Chapter 4

Awkward Staring

Ruby Pool

Morgan had gotten to the school early that Monday, having promised to help Ms. Christie the preschool teacher with setting up the display case out in the hall. Her real name was Ms. Christiansen but all the kids had always simply called her Ms. Christie. She had given her a bunch of props including a few stuffed baby jaguars, fancy cut out letters that spelled out Junior Jags, etc. Morgan was just hanging up the last letter while standing on top of her backpack because she was too short to reach otherwise when the bell suddenly rang.

Startled she jumped ever so slightly, lost her balance, and found herself falling backwards through the open door of the display case. "Eeeeeep!" She screamed, before someone caught her right before she would've hit the ground.

"Whoa! Nice catch Pippin." A voice laughed from behind her and Morgan gasped as she turned to glance at the laughing boy with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and a small dimple on his chin and a button-nose that she was sure her friends would've told her was extremely attractive, when a full realization of what had just happened hit her like a ton of bricks.

Blushing horribly, she returned her gaze to her rescuer, a boy with light brown curly hair, kind of baby faced, with the greenest eyes she had ever seen in her life- besides Tammy that is. He smiled down at her with a mischievous and curious smile which only made her blush more. She was doing her best to not freak out, seeing as she'd always been extremely shy especially around boys and being held in one's arms was not a normal occurrence. His staring didn't help, in fact it was as if the moment their gaze had met it had locked, and she was sure he hadn't looked away for at least thirty seconds.

"No kidding, Merry. Are you alright dear?" A feminine voice asked from beside her, immediately releasing Morgan from this strange boy's spell, and causing her to realize she was in the middle of a big group. The girl also had curly hair, but long and blonde, going down to at least the middle of her back. She had soft blue eyes and a kind smile. The boy standing right next to her was a little stockier and had messy curly blonde hair though shorter like the first boys, with green eyes almost as bright as the one they'd called Pippin. Beside him stood a paler looking boy, with dark brown hair which one might have easily mistaken for black (much like her own) and startling blue eyes.

"Oh, I'm fine. Thank you so much for catching me. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't." Morgan stammered forcing her gaze back to Pippin's, praying inwardly that he wouldn't do that staring thing again, and even more importantly that he'd put her down.

"Oh, Pip here is always glad to help out a damsel in distress." The one called Merry chuckled, while giving him a playful slap on the back. It was easy to tell that these two were best friends.

"Yes, but now that our dear damsel has been saved, she might appreciate it if you put her down." The other blonde boy commented, rolling his eyes at the other two. At this Pippin also started to blush, apparently not having realized he was still holding her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, and completely unexpectedly a jolt went through her entire body at the sound of his voice. It was a gentle voice with a playful Scottish lilt to it, which seemed to tug at a distant memory in her mind. "My bad."

"Oh no, it's fine. Thank you, really." She said as he set her gently back on the ground.

"You're welcome." Their eyes met once again, and the memory finally surfaced, if only for an instant.

It was a dream she'd had often as a child, almost every night for years, and then every once in a while, since becoming a teenager; a dream of a beautiful place, with green rolling hills, and a calm river cutting across. But the vision was gone almost as soon as it had come, and she was stuck back in reality.

"So, what's your name?" The girl asked kindly, her smile nearly as bright as the sun.

"Morgan Wright." She replied. "And you are?"

"Rosie Cotton, and these are my friends, Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took." She introduced gesturing to each in turn as she did.

"But you can call me Sam." Samwise cut in.

"And we're Merry and Pippin." Merry corrected gesturing to his friend. Yep, Morgan was convinced they had to be best friends.

"Rosie, Sam, Frodo, Merry and Pippin…" Morgan mused. "Nice to meet all of you. I don't believe I've seen any of you around here before, are you new?"

"Yes actually, we just got here the other day." Frodo admitted. "And we're kind of lost. Would you mind helping us find our first class?"

"Of course." She agreed. "What class?"

"Ballroom dance." They all answered at the same time.

"Perfect, that's my first class too. Follow me." Then, after turning to grab her stuff from inside the display case and making sure to lock it up tight (luckily she hadn't needed the key to do so) she took off through the halls, with each of them trailing after her. Whispering in soft voice Morgan couldn't quite hear.

"Well that was easy." Pippin breathed excitedly. "One down, two more to go."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you think she's cute, Pip?" Merry teased.

"Of course not!" He protested, glaring at him softly. "I stared into her eyes for at least thirty seconds just like Gandalf told us. I know she's one."

"Yeah and nearly scared her to death at the same time." Rosie pointed out, shaking her head at the boys. "Next time can you guys try not to make it to obvious your staring… Or at least less awkward."

