"I think I'm gonna throw up" Fulton declared checking his reflection in the mirror for what seemed like the millionth time that morning.
"I thought I was the pregnant one" Allie was also nervous but was trying not to let it show for Fulton's sake.
"We could share the toilet bowl, you know Charlie and I once shared a rubbish bin" Fulton stopped when he saw Allie's face.
"Fulton, that's just gross" she told him wrinkling her nose.
"I know" Fulton hung his head in shame. He was the one who'd insisted on riding the coaster that day.
"Come on we're gonna be late for our first day of college" Allie told him picking up her backpack.
"Oh no, you are not carrying that" Fulton leapt around the kitchen table to grab the bag from her hands.
"Fulton, I'm not a freaking invalid" Allie glared at him.
"I know but its heavy and your back was hurting yesterday" Fulton gave his best 'innocent' smile.
"Fine" Allie gave up. She knew he meant well but it was really annoying sometimes having someone fuss over your every move.
Fulton grinned and made off with the backpack. Allie sighed and grabbed her handbag, following him out to the underground carpark.
The car ride to Harvard was fairly silent. Each one was too busy stressing about their first day as a college student.
Fulton was on the verge of crapping his daks. He knew that the place would be exactly like Eden Hall, only richer and snobbier. At least at Eden Hall he had the Ducks.
At Harvard he had no one.
Except for Allie but she was only attending as an internal student for the first semester then she was going to have the baby and do the course externally.
If only Portman were here Fulton thought sadly as he pulled into the student car park. He was thankful they'd taken Allie's car rather than his beat up truck.
"I just heard that Portman isn't coming"
'What?"
"Yeah found out that Bombay bailed and he bailed too"
"I can't believe this"
"OW! Jeez Fulton watch where you're hitting, that hurt"
"Sorry Goldberg"
"Great, if it wasn't bad enough now I have to worry about getting nailed off the ice. Why am I always getting shot at?"
"Goldberg you're a goalie, deal with it"
"Thanks Fulton, real sensitive"
"You're welcome"
"Lets get going, we wouldn't' want to keep the preppy snobs waiting now would we?" Fulton hadn't realised he was saying Charlie's words out loud.
"What?" Allie turned to him.
"Huh? Oh sorry, just thinking about the Ducks" Fulton smiled sadly.
Allie reached across and rubbed his arm. She knew this was hard on him.
Fulton used his other hand to cover hers. He couldn't believe how close they'd become. They were like the platonic friends that got along so well that everyone thought they were a couple.
Yeah Fulton note the word 'platonic'. You two aren't together and never will be. He could hear the voice inside his head. Strangely, it sounded a lot like Julie's voice.
I think I'm finally going insane Fulton decided as he manoeuvred the car into an empty space and killed the engine.
"Okay here we go" Allie was trying to be optimistic. Inside she was aching to tell Fulton to start the car back up and get them the hell out of there.
They saw a banner that read "Welcome Freshman – Registration is this Way"
Allie stayed close to Fulton as the crowd got thicker.
A group of guys who obviously weren't freshman were scanning the crowd and making judgements on anyone who passed them.
"Oh gee there's your typical cheerleader/jock combination" Allie heard one sneer as they walked past.
"Hey jock are you gonna try out for the hockey team?" Allie grinned turning to Fulton.
"I dunno" Fulton shrugged.
"Why not? You love hockey" Allie reminded him. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel like he had to be at her side 24/7 thereby missing out on his own life.
"I know but I'm not sure if I can play for a team who aren't the Ducks" Fulton admitted.
"I understand" Allie suddenly felt like the world's biggest loser. Of course he wouldn't want to play for a team that wasn't the Ducks!
"Come on lets get registered" Fulton changed the subject dragging Allie over to the tables that had been set up.
Some incredibly organised person had even split the lines up into alphabetical order.
A-G, H-O, P-Z
"Hey we're in the same line!" Allie dragged Fulton into the "P-Z" line.
"Bonus!" Fulton rolled his eyes, earning him a thump to his arm.
"Sorry I didn't mean to hit you that hard" Allie was embarrassed when she saw him wince and rub his arm.
