Silence.
That's all I heard, was the silence of not having my headphone playing and it irritated me to no end. Now I had to listen to the girls chatter and the guys hit on them around me. Did that sound a little cynical? It was, I don't think too much of many of the people in my physical training class. My only saving grace here is a guy named Rude. He's built like a statue, tall and broad shouldered, with a bald head and usually not a word for anyone but me. And even then, the words he has for me are sparse. Our meeting wasn't nearly as exciting or eventful as Jessie and mine's, it was more along the lines of:
"Alright everyone! Pair up we're practicing acrobatics today!" The professor yelled.
I glanced around quickly, not wanting to be that last guy who the instructor had to pair with someone else, when suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder from behind. I stiffened at the touch, because the grip felt like it would crush my clavicle if too much more force was applied. Nonetheless, I did my best to turn without looking as startled as I was.
And there was Rude. Staring me in the face with a hard expression, even through his sunglasses. "You look like you won't piss me off. Want to team up?" He asked in a bear-like voice.
I nodded once, twice, three times, "Y-yeah sure."
And that's about it. Hell, I can't even say I know too much about him except that he collects sunglasses, seeing as he's got a different pair on almost everyday. This probably sounds awful, but the best thing about being "friends" with Rude, is that people don't even think about screwing with you. Not that I couldn't hold my own, but it gives me an extra sense of security, knowing that he could probably crush someone's arm by sneezing on it. Ah, the little things in life…
"C'mon people! You know the drill, warm up while I get things set up! We're doing running today, so I hope you all had a good breakfast!"
I did my best not to recall the awful waffle-less morning, though I was still hungry. I made my way next to Rude, gave him a nod and said, "Morning."
He followed with his ritual nod of response and rumbled, "What's going on?"
"Not much. Had a shitty morning though."
We were stretching now, warming up arms and legs and everything. "Mmm. What, did princess not get his morning coffee?"
Part of me wanted to stop right there and stare for a moment. Humor! Rude was being humorous! Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all… "Waffles…actually," I retorted.
He snorted in response then said, "Well, excuse me."
And I couldn't help it, I laughed too. This day is just full of surprises. The massive gymnasium swallowed up my quiet laugh, and I took a cursory glance around to see if anyone had heard it. No one did, not even all the equipment that lined the walls and was around the floor. Things of all shapes and sizes, designed to train all kinds of qualities of a person's physical character: weights for strength, balances and bars for dexterity, and obstacles for speed. "Well, I hope the rest of the day goes better for you," Rude commented as we finished and straightened up. "Yeah, here's to hoping," I responded.
The running was monotonous, but at least we were allowed to listen to music. Roaring drums and screaming guitars pushed me through each mile that we had to run around the same circular track time after time, it all made me feel like I was running Over the Hills and Far Away. And after five miles of running, the professor stopped us and said, "Alright, you've all had enough. Today's class was meant to be light after yesterday's workout. Get changed and get the hell out, enjoy the rest of your day."
Various levels of cheers and a generally good mood erupted from us as a group, and we moved towards the locker rooms to get back into street clothes and out of our now foul smelling workout clothes. Not more than five minuets later Rude and I were back outside next to the fountain that sat in the physical area's square. The fountain had two dishes, one smaller than the other in an ascending order; and on top of the smallest dish were carving of various weapons sticking out at various angles, each spouting a jet of water back into the basin of the fountain. Each square had one of these statues, and each one was different depending on which area you were in. Also in this square were various weapon and physical buildings, scattered around in a very aesthetically pleasing way that paths from the main square led to. The only building actually connected to the square directly was the locker rooms, which were actually a massive, multilayered building with various floors for showering, changing, and storing things from clothes to personal weapons. Though that floor had a special lock that only people with a special key could get into. As Rude and I waited, one of the guys came out wearing jeans that were considerably too skinny and a black baggy sleeveless shirt with a hood. He rapped on his "browski's" shoulder and said, "Hey, check this."
Black shirt cracked the door to the girl's side of the building open and called, "Ladies! C'mon out! We're ready for you!"
He pulled his head back out and laughed with his bro. I turned to face Rude, whose expression was almost identical to mine: left eyebrow cocked in an apprehensive way that said, "What a fucking breaker." One of them must have noticed our expressions, as they approached us and said, "What? WHAT?! What's goin' on man?" with their hands held out in high-five. Whether or not this was sincere wasn't the issue here, people like this irritate me to no end. Which, I have learned, can be a draw back of my personality because some times they aren't that bad of guys. But I had a feeling this wasn't the case here. Rude, however, seemed to have a different idea in mind. He thrust out his hand to shake, and when the poor black shirted bastard obliged, Rude gripped his hand so hard I could see the guy's eyes water. "The pleasure is mine," Rude thundered.
The bros retreated a distance, scared and confused over Rude's introduction as they said, "What ever man. What the fuck ever."
Rude sniggered a little at his own antics and I couldn't help but laugh too. "People piss me off," he told me.
Still laughing I asked, "You mean people like that?"
