honorstudent97: I like guys like that too sometimes. *coughJohnnycough* I would totally follow him around the school if I was a student at MU. But anyway, I'm with you on the comic books! I never quite got them either. :P
dreyparara: Wow, thank you so much for saying that I have talent! :D I never really think of myself as a talented writer, so hearing that makes me smile a lot! I'm glad that you like my writing style and that you've come to care for the characters. Can I ask who your favorite is? Wow, I can't believe that you wait up all day waiting for the new updates! That means a lot to me! I hope that you keep reading this!
a fan: I agree with you there; who wouldn't want a friend like Sulley? *looks around* I need a friend like Sulley! But anyway, Randall's mom does need someone to look after her. Randall is doing the best that he can in his situation, but she needs someone with her twenty-four seven, don't you think? Thanks for commenting!
BloodRedRoses04: Aw, why thank you! You're such a good friend! I really hope that you like this next chapter too!
Remy: I'm glad that you like the mood that the stroll set! :) I feel really sorry for Randy and his mother as well. It's kind of funny though because my mother and I do not get along and could probably care less about one another. Maybe Randy's mom is like the mother that I always wanted? Anyway, getting emotional over a story makes it that much better, right? I actually like stories that make me cry as weird as that sounds! Glad you like the daily updates! I have no life, so that's how I manage it. xD
JinxConlon: Wow, you can feel the romance coming off of the screen? That's really awesome because that was the exact feeling that I was trying to portray in the last chapter. Hehe, I'm always on Tumblr, so I'm used to people saying that they'll "follow me", so it doesn't sound creepy at all! Thanks for the follow and for the kind words!
Mysterious: I don't know anything about shojo, but I'll definitely have to check it out! Thanks for recommending the website to me. I'll have to try watching some anime on there! Free websites are always nice, hehe. So what animes are your favorites then? I take it that Black Butler is pretty good? I have heard of the Nostalgia Critic, but I never watch him. I can't believe that he called Randall bland though, I mean, Randall is the opposite of bland! Thanks for your comment on the chapter!
James95: There was definitely a double meaning at the end of the last chapter, hehe. You know, I'm totally with you on Fungus there. He seems like the type who would want a deeper, more meaningful relationship. I'm glad that you're counting down for the romance to begin! Let me know what you think of this chappie!
jade4563: Gosh, you think that I'm an awesome author? Thank you so much! You're making me blush now, hehe. And yes! You're definitely sensing more than friendship starting to brew in the air. ;) Hope you like this next chapter!
Mickfang27: I'm so glad that you have three stories that you really enjoy reading! It's nice to have ongoing stories like that to read, I think. Glad you liked the bit about Randall blushing around Sulley. I'm forever blushing around people I like. It's super embarrassing actually. I can see how you'd be like Randall in this story. *nods* I'm similar that way because I'm anti-social, allow people to pick on me, and get defensive of my friends as well. I'm with you on the mother thing though; I don't care about mine either. I can understand why you're not going to tell your parents about being gay until after college. I've been bi my whole life and my parents don't know about it yet. I honestly never plan on telling them about it. And hey, you can ask me whatever you want - I don't mind at all. I'm from Michigan (the most boring state in the US in my opinion) and I did graduate from high school this year although I can't say that I did overly well with it. I've missed a lot of school over the last few years due to health problems and things like that. I don't have a skype unfortunately or else I would add you! Thanks for reviewing!
Anna Sparkles: *gives you another hug just for being awesome* Haha, I know what you're saying about going to the movies! Do you have a favorite movie genre? I prefer romance and animated films, but that's just me. Oh good, I'm glad to hear that you don't think that I'm a wimp. I wouldn't have stepped out into the graveyard either. That sounds scary! *shivers* And aw, your sister sounds so cute! I'm an only child, so I don't really know what it's like to have a little sis. Thanks for reading!