"How can you make staring into someone's eyes for at least thirty seconds, not awkward?" Sam asked.

"Try talking to them first. Be friendly. Like Gandalf also said."

"Well I'm still double checking on Morgan, just in case Pip here is too twitter pated." Merry joked.

"I'm not twitter pated! I don't even know the girl!"

"Exactly why I'm going to double check."

"Here you go." Morgan stated gesturing in the direction of a room with wood paneled floors and mirrors on one side. "I need to go change really quick, but since this is your first day you can go right in. The teacher should get here soon, and I'll help introduce you so don't worry about a thing. Be right back." She disappeared into another room across the crowded hall, and Pippin watched her go. Unsure of what he felt, but positive there was something special about Morgan Wright.

~jb~

"Hey Morgan, what took you so long?" Samantha asked, as the young girl ran straight for her locker rushing to change into her clothes so she wouldn't be late for class despite her slight delay.

"Sorry, I was helping Ms. Christie set up the display case for preschool, and I kind of fell." She admitted sheepishly.

"Are you alright?" Tammy asked immediately concerned

"Yeah, this new kid caught me."

"New kid?" Samantha asked her curiosity immediately peeked. "Well that sounds interesting."

"Yeah, a couple of them actually. He and his friends are in our ballroom class."

"Really? Come on Tammy, let's go meet these newcomers. Hopefully at least one of them is cute."

"Okay, just give me a second. I'll be out."

~jb~

The hobbits were standing in the dance studio staring at both the mirrors and all the teenage humans filling into the room around them.

"There are sure a whole lot of girls who take this class." Sam commented. "How are we supposed to find our three?"

"Well we are supposed to dance with them, right?" Rosie pointed out. "Just try and find them then." Frodo was extremely nervous just thinking about their insurmountable task, plus the fact that he could almost felt Sauron's presence in this world which only made his arm injury act up more, he suddenly found himself feeling thirsty.

"Um…. I think I'm going to go try and find some… water in this place." He said, turning and exiting the room as quickly as he dared, not entirely sure what he was looking for.

Tammy had miraculously beat Samantha outside the locker room, though she wasn't nearly as concerned with meeting the new kids as her dear friend. She was too busy thinking about what song she wanted to use to try out for Once Upon Mattress, the musical her Spotlights class was putting on that year. She desperately wanted the part of Winifred, and she was pretty sure she could get it too, all she needed now was a song.

"Excuse me?" Frodo called out to a pretty girl he saw walking past him. "Could you tell me where I might find some water? Hello?" But the girl completely ignored him, and simply continued walking toward the studio. Not one to give up easily he hurried after her, when he heard voices yelling from back in the locker room behind the two of them, their voices together being just enough to catch her attention.

"Tammy! Wait for us!"

"Oh, sorry Samantha!" Tammy called back, turning around and ran right into someone. They both tumbled to the floor, and the boy she ran over cried out, a strange look of pain coming over his face.

"I'm so sorry!" Tammy gasped, feeling her face flush with embarrassment as she scrambled to help him to his feet. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," The boy winced. "It's… just my shoulder."

"Your shoulder?" Tammy asked, confused. She didn't remember hitting his shoulder. How hard did she hit him?

"It's nothing," He assured her, shaking it off. "Just an old injury."

"I'm sorry." Tammy said again. The boy held her gaze for a moment. His face changed somehow…. It suddenly became hopeful. Tammy looked away for a moment, unable to take the awkward stare. His eyes were very blue, in fact they were beautiful. She shook it off, forcing herself to stop blushing.

"Tammy!" She suddenly heard Morgan cry out, as she and Samantha both rushed out of the dressing room together. "Are you okay?" Then turning to assess the situation she smiled at her friend. "I see you've met Frodo."

"Frodo?" Tammy asked. "What kind of name is that? I mean, what does it mean?" She asked wincing at how rude that must have sounded.

"I'm not sure." He admitted.

"Are you from the U.K.?"

"The…? Yes, I am!"

"What part?" Samantha asked eagerly; she loved everything British.

"The Shire-I mean… um…"

"The Shire? I've never heard of that."

"It's not a well-known place." He sighed, seeming very awkward for reasons none of the girls could understand.

"Are all of your friends from the Shire?" Morgan asked curious seeing as they all had similar accents, and appearances.

"Yes, actually and I'm afraid it's very different from this place. Which reminds me, could one of you tell me where I could get some water?" He asked.

"There's a drinking fountain right down this hall. Here I'll show you." Tammy offered, wanting to make up for running into him in the first place. "See you girls in class!"