"No. People in general."
I stopped laughing. Man… Killjoy.
Suddenly the girl's side of the building door burst open and they all began to throng out as a massive flock like girls do. Some giving us dirty looks, and others making comments like about how rude (ha! Irony!) we are. For a moment I didn't know what they meant, then it hit me.
"Do you think they think we…"
"Yep."
"Damnit. Well…"
"This is awkward," Rude mused.
All I could do was nod in agreement. Glancing at the phone in my pocket, I realized it was about time to meet Jesse for lunch, or it would be by the time I made my way over there. "Hey, Rude," I started, "Do you want to have lunch with my friend Jessie and me today?" I asked.
He pulled a professional-looking work phone from his pocket and began to scroll and push buttons on it. "Let me see if I'm free…"
Free? What the hell else does a college kid have to do at 11:30 on a Thursday? I swear, Rude you are one helluva an enigma.
"Yeah. Let's go. I assume you mean now?"
I nodded and instructed him to follow me. "Hope you don't mind chocoritos," I commented.
"Not at all."
Fifteen minuets later and we were standing awkwardly in line behind Jessie at Cactuar's, waiting for food. I say awkwardly because even though I had introduce Rude and Jessie, and they seemed to be fine with each other's company, no one was saying anything. "So… what're we getting?" I asked.
Jessie shrugged and told me she'd be getting the usual, while Rude made a grumbling noise in his throat. Okay, this was going to be fun. My day, however, once again surprised me when we sat down and Rude began to ask Jessie all sorts of questions. Mostly the usual like, "What's your major?", "Where are you from?" and the like. Normally this wouldn't concern me or make me think twice, but again the fact that it's Rude made me wonder what he was up to.
"So, Cloud, can you take a look at my bike later?" Jessie suddenly inquired, breaking my lack of focus.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course. What's the problem with it?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you. It just won't pedal right… sometimes the chain doesn't catch."
"Oh, hell then that sounds like a really easy fix," I commented.
Rude moved to his feet suddenly and placed a napkin with a number scrawled on it on the counter, "Sorry, but I have matters to attend to. Give me a call or text next time you want to hang out."
Though he was aiming this thought at both of us, he looked right at Jessie as he said it and for a moment I sweat I could see some blush run into her cheeks, but the color was as fleeting as Rude's presence as he curtly nodded and left. Jessie and I were just half-way through with our food, so we continued to sit and chat. "He was nice. A little quiet, but nice," she commented.
"Yeah, that's Rude for you," I agreed, "So what do you do to get the Silver Materia again?"
Jessie and I had one more class for the day, so after lunch she departed to gymnastics and I made my way to the other side of campus for basic animal studies. Part way through the trip, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I leisurely moved to check the message. Oh, it's a call. But I don't recognize the number…
"Hello…?" I asked apprehensively.
"Mr. Strife? This is Lazard, head of student housing services for your area. How are you today?"
"Fine (if not waffle-less), is something wrong?" I didn't know whether or not to call him sir.
"No, not at all, I was calling to inform you that we have found you a roommate and he is currently in the dorm, so I recommend you head over and meet him as soon as you can and introduce him to life here in Midgar. He's ah… bit of a special case."
"Alright, I will."
We said our goodbyes and I replaced my phone to it's home in my pocket. I began to ponder the day for the umpteenth time as I made my way back to my dorm, deciding to skip class and see what was so special about this guy. Besides, I'm acing basic animal studies. I can afford to skip once. But what is going on with the world today? It's just been a clusterfuck of strange events. And besides that, I didn't really want a roommate. Now it'll be awkward to have Jessie over, and this means we have to set up rules and he might annoy me, and…
The whole walk back to my dorm was spent considering all the strange and awful things that could happen as a result of having a new person living in my room. Though the rooms were designed for two people to live comfortably, I liked my solitary space. From front door, to elevator, to dorm door I had an eternal scowl. The more I considered this, the more it frustrated me. But when I reached my door and went to unlock it, I took a deep and calming breath before I tried my best to put on a casual hello face. Knowing my luck this bastard and I won't get along at all, but why not try to start things well, huh?
The door swung open silently, and standing there was…
No one?
And nothing. My room was as dark as I had left it, blinds still shut and clothes still on the floor. Has this guy gone out to get his stuff? But I didn't see any bags or cars being unpacked out front… maybe he got bored and went for a walk? I moved farther into my room and closed the door. I had one of those feelings… you know, where you can't tell if someone has been in your room and is still there or not. Suddenly I noticed a lump curled up on my bed. Oh what the hell? But moving closer revealed that the lump was breathing, and appeared to be… furry? It was a dog. The guy brought his dog and had told it to sleep on my bed. What a bastard. Weird… I thought these dorms weren't made to accommodate animals… I resigned to the edge of my bed, where I reached out and began to scratch the dog behind it's rather warm ears. It twitched slightly and began to curve it's neck to face me while keeping its eyes closed. And suddenly…
"Would you scratch a little to the left, please?"