AngeliqueRox: Sorry for scaring you with the little red people bit! Unfortunately, some people (or monsters in this case) do suffer from hallucinations and Randall's mother just so happens to be one of those monsters. :( I preferred Randall in MI than in MU as well. I liked his personality better in that film. Do you have a favorite moment/scene from it? Hm, I assume that Randall got kicked off of the team after he failed the RORs in the final scare games event. I don't think that they actually did anything to him though. What's your theory about that? No problem about the quick updates! I have no life, so writing is my thing. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! :D
XxSgt KululuxX: Hehe, are you gonna take some pictures of Randall and Sulley? If you are, then you'd better send some of them to me! Randall does need a big hug regarding the situation with his mother. Maybe Sulley will give him one? *winks* Doom scares me too! I created him intentionally to be a freaky looking antagonist. There will be conflict with Fungus later, yup! Wow, Funk on the dark side...that sounds funny. I'm so glad that you liked the chapter! I love your reviews!
badberry123: Yay, I'm so glad that you liked the chapter! It is really hard to admit personal stuff sometimes, but like what Randall did, I usually end up sharing it because I feel better if I tell someone about it than if I keep it all to myself. I would definitely say that Sulley was hinting at other things, yes! Sometimes I think that you must be a mind reader because there is a scene where Fungus and Sulley get into a disagreement about Randall around our little lizard friend! That's not for a while yet, but it is in this story. :) Oh god, I love the music during the ROR party! I totally need to get that on my mp3 player because that would be amazing. Is it just me or did that party look like it would've been a lot of fun to join? Well, I wouldn't say that Doom is misunderstood. He is still an antagonist. However, one wrong move on his part could send a different antagonist in his direction. Sorry if this is totally confusing, I'm horrible at giving hints. xD Haha, but wouldn't Sulley sort of crush Randall is he was on top? I always imagine Randall on top for some reason, I'm not sure why. Yup, Reg and Jav sort of have a moment there in Born to Please. Actually, they have several "moments" together. :P Wow, the school system in England sounds super complicated to me, but I suppose that you're used to it since you grew up there. And you're only 14? For some reason, I thought that you were quite a bit older than that, but my judgement on ages really sucks sometimes. Oh god, I don't think that I could stand uniforms. *shivers* Your picture of Randy, Sulley, and Funk sounds amazing! I'd love to take a peek at it. Feel free to let me know when you posted it on my dA home page if you want so I don't forget to look at it (I have a horrible memory). I would do fan art, but my ability to do art is like...Boo's ability to draw Randall. Yeah, that's how good I am at art. :P In my story, it's Sulley who breaks up with Randall, so yup, Funk is pretty pissed off at Sulley, but he is glad to have Randall to himself. Of course, they can't do anything at first because Randall is injured from a certain incident at that point in the story. Lol, yeah, it was creepy to have Johnny talk to me from the blanket! It is good that he wasn't all soggy and wet from going through the wash though or else my little Chet plush would've been heartbroken. :P "Johnny, Johnny, why aren't you speaking to me?" xD My mom is used to me spazzing out, so she actually wasn't too concerned about me. xD Yay, so you can see the reasoning behind ChetxJohnny even if you don't ship it yourself? I think that they do have several moments together in the film. I mean, whenever Johnny is just hanging out with one of the ROR guys, it's always with Chet and it's obvious that Chet is eager to please him. Then there's also the fact that unlike Sulley, Johnny didn't take any interest in any of the girls in the film or try to flirt with any of them. I love how Chet got so emotional over the hero moment. It looked like he was going to cry there. I really want to see what happened to the RORs after they lost to the OKs. I can imagine Chet having to comfort Johnny, but anyway, I'm blabbing now. I'm totally with you on coming up with kids for couples that we like! You could try and draw Sulley's and Randall's kids maybe? I came up with kids for Chet and Johnny and gave Javier a cute little bug daughter that he has with an OC in my other story. Thanks so much for liking the chapter and sorry for this huge message!
