Hello again! Here's the chappie of everyone's favourite character, Arwen Undomiel! Little disclaimer: Obviously I don't own LOTR. However, don't go looking for "Telepalda", "Laureglin", and "Lithwen" in your books; I made those gals up. So I suppose I own them... But I'll share them, don't worry. Yes, three gossipy elf-chicks. My gift to the world. No need to thank me, I'm sure.

4

ARWEN

How can I be stressed out already? It's only the first week...

Look, I don't need everybody to love me. I'm not saying that. It's just that... Well, does anybody like being insulted? You'd think the Eldar would be more couth than to go around smearing each other's reputations across bathroom stall walls. I guess they don't think I care. They must believe I'm some stuck-up bitch, too self-absorbed to notice that the entire elven population of our school talks trash about me behind my back. No, correct that – they don't even bother to be particularly secretive about it anymore.

I don't mean too sound hyper-sensitive, it's just... Okay, here's what I heard Telepalda and Laureglin saying a couple of days ago:

I was standing outside the music room, just waiting for Mr. Bombadil to show up and let me pick up my flute, and those two were standing at their lockers, across the hall from me.

Telepalda was looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

"I hate that bitch!" she hissed, in rather poor Quenya. I tensed up, but tried not to show I'd heard.

"I know," Laureglin said, leaning in close toward her friend. "You know how she keeps her marks up, right?"

Telepalda scoffed. "Well, her dad's the principal. Obviously."

Laureglin snorted (hot stuff) in reply. "That's not the whole story, you know. Do you think it's a coincidence her lowest mark is in math – the only subject she takes with a female teacher?"

The other elf held back laughter. "You're such an idiot, Laur."

"I'm serious! She hits on the teachers, like, big-time. I was in her History class last year."

"Ew!"

The two were giggling like total spazzes by this point, and I was ready to explode. Yeah, I know what they were saying was idiotic... but still, it got to me.

"And I just hate," Telepalda continued, "how she always has to have the best of everything. You know what I mean?"

"What, like, clothes and stuff?"

"Not just that. I mean, think about it. Her and her boyfriend..."

"Ooh, Elessarrr," Laureglin cooed, growling the final "r". I should have slapped her, right there, I swear...

"Yeah... But whatever, it's more than that. Do you think he wanted to be head boy this year? Fuck, no! She made him do it. She just needs that kind of thing to make her feel... you know, big."

Laureglin snorted again. "Big? Speaking of which... did you notice she put on a wee bit of weight over the summer?"

"Oh, my God, I totally forgot about that... Didn't I tell you? Lithwen heard that she's pregnant."

Laureglin gasped. "And Aragorn was gone all summer! She was cheating on him!"

"I know, I bet it was with Haldir," Telepalda whispered. "He's always at her grandmother's place..."

"Ew, aren't they related?"

Telepalda paused. "No... I don't think so, anyway. Ew! Wouldn't that be sick if they were?"

"Shut up, shut up, I think she heard us," Laureglin hissed, looking over at me. And with that, they both scampered away, stifling laughter.

Argh, why are people so stupid? Why can't they just leave me alone? It's all because my atar's the principal, I just know it. You know, I asked him if he'd consider leaving the position while I'm in school, and do you know what he did?

He laughed at me!

So, there I was, totally wrecked for the afternoon, feeling like crap, so upset I couldn't even say "thank you" to Mr. Bombadil when he finally came by and opened the door for me. I was hurrying towards my locker after that, ready to explode, when – thank the Valar – Aragorn showed up.

"Hey," he said, smiling – until he noticed my expression. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing," I said, trying to sound like I wasn't ready to tear my own hair out. "Just... people."

"What? People?" He put his arm around my waist and directed me over to the water fountain. "Who is it?"

"Nobody... oh, everybody!" I sputtered, and buried my face in his chest. I felt like such an idiot, but I couldn't... Oh, God, I can't just not care about these things!

Aragorn was rubbing my back, telling me to hush, that it would all be alright. God, I love him... He is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Honestly. And that's saying a lot, considering.

"Shh, it's okay," he murmured, his face buried in my hair. I just breathed in his scent... Lord, men smell so sexy. Elf boys are so clean, and sweet, but Aragorn... Mm... Musky, I guess you could say.

"I know," I whispered, after a moment. "I'm sorry for being so stupid. I'm not usually like this." I wiped my eyes on my sleeve.

"I know," he said gently, and kissed my forehead. "It's alright. Everybody goes crazy sometimes."

"I'm sorry," I said again, softly this time. Aragorn sighed and pulled me into a tight, warm hug. I caught a few icy glares from girls walking by, but at this point, I couldn't care less. It always seems that everything's going to be okay, when Aragorn's around...

"Let's go home," he whispered, gently taking my flute case from my hand, and I let him lead me to my locker. I'd let that man lead me anywhere.

Like I said, I can't believe it's the elf girls in this school who are the bitches. I mean, you should hear our parents! They're always on about, "Those human girls..."-this, and "The men's poor influence..."-that... Look, if we're bitches (which, I can tell you, a lot of us are), it sure as hell isn't the human girls' fault. They are so much nicer than us, honestly. Like, take Éomer's sister – she's so quiet and sweet, never says anything mean about anybody!

Anyway, I guess you're sick of hearing me complain. I'll try to be more upbeat next time... Meaning, of course, that I hope I'll have more to be upbeat about.