CHAPTER 3 : OF HOOKERS, BONY MEN, AND FRIENDS
I step out of the black limousine, and took one long look at the expanse of stone castles, with lots of teenagers walking around, that is Iverness Royal Boarding School.
This place sucks.
Just kidding.
No, seriously.
Yeah, I know, I've only been here for only what, 3 seconds, and I already hate the place. "Give the place a chance, Rei. You'll love it, I swear."
Love it, my ass.
Like a place that's crawling with lazy brats with "delicate constitutions", teeming with jerks with heads that are inflated enough for them to float, and hookers that parade around with a sash and a crown is something I would love. Uh, wrong answer.
And this all happened within three seconds. Bloody 'mazing.
I trudge out of the car, whistling Simple Plan's Shut Up. My old green backpack swung slightly from my shoulder. Then the driver, Alfred says something that sounds like, "I'll give your bags later!" I shrug it off, and head towards the main entrance of Iverness Royal Boarding School. Whopeedoo.
Some girls with overflowing, ehem, chests looked out of the windows and waved at me. As usual, I raised my eyebrow at them, and glared. Instead of melting into the appropriate pile of jelly, this seemed to have encouraged them more, and made them call out, "Hey, cutie-pie! Look this way, honey!"
I was baited fish.
I turned around, and asked, "You called?"
They giggled louder, and the one in the middle, which seemed to have the largest cup size, answered. "Where you at, babe?"
"Just arrived."
"Who's our teacher, by the way?"
"Uh, excuse me, are we actually classmates?" Gods, I love that line.
Cup DD blushed, and averted her gaze. The one in the middle, with blonde hair all over the place, grinned lazily. "Hey, can you show me the way to the library?"
I gave her a grin of my own, and pointed to the gate. "No, but I'd gladly show you the way out."
Her eyebrows shot up, and the sick smile was replaced by a frown. The last one, wearing something that showed more skin, and had less cloth, asked. "You wanna sign up for something?"
"Of course I do, but definitely not with you."
Otohata - 1, Hookers - Zippo! All right!
They all glared at me, and disappeared from the window.
What? They were practically drooling! And you know how hookers are like...
A tall man suddenly walked up to me. Gray hair, stern glare, towering over me, casting a shadow over everything that moved - Note to Self : Do NOT mess with this guy.
He bowed low. "Prince Rei, may I escort you to your room?"
I raised an eyebrow, and nodded. He bowed again, turned around and started walking.
What a FANTASTIC way to start off my new life.
The man stopped abruptly in front of a huge carved wooden door, with the number 11 on it. Surprised, I was unable to engage my brakes, and thus slammed into his back.
Hard and bony.
He turned around, and gave me a glare that reminded me a lot of my mother when she found out that I was the one that set the birds and animals loose from the zoo.
Not on purpose, anyway.
"Your Highness, this will be your dormitory. Would you like to see it?"
"Yes." 'Like, duh? Anything to get away from you.'
He bowed again, (what is it with this guy and bowing?) took a key, and opened the door.
As soon as he opened a crack, this huge BLAST of music rushed out. Simple Plan. Jump. Nice taste.
"Hey, WATCH THE HAIR, YAMATO!"
"Forgive the lowly peon, my oh-so-mighty heir to the Duke of Westlake."
"Is that supposed to be a joke? Because I am the oh-so-mighty heir to the Duke of Westlake..."
"No, dude, I meant it as a compliment."
"Oh. I see."
Mr. Bony Man opened the door further and the music softened a bit. The two voices I hear arguing quieted at he stepped in.
"Sir Yamato and Sir Yuuya, will you allow me to introduce, Prince Rei Philip-" I decided to interrupt him before he bored my new roommates to death, by quickly entering the room and shoving the creep man aside.
"Actually, you guys can just call me Rei." I managed a sheepish grin, and scratched the back of my head.
