Stage 7: Stalker
Zelda stared blankly at her schedule.
Not complicated? Her inner self wailed. I'm going to kill him!
She sighed, and dutifully set to copying down her schedule for Link, all the while grimacing. Once she had finished, she leaned back, satisfied. In her neat handwriting, she had copied down her schedule onto loose leaf paper, her first sheet to be used for the year.. She picked it up and read over it, brows furrowing. Once she had assured herself that it was perfect, she folded the paper up neatly and slipped it into her pocket.
At least I have my schedule memorized now, she thought to herself. Day A was math, Team Sports, English, and French, and Day B was art, history, science, and computer science.
"Easy enough," she mumbled to herself then looked over her locker slip again, committing the number and the combination to memory. She looked back up at her wheezy homeroom teacher, an aged man by the name of Rauru Lux, then abruptly stood as the bell rang.
"Be sure to get those papers all signed," he called over the hubbub as students stood and made their way out the door, many yawning and looking miserable. Zelda followed her classmates out into the hallway and stopped at a large window looking out into the courtyard, everything smaller than it had been that morning to her eyes, which were three floors up. Zelda turned around and leaned back against the window, waiting for Link. He'd told her to stand by the window and that he would come and find her there, but his homeroom was further down the hall and Zelda settled herself down for a few minutes of waiting.
"Zel!" Zelda turned and her ears perked up as she saw a redhead pushing through the crowd of students in the hall to get to her, beaming. She was holding a slip of loose-leaf paper folded into the shape of a crane, and Zelda inwardly had to admire her friend's origami skills.
"For you," Malon said with a grin, presenting Zelda with the crane. "It's a note. Homeroom is always so boring. You waiting for anybody?"
"Yeah," Zelda replied. "Link. He's supposed to show me to my first class."
"Let me see your schedule." Malon held out a hand and Zelda dug into one of the pockets in her jeans and pulled out the folded white slip of paper her schedule had been printed on.
"It looks like we're in math and history together," Malon commented, comparing her schedule with Zelda's. "You're in French?"
"Yeah."
"How romantic. Link'll like that." Malon winked and Zelda found herself blushing.
"Right. Whatever." Zelda looked away, watching the many students passing them by.
"Aw, okay. I'll lay off. We should be seeing one another in the hall quite a bit between classes, too, so that'll be great for note passing. You haven't met Lulu yet, have you?"
"Mm-m." Zelda shook her head, still scanning the crowd for Link.
"You'll like her. Maybe we're lucky and she's in a class with us. She's Mikau's girl – really cool. She went to Cancun for a while, which is why you haven't met her yet, I think."
"Hn."
"Oh, Zelda, you can stop looking around for Link," Malon chastised. "He'll take a while getting here. Don't worry. So, anyway, are you going to eat lunch with us?"
"Maybe," Zelda said, swiveling her head around to face Malon. "Probably. I don't know. It depends."
"On Link?" Malon nudged Zelda in the ribs, and then laughed. "No offense if you choose to eat with them, but it would be awesome if you ate with me and Mikau and Lulu and Darm."
"True. And Link has so many other friends…"
"Exactly," said Malon emphatically, nodding. "Look, there's loverboy."
"I don't like him like that," Zelda said to Malon with a sigh.
"Like who?" Link appeared next to Zelda's side, breathing hard and looking over his shoulder like a panicked deer.
"Nobody. What happened to you?"
"Ruto." Malon let out a high pitched giggle and Link winced, hiding behind Zelda.
"What's this?" Zelda asked. "Ruto? Who is that?"
"Lulu's little sister," clarified Malon.
"She's obsessed with me," Link whimpered. Zelda rolled her eyes and sighed, stepping away from Link and reaching into her pocket for the copy of her schedule that she had written for him.
"There," she said. "And Malon's in my math class, so I should be good."
"My first class is near there. I'll walk with you. And… um… can I ask you a favor, Zelda?"
"If you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend to scare Ruto off you, therefore putting me at the brunt of her fury, then, no."
"Damn." Link snapped his fingers dejectedly and walked a little ahead of the two young women, and Malon leaned into Zelda.
"Not like that, huh?"
"Shut up."
Link whirled around. "Secrets secrets are no fun! They should be told to everyone!" he sing-songed, causing Malon to smack him rather roughly in the face.
"Keep walking, punk."
"Yes ma'am."
"So, why's this Ruto so obsessed with you, Link?"
"Beats the hell out of me," he replied, slowing his pace to walk on Zelda's other side.
"I know why," Malon chirped up.
