A Girl In A Million

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Liam curses as he sits down next to Elsa. He has a woolen scarf wrapped around his neck and is wearing a thick coat. His hands must be cold because, he starts to rub them together.

Elsa hasn’t taken off her coat either because it is cold inside the lecture hall. Like every day, the heat is turned off to save energy, but unlike most days, it’s cold outside, and the winter wind has found its way into the university.

It’s because of the oil crisis. Saudi Arabia has become too greedy, and as a result, the whole of Europe has to save the energy they can afford to buy. Five day work weeks have become three-day work weeks, and there’s also a curfew on the use of the lights. Even Elsa’s parents have to make do with candle light at night. Elsa doesn’t mind it too much, since it makes dinner time cozier - even when she eats by herself.

But she does mind the heater being switched off for one reason: how will she be able to concentrate on what the teacher is telling her when she can’t stop shivering from the cold? Her notes are filled with lines of when her hand was shaking too much due to the cold.

“You’d better get used to it,” Elsa teases as she turns towards her friend. Liam’s eyes are on where he’s writing down the date on the piece of paper lying in front of him. “It’s autumn, remember, the cold will only get worse. Good morning, by the way.”

“Good morning to you, too,” Liam mutters. He writes down the last number ‘1973’ and turns towards Elsa. He doesn’t look very happy, so Elsa sticks out her tongue, hoping it will make her friend laugh. It doesn’t work, however; Liam just shakes his head and raises an eyebrow at Elsa. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to make you laugh, maybe it’ll warm you up,” Elsa reason as she retracts her tongue back into her mouth.

“Well, it’s not really funny. It only makes you look silly,” Liam replies.

“We have been friends long enough for you to know how to make me laugh, I’m a bit disappointed in you.”

“Well, me acting silly usually works,” Elsa protests. “It’s not my fault you’ve suddenly developed a whole new kind of humor overnight.”

“I still have the same kind of humor, Els. You’re just not funny anymore,” Liam tells Elsa as he shrugs his shoulder. His mouth folds into a teasing smirk as he adds, “You should try harder.”

Elsa doesn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she once again sticks her tongue out at Liam and tells him, “You’re going to have to find another way to keep warm, then, or get used to freezing your balls off.”

Cursing is one of the things she only does with Liam. Elsa’s mother doesn’t like it when girls curse, according to her, it’s unbecoming of a lady to do so. Elsa personally doesn’t have a problem with it. It’s liberating to curse. Liam shares the same opinion, though he had been surprised when Elsa started using swear words for the first time.

“Oh, I can warm myself up, I don’t need your help for that,” Liam tells Elsa, his chin held upwards defiantly. He starts to rub his arms with his own hands. “I’m going to be warm before you know it.”

Elsa follows Liam’s example as she sees that his shivering starts to slow down. The part of her arm she’s rubbing starts to slowly warm up, and a few second later, the heat spreads throughout the rest of her arm and down her body. When her whole body has become warm again, she stops with rubbing and lays her arms down on the table.

“I’m going to need to remember that one,” Elsa observes.

Liam looks at her with a smug smile. “Told you I could warm myself up.”

“Well, you’re not going to have any problems this winter, then.” Elsa grins back at Liam. “Good for you.”

It is times like these, when she’s joking with Liam and is able to be herself, Elsa realizes how lucky she is to have a friend like him. They come from the same background and have the same kind of problems that come along with it. Liam and Elsa can be themselves around each other, the way they can’t be with their families. Elsa understands Liam in a way that no one else can, and same goes with Liam with Elsa.

And he makes studying fun. The lectures would be more tedious without Elsa’s best friend suffering through them the same way. Misery does, after all, love company.

Elsa’s parents hadn’t wanted Elsa to study at first. Going to university was something for the lower class and the men, not for ladies who wanted to marry someone of high standing. But after a lot of begging and help on Liam’s part, her parents had finally agreed to let her study, but there had been one condition. It had to be Business, and at the same university as the one Liam was going to. Elsa hadn’t really liked to study Business; she had wanted to study English instead, but she agreed to study Business because it had been better than not studying at all.

“Elizabeth was happy to see you yesterday,” Elsa teases Liam. The teacher has arrived and he has started to write things down on the blackboard. Apparently, today’s topic of discussion is going to be marketing, one of the more interesting subjects of business.

Elsa and Liam both know Elsa’s younger sister has a crush on Liam. Elsa thinks it’s cute, but Liam thinks it’s a bit embarrassing. He always starts blushing, and creases form on his forehead when Elsa brings it up. That’s why she’s bringing it up right now. He had embarrassed her when he hadn’t laughed at her silly face, and now she’s going to do the same to him to exact her revenge.

“I know,” Liam mutters. His cheeks have become the color of ripe apples, and the smirk has disappeared from his face. “I don’t really know what to do about it. I don’t want to give her and your mother any weird ideas.”

“What kind of weird ideas?” Elsa asks in a sweet and innocent voice, even though she knows to what ideas her friend is referring to.

“You know, trying to set us up.” Liam runs a hand through his hair as his eyes look anywhere but at Elsa’s face. “I really don’t want your mother trying to convince mine that Elizabeth and I should marry.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, my mother would never do that,” Elsa exclaims. She doesn’t add that her mother wants something to happen between her and Liam, not Liam and Elizabeth. It would only serve to make things awkward between them.

“Els, you know your mother, of course, she would,” Liam objects, shaking his head and grinning at her at the same time. “She wants you and your sister to marry within your status, and I’m the perfect candidate.”

