Author's Note(s): I know. It's SEMI-based on the movie "Real Genius." But, that's only some parts, like the beginning… well, this is mainly a drabble fiction for the love of Nick and Greg, so it doesn't typically have a storyline! So, enjoy I guess…! (Remember, this is an AU fan fiction!!) Oh, and, while you guys are reading this or whatever, I really want you to listen to the song that Greg mentions when he first sees Nick, "WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG" by THE KILLERS because it totally fits!! Happy reading!!
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He felt only semi-awkward as he cut through the crowd with two suitcase-briefcase things full of clothes, wearing a tie, and very dressy clothes like he always did, hair curly among his forehead with it's blond-brown lusciousness. He tried dodging all the funny looks he got from all the other college students, watching each person as they looked from him to their friends, whispered and then turned to look at him and laugh again, and he knew there must be something wrong with him.
Meet Gregory Hojem-Sanders, super genius.
Formally known as Greg was, at age sixteen, already freshman at the American InterContinental University (typically, he hadn't even been here a full "year," seeing as he transferred in from a recommendation from a professor that worked here in late February). Dork extraordinaire in high school, skipped two years in junior high, and was otherwise a total geek. He had thin glasses, which only helped with his dork-ness and geekiness, which hid the prettiness green-blue eyes you'd have ever seen with the cutest face on the face of the planet. But, he lives in America, so that won't help. To add to his "look," his blond-brown hair curled over his left eye, which got him as "emo geek" all throughout high school and junior high. Only to kill his social life further, he was gay. Which, of course, didn't help… at all.
Greg shuffled through the crowds, pulling at his tie as he met the double doors into his dormitory. He took in a deep breath and stepped inside the empty dormitory hallways, looking at the signs in front of him to allow himself to his room.
He adjusted his tie once more as he slipped the key into the lock and turned it, anxious to see just the roommate Professor Robbins said he would have. The door opened slowly and he stepped in courteously, awaiting a faint "hello" he thought he would hear. But, unfortunately, he heard nothing. He looked around the room, but saw no one. He sighed to himself and stepped forward to the unmade bed in the corner, adjacent to a very, messily, untamed bed that was obviously occupied. He put down his two suitcase on the bed, sitting down between with a sigh. He looked out the window by the head of the bed, seeing the courtyard and then the beach farther back. He turned his head and craned his neck, looking out the window above the pillow of the undomesticated bed. There, outside the window and far back, he could see the waves of the beach washing up on the pale, white sands that lay there, all the men and women and college students perhaps enjoying themselves in the water and tanning under the sun. However, he saw a fence on the sand, and he wondered why it was there, but he didn't know because he couldn't read the sign that hung on the pick-its of the fence, judging by the distance.
He sat back down and twisted his jaw, looking down to un-tuck his dress shirt, looking at the thick and thin lines of blue that ran down the white as he un-tucked his shirt from his black pants. Sighing and folding his hands in his lap, nodding to himself as he wondered what he should do. Suddenly, the lock of the door clicked and his head shot up immediately to a red-brown haired man with blue-blue eyes that stood in the doorway. He was occupied with something in his hands and as Greg's eyebrows raised in almost-awe, the man looked up and looked at him, but said nothing. Then, he looked back to whatever was in his hands and began to walk to the wardrobe in the opposite corner of the room, opened the wardrobe, stepped in, and with one last look at Greg, closed the wardrobe. Greg cocked his head to the side, eyes widening in shock. He stood and walked over to the wardrobe, and swung open the doors of the closet, looking inside only to find clothes of the lucky (or unlucky) soul of whom was to be his roommate, and emptiness. Lifting on eyebrow, he bent in further and looked around the small closet, only to find space and more clothes, and maybe a rolled up poster or two. Leaning back out of the swing of the door, he gave it a curious look and tentatively closed the door again, shaking his head like he had seen a ghost, which he knew didn't exist.
He sat back down on his bed and put his chin in his hand, pondering what to do. "Well," he said to himself. "I haven't seen all of campus yet, so why not have a look around?" He nodded to himself, adding a little, "that's a good idea."
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Greg stretched and twisted his back to loosen himself up, standing up once more and deciding to go for the home stretch now - head back to the dormitories.
Now at the double doors into his dormitory, he shivered as a cold chill ran down his spine, clawing at him with an almost anxiety. He shook his head a little, and straightened his red tie once more. He lifted his hand and opened the door, only to step in and trip onto something cold. He spit out some ice that had cultivated its way into his mouth, looking up to seeing someone skidding to a stop in skates in front of his face, gentle snowflakes skimming through his hair.
"Heya!" The person called and he looked up from the ice that clung to his curly brown-blond hair to see a man standing before him, with black-brown hair that curled over his forehead, luscious brown eyes that gleamed with an almost automatic sparkle to them. Greg couldn't help but stare in disbelief at the beauty of this man, and somehow, the song "When You Were Young" by The Killers kept stuck in his mind and kept him ogling at this perfect stranger. The stranger bent down and picked him up in his arms like a groom would his wife at their honeymoon and swung him around on the ice that stuck to the floor of the dormitory halls. He began skating in circles, and Greg hardly even noticed that other people that passed them by as the stranger holding him smiled down at him so friendly, and Greg was lost in the smile and eyes that were directed at him.
The man set him on his feet, his hands in Greg's, and spun through the halls with him, leading Greg slowly down the halls because Greg obviously didn't know how to skate on his own, and the fact that he was too lost in this man's smile to even pay attention to his feet.
