Unlucky as Hell
Shelby frowned softly, not having a clue why the red-haired man was at her doorstep. She could only conclude that he was here to check up on her and that Trinity must've given him their address. The brunette let out a soft sigh and unlocked the door, opening it halfway and revealing her smaller form to the Libra leader.
"Mr. Reinherz," she spoke politely, though tiredly. "What can I do for you?"
"I apologize for coming here unannounced, but I was concerned for your well-being and asked Miss Trinity if I could have your address." he replied, his hands behind his back politely. "Zapp saw her while she was on her way to the campus, so he had asked for me for the address."
"It's fine, Mr. Reinherz. I understand." Shelby nodded in understanding.
"May I come in?" he asked.
"Of course."
Shelby opened the door the rest of the way for him and once he walked inside, Shelby shut the door behind him, locking it. She was a bit paranoid when living in a new place and usually after a few weeks she would be feeling comfortable enough to leave her door unlocked while she was home. She turned back to her guest, who seemed to be taking in his new surroundings.
"You have a very lovely home." he complimented, turning his gaze to her.
"Thank you. Trinity and I are both neat freaks, so we keep everything picked up." Shelby replied. "Can I get you anything? I've got some hot water on the stove for tea, or maybe some water?"
"Ah, no thank you Miss-"
"It's okay to call me Shelby, Mr. Reinherz." Shelby said, the corner of her lip twitching a bit from a silent chuckle. "I stopped calling myself Shell because it seemed too...childish. So I prefer my real name now."
"Only if you will call me Klaus." the red-haired man said, mimicking the same smile as she did.
Shelby nodded in agreement, then she and Klaus sat down on the couch. Shelby curled her legs up by her stomach, careful of bending her upper torso too much. She slipped one of the couch pillows underneath her side that leaned against the couch, fighting the grimace she wanted to let out. Klaus made himself comfortable, but still politely.
"How are your injuries?" he asked.
"They're not too bad...sore, and they give off a tinge of pain every once in a while, but they're healing." she answered, moving her bangs away from her face only to watch as they fell back in front of her eyes. She really needed to do something about that. "I'm on one more week of bed rest, then I can go back to moving around normally."
"I am ecstatic to hear that, Shelby. I have been sincerely worried about you, ever since we spoke at the hospital for the first time." Klaus nodded, his deep voice gentle.
Shelby noted mentally that he indeed did sound sincere, which she found weird since most guys would be bland about it. She shook it off, before speaking. "About that...I want to apologize for my behavior towards you at the hospital. I was hostile and there was no reason for that."
"It's quite alright, Shelby. If I had been in your shoes, I would have done the same thing." he said, pausing for a moment before his green eyes caught the sight of her closed laptop and the notebooks around it. "Do you write?"
"I do, actually. I've sold...4 novels, all horror." Shelby replied, her eyes lighting up with excitement. Klaus noted that mentally. "I don't talk about it much since I don't like to brag about my achievement, but...it's what I've wanted to do and I finally got it off the ground. I'm working on a psychological crime thriller right now that's a novelette. Hopefully I don't get too much harassment from it."
That concerned Klaus and he arched an eyebrow at her statement. "Why would you be harassed for your work?"
"I...shouldn't have said that." she turned her gaze down to her lap, twisting her fingers together as a sense of nervousness washed over her. She despised letting people know about her weaknesses, especially people she barely knew. "I guess...well...every author is harassed at some point or another. I was recently harassed by an older woman who claimed my last book was written by Satan and I was his...prophet...or something like that. She was arrested and taken to jail for six months."
"I do not see why you would be harassed for fictional work.." he said gently. "I'm positive your writing is unique."
She felt her cheeks heat up slightly and just as she was about to speak, the lock on the door was undone and Trinity opened the door, holding a small ice cream cone in her hand. She looked between her roommate and the red-haired man, arching an eyebrow. "Did I interrupt something?"
"N-no, not at all!" Shelby said, waving her hands nervously. "We were just talking about my health. Trinity, you remember Mr. Reinherz, right?"
"Of course." Trinity nodded, giving a smile. "Mr. Reinherz, would you like to stay for dinner? We're ordering Chinese."
"Oh, I'm afraid not tonight. I must be getting back to work." he replied, the corners of his mouth rising in a gentle smile as he stood up.
"I'll see you out." Shelby said, standing up.
Trinity watched in amusement as her roommate followed the big man to the door, where they exchanged a few words. She watched as Klaus took Shelby's hand gently and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, like a proper gentleman. Trinity couldn't help but watch as her friend's face lit up like a Christmas tree and then she shut the door as the big man left.
"I think he likes you." Trinity snickered.
"No...he was just being proper. I can tell he was raised that way." Shelby replied, locking the door before going to sit on the couch. "What about that Zapp guy? Klaus said he went to you to find out where we lived."
