Ava pov
Morning came way too fast, like the universe was personally trying to humiliate me. My alarm blared at 6:30 a.m., and I immediately realized two things:
1. I had no idea how to make my bed without accidentally suffocating myself in the sheets.
2. Mia was already doing yoga in the middle of the room like a human pretzel, muttering about "morning energy."
I quietly packed my things for our first lecture while kate and Emily barged in through the hallway door. They'd clearly had their own adventure — kate had gotten locked out of the room (classic) and Emily had spilled half her cereal on the floor in a panic about being late.
By the time we met outside our dorm, we looked like a walking disaster squad. Hair everywhere, mismatched socks, backpacks hanging like we were carrying entire libraries. But, of course, we still insisted on taking a "first day selfie" .
Finding the lecture hall was another adventure. The campus map might as well have been in hieroglyphics. Emily led the way, confidently taking every wrong turn possible. Kate insisted we clearly needed coffee first, and emma just as usual studying.
I thought my morning couldn't get any worse after the cereal apocalypse, fountain incident, and surviving Mia's yoga circus. Then I walked into the student lounge and immediately wished I could disappear.
He was tall, annoyingly good-looking with dark blue eyes,sharp features, and had this infuriatingly confident aura — the kind of guy who looks like he owns the entire campus just by blinking. He wasn't alone; a guyof same height i think 6'f ,with messy hair, probably his friend, waved at him. "Axel! Over here!" the guy called.
I thought I had mastered the art of adulting—coffee in hand, backpack slung over one shoulder, looking like I had my life together. And then I walked into the campus café… straight into a disaster waiting to happen.
Axel was at the counter, leaning against it with a calm that screamed I am the center of the universe, waiting for his complicated, ridiculously specific coffee order. Luca was beside him, trying not to grin.
I was juggling my own triple-shot caramel latte disaster when I tripped over someone else's abandoned backpack—naturally—and my coffee went flying.
It hit him.
Right. On. His. Shirt.
"Oh my god!" I shrieked, mortified, as Axel whipped around, eyes blazing. "Are you seriously—?!"
"I-I'm so sorry!" I stammered, fumbling for napkins. "I didn't—"
"You didn't what? See me? Avoid raining caffeine on strangers?" His voice was sharp, but not without a hint of disbelief.
Luca couldn't hold it in anymore. He burst out laughing, leaning on the counter like this was the best show he'd ever seen.
"I—" I tried again, but Axel cut me off. "Do you always attack strangers in cafés, or am I just lucky?"
I opened my mouth to reply and realized I had nothing witty. Nothing. I was officially defeated.
Then, with a groan, he grabbed a stack of napkins and started patting his shirt dry. "Great," he muttered.
"I swear I'll pay for cleaning!" I blurted, desperate. "I'll—"
"Relax," he said, finally looking at me. "Not everyone can ruin my day this efficiently. You… might have potential."
Just when I thought I might survive the café disaster, Axel stood up, gave me one last smirk — that maddening, "I-own-this-campus" smirk — and left.
I tried to convince myself it was a good thing. No more coffee threats, no more teasing… no more distractions. My heart, however, disagreed, doing its own dramatic gymnastics.
Fast forward an hour later, and fate clearly hadn't gotten the memo about me needing a peaceful day. I walked into my first law lecture, notebook in hand, and froze.
There he was. Axel. Middle row, casually flipping through his notes, looking like he'd just stepped out of a magazine spread for "Most Infuriatingly Attractive Campus Students."
I scanned the room. Every other seat taken. My stomach sank.
"Of course," I muttered.
And then… the universe laughed. The only empty seat? Right next to him.
I swallowed, trying to act casual, and slid into the chair. Axel glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
"You're really persistent, you know that?" he murmured, leaning back in his chair, one arm draped casually over the back.
"I prefer resourceful," I shot back, pretending to write notes while secretly trying not to notice how ridiculously perfect his posture was.
He snorted. "Resourceful? That sounds like a polite way of saying clumsy disaster waiting to happen."
"Better than smug, condescending know-it-all," I muttered under my breath.
His eyes flicked up, sharp. "Excuse me?"
I blinked. "Uh… nothing. Just… thinking out loud."
"You've got a weird sense of humor," he said, leaning closer, voice low. "Or maybe it's just dangerous. Either way… interesting."
I wanted to glare, but somehow his voice made my fingers freeze on my pen. "Interesting? That's what you call me?"
"Yes," he said, tilting his head. "Interesting. Annoying, infuriating . All at once."
I glared.
He smirked.
The professor droned on about tort law, but I wasn't really listening. Axel, on the other hand, was scribbling notes with that infuriating focus that made me want to throw my pen at him… and maybe myself.
"So," he said suddenly, breaking the silence. "You always trip over things and ruin people's coffee before 10 a.m., or is that just special treatment for me?"
I bit back a laugh. "You're lucky it wasn't your laptop. Or you'd be crying somewhere in the corner right now."
"I'd rather cry than admit I kind of… like your chaos," he muttered, almost too quietly.
I choked on my water. "What?"
"Nothing," he said quickly, glancing away
I narrowed my eyes, trying not to smile.