And we're halfway there! The gang's moved in, and Sissi's on a mission. I'm hoping to finish this puppy before July, let's see if we can do it, shall we?
"Good morning!" Emily chirped as her tray clattered into the space beside Jeremy. She was followed a moment later by a less than pleased looked Sissi.
"Why do we have to be up so early?" she mumbled, frowning at her eggs as she spoke.
"It's only nine thirty," William said, glancing at Emily, who shrugged. Sissi sighed dramatically.
"Don't remind me."
As Sissi wallowed over her breakfast, Timothy and Theo appeared, both wielding massive bowls of brightly colored cereal.
"Good morning," Theo started to say, though the words died in his throat as he eyed the group's seating situation. Jeremy and William had picked for themselves a round table, circled by six plastic chairs. Emily and Sissi had taken over the two chairs to Jeremy's right, while William sat to the boy's left, the chairs on his other side still vacant.
The two soccer players shared only the quickest of looks before both boys lunged for the seat beside Sissi, the dark haired girl scowling and scooting her tray closer as two overflowing bowls jostled into her personal space. Eventually, with a shout of triumph, Theo claimed the chair, leaving Timothy to gaze forlornly at the still open seat beside William.
"You're causing people to stare," Sissi hissed, as she tried to hide behind her hand. "Just sit down, would you?" Timothy fixed William with an unsure look. William smiled brightly in return. Although he looked less than convinced, Timothy lowered himself into the seat, quickly scooting it closer to his roommate, only for Theo to try and shove him back. Sissi huffed her disapproval.
"Boys."
"So," Emily said, ignoring the antics to her right in favor of the only boys at the table who were behaving themselves, "did you get the class schedule?"
"We did," Jeremy said, as William held up an envelope that had been sitting on his tray.
"Are you excited?" Emily asked, as she pulled open her own envelope.
"So excited," Theo mumbled, eyeing his schedule before tossing it aside. "Like we don't know what we're going to be taking. It's just all the classes everyone has to take in university, right?"
"It doesn't make them any less interesting," Emily told him as she dumped a folded paper onto the table. Straightening it, she ran a finger down the sheet, her expression thoughtful. "Our first class is at ten," she said, tapping the paper. "Composition."
"Sounds…hard," Timothy said, pulling a face. Theo sighed.
"I feel like I've already failed, and I haven't even stepped into a classroom yet."
Rolling her eyes, Emily returned to examining the rest of her classes.
"What classes are you looking forward to?" she asked. Jeremy assumed she was directing the question to the entire table, so he was surprised when he realized Emily was looking at him.
"Uh, I haven't looked at the schedule," he said. Immediately Emily slid hers over, so they could both look at it. She leaned over, her hair falling over her shoulder as she pointed to one of the classes. Jeremy blinked in surprise as he caught a whiff of Emily's shampoo, something sweet and floral.
"The introduction to history and culture class sounds fun," she said. Jeremy nodded mutely as he watched Emily's finger trail across the page. "Or statistics. That seems like something you'd be good at."
"Umm," Jeremy responded.
"I don't think there's anything on here Jeremy won't do well in," William said, having opened his own schedule. Emily laughed, pulling away from Jeremy as she tucked away her paper.
"Well then, I'll just have to make sure we study together." She grinned brightly at Jeremy, who tried to smile back. Judging by the look Sissi was giving him over the brunette's shoulder, he wasn't succeeding.
"You know, we should probably get going soon," William said, making a show of checking his phone for the time. "The classes start in twenty minutes, and we want to be sure we can find the classrooms. And, for those of us who actually want to be here—" he sent a withering look in the direction of the two people at the table currently spoon jousting, "we can actually get decent seats."
"Sounds like a plan," Emily chirped, neatly tucking away her things. Gathering her tray, she bounced up, her pointed look indicating she expected Sissi to do the same. As the raven haired diva huffed to her feet, Emily fixed the boys with an expectant look. William easily waved her off.
"You go on ahead," he told her. "Find us some seats. We'll make sure the idiots here don't break anything."