Shrugging Morgan and Samantha agreed continuing straight into the classroom and walking up to the group of awkward kids hiding away in the corner. "Hi everyone, I'd like you to meet my friend-"

"Jessa." Samantha cut in before Morgan could finish, earning her a strange look but she didn't pay it any attention.

"Hello Jessa, I'm Rosie."

"Sam."

"Pippin."

"And I'm Merry."

"Mary is a girl's name." Samantha blurted the second he finished speaking, earning herself a glare from the surprised boy.

"It is not!" He protested hotly. "It's short for Meriadoc. Meriadoc Brandybuck, thank you very much."

"That's even weirder." Samantha blurted once again, and Merry began to turn the slightest bit pink with embarrassment and anger.

"What my dear friend S… Jessa, is trying to say is, well we think Merry suits you just fine." Morgan faltered desperately, while sending her friend a glare that clearly told her to shut up; but Samantha wasn't paying any attention. Her gaze was locked with Merry's, and he seemed to be staring her down just as Pippin had done to Morgan earlier. As if he was trying to search her very soul. Whatever he found seemed to make his glare soften the tiniest bit, though mostly in disbelief.

"You." He whispered. "Oh, Gandalf's got to be kidding me."

"Who's Gandalf?" The two girls asked at once, just as both Sam and Pippin gave him a sharp nudge.

"And what is he saying about me?" Samantha asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Sam insisted. "He's simply our host father for our time in this country. I don't know what Merry's talking about though."

"Hey Morgan, Samantha, who are you talking to?" Josh Byrd, a tall boy with fair skin, short straight blonde hair, and baby blue eyes, asked as he came to stand beside the two girls, before either of them could think of a response.

"Samantha?" Merry protested, his glare firmly back in place. "I thought you said your name was Jessa."

"It's my middle name." She tried, but none of them bought it. "Okay, so I was only trying to see how long it would be before you'd figure it out. Apparently not very long."

"Anyway, this is Josh, and these are some new kids to our school." Morgan began, and she had just enough time to introduce them all before Frodo, Tammy, and Ms. Daniels came into the room and class began.

"So today we are officially starting our first unit: The Tango." Ms. Daniels announced, and the whole class let out an excited cheer. Except for the hobbits of course, who were extremely confused.

"Um… what dances exactly do you teach in this class?" Merry asked. "I don't believe I've ever heard of the Tango before."

"Well we study a lot of different dances, but our main focus is on the Tango, Western Swing, Cha-cha, and of course the Waltz." She replied patiently, Tammy having already explained to her about the 'transfer' students as they had come into the classroom.

"Oh, I know all about the Waltz." Pippin cried excitedly, as he turned and eagerly swept Morgan into his arms and began waltzing her around the room. Sort of.

"Pippin!" Merry groaned, rolling his eyes in embarrassment for his best friend. "You're doing the girl part!"

"What?" Pippin demanded, his eyes widening with horror as he looked back and forth between him and Morgan, who was shyly nodding her head. "How do you know the lad's part then?"

"I learned it my second year in this class, because there weren't enough guys. Samantha and I were partners actually." She explained shrugging it off nonchalantly. "You're very good at the girl part though. I hardly had to lead you at all."

"Thanks, I guess." He muttered, blushing terribly.

"Ms. Daniels, can Morgan and I please show these guys what a real Waltz looks like." Josh piped up, while glaring furiously in Pippin's direction, for reason's Morgan couldn't understand.

"Sure, Josh. I think that's a good idea." She agreed oblivious to her star pupil's emotional trauma.

"You heard her Pipsqueak, move it." Josh growled softly as he walked over and tried to gently pry Morgan from the other boy's arms.

"My name is Pippin." He protested.

"Whatever, now Pip Pip 'N Cheerio." He replied, before firmly taking Morgan into his own arms and dancing her around like a pro.

"Josh!" She protested, but they soon fell silent as she stared into his deep baby blue eyes and felt him pull her slightly closer to him in an almost protective stance. It wasn't a side Josh usually showed, but somehow Morgan found she liked it. She'd had a major crush on Josh ever since her sophomore year of high school, but ever since then he'd only ever seemed to see her as a friend. They did practically everything together from ballroom dance to orchestra, and he was the one guy she truly felt comfortable with.

After what felt like an eternity the pair finally came to a stop, not once breaking eye contact the whole time they danced, and the entire class burst into applause; even an embarrassed Pippin managed a grudging clap or two.

"Well done, you two. Now let's have the girl's line up on this side of the room and the boys on the other and you can choose your Tango partners." Ms. Daniels said, back to business now that this matter had been settled. "Remember no one can have the same partner twice, and we'll switch off who does the asking each unit. Today is boy's choice. Go ahead."

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!