Fish Bowl.

“Alright, fuckers,”

Effy used to wonder how all the campus radio DJs got away with cursing so much on air. But then she realized that no one with any real authority actually listened to campus radio.

“As much as I’d love to stay here and play some tunes for you guys, it is the first day of classes and I do have a few to get to myself.”

“Why in God’s name do we listen to this every morning?” Effy huffs as she storms into Zayn’s room, ignoring whatever that idiot on the radio is saying because really. He’s an idiot. A deep groan comes from the boy buried under a mountain of blankets before a muffled,

“He plays some good stuff sometimes,” works its way to Effy’s ears. As if on cue, the idiot stops talking and the radio transitions into High For This and Zayn raises a hand from the blankets in the shape of a gun and shoots it off as if to say ‘this is what I’m talking about.’ Which, whatever. Zayn can think whatever he wants, the morning show is shit.

“Whatever, are you going to class?” The girl rolls her eyes and moves across the room to a desk, where she finds a grey beanie and quickly pulls it onto her head. By now Zayn has somewhat risen from his cocoon so Effy doesn’t miss the small glare he sends her for the headgear, but she ignores it.

“Yeah, I’ll get there. Probably just gonna be late.”

“Z, it’s the first day.”

“Right, so better let them know what to expect, yeah?” He’s got this lopsided grin on his face and if Effy had half a mind she’d cross the room and kiss it right off him. But she’ll be late for class if she makes time for that, so with a resolute sigh she blows him a kiss and then scurries out of the apartment.

Effy opts out of taking the elevator, instead taking the stairs for all six floors because even though it’s the first day of summer vacation being over, she’s in a good mood. And she’s not about to let a few classes dampen her spirits. Especially not when she’s greeted just outside her building by the smiling face of Louis, two coffees in hand.

“Agh, my little savior!” Effy cheers as she practically skips to him and places a quick kiss on his cheek before accepting her coffee.

“Morning, babe,” Louis comes back with a chuckle and a small kiss of his own before they fall into step toward campus. “So how were your summer hols? Still like living with Zayn?” And Effy just laughs because Louis’ been trying to get her to change her mind since she and Zayn first came up with the idea of getting an apartment together.

“Yeah, Lou, I still like it. Sorry, babe!”

“Yeah, yeah. Well, if you ever need a change of scenery, you’re more than welcome at my place.” So yeah, Louis has a thing for Effy, and Effy is disgustingly oblivious. “Anything interesting happen while you were busy without me?”

“Oh, shut up, I came and stayed with you and your family for two weeks! But don’t worry, there was nothing too exciting. Zayn tried to get me to have a threesome with him and some chick, but that’s about it,” Effy scoffs before taking a sip of her coffee.

“Was she fit?”

“Yeah, she was alright.”

“So did you do it? Because let’s be honest, you’re fit as hell and I think I would switch teams for Zayn.” And Effy giggles and Louis giggles and they bump shoulders, but Effy just shakes her head.

“I had to decline. That would just be too weird, y’know?”

“No, I really don’t. You really need to explain to me how you two are best friends and you’ve never hooked up. You are into guys, right?”

“Yes, I’m into guys! It’s just- idunno, it’s me and Zayn.”

Effy met Zayn on Tumblr when she was seventeen and still living in the United States. Neither of them really remember who found who or who started a conversation, but they do know that it only took them a couple weeks to become friends. Naturally, Effy was in love with him the second she laid eyes on him, but after a month or so, she decided things were really more platonic. And that was okay, because Zayn was probably one of the best people to be friends with.

Now, Effy had always had an affinity for England and she knew from when she was about six that she was going to live there. So it didn’t take much convincing from Zayn for her to send a few applications to schools overseas. They promised each other they wouldn’t say where they were going until they’d both decided though, so that neither of them would be swayed. As it would turn out, they picked the same smaller university.

Skip through Freshman year because it was a blur of drinking too much, hanging out with Zayn as much as she could, and meeting Louis. Skip through Sophomore year because it was a blur of drinking too much, hanging out with Zayn and Louis as much as she could, and meeting Niall. As Sophomore year starts winding down, everyone decided that they didn’t want to be living in the dorms anymore. Especially not when there were a couple apartment buildings surrounding campus that were mostly inhabited by students. So Zayn suggested that he and Effy get a place together. And Effy agreed in a heartbeat.

Louis and Effy are just about to be passing the building where the radio station is held, and Effy almost bites her tongue as she sees the idiot himself strutting through the doors, his best friend and lapdog, Liam, in tow. She almost doesn’t say anything, she really tries, but.

