Horror on High
By Junsui na Warui
Disclaimer: Don't own Trigun, though I really wish they'd at least be generous enough to let me borrow Vash a few days. ^^ Though, the odds of that happening are a million to.. none. *Bawls*
~*~*~*~
Chapter One; The First of Many.
Meryl sighed as she jotted down the notes the Trigonometry teacher pointed out through his first-day-of-the-year lecture on the rules and supplies needed to pass the course. She already knew this was going to be one of the classes she'd hate because she not only saw no familiar faces at all, but the teacher was incredibly boring. Lucky for her, though, that her seat was located in the back next to a window.
Looking off to the side, Meryl watched the trees dance in precise rhythm with the summer winds. The long branches that swayed from the willow tree a distance away gleamed in the sunlight, reminding her of the man she had encountered before class.
The thought of him made her furrow her brows in frustration. She hardly knew the guy and she was already falling for him? For all she knew, he could have been just playing her to get a piece of ass. That wasn't uncommon in her High School, she had many friends who had fallen for hot guys with the charm of a real 'gentleman,' who later high-tailed it to the next new beauty that had strolled into their view.
"Or rather, their pants." Meryl mumbled grimly to herself.
She knew she had a major trust issue when it came to guys. Millie, as good as her intentions may had been, spent the majority of Freshman year trying to get her set up with someone. Of course, it always went sour in the end.
"Miss Stryfe?"
But there was something about that ma-- Vash-- that she just couldn't seem to ignore.
"Miss Stryfe."
Was it his eyes? The way his gentle gaze locked onto her as if he were cradling her in his arms?
"Miss Stryfe!"
Or maybe the way his smile made her freeze, and his friendly tone ringed through her ears even now.
"MISS STRYFE!"
"Huh?!" Meryl immediately snapped out of it, sitting straight up with the paper she had been writing her notes on stuck to her cheek.
The teacher cleared his throat, looking down at her with his chin cocked upward in a disapproving manner. "Miss Stryfe, sleeping in this class is unacceptable."
"I-" Meryl began, then cleared her throat and bowed her head as she pulled the paper off. "I'm sorry, Mr. Aldahoff, it won't happen again."
Obviously pleased, Mr. Aldahoff trotted back to the front of the room and continued his lecture all the way till the bell rang.
~*~*~*~
"Gee, Meryl, I can't believe you were caught sleeping in class." Millie said, looking at her friend with a smile.
"Yeah yeah, don't get used to it." Meryl muttered as they walked side by side to their next class.
Millie looked down at her shorter friend and brought up her hand in a knowing gesture. "Don't feel too bad about it, Meryl, I heard Mr. Aldahoff is one the most boring teachers in the school." She whispered as they shifted through the throng of people.
"You don't have to whisper, Millie. It's not like he can hear you."
"I know, but I still think it's kinda mean." She smiled a little more and brought her hand behind her head in the same gesture Vash had done. "Big Sis always said it wasn't nice to talk about people behind their backs."
Meryl managed a small smile at her bashful friend, though her mind was elsewhere. "Did she?"
"Mhm." Millie nodded, and then suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, who was that man you were talking to earlier, Meryl?"
Blinking, Meryl suddenly felt her cheeks begin to turn red with a warming sensation, and she slowed in her pace a little. She felt foolish acting like such a little school girl, but the harder she tried to control it, the more she seemed to blush.
Millie looked at her friend oddly. "Meryl?"
Meryl shook her head and then put on her best 'I don't know what you're talking about' face. "I don't know, some goofy guy that tried stealing my stuff."
"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you Miss?"
Hearing that voice behind her, Meryl froze. It was Vash, and she knew it.
Millie, totally unaware of what Meryl was so worked up about, turned and smiled at the tall blonde man. Raising a hand, she spoke solemnly. "Hello."
Vash mimicked her gesture. "Hello." He then looked down at the frozen young woman of his obvious desire. "Is she okay?"
