Chapter Twelve
Romance? Not until the war . . .
By the time the two had fought their way through the crowd, Gandalf had already started talking (not that anyone was listening, mind you). Boromir was still sitting on the stairwell when 'both' girls rushed over to him. If truth be told, it was actually just Vikki, who thought Jamie was right behind her.
Needless to say, she was disappointed.
The knight immediately looked up from his grim space-out and was actually surprised to see his ex standing there. He frowned.
"What? Have you come to gloat?"
Vikki wrung her clammy hands.
"No; I-"
She paused to glance around for Jamie.
"I just wanted to say, . . .that I'm- I'm sorry . . .for what I did."
Boromir's frown lightened somewhat.
"Do you mean that? Truly?"
He smiled when Vikki nodded.
"Well, I suppose I can forgive you."
Vikki grinned happily and gave him a hug.
"Oh, thank you, Boromir!"
Smiling slightly he waved her off, knowing that she would rather be doing something else then making small talk with him. Lying back on the stairs with his hands behind his head, he wondered who could have put her up to that . . .
As soon as Vikki ran out and back into the throng to students, Jamie slowly walked into the stairwell. Boromir didn't notice her at first, but when he did, he grinned.
"Ah, so this is who convinced my ex to talk to me. I should have known."
Sitting down beside the knight, the girl tried to calm her nervous heartbeat.
"Hey."
He nodded in return.
"So . . . is everything alright, now? I mean, are you still upset?" she asked quietly.
Boromir sighed.
"I dunno . . . I think I'm just glad that it's over, you know? Just glad that I can move on."
Jamie nodded. The two sat in silence for a moment, listening to the static voice of Gandalf in the microphone.
"So," Jamie stated.
"So," Boromir said back.
The girl coughed.
"Well, I'm happy if you're happy."
The young man sat up, grinning.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Jamie struggled with her emotions.
"I just don't like to see my friends upset, that's all."
Boromir nodded, still slightly smiling.
"That's understandable."
Looking out the side of the stairwell behind the girl, the man noticed Faramir standing there, smirking. A questioning look crossed Boromir's face. His brother pointed to Jamie's back and mouthed, 'She likes you!'
Back in the rowdy throng of students, Aragorn and Legolas searched everywhere for their friends. They both spotted Eomer chatting with his football buddies but decided they'd rather keep their brain cells alive a bit longer. Mike and Nicky were up near the stage, and so the elf and ranger-to-be made their way up to them.
"Where're the girls?" Aragorn shouted over the nearby speaker.
"I don't know!" Michael cried back, "We thought they were with you!"
A screech erupted from the speakers as Gandalf accidentally dropped the mike. Despite everyone going partially deaf, it finally got the student body's attention.
"SILENCE! All right; settle down, students. This is of vast importance!"
There were a couple snickers that ran through the crowd, but the audience was silent. Gandalf cleared his throat.
"Due to modifications put in place by our wonderful new principal Sauron," his voice dripped sarcasm, "we have had to make a couple changes in the daily schedule. Since a proper food supply is presently being shipped out from the Lothlorien district, we will have to live off a ration of lembas till it gets here."
Groans rippled through the listeners as they remembered the last time Gandalf had tried to cook lembas for them. The charred odor alone had reminded them of orc road-kill.
The wizard threatened to drop the mike again, and so the students hushed.
"Also, all female students must report to the gym by ten PM sharp for bed. All male students will be sleeping in the courtyard."
More groaning.
In a large puff of smoke accompanied with the rumbling ground and the crash of thunder, appeared the eye of Sauron, floating just above the stage. Sending a bolt of lightning in Gandalf's general direction, the Maia quickly got the wizard away with a yelp.
"If all are not there," he began and everyone knew to what he referred, "I shall assume responsibility for their punishment personally."
His voice was so deep, so dark and so cold that it seemed almost tangible to the students. Those who stood right in front of the stage had paled drastically and almost fell ill.
Suddenly the evil tyrant left, his disappearance ending the silence the courtyard had entertained while he'd been there. Nick turned around to his friends.
"Well, that was interesting-"
He stopped when he saw Aragorn staring off into space. His eyes were glowing slightly red . . .
"Woo hoo, ranger-dude! Wake up!"
Gimli appeared as if out of nowhere and cried, "I'll revive him!"
Poor, poor Aragorn.
Gimli stomped as hard as he could on the young man's foot. Needless to say he woke up quickly.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!!" he cried, clutching his sore foot and hopping around. "Gimli! What the heck did you do that for?!?!!"
Mike tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the other students.
"See for yourself."
Every student who'd received a ring was staring off into space just as Aragorn had done.
"Woah . . .freaky." the young man muttered under his breath. "What in the world could make-"
The boys jumped when the glowing girl in front of them disappeared with a pop. Suddenly ever teenager with a ring began to disappear, sending the rest of the students away screaming.
A horrible thought dawned on them.
"Jamie!" Aragorn cried, "Vikki! We've got to find them!"