Chapter 4: What's a girl to do?
A/N I don't own Gundam Wing or its characters. Those that I have borrowed will be returned after the fic with no damage. Although they might be a little embarrassed by the roles they had to play.
Relena slowly reached for the phone as cautiously as if she were reaching for a poisonous snake. She could feel the butterflies flying figure 8's in her stomach.
"Hello?" Her voice was questioning.
"Do you have my paper?" The deep voice demanded on the other end on the line.
Relena felt irritation at his apparent lack of manners, "Well, I see someone's mother never taught them about manners at all." Relena replied with sarcasm coating her voice. She no longer felt those butterflies dancing in her stomach, because her rising angry was effectively killing them.
"What do you mean? What does that have to do with my paper?" Heero sounded slightly clueless.
'I bet no one has ever spoken to him like that' Relena surmised from his attitude. "Well it's common to at least say hello before stating your business when talking on the phone."
"You're a fine one to tell ME about how to act, if you had never RAN over me we wouldn't even be having this conversation." Heero pointed out bluntly.
Relena just sniffed at that comment, "I wouldn't have ran into you if you had have been watching too, and we wouldn't be having this conversation if you had watched what you grabbed!" She informed him hotly. He didn't reply. The phone line was silent for quite a long time; both of them trying to out wait the other.
"I'm waiting." Relena said after what seemed like ten minutes. Hilde and Cathy were laughing so hard behind her that tears streamed down their checks.
There was silence again over the line then Relena heard Heero sigh and give in, "Hello, my name is Heero Yuy. I'm calling to see if you have my English paper?" His voice sounded strained to Relena. She decided not to push the matter by gloating.
"Hello Heero Yuy, I'm happy to say that I do have your lost paper. I'd also like to know if you have my book?" Relena replied.
"Yes, I have the book in question. I'll need the paper on Monday, if you don't mind." His voice was full of false politeness.
Relena thought for a moment. "Why don't we meet in the library before school? I have to hang some posters up anyway." Heero agreed that that was a good idea and they managed to set a time without much more fighting. When Relena finally hung up the phone she was ready to scream.
"He is the single most irritating person on the planet!" She declared in a rush, "How and why did I EVER want HIM to notice ME?!?" Hilde and Cathy exchanged glances over her bowed head.
"Come on, you know you still think he's cute." Cathy said knowingly.
Relena thought about denying it, but that would have added more fuel to the proverbial fire. So instead she threw a stuffed bear at Cathy. That started a stuffed animal free-for-all, until the girls heard a motorcycle outside.
"My brother's here!!" Cathy yelled from under the pile of stuffed animals Relena had buried her under with the help of Hilde.
Relena and Hilde let the other girl up and followed her down stairs to let the teen in. Trowa was Cathy's twin brother, but in a twist of fate different family members had separated them at birth when their mother died. He was much taller than his sister and quiet.
Relena opened the door to find him leaning casually against the porch railing, his helmet propped on his hip. She smiled and waved him inside the house.
"Hi, Relena." He spoke softly as he passed her.
"Hi, Trowa. Did you come to collect Cathy?" She asked him.
"Yeah, this is our weekend to go out and spend some time together." He replied as he caught sight of Cathy pulling her shoes on. Hilde was holding out her coat so she wouldn't have to look for it.
"I'm almost ready to go! Just give me a minute!" Cathy called out. Trowa just shrugged and moved to sit down. He reclined on the couch and watched Relena out of the corner of his eye. His sister was the only one who noticed his action though.
"Okay, I'm ready!" Cathy bounced up from her seat. She went and hugged the other girls then pulled Trowa out the door.
"Bye Relena." She yelled over her shoulder.
"Bye guys!" Relena waved to their departing backs.
The two girls decided to go back up to Relena's room where they could work on Hilde's understanding of certain poetry related concepts.
"It's strange, you know Lena," Hilde said after they had been at it for some time. "Trowa is her twin, yet they have different last names."
Relena nodded, "I think that's because Cathy was raised by an aunt while Trowa was raised by a cousin? I don't know...I forgot how she explained it all." Relena shook her head, and decided not to think about it. So what if the Bloom/Barton family was strange, she didn't think hers was so normal either. 'I mean, what normal college guy would raise his 5 year old half-sister? Milli even gave up becoming a college professor for me!'
