Author: bound-soul
Summary: Rinathen is rudely awakened to begin her first year as a junior at Shire School. What wonders and horrors await her there? Legomance.
Author's Note: I'm picking this back up and changing a few things. This is a rather light hearted fic so it should be taken that way!
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"Rinathen! Get up! You've got a plane to catch!"
I think someone just shoved me. Oh well. Too sleepy to notice.. I pulled the covered over my head on an early Saturday morning. Five minutes later... "RINATHEN IF YOU DON'T GET UP NOW YOU'RE STAYING HERE FOR ANOTHER YEAR!"
NO! My blessed sheets are yanked off my tired body and my father stands near yelling something about getting up. Too tired to take in what he is saying.. Not even acknowledging the fact that he is standing beside me shouting, I yawned and stumbled out my door down to the kitchen.
"So mom. Is there a specific reason you had me awaken at this ungodly hour?" I stared menacingly at the microwave clock that read 9:47 as I slumped in a chair by the breakfast table. "It's a Saturday." My head started to lean on the table and my eyelids drooped.. half closed.. three fourths of the way closed..
"Well if you don't get moving you'll miss the plane!"
Plane.
What plane is this crazy woman talking about? I must have looked extremely confused because my mother sighed exasperatedly.
"Honestly Rinathen, if you were going any slower today, you'd be going backwards!" My mom massaged her temples like she was getting worn out from me. Hah, she's got three more to deal with!
"I heard that." I would have glowered at her had my eyes not been glued shut.
"Boarding school, Rin! Shire School!" My eyes flew open. I completely forgot.
"Are. You. Freaking. Serious." My mother nodded. "I've got to get ready!" I said breathlessly. "I'm so excited!" Jumping out of my chair, I hugged my mom and ran back upstairs. I crashed past my father as I tore to my room.
"Whoa, Nelly!" He said as he teetered on the edge of the stairs. "What's the rush?"
"CLOTHES I NEED CLOTHES!" I said robotically and slammed the door.
"Okay then." I heard my father mutter as he headed downstairs. Alright. First day. Must make a good impression.. I pulled random clothes out of my closet. Shire School. A lot of erm, Hobbits.
I sighed in disgust as I found a fuzzy pink skirt under my suitcase. GROSS. I swear I never wore that. This is the absolute worst day to not have something picked out. Should I go formal? Semi formal? Casual? T-shirt and shorts? This is bad. Maybe I should just wear something i'm comfortable in? I smiled as I salvaged a pair of jeans from under my bed and pulled a light jacket over the black tank top I was already wearing. Then I began the job of packing.
Two super huge duffels and a lot of clothing crisis's later, I was frantically running around my room throwing random things into a small backpack.
IPod.. check. Laptop. check. Cell Phone.. check. Wallet.. check. Pocket knife.. che-woah no! I peered into the hall for my other bag that I could stuff it in, but my mom had already taken them to the car.
Finally after a load of nagging my father, he decided to put down his toast and drive me to the airport. When we arrived there, I was greeted by a small group of my closest friends.
"I'm going to miss you guys so much!" I said hugging each of them. We didn't get much time to talk since my overly secure dad wanted me to get to the terminal with plenty of time to spare.
"Rinathen? Is something wrong? Let's go.." My dad looked at me in concern. I shook my head to make the coming tears go away and hugged him.
"I'm going to miss you and mom and everybody else." I choked holding back tears.
"Me too." My dad said as he rubbed my back lightly. "But you'll have fun, and we'll see you soon." I nodded, picked up my bags, and kept walking.
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I eventually boarded the plane and took my seat in the back. I was the only one in my row, fortunately. I hate sitting next to people I don't know. Unless it's a hot guy, then I can make an exception.
Soon the plane took off and we were soaring through the clouds. I peered through my window as houses, animals, people, and trees all became tiny ants on the earth. Finally, Hobbiton was in view. I knew the Shire was the patch of green beyond.
At last the plane touched down and I was once again flooded with nervousness.
I knew nobody there. Nobody. After I unboarded, I realized I hadn't been paying attention to my mom when she briefed me on what to do once my plane had landed. Great. I left the gate and moved with the crowd wondering if I was supposed to catch a taxi or a bus. I was about to buy a Coke when I heard my name.
"Will Rinathen Linwe please report to boarding gate 12B." I gasped dropping the two quarters clutched in my hand. That was my gate! And that was my name! I bet someone was there to meet me and I totally missed them! As quickly as possible, I hurried back to the gate. Once there, I saw a couple of people about my age standing in a lopsided circle. There was one human, four elves, one dwarf, and what must have been the representative because she was wearing an oversized yellow polo with the words 'Shire School' stitched into one side with green thread. She rushed forward and hugged me.
"We found you!" This wasn't entire true because I found them on my own, thanks. "Oh goodness, I thought you were lost. Is everybody here now? Good. Follow me." The representative turned quickly and walked the other way. The group began to tag along slowly. I moved slowly watching the six other pass me by so I could walk alone in the back.
