"So you'll be walking next to me while I talk about Nasa's Hubble Telescope and how it accidentally discovered a possible runaway supermassive black hole that creates a trail of newborn stars." I pin up the printed out CNN Business article onto my room wall which doesn't really look like a wall anymore. Only a sprawling mass of pictures and articles.

My accomplices snort out loud next to me and I glare at Stacy Halloway, who covers her mouth in an attempt to control her giggles.

No great feat can be attempted alone and sadly I have to resort to seeking help from these two goofballs.

"Seriously, I can't decide if this whole thing is borderline stalker-ish or your real calling has been the NYPD all this time." Stacy waves her arms, gesturing at my wall of research.

"Please never mention Law Enforcement. You know much I hate the topic," I seethe, remembering all those useless house visits that never helped anyone in my house.

I block out the memory and cross my arms over each other, admiring my work of art. Pictures and articles strewn about and stuck to a pin board with white strings to correlate them. Two months solely dedicated to everything Zander Wyatt related.

"You have to admit it's pretty impressive." I tell Stacy and Daphne who are currently occupying Elizabeth's empty bed.

I've learnt so much about Zander thanks to all those online forums and campus articles. He attended private schools from the age of six, before joining Daltech University just like his father did before him.

During off peak season he stays off campus in the rich part of town. His mother gave a house tour to Vogue last year and you can see the entire city from their front lawn. There was so much unused space in their compound, you could easily fit my entire flat building inside of it.

Most of the time, Zander stays in the student athlete housing on campus which isn't any less glamourous. Daltech has always been famous for their football teams and a lot of college funding goes into their sports division. Last year a senior corner back was drafted into the NFL and scouts have been coming to our games for years.

Zander used to be a second string player but became first string last semester when the current halfback injured his knee. He isn't even a sports major and I know he's studying political science but he's the fastest halfback Daltech has ever seen.

When he isn't training or attending lectures, he's usually seen lounging on the grass with his friends or attending frat parties. His best friend is Luke Bradshaw, currently the most famous wide receiver in the entire state.

A video of him catching the ball as a slot receiver in his last high school game trended on twitter for weeks. 

He's here on a sports scholarship and the two of them have been roommates since freshman year. Unlike Zander and his playboy ways, Luke dated a senior when he was a freshman and they broke up after she graduated.

He's been single ever since and has a slew of online forums dedicated to him as well but I haven't been bothered to go through them.

I pull up Zander's class schedule and point at the interim period where he needs to walk past the footpath between the old and new campus.

"We need to intercept them here," I point at the gap between lectures and my friends stare at me with wide eyes.

"Do you really want to do this?" Daphne asks. She clears her throat looking like she's trying to form her next few words carefully. "Don't you think this is all a little...extreme?"

I purse my lips and tuck a lock of dark hair behind my ear. "No, I don't. Extreme is breaking someone's heart till they can't sleep. Till they overdose on sleeping pills and now have to under go mandatory counselling and observation. Oh and let's not forget how our friend had to take the entire semester off because of this."

"Yes, we know and we're mad about it too but being mad is normal." Daphne then points to my wall of research. "This isn't."

"And he's currently dating Yoona Harry." Stacy falls back against Elizabeth's unused pillow. Her unruly curls form a halo around her face and she stretches her long legs before her. One of the hazards of being a competitive cheerleader in college.

They're always stretching.

"Yes and their three months are almost up. He's going to start scouting for the next one," I say it so casually like we're discussing the weather and try not to think about how absurd this conversation would sound like to a third party. "It's the opportune moment to catch his attention."

The forum thread called "ZW has a gr8 ass" already has girls discussing how they want him to notice them next. The race has already begun.

"And you're going to catch his attention with Astronomy?" Stacy raises her eyebrows mockingly.

"Yes," I nod patiently even though I've already told them my plan five times today. "And then Daphne will knock into me and I'll spill coffee on his shirt."

"Better make sure he doesn't send you the dry cleaning bill." Stacy jokes and I grit my teeth together.

Daphne remains quiet, she usually lets Stacy do most of the talking. Like Elizabeth and I, these two have been best friends since high school as well.

Although sometimes I wonder how they make it work. Daphne's the girl next door kind of pretty with pale skin, pretty dark eyes and warm brown hair. She has soft features and an even softer voice, often seen at corners, nursing her drink at parties.

Elizabeth and I usually end up joining her but Stacy's more than often the life of the party. She's tall and slender, with coffee coloured skin and a smattering of freckles over her pointy nose. She has that natural fox eye look that everyone's suddenly so crazy about and her eyes are a mesmerising dark sea green.

Although, I would say her most stunning feature would be her wild curls. She recently highlighted them gold, making her look even more outstanding than usual.

Everyone on campus seems to know who she is and random people greet her all the time. I've seen her talk to Zander and Luke before as well.

I frown at the popular cheerleader whom I will most definitely need should I want to execute my mission successfully.

"Why Astronomy?" Daphne suddenly asks.

"Because Astronomy is his secret escape. He said in an interview that reading NASA articles help him clear his mind. Now can we please focus on tomorrow? Zander and Luke will be heading this route---."

"What if he ends up playing you too?" Stacy points out, cutting me off. "I mean I know this guy. Girls turn into gooey mush around him and you haven't even talked to a guy in decades."

Irritation prickles at my skin but I force myself to keep calm. "My group mates in social science are all guys."

"What she means is we've never seen you flirting with anyone. Are you even good at it?" Daphne explains.

"Why don't we find out tomorrow?" I challenge and the two of them just stare at me with blank faces. I sigh loudly. "If you help me with this, I promise to take you girls out for drinks every Friday at Hooters."