Hilde pushed the text book away." I think its time for me to go on home. I have to pick up dinner for the hungry horde and my cousin Lu Noin is coming back from Italy. You know, I told you she's been living there? Well, I think the school boards asking her to teach Italian and French at school while Ms. Ryle takes maternity leave." Hilde sounded very excited about her cousin teaching at Cinq High.
"I'm happy for you Hilde." Relena said as she patted Hilde's back, "Tell your aunt that I can't wait to meet her!" Hilde nodded and left soon after that.
The next day when Relena arrived at school she took her time pulling out the six brightly colored posters from the back of Milli's SUV and heading into the library. She smirked as she walked in 10 minutes late for her meeting with Heero Yuy.
'This is payback for being rude on the phone Saturday…unless he's planning on making me wait too…'Relena eased through the library door and looked around. It was completely empty of people. Obviously Heero had had the same idea as she had.
'Oh well, I guess while I'm waiting I can put up some of these posters. After all, there's no since in wasting my time. That ought to show him!'
With determination Relena began to look around the room for the best possible place for her message to be read. She finally desided to put one over both doorways and another over the librarian's desk. The only problem with that is she couldn't reach up that high.
'I guess I'll have to use a chair…or that step latter Ms. Howle keeps around here somewhere…' After a bit of looking Relena desided that the latter was MIA and that a chair would have to do. So she went about dragging one of the heavy wooden chairs that all libraries seem to have over below the door.
It was a very awkward position that Relena found herself in, trying to balance with her arms lifted high above her head holding the poster in place and the tape clamped tightly in the corner of her mouth, so it isn't any wonder that when Heero suddenly decided to open the library door that she over balanced. Relena gave a frightened "eep!" as the door swung open. She felt her chair teeter a bit before gravity maliciously grabbed hold of her body. As for Heero, he had planned on coming in late o pay her back for the whole phone conversation. The sight of Relena teetering on the edge of the chair wasn't what he had been expecting. Her shocked little scream sent him moving without thought. He managed to catch her arm as the chair tipped backwards and pulled. The forward momentum that caused sent them both sprawling on the floor outside of the library. For a moment neither moved. Relena tried not to notice that his hands securely held her hips in place on top of his body, or the fact that his warm breath on her cheek sent chills up her spine.
"You can get off me now." Heero spoke quietly from under her.
"I can't until you let me go." She whispered back. As if he noticed where his hands where for the first time, Heero jerked them away. Relena hasted to sit up and look around aware but his face.
"Are you okay? The fall didn't hurt you?" Heero asked gruffly as he stood up.
"No, I'm not hurt, but how about you, you were the one that landed on the floor." 'With me on top of you.' She added silently.
"I'm fine." He reached up and shoved his bangs out of his eyes in an agitated gesture, "What in the world were you even doing up there?"
"Well, you where late so I desided to put up some posters for the uniform thing. But the spot I picked was too high up…" She shrugged and let him fill in the rest of the story. She didn't know why he should even care.
"Next time you decided to play chimp, ask for some help." Heero picked up the fallen chair and put it back at the table she had dragged it from.
"Hey! I need that!" Relena told him indignantly.
"Ask Ms. Howle for the latter during second period." Came his deadpan reply, "Now give me my English paper." Heero held out his hand and just looked at her. Relena glared back at him and toyed with the idea of just folding her arms.
'But he did at least save me from falling, so I suppose I'll give in…this time' She walked over to the pile of books and papers she'd carried in (No, she hasn't gotten that bag to carry them all in yet.) and fished his paper out. She turned but didn't hand it to him. Heero raised his eyebrow questioning her refusal to hand it over.
"Not until I see my book." Relena informed him. He rolled his eyes and reached into the neatly organized green bag at his feet. (someone at least learned his lesson) He held out her book and she handed him his paper. Without another word he left the library. Relena watched him go with a small frown wrinkling her forehead.
"So you fell on him again?" Cathy asked disbelieving over lunch.
"Well, the first time I ran into him, so technically this is the first time I've fallen on him." Relena informed her, as if it mattered.
"But he made you wait that long, then tried to kill you by knocking you off your chair?" Hilde asked, insulted on Relena's behalf.
"I don't think it's that dramatic, but it was so very embarrassing!" Relena felt her cheeks heating up even as she spoke, "And I didn't get to put them up at second period because Ms. Howle was no where to be found. Now that I think about it…do any of us even know what she looks like? Have you ever seen her before? Is she even ever there?"