"Enlighten us," Link responded dryly, moving to stand behind the two young women as they descended a stairwell.
"Back when you and Lulu and I were in seventh grade and Ruto was in sixth, she dropped her books on the stairs. You stopped to help her pick them up and she was smitten with you after that, saying that you had marked yourself as her true love when you stopped to help her."
"If I'd known that at the time," Link fumed, "then I would have kicked her books down an extra few stairs."
"But you didn't," emphasized Malon. "So she thinks you're in love with her."
"She's got a twisted sense of love," Zelda remarked, following Malon as she turned out of the stairwell at the first floor and down a hallway, out a door and under a covered walkway. "And three years? That's an awful long time to chase someone over a few books."
"Ruto's a bit spoiled," Malon commented. "Most men won't have anything to do with her."
"Does that mean Lulu's spoiled, too?" Zelda asked, batting at Link's hand as he absentmindedly plucked at a few strands of hair hanging from her ponytail.
"Nah. Lulu and Ruto are like day and night. They're totally different from one another. Lulu's sweet, and Ruto…"
"Hide me!" Link dodged behind Zelda, cowering in the shadow of her cherry red Prada backpack.
"Why?" Zelda asked. Malon sighed and stood next to Zelda, blocking Link from view as a pretty girl with a perfect tan and hair so black it seemed blue pranced by in designer greens and blues.
"Funny," she said to herself in an obnoxious, high-pitched voice, looking around with a clueless expression upon her face. "I could have sworn I just saw him. Hm, oh well." She flounced on past and pushed through two double doors into another building. Link stepped out from behind the two young women, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Whew," he said. "Thank you so much. You saved me."
"You owe us both a Coke," Malon told him, and grabbed Zelda by the arm. "Come on. This is the math wing."
"Wait for me," Link stuttered, stumbling after the blond and the redhead. "I have math first block too, you know."
"Pity you," sighed Malon, and Zelda giggled; however, she slowed her pace so that Link might catch up with them.
"You women are so cruel." He shook his head and began to ascend a staircase. "I'm fourth floor. What about you two?"
"Second." Zelda shrugged one shoulder and followed Link onto the staircase.
"If you wait by the stairs, I can show you how to get to the gym from here," Link offered.
"That's good," Malon said with a grin, "because my next class is in the opposite direction. Someone needs to take care of Zelda."
"I can take care of myself," Zelda muttered, though in secret, she was pleased that she would get a little time with Link without Malon's cheerfully smothering presence looming about them both. "But it would be nice if you can show me to the gym."
"Sure thing. Heh, you have Nabooru for gym. You'll have fun."
"Nabooru? It says Geru here…"
"She makes her students call her by her first name. She's cool but tough," Malon clarified. "You'll like her. This is our stop."
"Bye, Link." Zelda allowed Malon to pull her off the staircase and down the hall, crashing into Malon when the redhead abruptly stopped and whirled around.
"I'm getting vibes between you two," Malon said, shaking her head and smiling. "I don't think you're all that you don't think you are."
"Let's just get to class."
"Sensitive subject?" Malon danced out of reach of Zelda's swat as they entered the classroom, and Zelda stuck her tongue out.
"There's about as many vibes between me and Link as you and Ruto."
"Ewww, you little skank!" Malon cringed and shuddered, making a displeased noise.
"What's this I hear about Malon having the hots for my little sister?"
"Lulu, you know my boat does not float that way," Malon wailed with a shudder, causing a few stares. She narrowed her eyes and cleared her throat. "Go back to what you were doing, all of you." There was a murmur and a shifting of papers, and the few people in the classroom turned back to whatever it was they had been doing before.
"Hi," said the young woman who had spoken: she was almost an exact image of Ruto, though her features were pretty and kind, whereas Ruto's had possessed a certain look of snobbish disdain about them. She smiled at Zelda, and the young blond acutely noted that she had eyes the color that Zelda had never seen before, like a tropic sea. "I'm Lulu." She extended a hand complete with five perfectly manicured nails, and Zelda took it.
"Zelda." They shook hands and Lulu stepped back, studying Zelda. She then turned to Malon.
"You're right. She is very pretty. Lucky we all have this class together."
"Yep."
"Let's claim our seats," Lulu suggested, brushing off her pleated denim skirt. "Come on."
"What other classes do you have today, Lu?" Malon asked, following the striking young woman across the room with Zelda in tow.
"I'm not sure." Lulu tossed a perfect, gleaming strand over her shoulder and seated herself daintily in her desk. Malon sat down next to her, and Zelda behind Malon.
