A/N: Sorry! I had to upload it again… I have an issue with spelling mistakes… and parts of some scenes are edited as well…mainly the one between Elrohir and Haldir towards the end.  Thanks for your patients! Cheerio… and enjoy!

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CHAPTER 10:  CAUSE AND EFFECT

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"Well?"

"Well what?" asked Haldir impatiently.

Elrohir rolled his eyes.  "Haldir, in case you have forgotten, you have not been on a real date in near two hundred years!  This is important!"

"Spill!" agreed Elladan, "Now!"

"There's nothing to tell."

Elrohir gave a choking laugh, "Then what's this I hear about a closet?"

Haldir turned beet red, "How'd you find out about that?"

Elladan suddenly sat up straighter, "Wait, a closet?  Well!  Isn't this interesting?  How long were you in it?"

"Fhur de yole nit," he mumbled.

"WHAT?!"

"For the whole night," he repeated, turning even redder.

Elladan began laughing hysterically.  Elrohir, on the other hand, gave Haldir a good pat on the back with a solemn look upon his face.  "It's about bloody time!"

 - - - -

"Hi Andiél!"

The elleth whirled around.  It was a girl she had never seen before.  "Uh…" she scratched her head, "Hi."

The stranger smiled brightly, "Your hair is so gorgeous, Andiél!  I wish mine were as silky!"

"Um… thanks."

The girl's companion chimed in, "I know!  And your skin is so flawless, Andiél.  Do you rub it with anything special?"

"No…"

"Wow," breathed this second girl, "you are such a natural beauty!"

"I know!" said the first one.  "Well, we've got to go.  See you later?"

Andiél forced a smile.  "Right."  Shaking her head to herself, she made her way to class.

"Pop quiz!" Lord Agelair announced, causing Andiél to pale dreadfully.  She had spent no time on schoolwork at all.  She didn't even know what the topic was, much less all the details he always asked for.  "Are you alright, Andiél?" he asked.

Andiél bit her lip.  "I don't really know what's going on, Lord Agelair."

"Oh, that's alright.  You're excused from the quiz." 

She blinked. "I'm sorry?"

The elf-lord gave a wave of his hand.  "I think you're a brilliant student, Andiél.  There's no need for you to take the quiz."

Brilliant student?  I'm practically failing this class!  Andiél raised an eyebrow.  This day was going from strange to straight out bizarre.  And it didn't end there. 

As she was walked towards dining hall for lunch, none other than Cylleth and Thradilia came scuttling over to her.  "Hi Andiél!" cooed Thradilia, throwing an arm over Andiél's shoulder.

She frowned, "I'm sorry…are we friends?"

Cylleth shook her nails at her.  "Now come, Andiél.  You wouldn't let those small mishaps get in the way of our friendship, now would you?"

"Uh…"

Thradilia said, "I knew you would see past all that, Andiél!  You're such a thoughtful person – "

Her words suddenly faded; Andiél stopped in her tracks.  Haldir, Elrohir, and Elladan were walking straight towards them.  Haldir caught her eye, and unless her eyes were deceiving her, began to blush.  Immediately honing in on their friend's suddenly silence, the twins became noiseless as well.  Well, they were trying.  Elladan, for one, was not exactly what you would call an expert at holding in laughs.  Elrohir gave Haldir a shove forward.  "Say something!" he nudged.

Haldir stepped up awkwardly, "Uh…hi."

Andiél's eyes dropped to her feet. "Hi." I-want-to-vanish-I-want-to-vanish-I-want…

He bit his lip. "Uh… I'll see you later, then."  He attempted a smile, all the while pretending that the whole population of the school was not watching him, and briskly walked away.  Elrohir and Elladan followed, both of which who had deteriorated into outlandish giggling.

Andiél, still refusing to look up, practically ran to a nearby table, her face color resembling that of a sour grape.  Oblivious as ever, Cylleth pulled up a chair next to her, sighing, "You guys are so cute, Andiél!  I should have known what an awesome couple you would make!"

"You're so perfect!" added Thradilia, "Together, we must be the most popular three ellith at the Institute!"

"We should come up with a name of ourselves.  The Three Sisters!  How does that sound?" chimed in Cylleth.

From behind, Nadireth walked nervously to the table.  "Could I sit here?"

Thradilia frowned at her.  "These seats are only for popular Elves.  Go back to where you came from."

Andiél stopped her hastily, "No.  Stay, Nadireth, please."  Thradilia and Cylleth rolled their eyes at each other. 

Cylleth said to Andiél, "You know, we're going clubbing tonight.  Come with us!"

