An Education

“The fans, uh, the fans are a little curious as to who your new beau is, Nathan.”

Nathan lets out a little laugh and clutches the provided microphone a little tightly. His eyes avert down to his sneakers as he tries to formulate a proper and maybe even vague answer to the interviewer’s statement.

“Yeah, well, she’s amazing. She’s, um… I sound like a proud mother when I say this, but she’s actually a really intelligent girl, like you can’t have a conversation with her without leaving and feeling like you learned something,” Nathan pauses to let out a small chuckle. “She’s cool.”

“If you don’t mind us asking, where did the both of you meet?”

“Just through mutual friends at some party,” he replies. And suddenly, Nathan’s eyes get a little glassy. “It was kind of like fate or something, because she isn’t the type of girl who partied a lot, you know? I mean, she was the complete opposite of me. She prefers staying up with a book and a spot of tea and I guess her being at that party was perfect. She’s perfect.”

Nathan appears shy and timidly looks up at the camera, where the interviewer is sitting behind. He offers a sheepish smile and then runs his hand over his face before a flush of red can be seen on his cheeks.

“You look like you really love her,” the interviewer remarks.

“Then there isn’t much else for me to say.”



Anna rolled over on her bed after she paused the Youtube video of Nathan’s interview for Shout magazine’s online exclusive segment. Whenever his schedule would get tight and she had to stay behind at uni because of, you know, education, then she could only entrust the internet to fulfill her lonely needs. And not in that way, for those that think progressively.

She let out a heavy sigh before picking up her phone to send her roommate a text. On the lockscreen of her new phone (and by new, it was actually pretty old because the iPhone 4S came out “centuries ago” as Nathan would never let her forget), she noticed that a number she couldn’t recognize had been calling her at least 4 times in the last hour or so. Prejudging that this probably wasn’t a wrong number, she called them back.

It rang for a few moments before the other line picked up.

“Hello?”

“Uh, yeah, hi,” Anna said hesitantly. “I’ve only rung you up because I noticed that you’ve left quite a bit of missed calls on my mobile.”

The person on the other line laughed and suddenly Anna feels like she’s been winded over by a freight train. She gripped her phone tightly, and then everything – every memory – seems to be gushing back to her. Like, the freight train wasn’t actually a freight train but a tsunami wave of memories and dreamscapes and what-if’s and what happened’s. She froze as the other person continued.

“Sorry, um, I was just wondering if this is Anna I’m speaking to? Anna Caldwell?”

Anna took the time to compose herself before she could answer him, but her words came out in stutters anyway.

“Y-yes. Th-this is sh-she.”

“Right,” the person chuckled. And Anna took in a breath before he goes on to say, “This is Louis – Louis Tomlinson.”

Anna can feel her heart starting to race and it doesn’t help when Louis sounds cheery and happy and his voice is still so beautiful in her ears.

“How did you get my number?” She asked. She hadn’t meant to sound so defensive; it was shock that was keeping her from sounding, well, happy.

“It’s funny, though,” Louis told her. He still sounds happy, like he’s just found a pot of gold and is now making a list of things he ought to buy with it. “One of my old mates from Eton actually goes to Pembroke, too. And when I mentioned that I used to date someone that goes there and I tell him who it is, he flips out.”

Anna’s heart can’t contain itself. She sat up and tucked her feet under her in excitement. Or something. The girl he used to date. The girl he used to date. It’s supposed to make her feel a little bit disappointed because he’s gone and said “date” and not “love” or “unconditionally devoted to”, but it’s a start. And the way Louis goes on to explain how he’s got her number is actually… comforting. Like they were just picking up a conversation they had yesterday.

“And, mind you, he’s flipping out because he knows you, too, what with going to a big school and all. It’d be hard to know people around a big school. He’s actually in your Social Psychology class. He’s, uh, Liam Payne.”

There’s no way Anna can stop her heart from beating even more quickly. To be fair, she didn’t give two shits about Liam Payne, even if she saw him every Monday and Tuesday morning at their Social Psychology lecture. And it’s no help when her 13 year old sister, Mary, asks about him every time she’s home for a holiday, because how was she supposed to care about “that guy from One Direction” when they’ve got a bloody quiz to try to study for? But now that Louis is friends with the ¼ of the UK’s biggest boy band, then maybe that’ll give her leverage. And it’s also nice to know that Liam Payne knows her name.

But still, back to the fact that Louis Tomlinson – of all the people she has met and has made an imprint on her life – has called her out of the blue. Why? She wonders this out loud.

Louis’s tone suddenly grows hesitant and Anna now knew she had hit the awkward button. It’s definitely an uncomfortable question, what with nearly 2 years since they’ve last spoken to each other, but it’s still a question that needed to be asked.

“I, uh, just wanted to see how you’re doing and all…” His voice trailed off. If he was trying to hide the unease in his voice, then he was doing a good job. But Anna’s known long enough to know that he was only trying to find the right words.

“That’s… Thank you,” Anna replied. There’s a bout of silence and Anna bit into her pinkie nail.

“Right, um. Actually, I called because I wanted to also ask if you wanted to go out for a spot of tea with me. To, you know, catch up. I guess.”

Anna can sense the nervousness in Louis’s voice and she knows that she and his father are the only two people who are able to bring that out of him.

“Oh, of course, sure,” she said, a little too hurriedly. “I mean, yeah, that’d be a good idea.”

“Great,” Louis breathed out. Anna can hear his sigh over the phone. “Maybe we can meet up at that tiny coffee shop near W6? For old times’ sake, yeah?”

Anna looked up at the clock. She’s not looking for the time because her mind’s actually processing the distance between her residence hall in Cambridge to the coffee shop in Islington where they both used to frequent as teenagers. She’d have to take the train and Nathan will definitely wonder why she was in London all of a sudden.

And then it hits her. Nathan.

Right. She’s got a boyfriend – an adorable, beautiful, talented, horrible dancer – boyfriend.

She shook her head. “When?”

“Um, tomorrow looks good. What say you?”

“I haven’t any classes in the afternoon, so yeah. I’m fine with that.”

“Brilliant,” Louis remarked, apparently victoriously. “Say around 3pm.”

“Around 3pm is lovely.”

“Brilliant,” he said again and this time, Anna can’t help but smile. This is the same Louis she’s known from two years back.

After bidding their goodbye’s and hanging up, Anna reverted back to her laptop to continue the theory paper she’s had due for an anthropology class. It almost surprised her to see Nathan’s face on a paused Youtube video, before she quickly realized that she was watching his interviews online to ease her loneliness right before Louis called. She looked down at her phone.

Louis Tomlinson is back.