The Further Adventures of A. Teague: Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned any part of the book, "Blood and Chocolate," by Annette Curtis Klause. I do, however, love her characters, and I hope she doesn't mind me writing a story about them. It should also be noted that the locations described in this story are fictionalized versions of real places. The city of La Mesa, NM exists, but it is not the city that I am writing about. Thank you, and enjoy.
The high-pitched whine of a blow-dryer brought Aiden back to the world. He'd spent the past 18 hours in the black oblivion of exhausted dreamless sleep, and he opened his eyes to see Charles styling his douchey blonde hair.
"I see you've decided to finally awaken."
Aiden grumbled assent.
"Tell me, are you ill or simply lazy?"
Aiden, goaded into speech, responded, "I was exhausted." He pushed himself up on his elbows and grabbed for his phone. "I didn't sleep well the past few nights."
"May I ask why?"
Aiden threw a glance over his shoulder, "You care?"
"Your sarcasm is unwarranted."
"As always." Aiden rubbed his eyes and threw back the covers, carefully crawling out of bed. He turned to see Charles awaiting a reply, so, sighing, he answered, "Nerves."
"Nerves?"
"I get nervous before the start of school," he lied, "and when I'm nervous, I can't sleep."
"I see. I am glad to hear that it's not influenza."
"Thanks." He pulled out his desk chair and plopped down.
"It wouldn't do to be ill this early in the semester."
"Yeah." Aiden rolled his eyes, "That'd be really terrible for you."
Charles either chose to ignore the snide comment or simply didn't care. Either way, the conversation died and Aiden focused on the internet and his demonic asshole of a roommate.
Keep up appearances, he reminded himself. As long as he thinks I'm duped, he'll leave me alone.
Sighing, Aiden clicked through his usual string of websites, webcomics and social media platforms before remembering that he had a shiny new email address to check.
Signing into his La Mesa account, he noticed amid the welcome spam a missive from Dr. Jeanette Finch, dated last night at about 10. The subject line read, "Honors Project". Checking over his shoulder, Aiden saw Charles obsessively combing his hair, staring into the over-the-door mirror on the closet. Aiden sneered, I should be safe.
Clicking on the email, he read
"Mr. Teague,
Regarding the honors project we discussed earlier, I think it would be a good idea to meet sometime tomorrow. Please bring with you any information you can put together on the subject you'd like to study. I'm free from 11:00-11:50 and 2:00-4:00
-Dr. Finch
PS: Feel free to contact me by phone."
The email footer went on to list her phone number. Aiden smiled and added her as a contact in his cell. Her email must be monitored, he thought, why else bother with the subterfuge? That or maybe she just didn't feel comfortable telling him in plain English to spy on Charles.
Well, he thought archly, I can say with absolute certainty that he's a self-obsessed dick. But, other than that... Aiden looked behind him. Charles was still preening in the mirror, like the exact arrangement of his hair decided the fate of the world. Through his veil of dislike, Aiden had to admit that he knew next to nothing about his roommate.
This assignment was going to require some snooping.
Aiden clicked off of his email and powered down his laptop. Grabbing his flip flops and shower gear, he headed for the bathroom, shuffling awkwardly past Charles on his way out. Hopefully he'd be done grooming by the time Aiden returned, leaving the room devoid of witnesses.
Over the past few days, Aiden had managed, via process of elimination, to find at least two stalls in the shower room that were reliably warm. Heading into one of these and finding it empty, Aiden proceeded to indulge in a long, near-scalding shower.
Aiden, skin pink from excessive heat, shuffled back into his room, towel firmly clutched shut by his free hand. At the door, he awkwardly maneuvered his keys into the lock and opened the door. He managed to get it shut before his towel fell off.
Mercifully, he was alone, a fact that had him rushing to dress. Who knew how long Charles would be gone? Aiden hung up his towel and, stealing a glance at the locked door, approached Charles' desk.
The meticulous orderliness was daunting. That much organization was foreign to Aiden, who'd routinely gone months without cleaning his room.
He'll notice if anything is missing, Aiden realized. Hell, he'll notice if anything is out of place.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit... the mantra continued at a steady pace while he tried to find a solution. Then, he rolled his eyes and sighed. Duh.
Aiden reached up onto his bed to retrieve his phone. Stepping back, he took a few quick pictures of the desk area, then moved in closer for some detail shots of the desk top.