Chapter XXXVIII
Sullivan and I step quietly side by side up to the large doors that lead to the white and blue painted school, which looks like an overall shade of gray in the dark of the night. Talking with Sullivan has made me feel better and worse. On the one hand, he's a friendly guy and I really seem to be warming up to him. I can talk to him about things that I can't even talk to Funk about and, well, he seems to understand them. On the other hand, Sullivan makes me feel confused. He's supposed to be my rival and I'm supposed to hate him. Guess everything I'm "supposed" to do just isn't falling into place here at Monsters University. I try to divert my mind and realize that it must be almost curfew. I speed up my pace, trip on a stray pebble lying directly in front of me, and accidentally topple into Sullivan, who is already at the doors to the school because of his longer stride.
"Hey, steady there. You alright?" Sullivan asks as I accidentally lean against his side to save myself from falling. Face flushing an ugly shade of reddish-purple, I quickly nod and straighten up, stumbling backward and almost falling again in my haste. Sullivan doesn't seem to notice this, or if he does, he decides not to comment on it, something I'm extremely grateful for. Before opening the doors to the school, Sullivan turns to face me and says, "I'm glad that I caught up to you tonight. It was even worth getting smacked in the face."
I smirk before realizing something for the first time. It's a little too ironic how Sullivan just happened to come upon me while I was walking in the dead of the night. It's even more ironic how he left the party raging on in his dorm room for the exact same reason as me. I'm starting to think that it's a little too ironic.
"You didn't come out here tonight because you got sick of the party, did you? You followed me," I point out, my voice not quite accusatory and not quite friendly either. Sullivan intentionally averts his eyes from mine and shrugs his shoulders. Before he can make up some explanation behind why he followed me, I quickly add, "I don't mind that you did. Sometimes company is nice depending on who's company you're in. For example, things would have been much different if it had been Wazowski who found me out here tonight. We'd probably still be taking blows at each other."
"Mike will come around," Sullivan says confidently. He pushes the heavy doors to the school open, saving me the embarrassment of trying to open them as he adds, "It's two minutes until curfew. I guess that we'd better split. I'll see you around, Randall." The shaggy blue monster hesitates for a moment before adding, "Do you want me to walk you to your dorm room?"
The offer makes me laugh and I end up shaking my head, a smirk lingering on my lips as I reply, "I ain't some lady you need to escort to her room, Sullivan. Goodnight."
Still smiling, I turn and slink through the dark hallways until I reach the elevator. I travel up to the fifth floor and find no sign of Doom in my dorm room. I can't decide if this is a good thing or not. He might be off causing trouble somewhere, but at least I'll be able to sleep soundly without his presence casting an ominous shadow over the bedroom. By now, the partying on the fifth floor has died down and only the mess of it remains in the hallway. Glitter is stuck to the floor and the walls, probably courtesy of Wazowski, trash is scattered this way and that, and I even find a few beer bottles clustered together at the far end of the hall. I don't know whose bottles those are, but I'm glad that they're not mine.
Tired despite the fact that I did next to nothing except for studying all day, I fall into my bed almost immediately and remember that I need to set my alarm for class tomorrow just as I start to close my eyes. Forcing them back open, I set my alarm for the proper time and roll back over so I'm lying on my stomach. As I start to drift off to sleep, I find myself wondering for the first time what it would be like to room with someone other than Doom. Although I'm not particularly social, I don't mind the presence of one other monster in my dorm. I wonder what it would be like to room with Sullivan. Wazowski's a lucky eyeball to have Sullivan as a roommate.
The next morning, I wake up to the blaring of my alarm clock right in my ear. Not wanting to start off the day with a headache, I slam my finger down on the "off" button and roll out of bed. As usual, the cold morning air causes me to shiver as I scuttle across the room with my arms wrapped around myself. I find my arithmetic book on my desk and tuck it under my arm before starting toward the door. As soon as I step out into the hallway, I realize that something is wrong. It's far too quiet out in the hallway. It's as if everyone died in their sleep. Not a single sound breaks the eerie silence of the early morning.