The brown haired guy sitting near a desk nodded, and stood up, offering his hand. "Nice to meet you, Rei. I'm Kutobuki Yamato."
I turned to the other occupant of the room, which was currently busy checking out his hair in front of the full length mirror. I could hear him muttering - "It took me THREE damn hours to get this style right! Thank gods, Yamato did NOT mess it up! Don't wanna put up a bad impression for the girls on the first day of classes now, hotshot?"
Yamato rolled his eyes, and said, "Yuuya, if you aren't doing busy making out with yourself, wouldn't you like to come back to the world of the sane and meet our new roommate?"
Yuuya snorted and glared at Yamato. "This is a VERY important time for me, okay? I am still dealing with the shock of you ALMOST destroying my perfect hair!" He caressed the blond spikes tenderly.
"You do know that I could just shave it all off while you're sleeping."
A dark look passed over Yuuya's face. "You wouldn't dare."
Yamato pointed to one of the drawers in the desk. "Got the razor and the scissors right over there. Just say the word, buddy."
The blonde boy's brown eyes widened and he sighed. "I give up." He walked away from the mirror, but without giving one last fluff to his hair, and one last wink to himself.
Whoa, if I didn't know any better, I'd think this guy was gay.
As he got closer, he also stuck out his hand. "Yuuya's the name, scoring chicks is the game."
I raised an eyebrow (I have the feeling that I'll be doing this a lot with him.) and shook his hand. "Rei. That's a nice job you have, Yuuya."
He smirked. "Couldn't ask for more."
Yamato snorted. "Please, Yuuya, if there's one thing you're good at, it's chasing girls. And dumping them."
Yuuya frowned at his friend and crossed his arms. "Dude, you don't know the first thing about being a player. One of the most important rules is to never be stuck with the same girl for one week - tops."
I smirked. "There are girls, Yuuya, not clothes."
He gave me a smirk of his own. "And don't I know it."
While the three of us continued talking, Mr. Creepy and Bony Man had gone out and has come back with all my bags.
"Prince Rei?"
I turned around. "Yes?"
He gestured at the suitcases and boxes. "I assume these are all your things?"
I counted - 4 roller bags, 3 trunks, and about 10 boxes. Yup, that's half of it. "Yes, thank for bringing it up here."
He bowed (Argh!) and walked out of the room, closing the door silently behind him.
Yamato let out a long whistle. "Are these all YOURS, man?"
I laughed. "What can I say? I have two overprotective sisters, and one maniac mother. Of COURSE I have to bring the whole castle."
Yuuya, whose face brightened up at the word "sisters", asked, "Are they available?"
I glared at him. He raised his hands. "Whoa, down there, Sparky. Just kidding. Wouldn't want my head cut off now."
"You wouldn't be able to handle them anyway." I pointed at the door in the middle. "Is that my room?"
Yamato nodded. "Yep. You get a closet, bed, desk, and other room things. We three share a bathroom, which is over there-" He pointed at a door at the right end of the room "-and that door opens to the balcony." The door was in between my room and I think, Yamato's.
"Balcony?"
"Just in case you want to escape, or in Yuuya's case, watch the pretty girls in skimpy bathing suits swim in the lake."
"So..." Yuuya grinned at me. "Shall we unpack?"
When I get home, I will KILL Cleo and Meg.
Since I did refused to pack my clothes (How many times must I tell you people that I do NOT want to be HERE!), my sisters did it for me.
I didn't even know I had that neon pink and neon orange shirt.
So, after three hours, 34 minutes and 19.5 seconds, Yamato and I were finally able to fit all my clothes in my closet, put all my books in the book case, and other stuff in the desk and in the small cabinet at the foot of the bed. Bloody miracle, I tell ya, considering how Yuuya kept rifling through my stuff. Remind me to kill him later.
I haven't described our room, have I?