As I trudged along slowly, one of the elves stopped and smiled at me. When my eyes met his, I swear, I was in heaven. My own plain brown ones were lost like a ship in the serene aqua ocean that were his own. Shaking myself from my overly romantic thoughts, I realized that he was trying to talk to me.
"What? Sorry, I didn't catch that." He smiled again and I felt fuzzy inside.
"Where did you go?"
"Oh!" I started to laugh. "No where, really. I had no idea that I was supposed to meet someone so I just walked off. Then they announced my name and everything so I figured something was wrong." His arctic eyes were piercing my flesh. I could barely breathe. What was I saying again? "So I.. dropped my quarters.." I said a bit breathlessly.
"You what?" He looked uncertainly at me.
"I mean, I was startled so I dropped.." It was hopeless. I was a lost cause. Every time I met a guy who was especially nice to look at, this happened. Now I was rambling like an idiot. "Forget it."
"Okay.."
"Long flight. I'm just tired."
"Ah. From where?"
"Belfalas. Where are you from?"
"Mirkwood." He said simply.
"Oh, i've heard it's nice there. What's your name?"
"Legolas Greenleaf." I almost tripped over my feet. I'm standing here talking to the Prince of Mirkwood. El Prince-o Legolas. Royalty! How did I not catch that? He must have been used to the awkward silences which ensued after he revealed his identity because he immediately struck up another conversation. "So.. do you surf much?"
Surf? Surfing! How can he talk about surfing at a time like this! I just told the future king of Mirkwood that I lived in Belfalas. It's a wonder he hasn't walked away already. Belfalas happened to be a small town on the bay of Belfalas with a large population of beach rats. It's not the nicest place in the world.. Unless you have enough money to stay in a condo or in a resort. The locals have a hard time financially and we don't exactly live in the most luxurious homes either.
"Uh yeah, on occasion. So.. do you surf?" Ugh, mental face-palm! That was a stupid thing to say! Sure, Legolas surfs all the time in Mirkwoord forest!
"No, not really." He paused. "You're a junior this year, right?"
"Yeah, you?" He nodded.
"Well then, there are a few people i'm going to have to warn you about."
"Really?" He grimaced as if the thought of them was disgusting.
"I'll point them out when we see one of them." He opened his mouth to say something else when one of the elves popped up between him and me. Her dyed blonde hair curled over my shoulder blocking my vision and the heavy scent of perfume clogged my lungs.
"Hey there Legolass!" She said emphasizing the 'as'. He rolled his eyes but smiled back.
"Hey." I caught his gaze for a moment as he mouthed 'See what I mean?' I stifled a giggle.
"Grab your luggage and load it onto the buses outside! No detours! We are departing as soon as the last person boards!" A short man with a red beard directed us as soon as we met up with several other groups. The blonde let go of Legolas' arm and ran over to meet a few others who looked quite similar to her. With great difficulty, I pushed through the mass of bags and dragged my own out onto the ground. Getting a good grip on each handle of my duffels, I started for the doors. Behind me I heard the blonde from before talking in a voice drenched with sappy sweetness.
"Oh Legolas, you're so strong! Would you mind carrying my bag?" Another voice chimed in.
"I can hardly lift mine too! It would be a nice workout for your muscles.." Their words were long and drawn out and the first one traced her finger up Legolas' shirt. He smiled quickly and pulled her hand down.
"Uhm, sorry, but i've got my own bags to carry." She didn't move. "You can leave now." Without showing any signs of hurt, the girl flashed him a flirty smile and tossed her blonde curls as she went to her bags. I laughed quietly as I listened to her struggle. Unfortunately, someone heard me.
"The weight of your bags amusing you?" I turned my head to see Legolas walking beside me. Calm down. Breathe.
"Ah, yeah. No." He nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I understand. Me too." My god! What an idiot I am. It's a wonder he hasn't run off with those stupid preps. I swear, they have more brains than me sometimes. My duffels seemed to get increasingly heavier and now my arms were definitely feeling like they were about to fall off. Suddenly, my arm just gave out and my bag slumped to the floor. Oh no, now i'm not just an idiot, but a wimpy one. Before I could pick it up again, Legolas did. "Let me help you out there."
"But you've got your own bags.." He had slung his large duffel over his shoulder and was now carrying that plus my bag and another one of his. "Are you sure you can handle that?"
"What? Oh yeah, pfft. Sure." He looked determinedly ahead and straightened up. I could barely hold in a laugh. It's always amusing when someone pretends to act all macho in front of you. The poor elf was probably going to have a broken back by the time we reached the bus. Fortunately, we were right at the door.
"Thanks for carrying that. I can take it from here."
"No problem. Anytime." He set my bag gently down on the asphalt and then was gone, lost in the sea of students milling about.
"Bye then.." I said in a bare whisper. I dragged my bag over to the side of the bus. After waiting and enduring much pushing and shoving to get all the bags loaded, the driver finally loaded mine and I was free to go.
Great. This is the worst part of going somewhere where you don't know anybody. You have to find someone to sit by for the bus ride. Who knows how long it would take to get there? At first images of Legolas sitting beside me flashed through my mine. Next, the annoying blonde from the airport. Or I could be alone, but that was just as bad. I didn't want everybody to think I was a loner and didn't want social interaction. Okay, so that was partly true, but everybody wants friends!