"Huh?" Millie blinked and waved her hand in front of Meryl's face. "That's strange.."
Finally, Meryl's eyebrow twitched in anger, and she turned around to glare up at Vash. "What do you want?"
Vash backed up a bit, his hands coming up as if he were about to be arrested, or telling someone not to shoot. "Woah.. No need for violence, we're all friends here." He smiled innocently at her.
Completely frustrated by seeing the man for the second time in no less than two hours, she turned on her heel and began hurrying off to her next class. "Come on Millie, let's go."
Millie looked after her friend a moment, then looked back at the blonde-haired stranger. "I'm really sorry about this, she's really not that mean." With that, she waved to the man and hurried after her Meryl.
Vash stood there with a smug grin on his face while he watched the two girls scurry off to their next class. Suddenly, he had realized that he himself needed to get to class, and zipped off down the hall in the opposite direction, panicking.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" He said as he took a sharp turn and slid on the slick surface of the floors before catching himself and taking off in a mad sprint. "Can't be late again!"
~*~*~*~
After third period, Meryl and Millie made their way into the cafeteria with their notebooks in one hand and their lunches in the other. They took a seat at the first empty table they could find, which was tucked back in the corner of the large room. Dumping their luggage onto the table, they began scrounging through their lunches for whatever it was they wanted first.
Millie pulled out two pudding snacks, a small pack of powdered donuts, and a thermostat full of that tea she always loved to drink. Meryl just pulled out a regular PB&J sandwich and a bottle of water.
"You know, Meryl." Millie said as she stuffed a spoon full of chocolate pudding into her mouth. "That guy we saw earlier looked pretty nice." She said, the pudding making it sound a bit more baffled.
"Ha! He's just another bum!" Meryl declared defensively, taking an angered bite out of her sandwich. After chewing and swallowing, she continued. "A regular thug, if you ask me."
Millie looked unaffected by Meryl's sudden change in behavior. "I don't know Meryl, I still say he looked nice." She smiled warmly. "And I think he was interested in you."
"B-ph.. What?!" Meryl dropped her sandwich and balled her fist up in frustration. "Come on, Millie, don't be silly. It's just the first day, I don't want to get involved with petty relationships anyway. I'd like to graduate with Honors instead."
Millie simply giggled at her friend's embarrassment and continued eating her pudding. For the remainder of the lunch period, they ate in silence, occasionally exchanging first day gossip.
~*~*~*~
Finally, the last bell had rang, and Meryl gathered up her belongings as fast she could, heading out into the hallway and towards the exit. The traffic of the students crowding into the hallways after the last bell was surprisingly lax compared to what she remembered of last year. Maybe it was because, after being in High School for two years, you aren't really in that much of a rush to get home.
"Hey Meryl! Wait up!"
Meryl slowed to a stop just in front of the first set of doors to the exit to wait for her freakishly tall friend. "Hey Millie, how was last period?"
Millie stopped in front of Meryl, bending over a little to catch her breath. After calming down somewhat, she straightened and began walking alongside Meryl outside of the building and into the parking lot. "It was fine, but I'm sure glad it's over."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
"Only a hundred something more days to go until next summer, too!" Millie smiled with delight as they made their way to their cars. "Then we'll be Seniors!"
Meryl only nodded as unlocked her car. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Millie."
"You too." Millie smiled and then slipped into her car, starting the engine, backing out, and driving off home.
Tossing her stuff in the back, Meryl got in and shut the door, but remained sitting there with her eyes closed a moment. Today had been one of the longest days of her life, and seeing that goofball twice in one day didn't make it any better. Finally, deciding she'd rather not take the chance of running into Vash again, she started the engine, pulled out, and drove off into the rapidly growing traffic.
~*~*~*~
A/N: The prologue was pretty short, so I had to make up for it with this. More chapters to come! Ciao! Please tell me what you think! ^^ (Oh yeah, and I hope I haven't gone out of character with Meryl.. I feel like I have. X.x;)