Liam says the words status much the same way Elsa does, with distaste and reluctance. Both of them hate using the words that their mothers love to use. Both Liam and Elsa hate how it makes it sound like they’re better than people who work a tough and honest job. Status is for them a crutch instead of a crown they proudly wear.

When Liam had voiced just as much, it had made Elsa’s heart swell. Her best friend was a kindred spirit who like her believed they lived in a prison. At first, she thought he wanted to escape the prison just as much as she did. That was, until he told her he could never leave this life behind, no matter how much he hated it. He didn’t think he could make it out there in the world without his parent’s help. He may not agree with them at times, but he still needed them nonetheless.

“You’re probably right. But I think she’d probably want you to marry me instead of my sister. We’re much closer in age.” Elsa turns her face away from Liam and starts to doodle in her notebook. She can hear the professor clap his hands together to get the chalk off of them. The class is going to be starting in a few moments.

“I wouldn’t mind marrying you, though,” is Liam’s reply, much to Elsa’s surprise. She lifts her eyes from the paper in front of her and turns around to look at her best friend with a confused look on her face. The only emotion she can see in his eyes is slight amusement. “You’re my best friend, and if I can’t marry out of love, I rather marry my friend than some complete stranger I’ve only met.”

Liam has a valid point there, so Elsa nods her head. They say nothing else as the professor calls the class to order, and class begins.

After the class, Liam and Elsa go to the canteen to have lunch. They sit down at an empty table after they have bought food. They talk about the upcoming two classes as they eat. Nobody else joins them because besides each other, they have no other friends. They each are enough for the other.

The next two classes are Financial Management and English. Elsa and Liam only have the last class together, so after lunch, they go their separate ways.

At the end of the day, they meet up again and head to their last class. The lights are out because of the curfew, and they have to make their way by candlelight. Normally, the day would have long been over, but it’s close to the exams, so the teachers grab for any chance they can get for extra hours. Liam and Elsa are moving through the throng of people. Most of them are wearing trousers and brightly colored clothes, which contrast starkly against Elsa’s toned-down dress. She’s one of the few women at the university who still wears the female garment.

“I want to go back to that pub we went to two days ago,” Elsa whispers to Liam, even though she doesn’t really have to. It’s not like she’s telling her friend a secret, but something about the candlelight makes her want to talk at a low volume.

“It wouldn’t have something to do with a certain Irish singer by any chance, would it?” Liam teases. He lays an arm around the brunette’s neck and grins at her. “Are you sweet on him? Did he woo you with his guitar playing?”

“I’m not sweet on him,” Elsa protests, her cheeks warming up with a blush. She ducks her head so Liam won’t see the red color. “I just really like his songs, that’s all. You liked them, too.”

“I did,” Liam admits. Elsa sees him nod from the corner of her eyes. “But I think with you, there’s more to it. You didn’t mind him flirting with you. Usually, you hate it when guys try to flirt with you, acting all tough and like they’re a god’s gift to women. Not my words, but yours.”

It’s true what Liam is saying, Elsa doesn’t like it when guys try to flirt with her. They act all macho and proud, thinking it would impress her. But even though Niall tried to do the same, it hadn’t turned her off. He didn’t make her feel like he thought he was better than her, the way most guys that flirted with her did. He had been sure of himself, but not cocky. So yes, Elsa hadn’t minded him flirting, and she had let him flatter her. She had enjoyed his attention, and she would love to have it again. It is indeed one of the reasons why she wants to go back to the pub.

“But can we go?” Elsa presses on, smiling at Liam with a smile she hopes will win him over.

Which it does because Liam admits defeat with a sigh. “I guess we can. I don’t think he‘ll be there, though. It’s much too early.”
“Well, if he isn’t, we’ll just ask the barkeeper when he’ll perform tonight,” Elsa replies with a shrug of her shoulder. Elsa lets the subject drop after that.

When Liam and Elsa enter the bar two hours later, not a lot of customers are sitting in the quiet room. Most of them are retired sailors who look at the two students with suspicion in their eyes – what they are suspicious of, Elsa has no idea. She can’t spot Niall anywhere.

The same bartender of two days ago is standing by the bar. He doesn’t see Liam and Elsa approach, too busy with writing something down on a piece of paper that’s shielded from prying eyes by the counter.

“Sorry, can I ask you something?” Liam asks in a careful voice as he walks up to the bar, not wanting to startle the young man standing behind it.

“Don’t know if I can be of any help, but go on, shoot,” the bartender tells Liam without looking away from the paper.

“We were wondering when Niall Horan is going to be playing again. His music was far out, and we’d like to hear it again.”

This makes the man look up. He turns his head in Liam’s direction and sends him a grin. “You’re fans now, too? Far out. I told you he was good.”

“Yes, he was – good.” Liam clears his throat, clearly not comfortable with calling himself a fan of Niall. “Uhm – so, when is he going to play again?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.” The smile disappears from the bartender’s face. He starts to nibble at his bottom lip. “We never know when he’s going to play again. Niall is very curious that way. He likes to play at whatever pub he likes and whatever dates he likes. He isn’t really someone who plans things.”

For some reason, this doesn’t surprise Elsa that much. Niall seems like someone who doesn’t like to be tied down, who likes to be free of commitment. It wouldn’t surprise her if he had a girl in each city. Maybe he wanted her to be his girl in London. If he does, he isn’t going to get what he wants.

Notes

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