All three girls thought about that for a moment. It was strange to realize that no one could remember talking to the librarian. Their suspicions of school wide conspiracy were cut short though by a short blonde boy who walked up.
"Oh, Hi, Quatre." Cathy said to the Principle's son. He was her twin brother's best friend, so she knew him well enough.
"Hi Cathy, Relena, Hilde." Quatre nodded at the girls and sat his tray down on their table.
"Ms. Une told me you were in charge of the pro-uniform debate Relena, I'd like to see if I could help if you don't mind. May I sit down?" Quatre indicated the empty set beside Cathy.
"Of course you can sit down, Quatre! We don't mind at all." Relena replied. 'Finally, a polite boy!!'
Why do you want to help us out?" Hilde asked him as he sat down.
"I need more credit in debate class to tell the truth." Quatre blushed slightly.
"Well I'm glad you're going to help us." Cathy declared, "We need some one who can help us put up posters and a guy to wear the boy's uniform later on. I was going to make Trowa do it but he refused."
"I know, he told me yesterday." Quatre smiled over at his friend's sister.
"Well, I'm glad you're going to help out. In fact I could use your help right now! I need the step latter that Ms. Howle uses in the library, but I can't find her anywhere…or ever remember seeing her for that matter. Do you know where she can be found?" Quatre's face was the picture of comical confusion as he thought her question over.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen her either. I wonder if she's ever real?"
'Welcome to the Twilight Zone.'
"The Principles son has joined the campaign." Duo fretted later. Heero never looked up from working on his history homework.
"Heero, buddy? Are you listing to me?" Duo waited. Heero didn't look up. After awhile Duo sighed. "I give up! You never talk, and you ignore me! Me…The Great God of Cheating, Shinigami!!" Duo looked extremely proud of himself for coming up with such a cool self-styled nickname.
"That's God of Death." Heero said from behind his textbook.
"Huh?"
"Shinigami means God of Death. Your using is wrong." Heero told him in frustration.
Duo made a face. "Death…Cheating, who cares? It sounds cool!" Heero shook his head at the deleabrate butchering Duo was giving to the Japanese language.
"Duo, GO. HOME!" Heero commanded finally putting his book down.
"But…you need my help!!" Duo said in surprised shock. Heero fought the urge to strangle Duo with his braid.
"Believe me when I say I'll get more work done without you here." Heero said with extreme patients. His hands itched to throw the boy out himself but he reminded himself that Duo would certainly make a lot of noise if that happened and Heero's father would then be disturbed from his work. Heero drew in a deep breath.
"If you leave now I promise to work on all that uniform stuff tomorrow with you, okay?" He told Duo.
Duo must have known the good deal he was getting because he left without a peep.
'I think I might have just promised my soul to the devil…but at least I have some quiet now.' Heero mused, then promptly got back to work.
"What's this I hear about you and a boy on the library floor today?"
Relena and Milliardo were having dinner out tonight. When it was Milli's turn to cook, they usually did. Relena felt her cheeks flush for like the 10th time that day.
"Milli, can you help me write my speech fro tomorrow?" Milliardo took a bite of his meal.
"It's a long, twisted story." Relena told him, hoping he'd get the hint and back off.
"Ah, one of those. Well," Milliardo checked his watch, "I have plenty of time." Relena sighed at her brother's actions. Then she launched into the retelling of the first library crash and every thing else that had transpired since Friday.
"He really is very rude." Relena repeated again at the end of her tale.
"You probable seem rude to him too." Milli commented dryly.
"What? I never did one rude thing to him." Relena looked offended. 'Except running into him, yelling at him on the phone, trying to be late to make him mad, falling on top of him, refusing to give him his paper…okay so maybe I was a little rude.'
"Well, one could argue that running into him, chewing him out on the phone, purposely being late, and not thanking him for saving you could be considered a bit rude."
'Errrr…Wait…I didn't say thank you did I?'
Relena finally admitted to her brother, "Okay, so I was a little rude. But HE was more rude!"
"But you were rude first." Milli pointed out.
"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Relena complained.
"I was just pointing out---"
"Milli," Relena interrupted with a scrawl, " If you weren't my big brother I'd really dislike you."
"And I love you too, Relena." He reached over and tweaked one of her braids like he used to do when she was little. Relena glared at him but secretly she was smiling.
Revised 3/10/03