"Okay," Emily said, rolling her eyes at the sound of a spoon clattering to the floor. "See you guys soon!"
As the two girls vanished across the cafeteria, William turned his attention away from the two boys starting to flick cereal puffs at one another and towards his bespectacled roommate. Jeremy still looked flustered as he hastily gathered his things together.
"Wow, Jeremy," William said, raising an eyebrow as Jeremy fumbled with his fork for a moment, before seeming to realize that was one tool he wasn't going to need for class.
"What?" Jeremy asked. When he noticed William's gaze on the utensil in his hand, Jeremy quickly returned the fork to his plate.
"You've got it bad," Theo said, before ducking to avoid a corn puff. At Jeremy's baffled look, Timothy added,
"For Emily."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jeremy sighed, only to catch William looking at him, eyebrow raised. "What?"
"Nothing," he said, deciding to let the matter drop for now. After all, who was he to deny his friend his denial?
"Are we ready to go?" Jeremy asked, ruffled by his friends' prodding.
"Sure," Theo said, as he flicked a puff. It missed Timothy, bouncing off the side of William's head, who sighed. Taking that as their cue, both boys scrambled to grab their things and then bolted, a faint 'it's not my fault!' trailing after Timothy as they fled. Shaking his head, William picked up his tray in one hand, his bag in the other.
"Ready?" Jeremy asked again. William gave him a look that seemed to ask 'ready for class, or for a summer with them?' Jeremy shrugged one shoulder. William sighed.
"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
"Do we really have to carry all of this upstairs?" Ulrich asked, struggling to balance all of his bags in his arms. "Can't we just live in the living room all summer?"
"No," the girls chorused, Yumi nudging the brunet from behind when he stopped.
"Come on Ulrich," Odd cheered, "you're almost there!" With loud sounds of disgruntlement every step of the way, Ulrich finished climbing Odd's spiraling staircase, spilling out gratefully on to the second floor landing.
"Finally," he sighed, as Yumi and Aelita shoved past him, letting their bags tumble out of their arms.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Odd asked. He received three scowls in return. Ignoring them completely, he waved his arm, motioning to the hall splitting off in either direction as he said, "Now let's go find your rooms. This one's mine," he added, shoving open the door across the hall, which was covered in paint splatters and posters. His friends were able to catch a glimpse of walls covered in paintings as Odd tossed his stuff inside, and then he was directing their collective attention down the hall.
The second floor of the house was arranged in a way that it's five bedrooms and two bathrooms circled the main staircase, three of the rooms along the back side of the house and the bathrooms at either end of the hall. The two rooms facing the front of the house were built like continuations of the landing, framing an opening that overlooked the entryway below. One of the openings leading into one of these bedrooms was covered with a pair of white sheer curtains, neatly hung and tied off with simple yellow ribbon.
"This is Adele's room," Odd said, motioning Yumi through the curtained doorway. "She's all into that Feng Shui thing, so I thought you might like it."
"Thanks Odd," Yumi said, setting her bags down as she surveyed the room. It was neat and simple, all symmetry and clean lines. The bed was in the center of the back wall, done in white and pale yellow and framed by two side tables, each with a lamp, with a large floral painting hanging above. A small desk was nestled in one corner, of-set by a dresser in the other. The wall that faced the front of the house was all window, allowing a beautiful view of the beach below.
Along the side of the room that was only railing, Adele had hung more of the sheer curtains, gathered and tied with ribbon at evenly spaced intervals. As Yumi looked out across the railing, she could see Odd escorting Aelita into the room across the way.
"This is Elizabeth's room," he said, motioning broadly. "What do you think?"
"It's…different," Aelita said, glancing over to Adele's room and then back.
Unlike her sister, Elizabeth seemed to have gone for a more dramatic look, everything in her room done in shades of burgundy and purple. Her bed was a huge four-poster, hung with heavy, tasseled draperies. More wine colored drapes hung haphazardly along her open wall and over the room's large window, and all of her furniture was cluttered with all kind of pictures and personal possessions—quite a bit of which seemed to be makeup and accessories.