It's this HUGE octagonal room, with couches and chairs in the middle, and a TV (not flat screen, but hey! It's got cable!). There's also this HUGE fireplace at one end, just in case the power goes out. Desks at another end, with computers and study stuff. Like Yuuya's ACTUALLY gonna use them.
My beloved stereo is against another wall, which is now stocked with my punk CD's and Yuuya's R&B CD's. Yamato's guitar is right next to it. Yamato's pretty good at playing it, too.
And as much as I REGRET saying this - Yuuya is ACTUALLY a good singer.
Can I go die now?
I have the room in the middle, with Yuuya on my right and Yamato on my left. This puts me in a REALLY tight spot. If Yamato decides to play the guitar FULL blast, I'm dead. If Yuuya brings a girl over, (he's already got ten numbers written down somewhere), I'm dead. If they BOTH do that at the same time, I...might probably kill myself.
Maybe it's not too late to learn how to play the bagpipes?
Or...
Maybe I could get a girl.
You didn't hear that.
I think I hear Yamato calling.
Yuuya draped his legs on the coffee table as he started flipping channels. "Disney? No. Nickelodeon? Not SpongeBob. MTV? Bloody classics. NGC? Get out! Get out! ETC? Effing Elimidate. They'll regret the day they didn't let me join. That Joanna babe would've pick me hands down. AXN? CSI - I'm not in the mood to throw up right now. Chinese, Chinese, Chinese - Ah, good old ESPN."
I came out, wearing my black boxers and plain blue shirt. "Watcha watching, Yuuya?"
"NBA Finals last year - Lakers virus Pistons."
I took a seat on the couch opposite him. "Which game is it?"
"Game One."
"Pistons or Lakers."
"Lakers. Damn you, Dektrait!" The blonde shook his fist at the TV.
Yamato came out of the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around his waist. "Oh, what the TV do now, Yuuya?"
"Damn basketball game."
I caught his gaze, and we both rolled our eyes.
Yuuya saw us and exclaimed, "Hey! What was that!"
I answered, "Nothing, dude. Just wanted to stretch our eyes." Yamato winked at me, and went inside his room.
"Whatever, Rei. Hey, you never told us where you're from."
I looked away. "Raegaia."
"Oh, yeah? What orblis?"
It took me a while to answer that question. "Venisha."
Yuuya took a deep breath. "Wait, if you're from Venisha, that means-" His eyes widened. "You're the fucking PRINCE!"
I raised my eyebrow (Twice and counting.) "Got a problem with that?"
His jaw dropped so low it could clean the carpet already. "Dude! You've got to be, like, the MOST POWERFUL kid here! I mean, when you said that you would execute me when I almost dropped your stereo - you could really do that!"
I sighed. "That doesn't mean I'd really DO it, Yuuya."
"That's not the point, man! What the hell are you doing HERE!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up, Yuuya. Did I just hear that Rei is the CROWN PRINCE!" Yamato has apparently bionic hearing.
Yuuya nodded. Yamato laughed. "This is WICKED! Hey, man-" He turned to me. "Is it true? Does the Royal Palace ACTUALLY have twenty pantries?"
I leaned back, and crossed my arms. Hoo, boy. "Actually, it's thirty."
The two Y's (my new name for them) exclaimed, "COOOL!" They sounded like two ten-year-olds that have been given a lifetime passport to DisneyPlanet.
"Is it true that there's like, lots of babes there?"
"Is it true that the palace has FOUR huge wings?"
"I heard that girls there walk around naked! ALL THE TIME!"
"I heard that there's this AWESOME place in the back where you can use all this cool stuff, like hoverboards and gravity boots!"
"Do you think that those girls have phone numbers?"
"Do you think they'd let me in that place?"
Both of them stopped their yammering (Hmm...how about the yammering Y's?) and looked at me expectantly.
"What!" I said.
They rolled their eyes (HEY! That's MY job!) and Yamato asked, in this oddly patient voice that reminded me of Cleo, whenever she would tell me that I should never, ever set the palace on fire, "Is it true, then?"
