~*~7by7~*~
Chapter 2: Face Up
Gilbert Beilschmidt entered the room he had been assigned. It was on the top floor which meant that it was a double bedroom dorm. This was semi unfortunate because it meant that he and the girl he that the hacker had placed him with would not be sleeping in the same room. Yeah that was unfortunate but still...it was awesome that he was going to be sharing the rest of the living area with a girl!
"Take that all of you Idioten back home!" he shouted in triumph punching the air as he flung the door to his room open. "The awesome me is rooming with a girl! What do you think about that?"
"Um I think it's nice that you're so adamant about our rooming together but...would you mind entering and closing the door so I can stop being squished by it." A soft voice whispered from behind the door.
Gilbert blinked and entered the room just enough that he could swing the door back from the wall just a bit.
"Mein gott!"
A girl with silvery blond hair was pressed up against the wall with her hands covering her face to protect her glasses.
"So sorry the awesome me didn't realize you were there. I was on the other side of the door after all. Why didn't you move?"
The girl edged out from behind the door and adjusted her glasses nervously. Her violet eyes flickered briefly over his face before drifting to the ground.
"You swung the door open too fast. And anyway...I'm used to this."
Gilbert blinked at her in confusion.
"You're used to getting crushed by doors?"
She nodded slowly and gave a small sad smile.
"I'm used to a lot of other things happening too."
Gilbert was about to ask her what she meant when an irritated shout came from one of the bedrooms.
"Hey Maddie where do you want the Twilight poster?"
Madeline gave a little jump and blushed furiously not daring to raise her eyes from total embarrassment. Well...she supposed that the...albino boy would have peaked into her room eventually and found out her strange obsessions.
"Madeline?" the voice called out again.
"Just hang it above my desk Alfred."
"But your Narnia Poster is already there...how about above your mirror...it will be funny because vampires have no reflection...get it?"
The girl groaned and rubbed her temples feeling a headache coming on.
"Whatever, just do what you want." She lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper that Gilbert strained to catch, "You always do anyways."
"Kesesese." Gilbert grinned, "Brother? I know how that is!"
The girl looked up at him and nodded.
"Yeah. He's my younger brother Alfred."
"Awesome!" Gilbert cried out, making her jump, "My brother is younger too! His name is Ludwig! He's not as awesome as me but still pretty great! His room is just down the hall! We were supposed to be rooming together but I got moved to this room! Which is still totally awesome!"
The girl stared at him trying to process everything before responding slowly.
"That's...nice...yeah Alfred got changed to a different room as well. He was originally supposed to be my roommate but...now he's with some British girl that he says already seems to have decided she doesn't like him and so she kicked him out of their room while she got settled. So he came up here to help me get settled and..."
She suddenly stopped and blushed profusely lowering her eyes once more.
"I'm sorry. I'm probably talking too much and boring you aren't I?"
"Kesesese" Gilbert grinned and patted her on the head, since she was considerably shorter than him, "You're not boring me at all! It's good to talk about yourself! I love how awesome I am and I'm not ashamed to tell the entire world!"
She blinked up at him and adjusted her glasses with a slight smile.
"Oh...well...I guess it's ok."
"Of course it is!" Gilbert grinned and continued to pat her head, "Trust me! I'll have you thinking you're almost as awesome as me in no time. Right...umm who are you again?"
The girl stepped back.
"I'm Madeline." She sighed, "Madeline Williams."
"And I'm the Awesome Gilbert! Gilbert Beilshmidt!"
"It's nice to meet you Gilbert. I..." but Madeline didn't get to finish her sentence because Gilbert suddenly turned towards the bedrooms and shouted far too loudly.
"Hey Al you've got a cute sister! Come out here and meet the Awesome Me!"
There was a crash from one of the bedrooms that made Madeline flinch and Gilbert raise an eyebrow.
"He sounds like he's hurting more than helping you move in."
Madeline didn't have time to answer as a boy with dirty blond hair stormed out of the left bedroom and marched up to Gilbert.
"Naw Yaw Liten Har. Caw Mai Siser Coat Agan Aand Yawl Haave May to Aanser To! Gawt Ich?"
Gilbert grinned.
"Kesesesese. The awesome me can't understand a word of what you just said. Maybe you should take the hamburger out of your mouth."
"Ai Dawnt Haave Aa Fee Haand."