"Well, let's each copy our schedule twice," Malon said. "So we can all have one another's schedules."
"I heard you went to Cancun," Zelda said to Lulu. "How was it?"
"It was fun," said Lulu with a shrug. "It would have been better, though, if Ruto hadn't hit on every pair of swimming trunks that came our way. Honestly, that girl. She's impossible."
"She still has that obsession with Link, I see," Malon commented. Lulu sighed and shook her head.
"Unfortunately, yes. It's disgusting. I tried explaining to her that Link isn't the one for her, but…" Lulu trailed off and combed a few blue-black strands away from her face. "Well, you know."
"We saw," said Zelda with a wry grin.
"Link belongs to Zelda here now."
"He does not," Zelda squawked, pulling the paper crane out of her pocket. "He's my friend."
"Friend with benefits." Malon winked, and Lulu giggled.
"We're not like that," Zelda replied blandly, unfolding the crane. Just then, the teacher walked into the room and Zelda dropped the crane into her lap.
"Hello, class," chirped the teacher, a large, red-nosed man in a green – green? – suit. "I'm Mr. Tingle, your teacher for first period Pre-cal. Today, we will be going to the library to receive our textbooks, which will take up most of class. However, when we get back, you will each receive several handouts, as well as an introduction to Pre-cal worksheet. Before we go to the library – do any of you in here not have student I.D.'s?"
About three people, along with Zelda, raised their hands. Mr. Tingle nodded, and smiled lightly.
"I suspected so. You four, come to the front. I'll write you a pass to the I.D. room. The rest of you, bring your I.D.'s but leave everything else here. Come on, now, let's go."
Zelda stood and crammed the paper crane into her pocket. Malon's note would have to wait.
----
The library was its own building on the east side of campus – one floor, thousands and thousands of books. Zelda found herself standing at the back of the long, long textbook line with Malon and Lulu, who had been kind enough to wait for her, peering edgily over all the heads in front of her leading to the checkout desk, where they had ever-so-wisely set up one computer to input at least four hundred textbooks.
"Come on, Zel," Malon encouraged. "Let's have a look at the ID."
"No way." Zelda shook her head firmly, crossing her arms. "You are not seeing my ID."
"Come on, Zel," stated Lulu. "You've seen ours."
"Which are fifty times better than mine. Lulu, you look like a model in yours, and Malon… well, it's better than mine anyway."
"Are you saying I don't look like a model in mine?" Malon asked, affronted, causing Lulu to giggle into her palm.
"No, well, yes, well…"
Malon grinned. "Ah, no offense taken. Lulu's always devastatingly beautiful, no?"
"Hey." Lulu blushed, looking away. "I am not."
"Oh, you are so, chickie, and if you deny it one more time I'mma smack you."
Zelda sighed as they took a few steps forward, peering over the heads of the many students in front of her.
"Why is this taking so long?" she finally asked.
"Because every first block class is in here getting their textbooks, and we just so happen to be at the back of the line. Just relax, girl. We've got a while to wait." Malon brushed a strand of gleaming cherry hair over her shoulder and leaned against the wall behind them with a sigh.
"I hate waiting," mumbled Zelda.
"Let's have a look at that I.D." Lulu grinned and lunged at Zelda, who leapt nimbly out of the way.
"No," Zelda replied firmly.
"Have it over," wheedled Malon. "Come on now. Please?"
"No."
"Pleeease?"
"No."
Lulu leaned calmly against the wall, twirling a shining blue-black strand of hair around her finger and chewing her gum as she watched the two. Grinning, she spoke up. "I'll tell Link you have the hots for him."
"I do NOT," replied Zelda, going red to the tips of her ears.
"You know, Zel," Malon said simply, snatching the I.D. away from Zelda as she stuttered in horror, "you really need to chill sometimes. Hn, this isn't so bad."
Zelda muttered something incoherently under her breath, glaring at Malon as she passed the I.D. to Lulu, who glanced down at it with a smile.
"You look cute," she said simply, tugging lightly at the shell choker she wore around her neck.
"For a retard, yeah. Are you done with that yet?"
"Yep," replied Malon, handing Zelda the I.D.
"Miss," one of the teachers patrolling the line eyes Lulu up and down with contempt, "I'm afraid you're not allowed to have hair dyed colors not found in nature."