"Can't the big bad Bash Man hack a hit from a girl" a familiar voice cut in behind them.
They whipped around to come face to face with a grinning Ken Wu.
"Kenny!" they both yelled causing everyone around them to stare at them.
"Allie you're squishing me" Ken said in a gentle voice laughing at Allie who'd gripped him in a hug so hard he thought he was going to explode internally.
"Sorry" Allie let the 'little Bash Bro' go.
"What are you doing here man? I thought you were staying in San Fran?" Fulton asked ecstatic that he had at least one Duck here. He hoped Ken was staying anyway.
"I got into the second round offers. Apparently someone dropped out of the course I wanted and they offered it to me. Pretty sweet huh?" Ken was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Ken that's awesome" Allie told him.
"I know, Fult we have to try out for the hockey team" Ken suggested.
"I dunno man, I mean playing for someone other than the Ducks?" Fulton was a little sceptical but Allie could see he was seriously considering the idea now that Ken was attending Harvard.
"I thought about that then I thought I didn't want to be whipped by Banksie and Spazzway every time we caught up with them cos I hadn't been playing college puck" Ken's reasoning was more than enough for Fulton to reconsider.
"We'll go sign up when we get done here" Fulton decided.
"Awesome. I'll meet you over there. I've already checked in" Ken pointed to a tree nearby.
"I can't believe the little bash man is here" Fulton turned back to Allie.
"Its unbelievable. He should move in with us if he doesn't already have anywhere to stay" Allie had been thinking ahead.
"Really? You wouldn't mind?" Fulton was a little disappointed that their 'alone' time would be cut.
"Yeah it'll be like that time in LA only less people" Allie assured him.
"Cool" Fulton replied.
"Name?" a bored looking girl asked Allie when she'd reached the front of the queue.
"Allie Taylor" Allie replied.
"Taylor, Taylor, Taylor. Oh here you are" the girl located Allie's name and placed a big tick next to it.
"Here's your information package, class schedule, map, etc. Any questions the student information centre will be able to tell you. Its on the map" the girl didn't even look at Allie as she handed over the plastic binder full of papers.
"Thanks" Allie replied stepping out of line to allow Fulton to check in.
"Name?" the girl asked without look up.
"Fulton Reed" Fulton replied.
The girl snapped her head up and gave him a look that was meant to say "what kind of name is that?"
"Its under "R" Fulton gave her one of his 'innocent' grins.
The girl shot him a dirty look before scanning her list.
"Yes Fulton Reed. Here's your stuff" she practically threw the binder at him.
Fulton looked at her as if she were insane, which both he and Allie had decided she probably was, and made their way over to the tree Ken had pointed out earlier.
"What was her problem?" Fulton asked adjusting his bandana.
"Beats me, must suck to be her I guess" Allie was taking in the crowd of freshmen students around her.
"No duh" Fulton was still annoyed at how rude the girl had acted.
Allie's cell phone started ringing. She grinned when she checked the caller ID.
"Hey girl, how's LA?" Allie laughed at something the caller had said.
Fulton guessed the person on the other end was Hayley, mostly judging by the tone of the extremely loud voice he could hear from where he stood.
"Already? Hayls you've only been there a week!" Allie was saying.
Yep its Hayley Fulton had the confirmation.
"Not what you had in mind huh?" Allie was lost in the conversation.
"Hey Fult" Ken approached the pair keeping his voice low when realising Allie was on her cell.
"All okay?" Fulton asked fearing that there'd been a mistake and Kenny couldn't attend Harvard after all.
"Yeah better than great. I got a call on a dorm they have available" Ken told Fulton.
"Allie wants you to move in with us" Fulton told Ken.
"Really?" Ken asked wide-eyed. He'd always kept out of the Ducks' debate about the status of Allie and Fulton's friendship and he wasn't sure if he'd be intruding or not.
"Really, it'd be awesome" Fulton had decided it would be best if Ken did move in. it would avoid any 'awkward' moments between the pair, if there ever were any.
"Cool, I'll tell the dorm people I've found somewhere else. Are you sure its okay with Allie though?" Ken glanced at the blond who was laughing at something Hayley was saying.
"Yeah she suggested it just after you left us" Fulton told him.
