, popcorn in hand. Lola and Emma sat comfortably on a blanket on the floor, while Rhianne and Ivy sat on separate sofas.

The girls flashed her smile when she walked through the door.

“We thought you’d never show,” Ivy said, throwing a bit of popcorn at Elise’s face.

Laughing, Elise swatted the popcorn away. “I just need to go upstairs and change, then we can get started!”

Elise hurried up the staircase, skipping a few of the steps. When she reached her and Ivy’s room, she threw her books on top of her desk. Grabbing a hair tie, she pulled her long hair back into a bun, and slipped on a pair of Zebra print pajamas. She quickly threw on an old Zeta shirt, and made her way back down the hallway.

When she hit the end of the hallway, she heard the loud laughter from below. She turned down the stairs and skipped down to the living room.

In the living room, seven boys of the Omega house stood in the doorway. Rhianne made her way over to them, jumping into Liam’s arms.

As the boys made their way into the living room, Elise stood in shock. She looked down at her tattered Zeta shirt and tacky zebra pants. Of course, the other girls were still wearing their normal clothes. They had obviously forgotten to let Elise in on the secret.

Before Elise had time to slip upstairs and change, Harry looked up at her, catching her eye. With a smile on his face, he spoke. “Elise, come down here and join the party.”