Madeline stepped forward and took the Poster from one of Alfred's hands so he could take the burger out of his mouth.
"Thanks Maddie." He grinned at her and then turned to Gilbert coldly.
"Just get this through your head right now. Stay away from my sister. I can't stop you being roommates and seeing each other here but beyond that. Just stay away from her or you'll have me to answer to. I'm the hero! Got it?"
Gilbert smirked and folded his arms.
"Hero huh? What have you done before that's heroic?"
Alfred grinned.
"Plenty of stuff. Too much to even go into! Why I even saved my father's company one time!"
"A...Al...please...not now." Madeline begged tugging at her brother's sleeve.
Al stopped the story he had enthusiastically launched into and turned to her.
"Oh Maddie I almost forgot you were here. Your rooms almost all set up. Just this final poster and you'll be all set."
"Th...that's great Al but maybe...maybe you should go back to your own dorm now and start setting up your own room?"
Al grimaced a bit.
"That British girl is a freak. I'm scared to even think of what she's done to our room! Frankly I'm scared of her."
Gilbert snorted.
"How bad could she be? She's just a teenage girl."
Madeline looked down at the floor again nervously and rolled and unrolled the poster unconsciously.
"She's the one in the black cape."
"That freak?" Gilbert exclaimed and then broke into uneasy laughter patting Alfred on the back, "Dude I feel sorry for you!"
"Thanks for the encouragement." Alfred groaned before glaring at him and then turning to Madeline, "You sure you can finish?"
"It's just one more poster Al." she laughed softly, "I think I can handle it."
"Yeah Williams stop babying the girl and get out of our dorm room!"Gilbert shouted pushing the boy towards the door.
Alfred tried to protest but he was forced out the door with a final annoyed shout.
"My last name is Jones! I am the Hero Alfred F Jones!"
The slammed in his face.
Gilbert turned to Madeline grinning. "Well now that he's out of our hair let's get you finished unpacking!"
He grabbed the poster from her startled grip and headed for the left bedroom.
"By the way why did he say his last name was Jones when yours is Williams?"
"That's because...hey...hey wait...what are you doing?"
Gilbert had just stepped into her bedroom.
"I told you that I was going to help you finish getting settled. I'll start on my awesome room afterwards." Gilbert called back.
"N...no...you can't! Get out of my room! Sortez maintenant! (1)
Gilbert turned around in surprise as the girl grabbed hold of him and tried to drag him from her room.
"Wo calm down. Kesesese...did you just shout in French?"
Madeline blushed furiously and released his arm.
"Ye...yes...please just...leave my room. I can finish on my own. I'm used to doing things on my own."
Gilbert blinked at her and then patted her head grinning once more.
"Well you don't have to anymore. I'm here now. So just rely on me for whatever you need! All right?"
Madeline gaped at him in shock and her blush turned even deeper as she shuffled her feet.
"Um thank you...but...still..."
"Besides" Gilbert continued as if she had never spoken a word, "Your room is really nice. You should display it proudly!"
"I should...wait what?" Madeline squeaked as she realized that Gilbert's words had come to her from inside the room. In a panic she rushed in to try and prevent him from looking around too much but it was too late. He had taken in all of the posters and pictures, the red comforter on top of cream sheets, the Canadian Hockey Calendar hanging over her bed, Kumajiro her childhood teddy bear resting on top of her maple leaf shaped pillow.
"You seem to like Canada quite a bit." Gilbert grinned unfolding the poster he held which displayed the Canadian flag made entirely out of tiny pictures.
Madeline bit her lip nervously.
"Is it bad to show my loyalty? My stepmother certainly hates it."
Gilbert grinned.
"Nah I think it's awesome! I just wasn't expecting an American to like Canada this much. It's totally awesome in a weird way!"
Madeline blinked at him in confusion.
"I'm not American. At least I didn't used to be. I'm a born and bred Canadian."
Gilbert gasped.
"No kidding? But your brother acts so obviously American?"
"Because he is." Madeline sighed taking the poster from him and searching for an empty place on the wall to tape it.
"Ok you've lost me." Gilbert groaned rubbing his head and settling cross legged onto her bed, "The awesome me is officially confused."
Madeline sighed as she finally located a spot and reached out for the tape on the table. Her fingertips just brushed it till Gilbert nudged it over with a grin.