"I don't know… I've never been – " She looked unsure.

Thradilia gave a huge smile, "It'll be great, Andiél!  You'll have so much fun!"  Cylleth nodded. 

"Sure, we'll go!" spoke up Nadireth.  Andiél cringed.  A night out with Cylleth and Thradilia?  Not exactly her ideal way a spending her time…

- - - -

She had ended up asking Taúr to come with them as well, deciding that she would probably need extra restraint if she happened to reach across the table and lunge for the monster girls.  Taúr, as always, obliged to her wishes. 

An Elven club scene, decided Andiél, really was not that different from a party.  You have the band (in this case a solo singer).  You have the dance floor.  And you definitely have the Elves that slowly becoming more and more intoxicated.  Amazing.  The only real difference was the fact that the club was a lot darker. 

Andiél's eyes returned to the singer thoughtfully.  He was rather mellow looking, and had sort of quiet aura about him… reminded her of Legolas, really. Legolas. I wonder what you're doing this very moment…

"We're playing a game," Nadireth told her.

Andiél snapped out of her daydream, "What?"

"We playing the dare game," Cylleth told her impatiently, clearly annoyed that she wasn't paying attention.

Thradilia jumped right in, "Cylleth.  I dare you to kiss that Elf at the bar right on the lips!"  She pointed at a guy that had obviously downed one too many drinks that night.  Cylleth smiled confidently.  Walking over, she tapped him on the shoulder, and she smacked her lips on his before he could blink.  Andiél laughed at the shocked expression he harbored.  Perhaps this isn't so bad after all…

Cylleth sat down gloatingly.  "Nadireth.  Why don't you flash that groups over there?"

Nadireth turned an awful shade of purple.  "No- no way!  I c-couldn't!"

Thradilia smiled sadistically, "Come on, Nadireth.  Don't spoil the fun!"

"I really c-can't."

Cylleth rolled her eyes.  "Fine, fine.  Drink your punishment then!"  She held up a glass filled to the brim with dark red wine.  Nadireth gulped, but accepted the glass.  She swallowed it all in one swig, wincing.

.

An hour and a half later:

Andiél looked over at her friend worriedly, "Nadireth?  You alright?"  Instead of answering, the poor elleth collapsed in her seat.

"She'd had too much to drink!" Taúr stood up.  "I think I'd better take her home."

"Good idea," agreed Andiél.  She was slightly dizzy, having gulped down several glasses herself.

Thradilia giggled, "Andiél, don't leave!  I have another one for you!"

- - - -

Teldur yawned.  What a night!  I thought all the damned Elves would never leave!  He massaged his throat, and winced.  He was definitely going to be hoarse the next morning; six hours was way too long to be singing.  As he was extinguishing candles, he heard a soft groan from one of the back booths.  Walking back to investigate, he found it was a sleeping girl.

He gave prodded her gently on the arm, "Hey! Get up!"  No response.  The girl was out cold.  Seeing no other choice, he hoisted the elleth over his shoulders. 

- - - -

There was no school the next day:

"Hey! Andiél!  Over here!"  It was Elladan.  Andiél took the only empty seat at their table – which happened to be right next to Haldir.

"Do you want anything to eat?" he asked, somewhat embarrassed.  Andiél shook her head, not turning red by sheer will power.  Haldir's entire attitude immediately changed.  "What?  You're as skinny as a damned twig!  How can you not eat?  Here!"  He began heaping the contents of his plate onto her empty one.

Andiél cringed as Elladan crooned.  "Aww… That's so cute, Haldir!  Could I have some of your food too?"

"Bug off."

Elrohir snickered. "This possessive boyfriend attitude of yours is very becoming, Haldir."

"I am not a possessive boyfriend!"

"Whatever," Elladan shook this head, and turned to Andiél.  "He may seem all nice and cuddly now, but trust me, if he ever saw you even talking to a guy other than one of use, he'd probably slaughter him in a blink of the eye!"

Haldir rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

Andiél bit her lip, recalling the events of the morning…

.

I hate hangovers, she thought fervently, waking up to a splitting headache.  She snuggled under the covers, reluctantly recalling the events of the previous night.  Suddenly, she thought of something. How did I get home? Glancing around, she bolted up, all thoughts of headaches and otherwise forgotten. 

"I'm not in my room!" 

She looked down at herself in horror.  I'm not even wearing my own clothes!  Refusing to panic, she forced herself to take a big breath.  There has to be a perfectly good explanation for this…

.

"Are you alright?" Haldir peered at her closely.

