Title: Love, Actually: Chapter 2
Genre: Romance, Friendship
Rating: T
Characters: Reagan, Danielle, Kelsey, Dan, Bryce, and Madison. Half are book characters and therefore not mine, and half are my own OCs.
Summary: In which awkward conversations ensue, Dan has a horny roommate who tries to flirt with Reagan, and Madison is absolutely no help at all.
Song of the Chapter: Tighten Up – The Black Keys
My Lovely Reviewers: stars of paper, studies in pink, Blood . Revenge . Death [if I don't type it out like that FF dot net deletes the whole username -.-], Celestial Calamity, Blood . Revenge . Death again, enchanting sparkles, MagicIsEverywhere, Emily Starlight, Syberian Quest, Traipeze, Amy Gallejos, Snowstorm xD, GhostQueen11, Madeleine DeAngelo, and Guest. Thank you guys so much!
Author's Note: So. I haven't updated in a while, obviously, and I apologize for that. However, after a magnificent trip to Las Vegas, where I got to see Cirque du Soleil's "O" and the Jabbawockeez [thank you Mom and Dad!], my writer's block has disappeared! :D Nevertheless, this chapter's a bit of a filler. I know this wasn't worth the wait of over nine months, but it will have to do.
Please review! I will most likely stop writing this story if no one reviews because everyone has forgotten about this story. Reviews show me that people are still interested and want to read more. So please, please review.
Love, Actually
Chapter 2: Setting the Trap
"If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time."
-Chinese Proverb
Reagan woke up to a pillow in her face.
"Ow!"
"Kelsey!" Danielle scolded, drying off her damp hair with a towel, which she threw carelessly at the floor. She stood at the doorway of their dorm.
"Sorry, she's a heavy sleeper," Kelsey responded, not looking very sorry at all.
Yawning, Reagan picked up the pillow, which had slid off to her side. "It's okay," she mumbled, toying with it. "Because I was gonna do this—" She expertly threw the pillow straight at Kelsey's face with perfect aim, "—anyway."
Kelsey kicked the pillow, which had bounced off her to the ground, to the general direction of her bunk. "Well played," she admitted. Reagan grinned winningly.
"But onto the real situation at hand," Danielle continued. "Reagan, you overslept."
"What?" Frantically, she glanced at her digital clock, which read 7:39. "Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Algebra's at 8 AM."
"We know," Kelsey replied breezily, slinging on her backpack. She and Danielle already had their school clothes and backpacks on and were ready to leave.
Reagan stood up and grabbed some clothes from the closet to change into. "Then why didn't you wake me up or something?"
"We tried to," Danielle supplied. Kelsey nodded in agreement. "Instead, you insisted upon us eating breakfast and coming back for you later."
She groaned. "Never listen to me when I'm sleepy." With her clothes changed, she fumbled to put her contacts in.
Kelsey took something wrapped in a napkin off her desk. "Here," she called and threw the lump to Reagan, who caught it expertly. "We brought you a muffin back from Rendezvous." Rendezvous was a campus restaurant located in the Rieber Terrace, only a short walk from their building.
Reagan unraveled the napkin, revealing a blueberry muffin. She smiled. "Thanks, guys."
"You still owe me two bucks for that muffin."
Reagan's smile dropped. "Of course." She took a large bite of the muffin, then reached into her wallet on her desk. She extracted two one-dollar bills. "Hur yoo goo," she managed, with food still in her mouth.
Kelsey, looking thoroughly disgusted, accepted the bills anyway.
Reagan wolfed down half the muffin in minutes, and downed a bottle of water. She looked at the clock. It read 7:50. "I'm fine." She let out a sigh of relief.
"Reagan, isn't your first class Algebra?" Kelsey inquired.
Reagan took another bite of her muffin and nodded.
"That's held in the Mathematical Sciences Building," Danielle responded. "That's, like, a mile from here."
Reagan widened her eyes. Frantically, she slung on her backpack, grabbed a piece of paper off her desk, and took off.