"She can be a bit much," Odd said as Aelita eyed the girl's vanity, whose surface was almost buried, the mirror plastered with photographs.
"I think it's wonderful," Aelita countered. Depositing her bags by the bed, she looked just about to dive into exploring all of Elizabeth's knickknacks when Ulrich's plaintive voice drew both her and Odd's attentions.
"What about me?"
"You get to sleep on the couch," Odd told him cheerfully. When Ulrich's only response was to scowl, Odd sighed. "You get Louise's room." Odd led the way across the hall and to the room adjacent to Yumi's. The door was simple wood, and covered in postcards from all around the world. "She's a bit of a traveler," Odd explained as he opened the door, motioning his friend in.
"You're kidding, right?" Ulrich asked as he stepped inside. Odd blinked his confusion as he and the girls joined the brunet.
"No," he said. "Why?"
The room was as much an expression of the girl who inhabited it as any of the others had been. Instead of Elizabeth's clutter or Adele's tidiness, this room was full of Louise's toys—a surfboard was propped in one corner, beside a bag overflowing with climbing equipment. A deconstructed tent was half stuffed behind the desk, and all manner of hiking equipment littered the floor to one side. A single dresser proudly displayed all of Louise's many souvenirs, while the wall all around was wallpapered with photos from all of the places the girl had been.
But it was none of these things that had Ulrich frowning at Odd. It was one piece of furniture in particular.
Or rather, the lack of a certain piece of furniture.
"Why don't I get a room with a bed?"
"What do you mean?" Odd asked. At Ulrich's look, he motioned to the corner of the room, where Louise's idea of a bed hung—a hammock, stuffed full of bedding and pillows.
"No."
"Come on, Ulrich. It's this or the twin's room. And before you decide that's any better, they sleep in some weird bunk thing they made themselves." Ulrich seemed less than convinced.
"Why don't you sleep in here? I can sleep in your bed." As soon as the words were out of his mouth Ulrich paused, looking thoughtful. "Actually, I'll sleep on the couch." Rolling his eyes, Odd snatched up Ulrich's bags, depositing them under the hammock.
"Trust me," he said. "Just try sleeping in it once, okay? If you don't like it, you can use the sofa bed for the summer."
"Fine," Ulrich sighed, agreeing more out of not wanting to move his bags again than from actually being okay with Odd's compromise.
"And now that that's all settled," Odd said, clapping his hands together, "we can begin the real fun stuff!"
"And what would that be?" Yumi asked. Odd's response was to vanish from the room, the sound of his own bedroom door opening and shutting following him out. Blinking, the trio he'd left behind shared a look as a few thumping sounds echoed from next door. A minute later and Odd could be heard bursting back into the hall.
"This!"
Planting his hands on his hips, Odd stood tall, proudly displaying his purple and yellow bathing suit, a matching towel tied around his neck. While Ulrich let his head fall into his hand Yumi nodded appreciatively.
"Odd?" she said, "I like the way you think."
"Cannonball!"
"Odd, watch it!" Ulrich shouted, as Odd's wave crashed over him. Aelita laughed brightly, splashing the blonde as he surfaced. Grinning, Odd made to lunge playfully at Aelita, only to be stopped short by Ulrich hurling himself onto the blonde's shoulders. While the pair flailed about attempting to drown one another, Aelita paddled across the pool.
Having only ever seen one other pool before, at the recreation center near Kadic, Aelita had been blown away by the Della Robbia interpretation of water recreation. Unlike the rec pool, which had been perfectly rectangular, Odd's pool was a flowing, natural shape, whose floor flowed away from the edges at a gradual angle, creating a sort of beach effect on one side. The opposite side was lined with a rocky path, rising upwards towards a raised waterfall that tumbled back into the pool. It was from here where Odd had jumped, and away from which Yumi was currently floating.
Resting her arms on the side of Yumi's float, Aelita grinned up at the older girl. Pushing up her sunglasses, Yumi tilted her head to look down at the pink haired girl.