It was several minutes before I actually reached the metal stairs leading into the bus. As I climbed up, I saw that almost every seat was full. Once I reached the back, I found several empty seats. I took an empty row and sat by the window. It I had to sit by someone, they better not ignore me. That was just boring. Having to endure listening to someone's boring conversation where you couldn't really butt in and talk, unless you wanted to make yourself look like an idiot.
"Can I sit here?" My thoughts were torn away from the dread of meeting new people to someone standing beside me. I recognized her as one of the elves from the airport. She had been walking alone.
"Huh?" She pushed her long, black hair from in front of her face showing a bit of resentment from asking in her expression. "Oh yeah! Sure, sorry, i'm a little out of it today." She smiled and sat down.
"I'm Merewen by the way."
"Rinathen." Merewen took her navy messenger bag off and shoved it under the seat in front of her.
"So, are you a senior?" A senior? Do I look that old?
"No, junior. You?"
"Same. Is this your first year?" Merewen shook her head at my question.
"Naw. I've been here since freshman." She paused. "That was excellent how you walked right past us at the gate. We tried telling the rep you looked like a student but she wouldn't listen. She was too busy interrogating some kid about if he was an elf named Rinathen. It was so stupid.. The kid was a boy."
"So i've got a male name now."
"Well, I don't think it sounds too masculine. But it gave us all a good laugh." I nodded, smiling. She wasn't too bad after all. I mean, it could have been worse. As I thought about that, I gazed across the bus to see Legolas sitting by the aisle near the front next to some girl. Then I realized, he was surrounded by girls. Funny though, they all had badly dyed blonde hair and were giggling stupidly and didn't seem to be able to take their eyes off Legolas. He didn't seem to find any of it funny. He stared at the ceiling for a moment then sighed deeply. Excusing himself from the girl's conversations, he pulled a pair of headphones out of his bag and began listening to something. I found myself wondering what it was.
"If you're wondering who they are, they're one huge posse of preps." She glanced at me. "Stay away from them. They're horrible and there is an infinite number of them. They take over like a third of our school. Most of their parents are either mega-rich or alumnae's. Because of that, they get certain.. privileges. The school is corrupt." Privileges? Corruption? This is turning out to be a promising year. "The one sitting next to Legolas is Nessa Telrunya. She's the so-called 'leader's' best friend." Merewen scoffed. "As if you can have real friends if you're that fake." She took a deep breath, calming herself. "Okay, change of subject. What kind of music do you like?"
"Oh don't even get me started!" I dug my iPod out of my bag and handed it to Merewen. "It's easier for you to read then than for me to sit here and list all of them." She took it from me.
"Hmm.. you like rock, huh?" She commented as she scrolled through the lists of bands.
"Yeah"
"Well you have good taste then! We should get along fine!" I couldn't help but smile. Was this me, the socially insecure, making friends before I even got to the school? The remainder of the ride went something along those lines. I found out that Merewen and I clicked really well. This year isn't turning out to be too bad after all. Finally we stopped at the beginning of a huge driveway in front of a large, black gate. The driver got out and pressed several buttons in a case beside it. The gate trembled and groaned but swung open, slowly.
"We're here." Merewen let out a nervous breath. As the bus lumbered down the gravel road, deep green hills and lush forests passed us by.
"It's so beautiful here."
"I know. The Shire is great." She looked questioningly at me. "Where are you from, anyways?"
"Belfalas." Her mouth dropped.
"Lucky!" I shook my head.
"Not really, trust me. It's not all it's cooked up to be." She looked at me like I was mad.
"Dude! You practically live on the beach! What are you talking about?"
"Have you ever been there?" She shook her head.
"I've never been to the beach, actually." Now it was my turn to be amazed.
"Ever? Where do you live?"
"Rivendell. My dad works for Lord Elrond."
"Wow. I went there once, it's great."
"Mmmhm." Merewen was staring out the window. I turned to see what was so interesting. "There is it.." The school. Shire School. My home away from home for the next year. It looked like a small town. From what I could see, there was a huge, grey stone building in the center with towers and additions coming off of it. On the right was a glittering lake surrounded on the opposite bank by a forest. To the left was a collection of smaller buildings.
"It looks like a village."
"It is and it's beyond awesome. You can go and buy stuff from the stores - there's like a grocery store too, only it's not very big. It's more like a general store type of deal. It's great though, you'll love it. And just behind the campus is the town of Bree. And over there," She pointed into the distance of the rolling green hills. "is Hobbiton." She was smiling like an idiot.
"Excited?"
"Are you kidding me? This place is beyond awesome. You have no idea." Well, Merewen can get a little over excited, but she's defiantly a nice person. With a jolt the bus stopped and the driver told us to get out things and go to the school and that our bags would be brought to the Mess Hall later.
"Mess hall?" Merewen shook her head.
"I'll explain later." With a deep breath I followed her off the bus and stepped out onto the turf that was to be my world for the next year.
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Oki.. I know i've been on and off with this but i cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, that I won't abandon this again.