“Morning, Styles!” She calls over to him, feigned cheer in her voice, and she even waves a hand through the air. The idiot rolls his eyes and starts mumbling something to Liam. Effy expects him not to say anything and so does Louis, but just as they're about to cross paths, Liam jabs the idiot in the ribs with his elbow and he releases a mix of a gasp and a groan.

“Morning, McDermott,” he mutters, his eyes reaching hers for just a second.

“I see they’re still letting you play that shit you call music then?” He and Liam are already walking away, but Harry turns his head back long enough to call,

“I see no one’s put you in a clinic yet? You’re a hazard to the campus!”

“You know I love it when you talk dirty to me!” And at that Harry does turn around, but only to glare and then spit out,

“You’re psychotic.” And then he and Liam are continuing away and Louis is breaking down into a laughing fit.

“That’s incredible,” Louis gasps out, clutching his stomach with his free hand and Effy can’t help but smirk as she gives a small shrug. As much as she thinks Harry’s an idiot, she loves the banter.

But Effy can’t be bothered with Harry Styles anymore because they’re at the quad now and that’s where they see Niall leaning against a tree, some busty blonde girl practically attacking his mouth. He looks uncomfortable though, and it’s like he senses his friends nearby because his eyes fling open and he’s quick to give Effy a pleading look. Effy sighs.

This isn’t anything new for them. Niall likes to have a lot of meaningless sex and well, some girls don’t really get that. So it’s become Effy’s job to get rid of the clingers. It’s not her favorite thing to do, but Niall’s become a good friend, so. With another sigh, Effy’s leaving Louis’ side and stomping over to the blondes.

“What the fuck is this, Niall?” And Effy swears she’s never seen anyone move as fast as that girl. Her eyes are wide and fearful and Niall’s gotten so good at this that Effy almost believes the panicked look he gives her.

“Babe, I can explain-“ But Effy holds a hand up to silence him.

“Who the hell are you?” She barks at the girl, and unfortunately for Effy, this one’s got an attitude.

“I’m Melissa, who the fuck are you?”

“I’m his girlfriend.”

“Yeah? Well we had sex three times this weekend.” And Effy almost tosses her coffee at the girl simply for the smirk she’s donning. But she takes a deep breath, tries not to roll her eyes, and goes to continue.

“Babe, really, I can-“

“I’ll deal with you in a minute, Niall,” Effy cuts him off, and then she’s turning to the girl again.

“You look kinda young, sweetie. Are you a freshman?” And the girl nods, her confidence visibly diminishing. “Right. Well, I’m sure you didn’t know any better. Niall likes to talk a good game. And I’m sure you’re a really sweet girl.” The blonde’s starting to smile again, thinking that she’s about to be let off the hook. And Effy’s almost smiling too, but then she reigns it in and fixes the girl with an icy stare. “But I won’t hesitate in telling everyone on campus what a home wrecking whore you are unless you stay away from him, got it?” Blondie barely nods before hightailing it away from them and darting into the first building she comes upon. With the coast clear, Niall tosses an arm around Effy’s shoulders and smacks a sloppy kiss to her cheek, ignoring the gagging sounds she’s making.

“Thanks a bunch, ‘Merica,” he croons, snagging her cup of coffee and taking a large gulp.

“Anything for you, my little leprechaun.” And Nialls busts out one of his infamous belly laughs.

“Think you were a little harsh with that one though, no?” But Effy just shugs.

“Eh, it’s early and I’m tired,” she mutters as she snatches her cup back.

“Oi, where’s mine then, Tommo?” Niall crows, knowing full well that Louis was the one who supplied the coffee.

“Sorry, mate,” Louis shrugs, “Only have two hands.” And Niall just grumbles to himself because he knows that even if Louis had eight hands, he’d buy one coffee for himself and seven for Effy.

“Alright, kittens. I’ve got to get to Advertising,” Effy states as she blows out a low puff of air. They’re coming up to the Arts building, which is where all of Effy’s fashion classes are. Unfortunately, neither Louis nor Niall are studying Fashion or Art, so she has to leave them behind. “Lou, I’ll see you in Stat though, yeah?” And Louis nods with a bright grin because by some luck the two of them are in the same Statistics class. Well, Effy thinks it’s luck. Louis refuses to admit that he logged into her account to see which professor she had and then registered for the same time slot. The luck excuse works just fine for him.

So Effy places a quick kiss on both of their cheeks before stealing her coffee back from Niall again. “Stay out of trouble, Lewis!” She chirps as she breaks away from the two, and then calls over her shoulder for good measure, “And stay out of Freshman, Niall!”