"What is?" Told ya I was stubborn.
"ALL OF IT! The babes, the beaches, the food - talk to us, man!" It was then that I was first subjected to the power of Yuuya's UltraPowerful Puppy Dog Eyes.
Damn those eyes.
I let out a sigh of defeat. "Okay, first of all, no, Yuuya, girls do NOT walk around naked." The glimmer in his eyes seemed to fade a bit. "But - " I continued. "With the clothes they wear, or lack thereof, they're pretty much good as naked."
"YYYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS! SCORE!"
"And, Yamato, we don't have that place thingy, though when I get back, I'll tell my mother to put up one. But we do have a HUGE backyard."
As I left the two of them with their childhood dreams of babes and toys, I was about to get up when Yamato asked me another question.
"Rei, why are you here?"
Ah, the million dollar question.
Both of them looked at me expectantly.
I smirked. "Okay, what's with the third degree?"
Yuuya held his hands up. "Nothing, man! We just wanted to know. It's not everyday the CROWN PRINCE of RAEGAIA goes to Iverness. You're an HONEST-TO-GOD FRICKIN' ROYAL!"
My eyebrow is getting REALLY tired, right now.
"So? What if my parents just wanted to send me to Iverness?"
Yamato snorted. "Rei, if there's one thing about royals, they don't GO to Iverness. They don't need it."
I groaned. "Aw great. Can I get anymore pathetic? I mean, first, everybody I KNOW is getting married. My best friends, Cleo, and Meg's not so far behind! And then my PARENTS tell me to go to this school which is actually disguised as a frickin' MATCHMAKING CAPITAL, and guess what? I'm not even supposed to be here!" I'm not mad. Just frustrated.
"Remind me to NEVER make you mad." Yuuya said.
"It wouldn't make any difference."
Yamato frowned. "Okay, let me get this straight - your PARENTS wanted YOU to come HERE?" I nodded. "Dude, are they THAT desperate to get you married?"
I buried my head in my hands. "Oh, gods, please no!"
"Hey! Look at the bright side, Rei! You get to meet girls!" Eeenk, wrong, Yuuya.
"Rei, have you EVER had a girlfriend before? Wait, how old are you, sixteen?"
"Yeah, I'm sixteen, and no, no girlfriend."
Yuuya let out a deep sigh. "You poor unfortunate soul."
Yamato gave him a Look. "Dude, just because we don't have girlfriends, doesn't mean we're losers."
I looked at Yamato. "Wait, you don't have girlfriend?" He blushed and nodded. "I guess that makes two of us then." He smiled.
Now it's my turn. "Where are you guys from?"
"Asuo Yuuya, heir to Duke of Westlake!" He stood up, and bowed eerily like Mr. Bony Man.
There's only so much bowing I can take in one day. I made a move to hit him on the head, but Yamato got to him instead.
The brown-haired guy gave Yuuya a hard bonk on the head. "Don't mind him, Rei."
"Way ahead of you, Yamato. What's your story?"
"Heir to the Count of Edessa, which is right next door to Westlake."
"You guys already knew each other?"
He shook his head. "We only were ever together when our dads would host a ball or something. Personally, I only knew him as the playboy son of the Duke who once hit on the Crown Princess when she visited.
I saw red.
"THAT WAS YOU!" I rounded on Yuuya.
In an awesome display of agility, he jumped over the couch, and ran to the opposite end of the room. "Is it too late to say, 'forgive me'?"
With smoke literally coming out of my ears, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "CLEO WAS ONLY TRYING TO BE FRIENDS WITH YOU! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS SHAKE HER HAND! BUT, NOOOOOOO! YOU HAD TO GO GRAB HER ASS AND RAISE HER SKIRT! WHY I OUGHTA-"
Yamato grabbed my arm. "Rei, calm down! Easy there, buddy!"
