DISCLAIMER: I don't own MR.
"Now can you tell me about what happened?" Max asked as they went at their usual spot at the bridge.
The encounter with Lissa had been days ago. And still he couldn't stop thinking about her. How she was strong enough to lug around her own stuff but weak enough to have Fang help her. How she didn't break a sweat even when Fang could feel it threatening to attack his forehead. How she was really beautiful even when she had her back to him and was kneeling down to place something at a drawer.
He was desperate to spend more time with her, as much as he somehow hated to admit it.
"You know, the usual." He replied, trying not to sound as eager as possible. He hated sounding like that, mainly because he didn't sound like that when it came to matters about girls before.
"What do you mean by 'the usual'?" She asked with an eyebrow raised?
"The usual stuff that happens when you're helping someone move in." He said. And that was pretty much it. He liked spending time with her and getting to know her more via her stuff, but it felt a bit empty since they didn't exactly engage in "getting to know you better" conversation. The afternoon was mainly spent with him asking where he should put down boxes and furniture, and her pointing out those spots.
"Oh. So basically, you still know nothing about her, except where her room is. That was pretty much an opportunity wasted, you know."
He shrugged. "We did sit back with some root beer after it was done. Plus, we traded numbers."
"So it's her first name, her major, her room, and her number? Fang, I've seen you do better." She replied. And as much as he once again hated to admit it, what Max said was true.
"I'm taking this slow. But I do know that she sort of has an addiction to mix CDs." He said. "I saw that she had about fifty of those."
"So make her one when you can finally have a decent chance to go on a date with her."
He nodded. "Max, I've been thinking, when are you going to teach me how to play the guitar?"
Between the two of them, Max had better musical skills. Sure, they both couldn't sing their way out of a paper bag, but she was one up because she knew how to play the guitar and the piano.
"What for?"
"So I can get laid."
Max snorted. Back in high school, Fang didn't need musical skills to get laid, because after all, he wasn't the "hottest asshole in the world" for nothing. "If you are not careful, I will push you off this bridge."
"Then I'll be thankful that I know how to swim."
"Just because she has an addiction to mix CDs doesn't mean she'll swoon over you teaching her how to do a g- sharp." Max said.
"So, no guitar lessons. For now, at least?"
"I'll think about it."
"Well, can you teach me about the inner workings of PMS?"
She snorted again. "And I thought you were more exposed to media than I was." She said.
"But you'll never know if I accidentally step into 'the warzone'."
She thought about it for a moment. "PMS is hard. PMS isn't just because of periods. Legend says that it also means 'Pissed at Men Syndrome'. So when a girl's pissed, it's sort of hard to tell if it's because of her cramps or because of you."
Fang thought of the times he hung out with Max. It was hard guessing what her PMS was about, or if she really had PMS at all, because she was pissed all the time. Even if he didn't see anything wrong. Or maybe it was because he didn't look hard enough back then.
"Anyway," Max added. "We'll deal about periods when you have an actual girl to deal with."
"I've always been fine dealing with you." He pointed out.
"Well, Karas, forget everything you think you know about girls in general, besides the ones I told you. Because you do not know jack."
"That's a bit comforting."
"Just remember, never tell her what you assume. Ask, and if she doesn't want to tell you, say that she can call you about it that night."
He nodded.
"Since tomorrow's the first day, I'd figure that you guys share some classes. Prepare to make your move, Karas."
"Roger that."
Unlike the past first days in high school, Fang was a bit anxious about this one. After all, back then everyone knew him because they had been his classmates since elementary.
He was very much aware of that old saying "first impressions last". But he didn't know how to put on a good first impression. When his parents introduced him to their friends, he was pretty blunt because they didn't matter to him. And everyone else important to him had known him at the time he was aware of making first impressions. Except Max. Because it was solely her decision on what to make of someone, good first impression or not. She was different like that.
All throughout the day, he spent the first few minutes of each class looking out for Lissa. He didn't bother listening to attendance, because he didn't know if Lissa was her real name or her nickname. Not to mention the lack of knowledge of her surname.
He and Max didn't share any classes, mostly because her major was Science and she had chosen to get a lot of hard classes, even if her brain wasn't the type to handle hardcore studying well. A lot of the scientific stuff in her head were ones she had learned for her mother, who was a scientist- turned- veterinarian.