I come to a halt and stand stupidly in the doorway before I realize the obvious problem. We don't have class today because it's Sunday, not Monday. I'm tempted to bang myself over the head with my arithmetic book, but resist since that will only give me a headache. Still feeling stupid, I retrace my steps and go back to bed for a few more hours. Luckily, Sunday is not a day for partying. The rooms neighboring mine remain nice and quiet, allowing me to work on my homework without interruption. I'm partially tempted to seek out Funk, but I have no idea where he is. Figuring that I'll see my three-eyed assistant tomorrow, I go to bed early and wait for Monday.
Monday morning is a repeat of Sunday morning except for the fact that I actually manage to get out of the door and down the hall. I'm not particularly looking forward to arithmetic, but I'm not exactly dreading it. Although it is a relatively boring class, I don't find it very difficult. My memory is decent and I manage to find the arithmetic classroom without too much trouble.
"Randy, my boy, it's good to see you!" Professor Knight booms, causing my cheeks to flush as I enter the door to the arithmetic classroom. Like always, the orange-scaled Professor is wearing a pressed white collared shirt with a tie tucked into it. He smiles broadly at me and asks, "How's the mathematics whiz doing this morning?"
I try not to show the fact that I really want to disappear right now and instead mumble a quiet answer to Professor Knight before scurrying to the very back of the classroom, a place where I hope that Professor Knight will forget all about me. As I wait for class to start, I find myself getting several glares and disconcerted looks from my fellow classmates. They're jealous.
The classroom has mostly filled up and class is about to begin when loud, running footsteps sound just outside of the classroom door. Every head in the room turns to see who the intruder is. The door is flung open and a panting Wazowski stumbles inside, gasping, "Sorry...for being late. I forgot...to set...my alarm."
The Professor manages to make out Wazowski's words despite his long pauses to gulp in air. Obviously a happy go lucky teacher for the most part, Professor Knight says, "That's just fine, m'boy. Please find an empty seat. Class is just about to begin."
I find myself wishing that Professor Knight was a bit stricter and had given Wazowski detention for being late. An evil smile crosses my lips at that thought. Telling myself that I can fantasize about the one-eyed cretin's demise later since I need to concentrate right now, I force my eyes to the front of the classroom and wait for Professor Knight to speak. However, my attention is once again diverted as the lime green creep walks straight in my direction. Great. What does he want? We're in the middle of class!
Skimming the room, I suddenly realize that there's only one empty desk left and that it just so happens to be the desk next to mine. My nose wrinkles, but I have no choice but to allow Wazowski to sit directly to my right. He doesn't seem too thrilled about our seating arrangements either since he looks as if he's smelling rotten eggs as he plops down next to me.
"I hope that you all had a nice weekend and are ready to get your thinking caps back on," the Professor says in an overly cheerful voice. "I expect that you've all managed to get your homework done. I will collect it now and grade your work during class time while you read the next chapter. Thankfully, it's a short one. Mr. Bile, could you please walk around the room and collect homework from all the students?"
Bile, the aqua blue monster I've come to recognize as George's best friend, immediately gets to his feet and nods, eager to please as he replies, "Yes, sir!"
As Bile starts down the aisles between the rows of seats in the classroom, I find myself giving Wazowski a sideways look. I don't see what Sullivan sees in him or how he can even manage to room with him. The little imbecile has no redeemable qualities, isn't even all that good of a scarer, and smells foul.
As if sensing my gaze on him, Wazowski glances over in my direction and points out a-matter-of-factly, "I didn't want to sit by you, so don't expect this to be a regular thing."
I snort at the idea of wanting the cyclops to sit next to me. Shaking my head at him dubiously, I whisper back, "Don't flatter yourself, Wazowski."