"Yeah. He found me at the campus and asked where we lived. I thought it was weird at first, but then he said that his boss was the one asking." Trinity answered with a nod. "We...made up, in a sense. I apologized for kicking him in the balls, and he apologized for assuming I was a guy. I think he struggled with the apology though."
"Doesn't surprise me." Shelby shrugs, picking up her mug to take a sip of her still warm tea. "He seems like that kind of guy who doesn't apologize much."
Trinity shrugged. "Now, ready for Chinese?"
Trinity yawned as she walked down the lobby, waving at the receptionist as she walked by. Though it wasn't a hotel, they actually had a single floor dedicated to be available for guests. So sort of like a hotel and apartment. Trinity normally walked to the campus to keep herself in shape, and to grab breakfast if she wanted to. She walked out the double doors and was immediately greeted by a surprising sight.
Zapp was sitting on his scooter, seemingly waiting for someone with his scooter parked in the parking space. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he looked annoyed. However, once his blue eyes caught sight of the small woman, he stood up. "You ready?" he asked, picking up a helmet.
"Um...ready for what?" she asked, confused.
"For class. Chief told me to take you to class." he replied, tossing the helmet to her, which she caught easily. "Hop on. We're going to a doughnut place, then your campus."
Trinity hesitated for a moment, before she put the helmet on her head and strapped it on. She walked over to the scooter and sat behind the white-haired man, who wore his own helmet as well. Once she was situated, he started the small vehicle up and headed off down the road. Trinity held onto his shoulders lightly, so she wouldn't fall off.
"What kind of doughnuts you want?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
"I like the Long Johns." Trinity replied.
Zapp snickered at that, before he spoke. "Gottcha. What time are you out of class?"
"3."
"Neato. Chief told me to take you to class today, but well...I don't mind doing this for you. Consider it a better apology from me." he said, which sounded a better apology than the one he tried to give yesterday.
"Sounds good to me. I'm in class Monday through Wednesday." she nodded.
"Same time every day?"
"Yea."
"Gottcha."
They reached the doughnut shop about five minutes later and Zapp went inside, getting two doughnuts for each of them. He let Trinity hold onto the bag while he drove to the campus. He parked in front of the building she had her first class in and let her off. "Here," he said, handing her a small piece of paper with his cell phone number on it. "Lemme know which building when you're done."
"Sure." she nodded, glancing over at a small group of two guys and three girls who were speaking to each other.
"They bother you?" Zapp asked, looking over at them as well.
"C'mon, no. This is college, not high school." Trinity said with a chuckle, grabbing her doughnuts out of the bag. "See ya at 3."
Her first class was over around 9:30, which started at 7. She had finished her doughnuts halfway through class, and was now texting Shelby and Zapp just to let them know how her day was going. Trinity had informed Zapp that the five students they had seen earlier were giving her looks and following her around the campus. She was tempted to just leave for the day. As she was reading the text that Zapp had sent to her, she yelped as she tripped over something and fell hard onto the cement. Her phone fell from her hand and clattered across the ground.
"Well, well." a female voice said.
Trinity glanced up at one of the same younger girls, who was chewing gum. Now Trinity wasn't one to stereotype, but this girl looked like the typical cheerleader, with her midriff showing and wearing a skirt that barely covered her ass. The other two girls were the same, as were the guys, who both of them wore Letterman jackets. Athletic students. She didn't know why they kept bothering her, so it was time to find out.
Trinity sighed softly to herself and pushed herself up, sitting on her knees. She brushed the dirt off her clothes and looked at the younger girl once more. "Listen, I didn't come here to get into trouble. Just let me pass and I'll be on my way."
The girls exchanged glances, before all three of them giggled. Without warning, a steel-toed boot collided with Trinity's stomach and she doubled over, coughing harshly and wrapping her arms around herself. Hands grabbed onto her arms and hauled her onto her feet, to which she glanced up as one of the girls stood in front of her, cracking her tanned knuckles. "Look, I-" Trinity began, but was interrupted when her head snapped to the side, her jaw aching from the strong punch.
"Don't speak unless we ask you a question, freak." the girl spat.
Trinity opened her mouth once more, and was once again silenced with a punch across her cheek. She felt the salty and metallic taste of blood on her tongue, and even was aware of a dribble of blood flowing down from her mouth. The punches continued, most of them landing on her face and upper torso. After what seemed like forever, she was dropped to the tile floor. She groaned softly, her vision doubling. She could barely feel her legs being parted, fingers fiddling with her belt.
Then they were gone and she heard the sound of a body hitting the floor. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" a man's voice shouted angrily.
The voice sounded all too familiar now. Trinity blinked her eyes, even though it hurt to. She was able to make out a big white blur, but it was the last thing she saw before her vision blackened completely.