So his first day was spent nonchalantly glancing around, like he was trying to take in his surroundings, even if he was secretly looking for a red- haired girl. He didn't know if that was part of his making a first impression. Maybe someone had thought that he was paranoid and was thinking that someone was following him. He still couldn't decide if he wanted to care or not. Probably because Lissa was his first priority on the first impression thing.
At one point, while walking to another building, he had crossed paths with Max. And Max, seeing that he still didn't have the air of confidence around him that said "I got the girl", bumped into him, and whispered, "Your move, Karas."
Even Max was surprised that he still hadn't managed to get the girl's attention. The problem was that he didn't know where the girl was.
And as his last class finished, he knew that he was close to defeat. He didn't know if she was still going to wander around campus thus giving him the opportunity to continue the search, or if she was going straight back to the dorms. And screw the fact that there would be tomorrow and the days after that. He didn't describe himself as desperate for no reason.
He didn't know that on her way out of her last class, Lissa had come across Angel and shyly asked her if she saw Fang. He didn't know that Angel somehow knew where she could possibly see him. He didn't know that they were both currently walking around campus, pretending to stretch their legs after hours of endless sitting when they were secretly hoping to see the one person they were starting to like- each other.
Could it get anymore chick flick- ish?
After he completed a turn around the main parts of campus, his phone rang, signaling a message from an unknown number. Because he didn't know Angel's number yet.
Prepare for a direct hit.
He didn't know what it was supposed to mean, so he assumed that it was sent to his number by mistake. But he didn't know it wasn't; he just somehow found it to coincide with the events, because as he was exiting his phone's inbox, he did receive a direct hit. He found himself crashing down, and saw that another person had come down, too.
It was the red- haired girl he was looking for. Lissa.
"I'm sorry." He muttered, helping her fix her things. He stood up and offered his hand, then assisted Lissa in getting up. "Should've looked where I was going."
"You're not the only one." She said, her cheeks turning pink. "I should definitely pay attention to feet the next time."
"Me too, I guess." He said, managing to flash his best grin amidst his nervousness. And it worked, because Lissa grinned at him in reply, showing her perfect teeth, and it was just so glorious.
"Hey, you're a math major, right?" She asked. "That's weird; I've only seen you now."
"I'm very good at hiding." He said.
"Good for you. Because this-" She said, holding up a clump of her red hair. "Just stands out too much."
He shrugged. "I like it."
"That's sweet of you."
"So, do you, like, want to walk around or something?"
She smiled and then shrugged. "I've got nothing else to do, so why not?"
They didn't actually walk around; instead they looked for a tree that had plenty of shade and sat down beside its trunk, careful not to be too close to each other.
"You know, whenever Brigid makes me come to parties, I just always hang back, and then I'd try to make up some random life stories about the people that pass by."
"So, that guy in the frat sweatshirt. What kind of stuff does he secretly collect?"
"I'd say those tiny perfume strips, and he still doesn't throw them away after the scent disappears. How about that girl over there wearing glasses? What's her worst habit?"
"Talking like a little kid whenever her parents are around."
She giggled a bit, the kind that said I'm having fun and I'm not trying to flirt with you or anything, but I'm still making this a bit flirtatious just in case. That was his favorite kind. "Not bad for a beginner."
"What can I say? I'm starting to get a hang of this. The guy playing Wonderwall by Oasis on his guitar. What was the best thing he ever learned?"
"How to play enough guitar to get him laid." She said, referring to the three or four girls surrounding him, singing along. "Sometimes being musically talented to attract girls is a bit old."
"What, you're saying you're not interested in musical types?"
"Not really, it's just that I prefer someone who's musical because he likes music. Not someone who wants to learn how to play one song so he can get chicks."
Fang made a mental note to cancel the possible guitar and piano lessons, just in case Lissa discovered the real motive.
"So, Fang's not your real name, huh?"
"Is Lissa not your real name?"
"Alyssa Strud."
"John Karas."
"Where did you get 'Fang' then?"
"Max just gave it to me."He replied. It was once again those history- changing stories back in high school, which often included Max.
"Why does everyone call you Karas?"
It was the middle of their agreed tutoring session, maybe sometime during their sophomore year. Fang was willing to give her a hand on Math, if she promised to help him with English and a bit of Science.
"Because John is a bit ordinary, and you know I'm not ordinary, Maxine." He replied with a teasing voice. He knew Max hated being called by her real name. A glare alone had the whole school calling her Max by the second day of school.