Bile is a bit of a slow mover and Professor Knight is apparently in a hurry because after two minutes of tapping his pencil on his desk, the Professor says, "Miss Mae, will you help Mr. Bile and collect the homework papers from the students sitting on the left side of the room?"
"Of course, Professor Knight," a lilting voice sounds from two desks in front of Wazowski's desk. I watch absentmindedly as the rose-skinned girl with lavender snake-like hair and a pale green eye gets up from her chair. She smooths the skirt of her moss-colored dress and starts collecting homework from the left side of the classroom just like Professor Knight asked her to. I don't pay much attention to her and observe my hands with nothing better to do.
From next to me, I hear a sharp intake of breath. Hoping that Wazowski had a sudden heart attack and has just inhaled his last breath, I glance out of the corner of my eye at him. Unfortunately, he has not suffered a heart attack and looks very much alive as he stares at Celia Mae with amazement. It doesn't take me long to realize what all of his fuss is about. He's clearly spellbound by the pretty girl. Rolling my eyes, I go back to observing my finger pads and then decide to flip my arithmetic textbook open to the proper page to prepare for later.
I'm still busy flipping through the pages of the heavy book when Wazowski leans across the aisle to me again and hisses, "Psst, Randall!" I glance over at him with a bored look on my face, wondering what the little creep wants now. Giving me a hard look, Wazowski whispers, "I call keep-offsies! I saw her first and she is going to be my lovely Juliet and I will be her charming Romeo."
Blinking twice at the lime green monster, I ask even though I have a pretty good idea what he's going on about, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Uh, Miss Mae, of course! Who else would I be talking about?" Wazowski replies, looking at me as if I've lost my mind.
Shrugging, I reply, "How should I know what runs through that pea-sized brain of yours?" Wazowski opens his mouth to throw a retort back at me, but I continue on before he can get upset, "Anyway, you don't have to worry. I'm not interested in the girl. I've got my studies to obsess over."
"Oh. Well good then. I'm glad you're OCD," Wazowski says, immediately perking up at my words. He hesitates and then asks, "Do you know her name?"
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," I reply flippantly, going to use Wazowski's question in my favor. Giving him my razor sharp toothed smile, I reply, "If you do something for me, I'll tell you the girl's name if it's that important to you."
Wazowski hesitates, his single eye fixed on Celia as she moves gracefully from the front of the classroom to the back of the classroom where the two of us are sitting. He clearly doesn't trust me and my bargains, but he also wants to know Celia's name badly. Finally, he sighs and asks, "What do you want then?"
"I want the tennis tutoring lesson cut in half. Instead of an hour, I want it to be a half hour," I reply immediately since I've been dreading my private tennis lesson with my school enemy since the moment I got up this morning.
Wazowski hesitates again and points out, "Ms. Stanley says that it's supposed to be an hour. I don't want her cheating me out of my free A graduation grade if she finds out..."
"She's not gonna find out unless you or I tell her. I, of course, will not," I reply smoothly before flicking one of my fronds off of my forehead, adding, "No harm done though. I'll just keep the girl's name all to myself since she's clearly not all that big of a deal to you."
At these words, Wazowski's face screws up and he sighs dramatically before giving in to me and sighing, "Okay, okay, fine. The tutoring lesson will be a half hour if you tell me the lovely lady's name and if you swear never to let the tutoring time change slip to anyone, especially Ms. Stanley."
"I'm not stupid, Wazowski. I'm not gonna tell her that and in turn get myself into trouble," I mutter dryly before a smile slides across my face. I like getting the better of the cretin. He's not nearly as hard to best as Sullivan is. In a careless tone of voice, I add, "The girl's name is Celia."
"Celia," Wazowski sighs, already looking like he's in heaven. "It's a perfect name for a perfect girl."
Review please! :) Also, I'm so sorry for the late update. I got into a horrible fight with my mother, which gave me a panic attack, and now I'm just feeling kind of down. Hope the chapter is still decent though.