"Yeah, love you too Hayls, bye" Allie hung up the phone and joined the two boys.
"Ken's gonna move in with us" Fulton told her.
"Excellent! Do you wanna bring your stuff by afterwards?" Allie asked.
"Okay" Ken replied glad Fulton hadn't just put her on the spot.
"Come on lets go sign you guys up for hockey" Allie suggested linking arms with each of the boys.
"So hows Hayley?" Fulton asked as they passed the cafeteria.
"Good, she's horrified at her first project. She has to design basic sleepwear for middle aged women" Allie laughed.
Hayley had been accepted into FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in Los Angeles and had been looking forward to designing some really cute stuff, especially some baby stuff for her future godchild.
"Oh heaven forbid, not the old lady pyjamas" Fulton hooted finding it hilarious. Hayley had driven him insane with details on what she wanted to design and what colours she'd use.
Allie and Ken laughed but all three of them turned silent when they approached the hockey sign up table which was being manned by three enormous guys wearing Harvard polo shirts.
"You guys wanna sign up for hockey?" the first one had a pleasant enough voice.
"Yeah" Fulton replied not being intimidated by the guys' size. He hoped they weren't freshman.
"Fill this out, we need your name, age, position, what team you last played on and any other relevant experience you can think of" the second guy sounded very businesslike.
Fulton and Ken each took a clipboard with a form on it and began filling out the details.
"The cheerleaders are having try outs if you were thinking about signing up" the first guy informed Allie.
"Thanks but I'm done with cheerleading" she told him.
"Really? No offence, but you look like you'd be really good at it" the guy replied.
"Hows that?" Allie was wondering how on earth she 'looked' like she'd be a good cheerleader.
"Your voice sounds really strong, you have good posture and you don't look like a weakling so you'd be able to withstand holding a 90 pound cheerleader up in the air" a female wearing a Harvard Cheerleading t-shirt approached the table.
"Exactly" the first guy agreed.
"Thanks but I'm really not interested" Allie was trying to be polite. She certainly wasn't about to tell them she couldn't because she was four months pregnant.
"All done" Fulton had been listening and didn't like the idea of some random guy hitting on his girl.
She's not your girl, idiot his little internal 'Julie' voice told him.
The guys took a look at the form.
"Wow, you're one of the Ducks? Awesome!" one gushed.
"Here" Ken had been oblivious to what had just been said as he handed over his form.
"Ken Wu! Fantastic! Two Ducks on the team would be incredible" the guys were practically wetting themselves with excitement.
"Um thanks but don't we have to at least try out first?" Ken was a little concerned.
"Yeah but you guys will make the team easy" one of them assured the pair.
"Tryouts are on Friday afternoon at four, the rink's over there. We look forward to seeing you there" the guys made gestures to shake Ken and Fulton's hands which the boys obliged.
"That was weird" Fulton whispered when the trio were safely out of earshot.
"I think Charlie picked the wrong school" Allie joked. She knew Charlie would be thrilled to learn that the Ducks were still famous.
"Was it just me or did they look like Banksie on steroids?" Ken hissed very seriously.
The mental image was way too funny for Allie and Fulton to contain and they both burst out laughing.
Ken must have had one too because he joined in soon after.
"Do you want to sign up for anything?" Fulton asked Allie when they'd calmed down.
"Nah I can't I'll be an external student next semester so it's not worth it" Allie replied checking her watch.
"Besides we have to go to our lecture rooms now" Allie glanced at her schedule.
"Meet back here at lunch?" Fulton suggested feeling slightly horrified that he now had to face college alone for the next two hours.
"Yeah" Ken and Allie agreed with their heads buried in their maps trying to locate their respective rooms.
"I can't find room 1134" Ken pointed out.
"Me neither" Allie replied realising what that meant.
"Are you doing psych?" Allie asked.
"Yeah why are you?" Ken asked.
"Yes!" Allie replied excitedly.
"Great so I'm stuck all by myself while you two get to be in the same class" Fulton complained.
"Aw poor Fulton" Allie teased.
"Damn right poor Fulton" Fulton replied.
"Oh wait there it is" Ken had located that 'missing' classroom on the map.