Andiél jumped out of her seat. "Uh…I have to go!"  Without waiting for a reply, she took off, walking as fast as she could without breaking into a run.  If he would kill someone for talking with me, what if… what if he found out?  She sped on, not stopping until reaching the park.  She sat on a bench down heavily, burying her face in her hands.  What am I going to do? I don't even know what happened…could I have…what if…but wouldn't you feel something after the first time?

Out of the blue, a crumpled piece of parchment soared through the air and landed neatly on the bench beside her.  Andiél immediately eyed her surroundings, but not a soul was to be seen.  Puzzled, she reached for the parchment, and smoothed it out. 

.

My beautiful,

You left in such a hurry this morn; I did not even have the chance to give you a kiss good-bye!  Your name is Andiél, is it not?  Such a lovely name!  Andiél, I would so utterly hate to end our affair so abruptly.  Would you not meet me now by the gardens, love?

Teldur

.

Andiél's eyes widened; jaw dropped.  "Affair"?!  "Kiss good-bye"?!  So…so something did happen after all? She felt her heart beginning to pump wildly.  Her head began to spin.  What if I really did so something?  What if he tells someone?  And yet, one question refused to go away. What if Haldir found out?  She quickly picked up her things, deciding if she were ever to get any answers, it would be from this Teldur. 

As she stood up, however, the sweeping breeze blew by, carrying the note onto the ground.  Andiél walked right past it.

- - - -

He was waiting for her, and greeted her with a bright smile, "Well hello there!"

Andiél glared at him, "Why did you write that note?"

"I wanted to say good-bye – "

"Well – "

"And tell you what happened, since you probably don't remember anything."  Andiél shut her mouth, opened it, then closed it again, rather frightening in her resemblance of a fish.  He told her simply, "Nothing."

Andiél blinked.  "Wait…nothing as in….nothing?"

"Yeah," Teldur nodded, "You just left a necklace in my dorm, so I wanted to return it to you."

Andiél took it from him, putting it in her bag.  "But…your note said…"

Teldur laughed, "I couldn't resist playing a little joke.  You should have seen you face when you first got here!"

"Just a joke?"  He nodded.  Andiél suddenly jumped up and grasped his hands.  "So nothing happened at all?!"

"Nope!" he affirmed, laughing at her as she pulled him around in dancing circles joyfully.

"What are you doing?" growled a third voice.  It was Haldir.

Andiél froze.  "Uh…we were practicing a dance!  See?"  She did another twirl.

"Let go of him!"

She dropped his hands, biting her lip.  "Sorry," she muttered.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?!" he screeched.  Teldur, looking rather afraid, slowly backed up and ran away.  "Hey you!  Get back here!"

"Oh stop it!  He didn't do anything!"

Haldir glared at her, "DIDN"T DO ANYTHING?!  He was HOLDING HANDS with you!"

"No he was not," she retorted. "I told you already.  We were just practicing a dance."

"I don't care!  You're not allowed to hold hands with him!" said Haldir stubbornly.

Andiél was fed up, "What is your problem?  Why do you always have to be so bossy?"

"I am not – "

"YES YOU ARE!  You are the most possessive, bossy, arrogant person I know!"

- - - -

"Am I really that awful?" grumbled Haldir, as he walked into the bar.  He spotted Elrohir and his 'catch of the week' snuggled in a corner.

"Give me a kiss before you leave, darling!" said Elrohir, smiling seductively.

The girl in his arms, swatted him away. "No."

"Please?"

She smiled.  "Will you be good?" she purred.

Elrohir leaned in.  "Always."

Haldir sat down after she left.  How is he always so good with ellith? It's not fair! he thought jealously.  "Why didn't she just give you the kiss in the first place?"

Elrohir shrugged. "It's a female thing.  She couldn't wait to kiss me," he said smugly, "But they like to play hard to get." 

"How do they do that?"

"Well…" he scratched his chin, "I don't really understand it either.  They act all aloof and distant… but they really just want you to kiss them right then and there.  Or they just keep on insulting you and acting like they hate you or something, but in reality they couldn't wait to jump into your pants.  They're the oddest beings in the world, females are!"

Haldir suddenly perked up. Does that mean…

"Andiél," Elrohir declared, "is exactly that kind of elleth."

Haldir smiled gleefully.

- - - -

Someone was taking a walk through the park.  A sudden gust of air blew in, and a small piece of parchment flew up and floated through the air gracefully.  Curious, the Elf caught it.  "Well, well.  That's interesting…"

- - - -

Next Time: Gasp!  What will this Elf do with Andiél's note?  And who is this Elf?