The smoke lessened a little.
"That effing excuse for a gentleman groped my SISTER!" I pointed at the cowering pile of blonde goo that used to be Yuuya.
The goo spoke. "That's my problem, man! I love girls!"
"LOVING THEM DOES NOT NECESSARILY EQUATE TO HITTING ON THEM!" I bellowed.
Yuuya stood up. "I know, I know. But, I can't help it! When I see a pretty girl, she likes me, BAM! I just do things I have no control over! It just happens! I kiss one; I feel up another, I make out with the next girl who wears a mini-skirt! I don't know what to do!" He ran his hand through his hair angrily, making it stand on end.
I cooled down a bit. That seemed a bit more reasonable. "I forgive you, Yuuya."
He smiled. "Thanks, man. Though, I gotta say, your sister is one fine piece of feminine specimen."
"That's my SISTER, dude." I gave him a Death-Glare to emphasize my point.
"Hey, if it helps, she ALMOST ruined my chances of ever having a family." He shuddered.
"Remind me to thank...Wait, did you hit on the brunette, or the orange-head?"
"Brunette. One HOT mama."
"Want me to make you REALLY lose all your chance of ever having family?"
Yuuya took a step backward. "Point taken, Rei. Okay, so you're anti-social and I'm too social -" He turned to Yamato. "What's your problem?"
Yamato shrugged. "Nothing. My parents just wanted me to come here."
I rolled my eyes. (Boy, that feels good!) "Now, that's just B.S., Yamato. You're stuck with US. You've definitely GOT a problem."
He sat down, and ran a hand through his hair. Looking away, he answered. "I can't talk to girls."
"Whaddya mean, you can't TALK to girls? It's the same talking to boys, except you have to make sure you don't say boobs or pe-"
I threw a pillow at him. "Keep that horrible excuse for a mouth closed, and let the man talk."
"I mean, yeah, Yuuya's got a point, it's the same as talking to guys, but with me...I just can't talk. When the girl talks to me, my mind goes BLANK. Nothing. Just cree, cree, cree, cree...Damn, I hate those crickets."
Hey, even I, Mr. Loner, can talk to girls. This guy has it BAD. "So, what do you do, Yamato?"
"Blush. Freeze up. Look away. Shuffle my feet. Talk incoherently. I eventually run away. And that's when I'm calm. It's a WHOLE different story if I'm panicking."
This time Yuuya spoke up. Hmm, it seems I didn't shove the pillow as far down his throat as I thought I did. "Is this applicable to ALL girls?"
Yamato smiled, and then blushed. "Weeee-eell..."
Yuuya and I looked at each other, and looked hopefully back at Yamato. No effing way...
"She's my best friend."
We both collapsed on the floor.
"Of all the rotten evil luck in the world-"
"Honestly, I don't know who's the worst among us-"
Yamato laughed. "You both will be pleased to know that she is HERE, in Inverness."
"WHAT!" Yuuya and I exclaimed. "Then what the hell are you doing here with us? Shouldn't you be out there in the lake making out with her?" The blonde said.
I raised my eyebrow. I should really STOP doing that. Not.
"Are making out with girls all you ever REALLY think about, Yuuya?"
He made a show of thinking really hard, and winked. "Yeah, pretty much."
I let out an exasperated sigh, and sat back on the couch. "Okay, here's the deal. Yuuya, you're too social. You go for anything within a five meter radius that has breasts and talks. Yamato, you freak out with EVERY SINGLE girl, EXCEPT your best friend, who also HAPPENS to be conveniently here in Iverness, the Hormone Capital of the universe. As for me, I'm cold, indifferent, and incapable of feeling."
Yuuya turned to me. "Aw, you're not like that Rei."
"Tell that to the three girls I fought with this morning."
"What? It's your first day here, and ALREADY you have the reputation of picking a fight with three defenseless, innocent-"
"I wouldn't call them innocent, Yuuya. Trust me, they were anything BUT."