"Cool, I'll see you at lunch" Allie told Fulton as she reached up and gave him a good luck hug.
"Have fun" Fulton told them hugging Allie back.
"We will" Ken waved leading Allie towards a large building.
Fulton watched them leave feeling a little jealous that Ken got to spend more time with her then he did.
"Dude your girlfriend's hot!" a guy clapped a friendly hand on Fulton's shoulder looking in Allie's direction.
Fulton just glared at him before making his way towards his own lecture.
"Welcome to my classroom this is your 'Introductory to Psychology' component. I'm Professor Daniels and today we are going to be spending time getting to know one another"
Allie and Ken had seats in the middle of the classroom and the Professor had decided that he was going to split the room up into groups of about eight students who were going to tell each other a bit about themselves.
Allie and Ken weren't in the same group but it didn't really matter, they already knew each other anyway.
Allie was in a group with three girls, not including herself and four guys.
A guy named Trey went first and told everyone about how he was born and raised in Texas and how he really didn't want to take over his daddy's farm so he decided to try psychology instead.
Allie was strangely reminded of Dwayne.
Next went a girl called Jodie who had a really quiet voice. She explained she used to be a professional dancer who one day decided she wanted to find out why her instructors thought the way they did and what made them so determined to win at all costs. Allie got the feeling she'd been given a rough deal in the dancing world.
Then it was her turn.
Allie wasn't going to drop the pregnancy bombshell just yet so she told them about being originally from California and moving to Minnesota and then about being a cheerleader and making the move to New York where she learned she loved music. She also purposely left the part about the accident and nearly dying out.
She listened to the rest of the stories. There was a blond guy named Brody who had a really laid-back, sensible attitude and seemed heavily into sports, an outspoken African-American named LaTrina who wanted to understand the 'cheating male's doglike mind' that had the guys squirming a little.
Then was another girl named Lauren who seemed really nice and friendly and two more guys named Tim, who seemed to be a clone of Adam Banks minus the love for hockey and Justin who told everyone he was going to be the top student in the class.
"Okay and that's all we have time for, we'll see you bright and early for our first 'real' lesson tomorrow morning at 9" Professor Daniels interrupted.
"Allie right?" the girl named Lauren approached Allie.
"Yeah hi, um Lauren?" Allie replied.
"That's right. Um I know this will seem kinda random and stuff but I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me? You seemed kinda cool and I don't know anyone here" Lauren asked shyly.
"Sure, I'm having lunch with that guy over there and another friend who's doing law but you're more than welcome to join us" Allie smiled encouragingly hoping she'd agree. She needed a female friend.
"Okay, they won't mind?" Lauren asked self-consciously.
"Nah they'll love it" Allie assured her grabbing her bag and waving for Lauren to follow.
"I hate law!" Fulton flopped down on the grass where Allie, Ken and Lauren were seated.
"You're a law student?" Lauren blurted out feeling a little embarrassed. Allie tried not to laugh out loud.
"Yeah and it sucks" Fulton replied not realising he had no idea who this girl was.
"Lauren this is Fulton, Fulton this is Lauren, she's in our 'Introductory to Psychology' class" Allie introduced the pair.
"You guys aren't going to try and analyse me are you or do I need legal reinforcement?" Fulton asked pushing his bandana further down his head.
"You're real scary Fult" Allie rolled her eyes.
"Bombay scares you" Fulton pointed out.
"Yeah but you're not Bombay" Allie reminded him.
"Yet" Fulton teased.
Lauren was watching in fascination at the exchange. When Allie was explaining to her about Fulton Lauren had asked whether they were a couple and Allie had said that they were just friends.
But watching how they were with each other, Lauren couldn't help but wonder whether they secretly wanted to be more than friends. Even Ken was smirking.
"Watch it or I'll analyse you in your sleep" Allie had the last threat before Fulton backed down.
The rest of their lunch break went pretty smoothly. Ken was asking Lauren about her hobbies and Fulton was pretending he was listening whilst watching Allie.
He was glad she had made a new friend and it was heaven for him watching her being so 'normal' and happy.
He just hoped this wasn't a 'calm' before a storm.
thanks for the review from Donna79 I'll update again soon.