Chapter 6

James… James who?

May Waters

"There you are Tammy!" Samantha looked up at her friend with a smile.

"Hey!" Tammy set her lunch box down, Frodo and Rosie glanced at each other before sitting next to her at the table.

"Morgan with you?"

"No, she went to her locker." Tammy grinned and then began to sign:

Frodo fainted…

"He did?" Samantha asked.

Yes.

"That's terrible, do you know why?"

No…I don't know.

Keep an eye on him. Samantha signed in turn.

Tammy nodded.

"What was that?" Rosie asked.

"They were speaking in American Sign Language again." Morgan explained.

"Sign language?" Frodo repeated.

"It's a language for those who are either really hard of hearing or deaf, which means they can't hear at all. This way they can still communicate their needs. It's pretty cool to watch, but I could never learn it." Morgan told them further as Tammy rubbed her nose at something she had been signing and Samantha burst into laughter.

"Tammy's hard of hearing, so we communicate through sign at times." Samantha stated opening the lid to her sandwich box. "I'm in ASL Three, she's in ASL One."

"There you are," Merry, Pippin and Sam had finally shown up and where sliding into the seats next to them. Merry ended up next to Samantha, neither looked pleased with the arrangements.

Tammy became distracted as a certain handsome jock walked past. The two girls who knew Tammy well enough were giggling like mad at their friend's reaction. After a moment their friend seemed to come back to her senses and blushed, quite embarrassed.

"Sorry," Tammy apologized.

"Oh James!" Samantha mocked teasingly, causing the hobbits to stare at her as though she were mad. "We will get married in two years' time, have riches beyond all our dreams and we'll have lots of furs; even children, who can also have furs!"

"Samantha!" Tammy ducked her head into her lunch box for a moment.

"You've been in love with him for, what, two years now? Darling, you're not getting any younger and he is not losing his charm, or hotness. You should ask him to Sadie's or something." Samantha pushed with a wave of her hand. Some of the Hobbits looked uncomfortable about what the conversation had turned into.

"I think I'll stick to studying him from afar," Tammy replied.

"Besides, Tammy liking James is just like you liking Dominic Monaghan." Morgan pointed out.

"Have you seen Dominic Monaghan? He is freaking gorgeous. Even with a spider on his face-which is saying something."

"I have to admit, he does look pretty good." Tammy said.

"Pretty good? He was amazing in Lost, especially with his random singing because he was in a band." Samantha sighed dramatically, pretending to swoon and get lost in a whole other world. "Dom cracks me up."

"Moving onto other topics," Morgan gave a pointed look at the hobbits who were having a silent conversation of their own.

"What man tickles your fancy Morgan?"

"Samantha!" Morgan swatted at her friend, turning her head away and putting her hand up, hiding her face and refusing to look over.

"Come on, I was teasing." Samantha rolled her eyes and looked towards the hobbits. "What class do you lot have next?"

"Literary Magazine?" Pippin glanced down at his schedule, looking confused.

"That's a fun class; we all have it together next." Samantha gave them all a warm smile, which Merry took as more threatening considering her actions earlier in the morning.

~jb~

When they walked into Literary Magazine, Ms. DeFriez had them introduce the new students to the class. Samantha took charge a bit and couldn't resist the temptation to poke a little fun at Merry.

"His name is Mary,"

"As in the girl's name, Mary?" Tyler Brown asked.

"Yep," Samantha grinned.

"It is not a girl's name." Merry defended once again.

"Her name is Mary," Samantha pointed to a brunette girl in the back. Then she grabbed a marker off the board and wrote MARY on the board in all caps. "That's how you spell it right?"

"No, it's spelled like this," Merry took the marker from her. He wrote the M, then realized he nearly forgotten how to write a few letters in the common language. Glancing down the board for the letters he needed he managed to write out MERRY.

"Oh, as in "Merry Christmas," well you should've just said so." Samantha gave him a soft smile, which caused him to drop the marker.

"What's your class after this one?" Samantha asked sitting on Merry's desk and snapping the gum she had popped in her mouth just a little while ago.

"Calligraphy," Merry replied.

"Me too," Said Frodo.

"That's my class, I'll take you there Merry Christmas, and Frodo of course."

"What is calligraphy?" Merry asked as the bell rang. Samantha slid from the desk and put on her backpack, carrying Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini in her arms.

"Fancy writing class,"

"You have to learn how to write fancy?" Merry was used to seeing the writing of Elves and Hobbits on a regular basis, and it was extremely pretty. He remembered looking over Frodo's shoulder whenever he was writing something. He and Bilbo Baggins had similar handwriting.

"Well yeah, it's not really that important. Just make sure your handwriting is legible- unless you want to get credit and write crap about something. Then just make it as messy as possible so no one can really make out what you said." Samantha slung an arm around each of the boys' shoulders. "I'm sure you'll like the class."

~jb~

After school, Frodo, Merry, and Samantha were passing by the attendance office when Gandalf emerged.

"Gandalf!" Frodo and Merry greeted. Samantha was unsure of what to do: stay and hang around or continue outside to where she could go home and play video games?

"Hello Frodo, Meriadoc." Gandalf looked up and saw Samantha. "Ah, and who might you be?"

"Samantha Foote, sir," She replied clutching the book to her chest.

"I am Mr. White, the new Vice Principal; it's good to meet you."

"Good to meet you as well Mr. White, I really must be going. My dad is waiting for me," Samantha turned and began to walk away, but turned around once more to give a parting wave. "See you Merry Christmas!"

"She is a nice girl," Gandalf chuckled. "Merry Christmas, eh, my dear Brandybuck?"

"After discovering how my name was spelled, she seemed to have adopted it as my real name." Merry grumbled folding his arms and staring at the ground.

"Have you found your hobbits yet?" Gandalf whispered in an undertone as Pippin, Rosie, and Sam slipped up behind.

"Yes, all three." Frodo told him.

"In one day?"

"Samantha was one of them," Rosie explained, having seen the exchange.

"Ah, and the other two?"

"Samantha's best friends; Tammy and Morgan," Sam finished off.

"Well, I think you ought to get home and work on your homework. You do have to turn it in after all."

"Brilliant," Pippin mumbled shifting his books.

"Go on, here are the keys to the house. I'll be along in a couple hours," The five hobbits made their way out of the school and back towards their temporary home.

Another day, another chapter. Hope y'all enjoyed! Stay safe and healthy!