Satisfied, Aiden carefully drew out the chair and began searching.
The desktop was a complete bust. Charles' laptop was password-protected, and Aiden wasn't nearly clever enough to figure out the answer. Beyond that, the lamp and printer weren't much help.
"Okay, strike one," Aiden muttered. Shooting a quick glance at the door, he scooted back in the chair and slowly pulled open the top drawer.
"Seriously?" Disgusted, Aiden took a few pictures. Charles had pens, pencils sharpies and highlighters neatly organized in their own separate trays. Post-its of varying size and color littered the drawer, covering Khalid's welcome packet and a large leather planner and...
Wait. Jackpot. Aiden carefully extracted the planner and started flipping through it. It was blank up until mid-June.
That's when it happened, Aiden realized. Who starts a planner mid-summer? It didn't make sense unless he was under demonic influence.
Would you listen to yourself, his rational side interrupted.
It's the only logical explanation.
Logical? You just ascribed the buying of a planner to "Demonic influence," and you call that logical?
In a world that apparently houses werewolves, demons and god knows what else, yes, that is a logical conclusion.
Annoyed with himself, Aiden focused on the planner, photographing important looking pages, looking for information that could help Dr. Finch and Abiah. He was also acutely aware of the passing time. Charles could come back at any time, and if he did, Aiden would have less than five seconds to get the hell away from his desk. Every slight noise set him on edge.
The entries for this week were a hieroglyphic mess of club meetings and event times, but little to no mentions of classes. Not surprising; first week of a semester couldn't be much more than reading syllabi and going through introductions. Still, it would be really nice to know what his classes where. It would make it a lot easier to keep track of him.
A door slammed in the hallway. Aiden shot straight up and froze . Someone in squeaky new shoes started walking away from his door.
Aiden settled back into the chair as his heartrate slowed from panic. Quickly flipping through the rest of the planner, he noticed a small folder at the back. Inside was a textbook receipt, a Young Republicans sticker and a class schedule.
"Hello there." Aiden pulled it out and shot a couple quick pictures of it. Looking closer, he saw that Charles was signed up for Calculus 2, Intro to American Politics, Principles of Communication, and a 200 level economics class.
"Ambitious bastard," Aiden grumbled. At a second glance, looking up and down the times of his classes, Aiden saw that none of them were happening right now.
"Oh, God." Aiden whispered, just a second before he heard the footsteps approaching his door.
"Shit shit shit shit SHIT!" Flipping the planner shut, throwing it in the drawer and slamming it shut, Aiden vaulted across the room and slammed down on his chair.
Breathing heavily, Aiden groped for his phone, desperate for something to focus on, only to realize that he'd left it on Charles' desk.
Shiiii-
And then someone knocked on the door.
"Oh thank God." Aiden sighed. It's not Charles; Charles wouldn't bother to knock.
"Aiden? It's Khalid."
Relief washed over him. Heaving a huge sight, Aiden stood, walked to the door and opened it.
"Did I interrupt something ?" Khalid looked him up and down, an amused yet mildly disgusted look on his face.
"No," Aiden lied. "Just getting dressed." He ran a hand through his still-damp hair. "I'd really like to not get caught changing by my roommate."
Khalid shrugged. "It's gonna happen sooner or later. Anyway, I'm just dropping by to ask if you had that paperwork I gave you filled out."
"Paperwork?" Then understanding dawned. "Oh! Damn, I'm sorry; I completely spaced that."
"That's alright, but could you get it to me sometime today?"
"Yes, absolutely."
"Great, thanks!" Khalid seemed about to walk away, but turned back. "Are you sure you're okay? You're acting kind of strange."
"I'm fine," Aiden bluffed, "really, but thanks for asking."
"Alright, see you later!"
"Bye!" Aiden managed to smile for a second or two before ducking back inside and slamming the door.
That's one close call too many, Aiden silently decided, sliding into Charles' chair. Meticulously, Aiden put Charles' desk back together, taking care to smooth the schedule before placing it back into the planner. I'll call this good for now.
Quickly and quietly, he put everything back as it had been when he started snooping, down to the last Post-it pad. There would be time for more espionage later, especially now that Aiden had his schedule. Looking down at his phone, Aiden saw that he had just enough time to grab breakfast before his English class.
He never noticed the webcam on Charles' computer, and he certainly didn't see its little red light.