"She's late," Kelsey stated. She and Danielle walked out the dorm and locked the door.
Danielle shrugged. "Reagan's pretty athletic, and she has that map to help her, too. Thankfully, I've got track-and-field first, right next to the halls, and you have—"
"—a class in Reagan's building. But mine's at 8:30. And you don't understand. Reagan doesn't have a map."
She wrinkled her brow. "I saw her take it off the desk."
"No," Kelsey replied, shaking her head. "That was my take-out Mexican menu I took from Rendezvous."
::
Reagan had never felt so panicked in her life.
"Here's the track-and-field place," she muttered to herself. "I know for sure that you have to keep going." She could feel her forehead beading with sweat. Wonderful.
She forged onwards. "Okay, just passed the John Wooden Center, so then I turn . . . right?" To make sure, Reagan took out the map from her back pocket. She scanned the paper. "Enchiladas, quesadillas, and nachos." Reagan did a double take. "What is this?" She flipped to the front of the paper, which read: Rendezvous Take-Out Menu. She hung her head. "I am so stupid."
Reagan ran up to another student on his way to class. "Excuse me; can you please point me in the direction of the Mathematical Science Building?"
"Sure." The boy pointed towards her right. "Go down, and keep going till you see Ackerman Union. Then make a left. Keep going till you see that building."
Reagan could almost kiss him. "Thank you so much!" She took off towards her right.
Whilst running, she fumbled with her back pocket and took out her phone. It was 7:57. Reagan resisted the urge to throw herself off a cliff and kept running.
She passed a sign that read Ackerman Union in large block letters. "Wonderful," she mumbled to herself, backing up to make a left. Reagan sprinted until she reached the Mathematical Sciences Building at 7:59.
"Here in the nick of time," she muttered, and she burst into the room. Everyone was seated and quiet, and many students turned to stare at her simultaneously. Sorry, she mouthed.
Reagan scanned the room. Amid all of the students, she couldn't find a familiar face. She sighed.
"Reagan!"
Her head snapped towards the direction of the voice. Dan was waving his hand, tapping at an empty seat next to him. Relieved, she came over and sat down. "Hi, Dan," she greeted.
He grinned good-naturedly. "Hey," he whispered. "Nice seeing someone I know here."
She nodded enthusiastically. "Why're you here in this class?"
"Linear Algebra and Applications is my prerequisite," Dan explained, reaching into his backpack to take out a blue notebook and a pen. "Since I'm in an economy class."
"It's my prerequisite for me, too," Reagan replied. She took out her notebook and pencil as well. "For my Life Sciences class."
Dan grinned. "Cool."
Just then, the professor entered the room, which fell silent immediately. "Hello, everyone; I apologize for the delay. I'm Professor Jackson," the professor introduced briefly. He was a young, lean man who couldn't have been older than thirty-five. "No relation to the King of Pop, though I can do a mean moonwalk." There was a smattering of laughter. "Let me tell you a little bit about myself." He then proceeded to briefly summarize himself and his teaching at the college. "Well, then. Let's get right to it. Hopefully everyone remembers matrices because we're going over them." He then wrote the word "matrix" on the board in large letters.
Reagan thought to herself. Did she remember what a matrix was? She racked her brain, and all she came up with was the movie with Keanu Reeves. She sighed.
There was a slight bustle of noise as some students in the class took out their notebooks. "All right, matrices: the plural of matrix. The definition of a matrix is a rectangular array of numbers, symbols, or expressions in rows and columns." He peered around the classroom. "I expect you to be writing this down."
Reagan hurriedly scrawled what he had just explained onto her notebook. To her right, Dan was doing the same.
"Let's take this matrix." He drew a matrix with six numbers inside. "These individual numbers are called elements or entries. I should see pencils move, people. Let's talk about addition for a second. When you have another matrix to add to this matrix—" He drew another matrix similar to the first, but with different numbers, "—each element in the first matrix corresponds to the element in the next matrix, which becomes five, in this case. Same thing with subtraction. Subtract the corresponding element from the element in the first matrix."