After a few minutes of skating with this complete stranger, and "When Your Were Young" playing in his head over and over, the stranger pulled him into a lounge looking room and paused to smile at Greg, only until a "what is this?!" made him look up from Greg's face, and Greg from his. There, on the other side of the hall was a man in his shoes, and very dorky man at that, face all red and looking at the stranger that had just skated with Greg without knowing him.
"Well, Ecklie, this is ice!" The stranger Greg skated with yell, an accent Greg recognized as a definite Texan rang out in his voice.
Said "Ecklie" gave a little "humph" sound and Greg smiled as he watched a vein pop out on his forehead, now recognizing him as one of the geniuses that he had heard about on TV, on Doctor Grissom's show "Everything and Anything." Suddenly, another man skated up and skidded to a halt in skates and a short-sleeved shirt. He had brown, short hair and green eyes that reminded Greg of leaves somehow. Ecklie glared at this man from the corner of his eyes. "And who started this?!"
"I did," the brown haired man replied and snickered at Ecklie's rage.
"Hodges!" Ecklie roared, making everyone else in the hall stop to turn to him. "What did you do in here? How did it get in here?"
"I'm not telling," Hodges said firmly.
"Well, what is it made of?!" Ecklie yelped out.
"I'm not telling," Hodges repeated in the same voice, calmly and firmly towards Ecklie.
"Who's going to clean it up when it melts?!"
"Oh, we don't need to do that, Ecklie," Hodges replied and threw a wink towards the stranger that skated with Greg just moments before this happening. Ecklie stared at Hodges in awe, and through him a look in his eyes that definitely read "why?!" To this look, Hodges replied, "It's made of a condensed gas, so when it melts, it will go straight to a gas, so no messy clean up!" Hodges laugh and winked, spitting out his tongue, and giving a little peace sign. Then, the Texan who skated with Greg gave a, "yeeeeah, Hodges, my man!" and then give a fist to Hodges, who gave a fist in return and hit his fist against the Texan's.
Ecklie huffed, not knowing what to do, and Greg just watched him idly. "Well, get this… out of here immediately, Hodges! Stokes!" Greg's eyebrows lifted, and then the Texan spoke up saying in his Texan drawl, "Yeah, you can act all high and mighty now, but we know what we do in your spare time, Ecklie!" The Texan laughed out.
Ecklie, who was blushing at least a thousand shades of red, mumbled, "why you little…" but Hodges interrupted, looking towards the Texan and said, "we do…?" very quietly.
"Yeah, we do!" The Texan laughed out loud, the drawl even accenting his laugh just ever-so slightly. "I totally caught him naked in the bathroom late at night with a bowl of whipped cream and Jell-O!" Hodges spat a raspberry and then burst out laughing with just about everyone else in the hallways of the dormitory.
"You little faggot…" Ecklie grumbled aloud and that's were Greg drew the line.
"You, Ecklie! We all know that goes for you too, because you're just a wet noodle that's curled up like a sleeping cobra, so why don't you just grab you Reddi-whip and Jell-O and go ram someone else?!" Greg roared out and the students came out in a chorus of 'ooh's and 'oh's, making Ecklie scamper away red-faced and embarrassed like a dog with his tail between his legs.
Some people who walked by clapped him over the shoulder as almost everyone burst out in a fit of laughter once more. Hodges turned towards him, laughing his guts out. "Nice job, little man!" Hodges started, and then his eyes went wide. "Hey, you're the new freshie! Ya' know, the new kid!" Hodges started, then turned towards the Texan. "Apparently, this shrimp here got twenty points higher than you, dude!" Hodges laughed out and the Texan turned towards him.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, I mean, I guess so…"
The Texan pondered for a minute, then laughed aloud. "Well, after that comeback, I guess you are smarter than me!" The Texan smiled and Greg blushed, smiling sheepishly. "But… can you do this?" The Texan gave a little dance and then spun, looking about ready to sprint off onto the ice when he was interrupted but something making a loud thang! at the top of the stairwell. Everyone turned to the staircase, watching as a cart ran down it quite quickly and then swerved off course and tilted over into a pile of ice-snow. A man stood up from it and Greg couldn't help but rush over saying, "are you okay?" to him. The short teenager shook his head quickly and looked at him, still shaking his head.
"No, physically, yes, but no, no, no, no, no!!" He shouted, his words scrambling so fast out of his mouth that he sounded like he was hyped up on sugar and caffeine since the day he was born. "I mean, emotionally, NO! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO MUCH FARTHER MUCH FASTER, BUT NOOOO!" He shouted and shook his head again. "I'm Archie, you're the freshie, Greg, and I GOTTA GO!" After his VERY fast speech of slurred and speedy words, he bent over, picked up the grocery cart and zoomed down the hall, turning a corner and disappearing from sight. Greg turned around and sighed, then looked up to see the Texan looming over him.
"That was Archie, he's insane," the Texan laughed.
"I had no idea," Greg said, lifting an eyebrow at the Texan student. The Texan simply laughed and spun around.
"Anyhow, you might be smart, but… can you do this?" The Texan gave a little dance and spun quickly, then bolted for the stairwell when the vapors began to rise from the ice and the Texan fell backwards mid-skate.
"Hodges!" the Texan yelped out.
"It worked!!" Hodges did a little victory dance, then stepped up to the Texan. The Texan squirmed on the evaporating ice, crying out "I'm melting, I'm melting!" while Hodges yelled out, "Now all we need to do is keep it from exploding!" Hodges did his little dance again and the Texan sat up in surprise. "Hodges," he yelled. "I may be the fifth genius in America, but you better be kidding!!"
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