Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of activity. School's gotten back into swing and I also got a case of writer's block. Anyway, Roar Omega Roar attends a football game at MU, while Johnny witnesses Colleen's athleticism and the latter has a moment with Mike and Randy. Rate and Review!
Chapter 9: Take a Lap
Dried leaves crunched loudly underneath Colleen's feet as she briskly jogged through the MU campus on a chilly morning. Fall was already here, and it was a good thing she always wore that warm Roar Omega Roar sweater, with her being cold-blooded and all. A leaf suddenly smacked her in the face, and she angrily batted it away. As she stewed in embarrassment, she heard voices from nearby, apparently female, shouting. She got curious and decided to investigate; what if it was a fight? Colleen walked closer and saw a group of monsters clad in purple sprinting and, in one case, slithering.
"Come on girls! Pick up the pace!" A pink tentacled monster commanded ahead of the group. She suddenly stopped when she took notice of a certain freshman staring at them. "Hold on…we've got a peeper!"
"…Peeper?" Colleen asked in confusion before slowly pointing her claw at her own chest. "Who, me?"
"What are you doing peeping on us during our routine!?" A purple, horned member interrogated.
"I wasn't peeping, I swear!" Colleen insisted, waving her hands in front of her. "I heard shouting, and I thought someone was having a fight, so I came to investigate! I didn't realize you guys were training."
The pink monster's face softened. "Fight? Oh no, that's not us at all! Sorry for accusing you of peeping." She came forward and offered one of her tentacles. "I'm Carla Delgado, president of Slugma Slugma Kappa!" She turned back to her teammates. "Over here we have Violet Steslicki, Donna Soohoo, Brynn Larson, Maria Garcia, and Debbie Gabler!"
Colleen shook Carla's tentacle. "Cole Crier…not-president of Roar Omega Roar…that's Johnny's job, after all."
The ΣΣKs laughed at the statement. Brynn spoke up and commented, "It must be rough having to be under his thumb…but you must be very talented to be a RΩR!"
"Why wouldn't he be talented?" Maria asked. "He's the guy that climbed all the way up the clock tower, after all. I heard he also beat O'Growlahan and Jimmy Sullivan in a party game."
Colleen laughed at some of the praise she got from the sorority. She suddenly clasped her hands together and decided to ask, "So, what kind of routine are you doing, anyway?"
Carla stared at her in confusion. "Well, we were just starting on some stretches and then we were going for a jog. We do a different routine every day."
The freshman nodded her head before asking, "Mind if I join you? I'm in the mood for some jogging…everyone else at the frat house is probably still asleep, so they never join me."
The ΣΣKs stared at her silently for a second, and then smiles broke out on their faces. Carla laughed and answered, "Never knew you'd be a fellow athlete! Sure, come along! That is, if you can keep up!"
Colleen chuckled. "Hey, I climbed a clock tower. This'll be no sweat."
"Where is Crier!?" Johnny barked, staring at the clock in the room. "We're going to be late for the football game!"
"I believe he went out for a jog." Javier stated simply, putting down the magazine he had been engrossed in. "He does so every morning before we're awake."
"And how would you know that if he goes out while we're asleep?" Johnny challenged, stepping up to the bug monster. "Do you spy on him or something?"
Javier shrugged. "I'm sometimes up early enough to see him go out the door."
Johnny was about to vent more on how they would be late for the big football game between Monsters University and Fear Tech and how he wasted money on tickets and how he let Crier into his fraternity and this was the thanks he got when Chet suddenly called out from the window, "Hey Johnny! I see Crier! He's…he's with the ΣΣKs!"
The horned monster immediately went to the door and opened it, stepping outside to get a closer look and whether to see what Chet proclaimed was true or not. Sure enough, there was 'Cole', jogging with Slugma Slugma Kappa around Frat Row. Johnny gritted his teeth but forced himself to calm down; while he wasn't exactly against the freshman hanging out with other fraternities and sororities, he could've at least been notified in advance…unless it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. He sighed before casually strolling up to the group.
"Wow Cole, you're quite the athlete!" Carla commented before noticing the horned monster. "Uh oh…I hope we didn't cause any trouble…"
Colleen noticed Johnny, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and sighed in exasperation. "It's all right, I can handle it." She stepped up to Johnny and wore a fierce look on her reddened face. "I know what you're gonna say, and let me tell you-"
"Go wash your face." Johnny interrupted, his fists on his hips. "And make it quick! We need to get to the game!"
"Game?" Colleen asked before her eyes widened. "The football game!? Aw crap, I forgot! Let me clean up!"
When the freshman ran back inside, Johnny turned his attention to Carla and the ΣΣKs. He didn't seem to be angry with them. Actually, it looked almost like he was amused, shown when he cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't think a sorority would let a frat monster hang with them."
