Faerie Dust.

Aurora had not slept for three days. She was running on energy shots and thirty-minute naps throughout the day. Her bedroom was scattered with empty cans and papers and textbooks. Her first final, History of the Early Middle Ages, was in a day and Aurora was close to snapping. It did not help that there were five boys in her house who felt the need to run around the house playing ridiculous games as if they were nine rather than nineteen.

“Aurora, dinner is being served in an hour. I think you should come down and actually eat a meal that doesn’t include coffee or granola bars,” Judith said to the girl who had her head shoved inside her thick history textbook.

Aurora looked up and Judith pitied the girl. She looked like a complete mess.

“Judith, I have just a few more chapter left. I’ll eat something later.”

“No, it is my job to take care of you. Close that book, take a shower, get dressed and come downstairs. Two hours will do no harm.”

“But…”

“No, this is not up for discussion.” Judith said before leaving the room. The poor girl needed to relax before she gave herself a heart attack.

Aurora huffed in frustration before going into the bathroom. After a quick shower, she dressed herself in grey leggings and an oversized pullover. Her hair was blow-dried and put into a messy bun atop her head. Make up was unnecessary because she was having dinner not hosting a formal. She walked down to the dining hall with a smile on her face. Judith had been right; a shower would make her feel a lot better.

In the dining hall, Aurora seated herself at the end of he table, placing as much distance between her and her father as possible. As the boys piled into the room and took their seats, Aurora was left sitting with the Irish one.

Dinner began and Aurora tuned out everyone and everything as she ate. Her father was asking the boys about their adventures in the city and the boys were thanking her father for letting them stay in his beautiful home. Aurora was eating quickly because the faster she ate, the faster she would be able to excuse herself and get back to studying.

“Aurora,” her father repeated for the third time, snapping Aurora from her mental recitation of the highlights of each crusade.

“Yes?”

“Niall here was asking you a question.” Jonathon said as he shot Aurora a pointed look.

“Was he?” Turning to Niall, Aurora said, “What exactly was your question?”

“Well, we were just wondering what exactly you’ve been doing cooped up in your room. You rarely leave and if you do it’s to get coffee.”

“Well, Niall and four other British boys, there’s this mystical place called college. At college, they administer the mythical finals. I am studying for my finals by locking myself in my room and turning my bathtub into a meth lab. You wouldn’t know since you all never went to college.”

“Aurora!” Jonathon scolded. “Apologize.”

“I apologize for stating the obvious. I will now proceed to head to my room and continue my studying. Good day.” Aurora said before getting up.

“No, you will do no such thing. Dinner is not over and therefore, you shall not be excused.” Jonathon said as he fumed on the inside.

“If you insist.” Aurora said with a shrug of her shoulders. Keeping her here longer than she wanted to be would merely make her even more angry and rude and cranky.

“Aurora, how many finals do you have to take?” The one with the curly-haired kid asked.

“Well, boy with a mop on his head, I’m taking six, British Literature, chemistry, history, psychology, calculus 2 and introduction to classical composition.”

Niall laughed at the girl’s response. “His name’s Harry.”

“Gee, thank you for telling me, Irish boy.”

“My name’s Niall.”

“Like the river in Egypt? What an odd name.”

The boys laughed. Despite Aurora’s need to be rude she was funny. Her cynicism and sarcasm were humorous. Dinner continued with Aurora throwing insults and everyone laughing at them. It grew frustrating, knowing she was not offending them.

As everyone stood up to leave, Aurora rushed out of the room and headed back to her room. Upon walking in, Aurora saw the disaster her room had become. There was trash and papers all over the floor. Aurora sighed. Now that she had seen the mess, she would not be able to work in this room unless it was clean. Taking a deep breath, Aurora spent the next hour cleaning her room. There were about eleven venti iced coffee containers from Starbucks, a dozen or so energy drink cans, and lord knows how many granola bar wrappers. Aurora lined her trash outside of her room and returned to her studying.

The following day, Aurora picked her head up from her textbook and looked at the clock. It was eight in the morning and her exam was at nine. Aurora quickly gathered her belonging and ran out to hail a taxi. Narrowly making the exam, Aurora cursed at herself as she began the multiple-choice portion of the exam.

Charlemagne’s reign last from ____ to ____ with the assistance of the ______.

Aurora left the exam room and exhaled in relief. The entire test was a blur but Aurora was glad it was over. She stopped by the Starbucks near her house to get a few shots of espresso only to be met by the Irish boy.

“Aurora, how was your exam?”

“It was alright. Overslept and now I have some more studying to do.”

“Why don’t you take a break and come sit with me?”

“Listen, Irish kid, I’d rather not.”

“Come on love, you need some time that doesn’t involve studying.”

Aurora glared at the boy and thought of dropping her coffee on him. However, something stopped her inner arse and she sat down in the crowded coffee shop filled with people who did not have the time of day for anyone else. It was in that coffee shop that the two people who should never have started anything together started everything together.