His face lit up. "Ooooh...Tell me-"
"Nope, no numbers. Scared them away before I had the chance too."
"You sick man."
"Best compliment I've heard all day."
We grinned at each other. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all.
As if on cue, all three of us let out a huge yawn. We burst out laughing. Gods, it felt GREAT to laugh.
Yamato checked his watch. "Holy, it's 10:30! Men, we've gotta go to sleep!"
I asked, "Why?"
"Orientation at 9:30 tomorrow."
"Eh?"
"We meet all the other students."
"Ah, yes..." Yuuya rubbed his hands, a devilish glint in his eye. "First pick of the new semester. It's hunting season, guys!"
I stood up and stretched, and headed for my bedroom. Yamato and Yuuya did the same thing.
We stood in front of our doors, looking at each other.
Yuuya grinned. "Sweet dreams?"
Yamato answered. "Sleep tight?"
I finished. "Don't let the evil girls bite."
Of course, Yuuya had to answer. "Oh, bite me! Bite me!"
And with a slam, we all went inside our rooms.
I trudged to my bed, and let out a yawn that threatened to split my head open. It must be really that late. I flopped on the bed, which is HUGE and fluffy. (just the way I like it - it reminds of my own bed back home) I lie there, thinking about all the things that happened today.
Well, so much for my first day in Inverness.
It's not so bad as I thought at first.
Things are really different when you have friends.
PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ!
AUTHOR'S NOTE :
WE LIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEE!
Yes, I know.
First off, I want to APOLOGIZE for not updating. The past year…was just HORRIBLE. Activity, after activity, after project, after project…And maybe a side trip to hell or two.
See, third year high school lamang po ako, and third year in our school DEMANDS that we have to produce three damn plays, organize the damn JS Prom, put up with not one, not two, but FOUR Math subjects (which are Chemistry, Trigonometry, Statistics, and Entrepreneurship. Just saying is makes me tired.) Adding all that up, plus your usual projects, papers, and tests, there's just simply NO time to write.
I'm really sorry I put all that off. I know, I feel horrible. I know how it feels to wait for a story to be updated. Grrrr…I don't blame you guys if you want to hunt me down, torches and pitchforks and all. I just wanted to explain WHY it took me so DAMN long to write. Try being in all three plays, PLUS the director of one, and MANAGING your adorable but VERY PATIENCE-STRAINING classmates. Unforgettable, but NEVER AGAIN!
So now, Cammie and I are fourth year (Feel so old. GURANG!) and the work load has seemingly lightened, so I can assure you guys that I WILL be able to update on a SEMI-regular basis. Hehehe…
Thanks for sticking to Change in the Wind! I hope it will not disappoint!
I LOVE YOU GUYS! blows kisses and hands out cyber-cookies
Publisher's Notes:
Finally this story has been updated... Sorry took so long... Well Meg, the author, already explained why...
(scrolls up) Hmmm... So Meg said she'd update on a SEMI-regular basis... Hmmm... Wonder if this is possible... Haha... Maybe semi-basis means once a year... Haha... Am Joking! --
Please don't get too impatient with us... It's already too hard having journalism training, along with College Entrance Exam training over the summer, plus Southville Brain Olympiad training- which means classes during the Saturdays of May, plus tons of articles to pass, plus trying to have get-togethers with our friends... We barely have time to write... Plus we also have our own private stories that we are currently writing...
But of course, we might update sooner if we get a lot, and I mean a LOT of REVIEWS... See when I told Meg that we've been receiving reviews - even though the story has been on hold for almost a year - she finally started writing this chapter... So REVIEW if you want us to update sooner...
Hope you've enjoyed! Please REVIEW... Thanks! Luv ya all!
NEXT CHAPTER :
FIRST DAY FUNK! What happens when our three "heroes" come into contact with the girly kind? Namely three best friends named…