"Yes?" she asked, noticing the mischievous look in Aelita's eyes.
"You should come join us."
Yumi looked at Aelita, and then turned to the boys. She quirked an eyebrow as Odd grabbed Ulrich from behind, shouting some kind of war cry as he dunked them both underwater.
"Tempting," she said slowly, "But I think I'll pass." Aelita laughed.
As the girls drifted into shallow water Aelita perched herself on the pool bottom, wrapping her arms around her knees as he continued to watch the boys play. Noticing where Aelita's gaze was directed, Yumi climbed out of her float, letting it drift away as she joined her friend.
"Pretty crazy, isn't it?" she asked, leaning back on her hands. At Aelita's questioning look, Yumi added, "Being here on this island, all of us together."
"Not all of us," Aelita said, resting her cheek on her knee.
"Something tells me Jeremy's doing just fine at his college thing."
"Do you think he misses us?"
"I'm sure he does," Yumi said, smiling when she caught Aelita's unsure look. "But he's got William and Theo to keep him company." Aelita smiled at the reminder of Odd's attempt to spice up Jeremy's summer.
"And do you know who else was planning on going on the summer trip?" Aelita asked, the mischievous glint back in her eye. Yumi shook her head, causing Aelita to grin. "Emily."
Immediately a smile broke out across Yumi's face.
"Perfect."
"What's perfect?" Aelita laughed, shoving at her friend as Odd splashed down into the spot next to her, Ulrich drifting on his back nearby.
"Emily's going to be at the study thing Jeremy's doing," Yumi explained. Eyeing Ulrich, she reached out with her foot, using it to nudge him in a different direction. Tilting his head back to see his girlfriend, Ulrich stuck out his tongue. Yumi nudged him further away.
"It's about time the two of them got stuck in a room together," Odd said. He tried to push Ulrich with his foot as well, but the brunet just latched onto his ankle. "Jeremy's only been dancing around his feelings for her all semester."
"Maybe he'll take advantage of this opportunity and actually do something about it."
Three pairs of eye met Ulrich's. For a moment everyone was silent.
"You're right," Ulrich sighed. "He won't do it."
"Maybe he will," Odd said, his expression suddenly thoughtful. "I think I have an idea." His friends gasped, Aelita leaning away in shock.
"Catch it, quick!" Ulrich shouted. Waving his friends off, Odd jumped to his feet, scrambling over to where they'd left their things draped across the deck chairs. Rummaging for a moment, Odd produced his cell phone.
"Jeremy might not take the plunge on his own," he said, "but I have men on the inside who can help."
"He's half a world away from us," Ulrich said, "and Jer still can't escape Odd's madness." The girls laughed while Odd rapid-fire texted. Once finished, he tossed the phone aside and splashed gracelessly back into the pool.
"It's all taken care of," he announced. "You may now return to your regularly scheduled activities."
Ulrich took this as his cue. Launching himself at his friend, he hurled them both back into the pool to resume their death match. As they watched Ulrich attempt to scale the waterfall wall out and Odd try to pry him back off, the girls resumed their own conversation.
"So, who do you think he texted?" Aelita asked.
"I don't think it was Theo. Even Odd has to know that he's the last person to choose to help you match-make."
"William maybe?" Aelita tried. The girls shared a look, and then shook their heads.
"I don't know," Yumi sighed. "But whoever it is, I hope they can help."
"You know, you should silence your phone in class," Emily whispered as Sissi reached into her bag.
"It is silenced," she whispered back. Emily rolled her eyes.
"Vibrate isn't silent." Sissi waved her away, as the professor's attention shifted to their side of the room. Emily returned diligently to her notes while Sissi checked her message under the table. Her eyes widened as he read the message, her gaze darting first to Emily and then to the blonde sitting with the rest of the boys a few seats away.
As she considered the possibility suddenly laid out before her, a small smile crept across her lips. With one more glance in her friend's direction, she quickly typed a response to Odd's text.
"Challenge accepted."