Reagan fervently scribbled in her notes, trying to catch up with the professor's words, but it was nearly impossible. She took a look at Dan's notebook. To her surprise and disgust, his notes were completely legible and neat, unlike hers.
"All right, class. Turn to page fifteen in your textbooks, and try numbers one through five in the guided practice," Professor Jackson instructed. Frazzled, Reagan flipped open her book and completed the exercises, which were easy enough. Right when she put her pencil down, Professor Jackson wrote down the answers on the board. "That was easy enough, right? Any questions?" Silence. "Wonderful. Turn to page seventeen, and let's begin multiplication and division." Professor Jackson began to draw more matrices.
Reagan fumbled with her pencil as she scribbled down the numbers and wrote down what the professor was saying. He was explaining how scalar multiplication worked, and he wrote down some formulas that Reagan couldn't comprehend. When he gave them problems to do, Reagan squinted at the notes, trying to decipher what she had written minutes ago.
She couldn't.
As she stared at the first problem, Professor Jackson cleared his throat. "Here are the answers, students," he said, and wrote the answers on the board. Reagan stared. After a few moments, he continued, "I'm assuming everyone is done with checking their solutions. Let's move on to division, shall we? This should all be review to you."
The rest of the class was spent freaking out and futilely attempting to write everything down.
At the end of the lecture, Professor Jackson glanced at the clock. "All right class, hope you have that all written down. The homework is page 20, problems 1-50, odd. Dismissed." There was a small clamor as the students stood up and began to leave the building.
As Dan stood up, Reagan tapped his shoulder. "Dan?"
He turned around. "Mmhmm?"
"Can I see your notes sometime after classes end? I got nothing." She indicatively pointed to her notebook, which had indecipherable markings on it.
Dan shrugged. "Sure. Meet me at my dorm at six. I'm Hedrick Hall, room 310."
"Oh, me too!" Reagan exclaimed. Meeting Dan's gaze, she quickly rephrased her statement. "I mean, I'm in Hedrick Hall, too. Not that I'm in your room. That would be weird. And creepy."
There was a long silence. "Uh. So just meet me then."
"Of course." Reagan nodded. "Gottagobye." She walked as fast as she could out of there.
::
Meet me at my dorm at six, he'd said.
It was currently 5:59.
Reagan took a deep breath. She could definitely do this. She'd have to at least talk to him to get her plan started.
6:00.
She took a step towards the door, then hesitated. Going in at 6 would look like she cared too much. She'd have to be casually a little late.
So she stood there.
Another student whom she didn't recognize walked down the hall, giving Reagan a strange look when he saw her standing next to the door alone.
Reagan reclined on the wall and pretended to text someone.
6:01. Perfect.
Gingerly, Reagan knocked the door lightly. "Come in!" an unfamiliar voice shouted. She opened the door and stepped inside.
"Hello," Reagan greeted uncertainly, shuffling into the dorm. Quickly, she surveyed the premises. For a boys dorm, it was unusually neat and clean. Then again, they were only a day into the semester.
Dan was sprawled on his loft bed, typing on his computer. His back was to her, and he remained oblivious to her presence in the dorm.
However, his roommate, who she assumed was the one who had told her to come in, was not so oblivious. "Hey!" The blonde stood up and approached Reagan way too close for comfort. "Who are you?"
Reagan pressed her lips into a tight line. "Reagan Holt." The boy began to play with a strand of her hair, and she slapped his hand away. "Please don't do that. Or I will hurt you."
Dan turned his head around. "Bryce, what are you—" A flicker of recognition registered in his eyes. "Reagan!"
Reagan managed a strained grin. "Hi, Dan."
"I'm so sorry about Bryce," Dan muttered, climbing down the ladder. "He can sometimes be a little—"
"Seductive? Sensual?" the boy named Bryce supplied, grinning. Reagan rolled her eyes.
"I was gonna go for shady and suggestive, but whatever works for you," Dan shot back, grinning. Reagan laughed.