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Sakon." Lulu batted her eyes and smiled at the skinny, pasty man. "But this is natural, you see. Mother's genes. I don't know if you know my little sister Ruto- her hair is almost exactly the same color. We're the children of mutants, I'm afraid." Lulu put on a dramatic sigh and Mr. Sakon sneered, but didn't press the matter and went to go pester some students about eating in the library. Lulu blew a bubble with her gum at his back and popped it deftly, continuing to chew on her beloved Juicy Fruit.
"I suspect that won't be the first time this year you get that," snickered Malon. Lulu sighed and shook her head, her perfect strands streaming around her like those in an Herbal Essences commercial.
"Honestly," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I get it every year. The system hates me."
"But your hair doesn't look fake," replied Zelda, poking the glossy strands."
"Tell that to them," Lulu sighed, and they moved up another inch. Zelda peered over the line of heads in front of her and sighed, shaking her head.
It would be a long wait.
----
A whopping forty two minutes and eighteen seconds later found Zelda throwing her worksheets and paperwork into her binder, joining in on Lulu and Malon's mindless banter.
"So I told him that I have a boyfriend, and he asked why it wasn't him." Malon laughed, covering her face. "And I told him that it's because he's an ass."
"Bet he didn't like that." Lulu smiled, shaking her head. "Honestly, Mal. Sometimes you're mean."
"Well what was I supposed to do?" she wailed. "The man was hitting on me left and right."
"And he was twice your age, wasn't he?" Zelda asked, leaning over Malon's shoulder. The redhead nodded, shuddering.
"Eeeew," chorused Lulu and Zelda together. Just then, the bell rang, and the three young women stood, hoisting their backpacks onto their backs, and made their way out of the math room, still talking.
"I'll see you guys later," Zelda called to them as they set off down the hall in the direction of the science wing. Lulu turned around and waved, and Malon flashed Zelda the thumbs up before turning to Lulu and saying something else. Zelda smiled and shook her head, and stood by the entrance to the staircase. Sure enough, she hadn't been waiting thirty seconds before Link appeared, rolling his eyes.
"The woman's a witch!" he spat, grabbing Zelda's elbow and dragging her down the next flight of stairs.
"Who?" asked Zelda, confused.
"My math teacher, Ms. Koutake." Link grimaced, and slowed down slightly to allow Zelda to match her pace to his. "She assigned us fifty problems homework. Honestly!"
"Aren't you only in Algebra II?"
"Doesn't matter to the witch." Link made a face and stopped at the bottom of the stairwell, causing Zelda to bump roughly into him.
"Now what?" Zelda asked, peering over his shoulder.
"Ruto," Link hissed.
"Not again…" Zelda rolled her eyes and stepped around Link, dragging him down the hallway in the opposite direction of Ruto.
"She's going to see me!" Link whimpered at being so blatantly visible near her. "What are you doing? You're going to wreck five years of strategic avoidance!"
"She's not going to see you," Zelda replied, dragging Link out the door. "She was looking in the other direction. Now where's the gym?"
"I can't take you to it," Link said, "because I have English next and my class is all the way across campus, but…" Link pulled Zelda around one corner of the math/science building and pointed.
"The building right in front of us is the cafeteria. You can see the tables."
"…yeah…" said Zelda, nodding as she looked.
"Cafeteria's left." Link pointed at another box-shaped building similar to the cafeteria. "That's the gym. Just go inside through those doors we were looking at this morning and I'm sure you'll find your class."
"'Kay," said Zelda. "Thanks, Link. Really."
Link grinned. "No problem. And you have…" he referred to the sheet of paper in his pocket, "English next?"
"Right," said Zelda with a nod. Link turned around and pointed at a building across the campus.
"That's the English wing right over there. See it? Next to that clump of trees?"
Zelda nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Link. I'll see you at lunch?"
"Sure. Gotta run. Bye, Zel."
"Bye, Link," Zelda replied, watching him set off across the campus at a less than leisurely pace, then turned around, smiling, and set off for the gym.
Zelda pushed open one of the gym doors that was plastered with student's names in alphabetical order and their homeroom number, and found herself in an obviously new gym. There were many students milling around the vicinity, and for a moment, Zelda panicked, until she saw a woman in baggy navy sweat pants and a form-fitting gray sports jersey. She had long red hair drawn up into a ponytail, and despite her pointed features, Zelda noted that she was surprisingly pretty.
"Team sports over here," the woman yelled above the hubbub, her voice slicing easily through the noise generated by the students. Zelda immediately made her way over to where the young woman stood, fidgeting slightly nervously with the straps on her Prada backpack. Almost as though she had picked up on Zelda's nervousness, the teacher's amber eyed gaze fell upon the young woman, and her plush, pink lips curved upward in an encouraging smile.