She gave him a sweet smile that in her world translated to, I will kill you in your sleep if you say that one more time. "Well it makes you sound like some bully or something, which doesn't exactly fit you. Maybe I should give you a new nickname."
"And how would you give me a nickname?" He asked. To be a bit honest, he sort of liked being called by his last name; it gave people the impression that he was a guy to be feared. "You've failed before." He added, referring to the two nicknames that Max first gave him but then went out: Mr. Rock and Emo Guy. Not very creative.
Max reached into her backpack and pulled out a pocket dictionary. "We'll let the fates decide."
Before he could ask how Max would plan on using the dictionary, she closed her eyes, flipped through the pages a couple of times, and then settled on one. She took a deep breath and pointed to a random spot.
"FANG, noun - a sharp tooth." Max read out loud. "How blunt. Matches you, actually."
"I don't think I'd look like a Fang to you. Or to anyone, for that matter." He said. At the moment, 'Fang' didn't really sound like an appealing nickname.
"I can't avoid to tempt fate by disrespecting its decision. So Fang it shall be. I declare it thus and hence."
"That wouldn't last for a month."
"You want to bet on it? It's on, Fang." She said, holding out her hand. "Twenty bucks says that this lasts longer than a month."
"A deal it is." He said, shaking her hand. And then they went back to tutoring each other, Max still calling him by his new nickname.
She called him Fang the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. After four and a half weeks, a friend or two other than Max also started calling him Fang. So one month after the 'ceremony' that christened him as Fang, Max was twenty bucks richer.
"Word has gotten around that you have found a redhead. Nice pick." Dylan said as he entered their room.
"Very funny. Max told you, didn't she?"
He nodded. "What, the redhead's a friend?"
"Hopefully not."
"So you guys haven't kissed?"
"Not yet. It's only the first day."
"That was something you didn't tell me back in high school. But I like the way you make it sound. Of course, you won't fail with that."
"Maybe."
"What's up with the 'maybe'?"
Dylan was very aware that Fang had changed, but he was pretty sure that all his past skills were tucked somewhere in his mind's attic, ready to go into action if he needed it again.
"Nothing. You got the food?"
He showed Fang a paper bag with a Chinese restaurant's logo. "The best and cheapest I could find."
The two boys were silent for a few minutes, reclaiming the energy that had been drained by eight or so hours of listening to professors drone on about requirements.
"You have classes with Max, right?" Fang asked, even if he already knew the answer.
"Do you have classes with the redhead? What's her name, anyway?"
"I don't know, and her name's Lissa. You met anyone interesting?"
"A few."
"Who's the target?"
He shrugged. "Still gathering options. It's only the first day, you know."
"That was something you didn't tell me back in high school."
"You said you changed."
"Never mind. How about Max? News on her?"
He shrugged. "I haven't caught her yet. Either not in our shared class, or none yet."
Sometimes it felt like a crime to gossip about Max. But it was mostly just him and Dylan to talk about her, and most, if not all he said about her was true. So it wasn't exactly rumors they were talking about.
"Does she even plan on having a college love life?"
"She's a girl. In college."
"She's Max."
"Trust me pal; we're twins. We have that telepathic stuff going on."
After they finished eating and cleaning up, Fang decided to check his Facebook, which he rarely did over the summer. There were a lot of notifications and friend requests waiting for him, but he skipped ahead to the page displaying friend requests.
One of those invitations was from Lissa Strud.
He decided to check out her profile first. It was blocked off to the people who weren't friends with her, but Fang paid most of his attention to her profile picture. It showed her with her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, with a bunch of strands hanging off at the side. The photo was from the waist up, so he could only see the hoodie she wore. She was holding a puppy, which was looking innocently at the camera.
"Adorable girl you got there." He heard Dylan say from behind.
Fang went back to the page that displayed his friend requests, and without hesitation, accepted the request. There was an explosion as he clicked on the button that would make them friends.
Literally. There was a sound that indicated something had exploded. And it was possibly from next door.
Please be glad that I made myself get up and drag my lazy ass to the computer. I wasn't even planning to finish this until Sunday.
(Apparently, five reviews did encourage me, but not enough . So please, please, please, can this get to thirty? I promise to update REALLY fast.)
(Wow. I sounded like a whiny bitch. Not changing my mind, though.)
(Yeah, I still feel OOC.)
And oh yeah, by the way, I really need criticism right now. As in what I need to do to make this better.
See you in an (possibly) indefinite number of days.
(P.S. There are more clues about his past, you know.)