Bryce narrowed his eyes. "Ha-ha, very funny." He walked back towards his bunk and picked up a white bag. "I'm gonna go shower now, okay?"
"Have fun," Dan deadpanned.
Bryce ran his fingers through his hair. "But, y'know, if Reagan wants to come along—"
"Goodbye, Bryce," Dan responded emphatically.
"But wait—"
Dan pushed Bryce out of the room and shut the door.
"That boy is a piece of work," Reagan muttered, sitting down cross-legged on the floor.
"Yeah. He's a bit . . . forward with girls." Dan chuckled, moving towards his desk. "But you don't know him yet. He's actually really cool; we're pretty close roomies."
Dan opened his backpack on his chair, shuffled through the papers, and took out his notebook. "Here." He threw the notebook towards Reagan, who caught it easily. She opened it up, revealing clear and concise handwriting, along with some drawings of matrices. "Take it," Dan offered. "I learned this stuff in AP Calc during senior year."
Dan had been in AP classes? Reagan found that unlikely. "Thanks," she replied anyway, skimming the notes. She understood all of it, seeing it right before her eyes.
"You can give it back to me in class tomorrow; I have spare notebook paper to do my homework," Dan assured.
"Oh. Thanks," Reagan repeated. She placed the notebook next to her.
Dan came back to where she was sitting and plopped down next to her. "Anyway, about Bryce. Don't let him get to you. Like I said, he's a pretty nice guy."
Reagan blinked. That was a little hard to believe. "Of course, when he's not slobbering all over the female population, right?"
"Right."
"What percent of the time is he not doing that?"
". . . A small percentage."
Reagan shook her head. Now for the real reason she was here. "Anyway, I heard you have a girlfriend."
Dan grinned. "Yeah, I do. Her name's Sage. Sage Chen. She's majoring in Biology like you, so you'll probably see her around class sometime."
"Great." Reagan smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."
"Cool," Dan responded, smiling. "We met in high school. We started dating around the beginning of senior year, and we both got accepted to UCLA. It was perfect."
"How cute." Reagan feigned a giggle.
Dan chuckled. "It'll be hard to hang out here—so much work in college. But we're going to the Covel Commons Residential Restaurant this Saturday. It's a really nice little restaurant place—"
"Can I come?"
"What?"
Reagan's eyes widened. Well, that was an impulsive move. "I mean . . . can I come to the restaurant, too?"
Dan stared. "It's a date. It's kind of meant to be . . . private." Once he noticed her expression, he hastily added, "No offense."
"Oh, I know," she replied breezily.
"Excuse me?"
Her mind raced for an excuse. "I meant . . . can I come . . . with Bryce? Can I come with Bryce? As a double date! Doesn't that sound fun?" Reagan playfully punched him on the shoulder with probably more force than she'd intended.
Dan wrinkled his brow. "But you think he's gross. And you said before, quote, 'that boy is a piece of work,' unquote."
Reagan shook her head emphatically. "I don't! I just . . . misunderstood him. He's very . . . nice," she managed.
After a very long look, Dan shrugged noncommittally. "If you want to, go right ahead. I'm sure Bryce would be more than happy to go on a date with you."
"I'm . . . sure he does." Reagan stood up, dusting off her pants, and Dan followed suit. "Well, I gotta go now, so—"
Just then, Bryce entered the room, his blonde hair damp and a towel around his neck. "Hey, Dan."
"Bryce." Dan walked up to him. "Reagan said she wants to double-date with me and Sage." He sighed resignedly and gave a sidelong glance to Reagan for confirmation. She nodded. "She wants it to be me and Sage, and you and her."
Bryce's face lit up. "Really?" Reagan nodded and tried to smile convincingly. Bryce smirked, slinging an arm around her. "I knew you couldn't resist my charms."
"Of course," Reagan agreed, trying not to roll her eyes.