"It's ladies night on Fridays. The drinks are free anyway." Stacy shrugs and then she stares at her nails, looking bored.

"Okay, I'll drive you guys there and back. You can drink yourselves to death and I will be your sober designated driver."

"You don't even own a car," Daphne points out and it looks like the two of them are about to laugh.

Honestly, who needs enemies when you have friends like these.

"I'll drive one of yours." I suggest, desperation evident in my tone. "Come on girls. Are you going to help me or not?"

Stacy picks up a pillow and flings it my way. I duck just in time and scowl at her.

"Just do our laundry for a month and we'll call it even. Now what do you need us to do again?"

The Daltech campus has to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Or maybe I'm just being biased.

The older buildings are currently separated from the new campus by a large sprawling field, filled with luscious trees and winding walkways. Benches occupy every shaded nook and corner and there's a large lake separating one side of the gardens from the forest far ahead.

There's a particularly large cement footpath that forms a straight line between the old and new campus. This is the busiest footpath, with students often rushing to the library or switching between lessons during the day.

It's currently eleven in the morning, somewhat a peak hour on a day like this.

The weather's nice and cool, maybe even slightly chilly but I feel a bead of sweat roll down the side of my neck.

I quickly wipe it away with the edge of my sleeve and hold on to the cup of coffee in my hand. My hand is cold and clammy making it feel slippery between my fingers.

If I don't get it together the drink might slip through my fingers long before I have a chance to spill any coffee on Zander's shirt.

Daphne and I are seated by the bench closest to the middle of the footpath and I can't help but sneak a peek at the main entrance of the old faculty building.

Any minute now.

My phone rings and I nearly jump out of my skin before answering it. "Hello?"

"You look like you're about to have a heart attack." Stacy states and I narrow my eyes at the small figure who is staring at us from the second floor of the new sciences building.

I tap my foot on the floor and stare at the entrance again. "Not going to lie. I'm kind of.. a little nervous."

"There's still time to back out. Oops guess not, there he comes."

Zander Wyatt steps outside, the sun shinning all over his group of friends like a spot light from the heavens above and it's easy to see why everyones so fussed about the guy.

Dark messy hair that looks like he'd just run his hands through it and lightly tanned skin from all the time spent running under the sun. He's currently wearing a white shirt - perfect for coffee spilling - and it's so fitted, I can see his arm muscles flex when he throws his bag over his shoulder.

He's smiling at something his friend said but his gaze is focused on the pamphlet in his hand.  Dimples form in his cheeks making him look young and innocent. His eyes are crinkled together because of the sunlight but I know from research that he has warm brown, almost honey coloured eyes.

"Come on," I nudge Daphne who gets up with me. We make our way towards them, my heart now hammering in my chest like a drum and bass concert.

"Damn, why do I feel nervous too?" Daphne says and I gulp loudly.

Zander's only a few feet away now and his entire group is so large, they feel like a cloud surrounding him. He still hasn't looked up, his attention lost to that paper in his hand.

I can only focus on him and then I hear the sound of his laughter, light and airy like the breeze around us.

"Now," I murmur just when he's a step away.

Daphne stumbles clumsily on queue and knocks into me and I expect to knock into him but her shove is so hard that I end up losing my balance.

I lose my footing and topple forward, my coffee flying out of my hands. I quickly put my arms out to stop myself. I fall face first, colliding with the hard cement and my face burns with humiliation when I push myself up, palms brushing against the rough concrete.

I look up to see sea green eyes staring back at me with concern.

"Are you, okay?" Luke Bradshaw is currently kneeling in front of me and I blink a few times, trying to comprehend what just happened but his gaze is so distracting.

Murky sea green. His eyes, they remind me of a past I had long forgotten. Memories of the beach, playing around with my parents and laughing.

I can't remember the last time I laughed like that with them.

He reaches out to help me up and I lean back, suddenly remembering why I'm currently on the floor. I should have fallen right in front of Zander but then I remember closing my eyes just before a shoe crossed over me.

I still and turn around to see him walking away, still staring at the article in his hands.

Did. He. Just. Walk. Over. Me?

I stand up straight and dust off my pants, anger flooding every vein in my body, my arteries pulsing so hard it feels like the one in my neck is about to burst.

All I can see is red as I march up to him and pull that damn pamphlet out of his hands.

His eyes whip up to meet mine in shock and he looks so surprised. I can't believe he didn't even notice me on the ground just now.

The audacity.

"You just walked over me." I tell him, my tone knife edged.

"I..what?" Zander frowns, not getting me but one of the girls in his group replies with a snort.

"You kind of did. She fell down and you walked over her."

He grimaces and quickly apologises. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you--"

I raise my hand, not having any of it. "Of course you didn't. Your head must be so inflated, so high up in the sky that you can't possibly see the ground below you. What if you had stepped on me? Injured my wrist or something? All because of this?"

I hold up the paper and take a look at it. An article about the runaway supermassive blackhole stares back at me and I nearly laugh at the irony.

"Look I'm sorry." Zander stands up straighter, looking more defensive now. "Let me take you to the infirmary if I hurt you."

"There's no need," I snap. "Just keep your head out of your ass next time and watch where you walk."

There's snickers and muffled laughter and I suddenly realise that a crowd has formed around us. Students have all stopped to watch our altercation, some even have their phones out.

Zander's eyes narrow with anger and his mouth opens but he's currently at a loss for words. I take this opportunity to quickly walk away. Some students pat me on the back and I quicken my pace, eager to disappear.

That was not how I'd planned our first meet to go at all.