"What's your name, girl?" she asked.
"Zelda Harkinian."
"Are you new?"
"Yes," Zelda replied, wondering where this was going.
The coach nodded. "Good. It's always good to expand your horizons. Go ahead and have a seat on the bleachers up there, Zelda. And know that you can come to me for anything, okay?"
"Okay." Zelda turned, her mind whirring in too many confused directions at once, and made her way halfway up the bleachers. She plopped roughly down and looked around the gym, watching as other students made their way up the bleachers in various places. After a while, everybody had taken a seat, and the hubbub in the gym had died down.
"This is Team Sports," the young woman called up the bleachers she was standing in front of. "If you're in Varsity track, freshman football or 1-A women's softball, go to your respective coaches. Nobody? Good." Some of the coaches across the gym began to talk to their classes, and Zelda's coach did the same.
"I am Coach Geru," she called up the bleachers. "You may call me Miss Geru, Coach, Coach Geru, or even Nabooru if it so suits your fancy, which I prefer.
"You are not here to have an easy hour long class. You are here to push yourselves. You are here to grow as people and build physical skills that modern culture sorely lacks. But most of all, you are here to have fun.
"As this week is the first week of school, we are not going to be dressing out. However, next week, come prepared. I expect each and every one of you to have your gym clothes with you, as well as a pair of tennis shoes and socks. Shirts will be worn tucked in, and for those of you with long hair, you are to put it up. If you do not yet have your gym clothes, I suggest you go out and get them. Don't know where to get them or what to get, come see me. Next block, we will be getting our lockers, but for today, I will give you a free period. Any questions?"
There was a general murmur, and Nabooru looked around. Satisfied to see the other coaches were wrapping up their speeches, she nodded.
"Very well then. You may converse and congregate, but keep your voices down. And please, no climbing on the basketball hoops. I don't want a repeat of last year and Mido Kokiri." Several students chuckled, and Zelda looked around, wondering what had happened to this Mido Kokiri. She made a mental note to ask Link during lunch. Seeing the students around her standing up and moving around, Zelda did so as well, making her way down the bleachers to Nabooru.
"Um, excuse me, Miss Geru," chirped Zelda once she'd reached the bottom.
"Feel free to call me by my first name if you would like," Nabooru stated wryly.
"Nabooru, then," corrected Zelda. "I don't know where to get my things, or what I need to get…"
Nabooru nodded. "Ah. That would be a problem. I don't suppose you're an exchange student, by any chance?"
"I guess you could put it that way," Zelda mumbled, shrugging.
"Does your family have any students here?" Nabooru continued.
"Yeah. A boy my age. Link Tudor?"
"Ah, Link." Nabooro smiled, looking back into the past. "He's a fun kid. If you'd like, I'll give Impa a call and let her know so you don't have the stressful task of remembering. Would that be okay?"
"That would be great. Thanks, Mi… Nabooru."
"Don't mention it." Nabooru smiled, and patted Zelda's shoulder. "Like I said. Any thing I can do to help."
Zelda nodded and smiled, then turned and made her way up to the top of the bleachers, where she pulled the paper crane out of her lap and unfolded it. Malon had written the note in sparkly orange gelly ink – typical, Zelda thought to herself as her eyes began to graze over the redhead's big bubble letters.
Hey Zel-
I'm n homeroom right now & it is SO BORING. I can't believe they force us 2 attend this every day of every school year, but I suppose that they are not inclined 2 ever give us a break from school. Can u believe all the paperwork they're making us take home? Arg, my mom is going 2 flip out. I'm all tired & stuff, & I wish we didn't have 2 come back 2 school so soon, but like I said, they are not inclined 2 ever give us a break. Well, I mean, they do, just they never give us a decent break, lol.
N e way, just wondering what's up. One of ur man's friends is n this homeroom – Sheep. He's weird, don't u think? He's playing tic-tac-toe with this one guy that absolutely everybody knows. His name is Khail, and he keeps asking Sheep about u. I think he might like u, but Sheep keeps saying somethin' under his breath & I can't hear what. N e way, whatever it is Sheep says shuts Khail up for a few minutes, then he starts asking again. U met Khail b4? I'd be surprised if u hadn't, because absolutely everybody knows Khail. He hangs out with the gamers but he somehow manages 2 b a stud. I'm just warning u because as nice as Khail is, don't let him make you fall n love with him. Imagine how hurt ur man would be! Lol poor Link.
Bell's about 2 ring. I'll c u l8er!
Mal