"Alfred is my half brother. We have the same father but different mothers. My mother and I used to live in Canada but she died when I was about 10."
"How old are you now?" Gilbert asked, becoming rather interested in his shy roommate.
"15."
"No kidding! My brother is only one year older than you! But he looks considerably older! Course not older than the awesome me! People say I look 20!"
Madeline looked him over wondering what people could think that and breaking into a slight smile at the thought. Then she taped the poster to the wall as she continued the story.
"So my father claimed me when my mother died and brought me back to New York to live with him and his other family. My half brother was enthusiastic and started excitedly trying to make me feel at home but my stepmother..." Madeline sighed and leaned her head against the wall, "She hated me."
Gilbert stared at her in shock.
"Why? You're adorable! Who wouldn't love you instantly?"
Madeline blushed at his words but shook her head sadly.
"You don't understand. The situation is...complicated."
Gilbert smiled reassuringly and patted the bed beside him in an invitation.
"Complicated is my specialty. Heck my brother refuses to accept our last name because he's convinced that he's adopted!"
Madeline turned around in surprise not able to hold back her curiosity.
"Why?"
Gilbert grinned and patted the bed again winking. Clearly he wasn't going to reveal anymore till she accepted his invitation.
With another deep sigh Madeline settled down next to him pulling her knees up to her chin.
Gilbert grinned and lay back onto the soft sheets.
"Well see, he doesn't remember his childhood...at all..it's all a blank...so when he just suddenly appeared to be a part of our family at age 11, he just refused to accept our insistences that he had always been a part of the family. He thinks that we adopted him at that age and that for some reason he had lost his memories in an accident that killed his real parents."
"But why?" Madeline asked truly intrigued now.
Gilbert shrugged.
"Hell if I know. He looks so much like our grandfather that it's scary!"
Madeline bit her lip nervously.
"What really happened?"
"Italian Mafia came after him for getting too friendly with one of their little girls. Ended up falling off a wall onto hard concrete. Nearly killed him. And knocked his memories clean gone. Blam! Just like that!"
Madeline gaped at him.
"You're not serious are you?"
Gilbert grinned.
"That's for you to decide. " He winked, "Now it's time for your complicated story. Come one out with it!"
Madeline sighed and ran a hand through one of her pigtails nervously.
"Well ok...so I told you that Alfred is younger than me right?"
Gilbert nodded.
"Well...he's only younger than me by 3 days."
Gilbert stared at her wide eyed.
"No kidding? You mean that your dad...? Scheiße!"
Madeline bit her lip again. Though she didn't speak German she was sure she knew what that meant.
"Yeah. Alfred was born 2 weeks premature...but still..."
Gilbert whistled.
"Was your dad already married to Al's mom?"
Madeline shook her head.
"He was engaged to her though. My mom had no idea. It was just a weekend romance for her but...I think that he still fell in love with her. I like to think that anyways. I've never gotten the nerve to ask him."
Gilbert looked at the girl sympathetically and rubbed her back.
"That is complicated and now I think I can understand your step mother's situation."
Madeline nodded clutching Kumajiro to her chest.
"Yeah...imagine finding out that your fiancé had an affair with another woman while you were engaged and that he got her pregnant 2 weeks before he got you pregnant!"
Madeline's voice had climbed dramatically and Gilbert could tell that she was close to tears, so he did the only thing he could think of doing. Removed himself from the situation.
He stretched an arm above his head and yawned.
"Gosh the awesome me is tired and I still have to unpack."
Madeline looked at him rubbing her eyes, shocked at his sudden easy attitude.
"I...I could help if you want."
Gilbert grinned and rubbed her head yet again.
"Thanks for the offer Maddie but I can handle it. I am awesome after all!"
He gave her one final wink before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
Madeline stared at the door for a few minutes before running her hands over the same pigtail nervously.
"That's the first time anyone apart from Alfred has called me Maddie...it's kinda nice."
She collapsed back onto her bed and pulled out her red iPod popping in her white earbuds and humming along with her favorite song.
"The times you don't wanna wake up
Cause in your sleep it's never over when you give up
The sun is always gonna rise up
You need to get up, gotta keep your head up
Look at the people all around you
The way you feel is something everybody goes through
Dark out but you still gotta light up
You need to wake up, gotta keep your face up" (2)
(1)Get out now! ~French
(2)Face Up is a song by Lights, a Canadian singer