"Great," Dan replied, leaning over to pick up his phone from his loft bed. "I'll text Sage right away." He directed his gaze to Reagan. "Just swing by at our dorm Saturday at 5 PM, all right?"
Reagan gently wrestled free from Bryce's grasp. "Got it. See you guys then." She waved goodbye with a smile, gracefully waltzing out of the room.
Once she had closed the door and had walked out of earshot, she broke out into a run.
::
"My God, Reagan, could you get any stupider?"
"Gee, Madison, I always feel better when I talk to you."
Currently, Reagan was sitting on Madison's bottom bunk with her aforementioned twin sister. She had explained her predicament to Madison, hoping she'd be a little more understanding than she was being right now.
Madison rolled her eyes. "Look, if that boy is so into you, you shouldn't just lead him on. That's cruel. And so unlike you." Madison widened her eyes. "I'm rubbing off on you. This is great."
Reagan slugged her arm. "I'll do anything for that nomination and the respect of Dad. And this'll be something awesome to shut Hammer up with."
Madison slugged her back. "Whatever. And why are you even here?"
"For advice."
"And what makes you think I'll willingly help you?"
Reagan had already come equipped with answers. "Well, do you really want Hamilton as the leader of the Tomas branch? With complete leadership? Do you really think he's the most qualified for that position?"
"Let's see." Madison mused over her options. "Annoying brother, or equally annoying twin sister." She paused and shrugged. "Eh. I guess I'll help you."
Reagan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Now give me advice."
"All right. I'll advise you." Madison paused for a moment. "Kiss Dan."
"Wha—no. He has a girlfriend right now."
Madison guffawed. "Wait, he's taken? That's hilarious."
"Ha-ha, very funny," Reagan retorted, rolling her eyes. "Now help me."
She thought for a bit. "I still think kissing is a viable option."
"No, it is not!"
"Well." Madison cleared her throat. "Then I am clear out of ideas."
"You said you'd help me!"
"I did. You didn't want my ideas. Now goodbye."
"Madison—"
"Goodbye." Madison forcefully shoved her twin sister out the room. "I need to do my homework."
Reagan stared daggers into Madison. "Well, fine. I didn't need your help!"
"Great." She slammed the door in Reagan's face.
Reagan rolled her eyes. She didn't need Madison. She could do this by herself. Feeling reinvigorated, Reagan ran all the way back to Hedrick Hall.
Right when she was about to enter the door, she bumped into Bryce forcefully. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking up. "Oh. Hi, Bryce."
"Reagsters! I-"
"Don't call me that."
"Right. So anyway, can't wait for that date!" Bryce slung his arm around Reagan, who tried not to flick it off her shoulders. "It's gonna be awesome, baby."
"Don't call me that either." Reagan tried not to cringe and stepped away from him. "And of course. It'll be amazing."
Bryce grinned. "This is gonna be tight. See you later, babe." And then he jogged away towards the tennis courts. Reagan watched as he slowly disappeared from her view, and heard him say, "Guess what guys? Got a girlfriend," in the distance.
"Shoot." Reagan looked down. "I did need her help."
Note: Just to let you know, Linear Algebra and Applications in UCLA is a prerequisite for physical scientists and economists. I tried to be as accurate as I could with college life, even if I'm in middle school, haha. Sorry if I get anything , muffins are actually two dollars at UCLA as well.
Also, the walk from Hedrick Hall to the Mathematical Sciences Building in UCLA is roughly under a mile, and I used an online map for this. UCLA has a quite useful tool where you can draw a line from two points and it will tell you the distance. Of course, I fudged the line with all the walkways and all, and it came to about 5000 feet. So if I can run a mile in 7 minutes, Reagan can certainly run less than a mile with a backpack less than that time. And she had the problem of going down those flights of stairs at the beginning. Ah, research.
And I meant to use "stupider" instead of "more stupid." Syberian Quest, who betaed for me, told me it sounds more Madison-like. Thanks Sy for betaing!
Next Chapter: In which a double date goes awry, Reagan is sneaky, and Eisenhower misses his kids much more than he lets on.