"Well, Cole wanted to join in on our jog." Carla stated. "He's actually really fast; we were trying to keep up with him, not the other way around! Don't punish him or anything…"
Johnny pondered on it; well, he pretended to ponder. He wasn't against Crier working out because it at least kept him busy, but why would he decide to run with a sorority? Maybe he was that confident with girls, or he was raised with a bunch of girls. Either way, he went back to the ΣΣK president and replied, "He's off the hook…maybe that speed of his will help us win the Scare Games."
"Just so you know, we're taking the trophy this year, Worthington!" Violet boldly declared. "Your winning streak ends this year!"
"Fat chance of that happening." He gloated. "The Scare Games trophy AND the bragging rights are as good as ours…"
"Hey, watch where you're tossing that popcorn!" Colleen snapped, baring her teeth at Chet and jabbing her claw at him.
"Get ya claw outta my face and I will!" The crab monster growled, narrowing his eye.
"The both of you shut up and keep your eyes on the game!" Johnny roared, grabbing Chet by his smaller pincher and Colleen by her collar. "Student discount or not, I paid good money for those tickets! Now APPRECIATE IT!"
Colleen huffed and sat back on the bleachers, her arms crossed over her chest in an expression of distaste. She pouted for a few seconds before she observed the home team heading for the goal and a potential touchdown. The freshman swiftly leaned forward and lightly pounded her fists on her knees, muttering for the team to score. When the Monsters University team scored a touchdown, she stood up in her seat, screamed, grabbed Johnny by his collar, and started shaking him while still screaming. Seeing what she was doing and seeing the weirded-out look in his eyes, she smiled nervously, let him go, and sat back on the bleachers with a cough.
"Sports fanatic much, Crier?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow but still being wary.
"Uh…sorry." She sheepishly apologized. "I get excited with sports…especially football and hockey."
"Why hockey?"
Colleen hesitated for a moment before answering, "I like the intensity." In reality, she liked monster hockey because the competitors would often get into fights and knock each other's teeth out. But she wouldn't tell Johnny that; he would think of her as being too brutish for the RΩRs if he knew she liked fights. "The players always look funny with a few missing teeth, too."
Johnny didn't reply; he immediately deemed 'Cole' a…unique monster. And by unique, he really meant strange. Colleen took that as him mulling over her, and she proceeded to hunch over and sigh. It was then she saw some familiar faces a few rows below them. Squinting her eyes, she saw it was none-other than Mike and Randy. Of course, Mike had a book with him. She knew he was studying big time for the Scaaring 101 final, and she couldn't blame him. She remembered Dean Hardscrabble appearing in the middle of class and telling everyone that if they failed, they would be kicked out of the Scaring program. So she studied whenever she could. And now that she thought about it…Randy wasn't wearing his glasses so much. Wonder why?
"Uh…I'm gonna go and get a drink." Colleen lied, getting up and brushing past Johnny.
She stepped away from her fellow RΩRs far enough before sitting on a part of the bleachers and literally sliding down on her back, thanks to her lanky body, and landing right between Mike and Randy, startling them. "Greetings, fellow freshman!"
"Do you have to make such a dramatic appearance?" Mike asked in slight annoyance. "What's got you dropping in, anyway?"
"Nice pun usage." Colleen replied in sarcasm. "Can't I say hi to my friends? I think I weirded King Worthington out by my love of the game."
Randy laughed softly. "You're so cool, Cole. I wish I was as cool as you."
Colleen chuckled. "Thanks, Randy. Eh, I'm kind of cool, I guess. Johnny wouldn't like to hear it; even after our little 'understanding', I still think he has it out for me…"
Mike suddenly took interest. "What kind of understanding?"
"Well, it was basically helping him beat Jaws Theta Chi and Sullivan in a game. And all it took was a lot of dumb luck." She admitted. "That…and a few personal things…"
Mike stared at her in silence for a moment, pretty sure that Randy didn't know her secret, before clearing his throat and asking, "So…Cole…have you been studying for the final?"
"When I can." Colleen sighed, tipping her cap up. "When I'm not dragged out to any parties…of course, me being a freshman, Johnny makes sure I hit the books…usually by sending Javier or Reggie to give me 'encouragement'."
"What exactly does encouragement mean?" The one-eyed monster asked in slight dread.
Colleen stared forward with a somewhat-disturbed gaze. "Having them stare at me from the door for an hour or so."
"Hey Crier! Does it take you THAT long to grab a soda!?" Johnny shouted in the distance. "Grab me one, too!"
Colleen cringed and made herself get up from the bleachers. "My cover's about to be blown, guys. If Johnny sees me talking to you…I'm sure he doesn't mind much now, but you never know. I'd better get to the soda stand before Johnny blows a gasket."
Mike waved at her with a lop-sided smirk. "At least you're not ashamed of hanging out with the lowly, uncool freshman like us." He didn't notice Randy frown at the word uncool. "Hey, we've got some study sessions planned. You're more than welcome to join in."
The fellow freshman smiled and flashed her fangs. "I'll take you up on that offer, Wazowski. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to fetch King Worthington a soda."
