Listening to: "A Warning Sign" by Coldplay

Chapter 9: First Times

This was it. Definitely the day. Legolas brushed his fingers through his hair one last time, but not one hair was out of place. As he checked himself in the mirror, he smiled. As usual, he looked perfect (which would only have been right, seeing as he spent the majority of his life in front of the mirror).

He suffered through some classes before he finally found himself standing in front of the doorway to his government class. Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he checked himself once more. Clothes unwrinkled: check. Hair all in its place: check. Books stylishly held by left arm: (quick change from right to left arm) check. Voice in perfect tone: che---

"Umm, excuse me. You're blocking the doorway."

Legolas scowled. It was impossible for any human mind to even imagine the importance of giving him complete and utter silence so that he could concentrate while checking off his appearance measures.

"And I care bec---"

He never finished his sentence. But for the first time in his life, he spoke the infamous line:

"Oh, uhhh..."

The red-headed girl sighed and pushed past him, brushing by his shoulder.

As she went to her seat, Legolas merely gazed at her, stroking his shoulder. And for the first time in his life, he actually wrinkled his clothes...

.o.

Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin were, as usual, definitely up to something.

"So, if we could calculate the exact distance ---"

"Displacement," Pippin interrupted.

Merry stopped. "What?"

"Displacement." Merry's mouth dropped open. Since when did he have a vocabulary?

"Displacement," Pippin repeated. "Very different."

"Allright," Merry said slowly. "Displacement."

Pippin nodded. "After we are able to calculate the displacement of the object, of course in combination with the varying accelerations and velocities, all that is left is getting our victim in the right spot."

Pippin beamed and sighed dreamily. "Ahh, doesn't one love a good real-life application to the sciences." He finally noticed Merry's mouth. "What? I learned a lot in Physics." He paused, looked around, and then leaned forward towards Merry and whispered, "Didn't you?"

.o.

A crowd had formed in the wrestling room. And Sam was in the middle of it, lying on a bench.

"That's...320 pounds," the wrestling team captain announced.

The crowd "oohed" and "ahhed".

Sam grunted.

"More weight!"

As two of the wrestlers struggled with a weight to slide onto the metal bar, Sam suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah," he gasped for breath, "I forgot --- have," he gasped," any of you heard yet of," he paused, "the party tonight?" He nodded quickly to one of the wrestlers that stood beside him, and he grunted as he lifted the weight.

"Because ---" he grunted, "I need someone to," he stopped as he lowered the weight to his chest, "come with me!"

The crowds cheered as he lifted up the bar, and they swarmed around him.

Someone asked, "Mark, tell us what it is that makes you so amazing as a newcomer to our school's wrestling team."

Sam shifted nervously while he answered, "Well, I do garden..."

.o.

Frodo was simply floating on air. For the first time in his life, he thought he might actually have things going for him. What was up with the whole Ring thing anyway? That was definitely something that could have ruined his life.

He grinned. Not now. Walking down the hallway, he didn't even notice how the crowds almost seemed to part for him --- news had spread quickly of "Christopher Cory's ability to shoot you down with one single glance".

When he reached her classroom, where he had decided he would wait for her after class, he peered in through the doorway.

To his surprise and utter delight, Mabel, for that was her name, noticed him and rose, as if to simply walk out of class. Frodo's eyes widened, but she grinned and began sharpening her pencil. The door was barely open, and she had begun to say something when they both realized she was not the only one by the door.

Mabel immediately turned her head back to the sharpener, and Legolas waited impatiently behind her. When she was finally done, he flashed her a brilliant smile and handed her a note.

She took it with her eyebrows raised, but did not smile. Legolas beamed.

After class, Mabel was just about to reach Frodo, when Legolas caught her hand. Frodo could just barely make out their words:

"Did you read it?"

Mabel stared at him for a second. "Yes." He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "And no."

She began walking away, and for the first time in his life, Legolas was rejected, turned down, and his voice bounced from low to high as he said:

"But wh-Y?"

He slapped his hand over his mouth as Mabel responded, "Because I'm already going with someone." She turned back to look at him. "Maybe he'll invite you."

.o.

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me a while...again. But yeah, school has started for us. It stinks. Two projects due Tuesday, and I have just decided I either don't like Pre-Cal, or my Pre-Cal teacher. Either way, I don't like it.

And yay! Someone finally likes Dashboard!!!!!