Chapter 3
I climbed the stairs with a mixture of doubt, hope, fear, and anticipation. Reaching the door, I took a deep breath, and then pushed through it. Immediately I was buffeted by a flurry of movement and noise as someone screamed "WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME!" I took a step back and started blinking. My eyes had just been blinded by three strobe lights. When my eyes finally cleared, I looked up at the door, thinking, hoping that I had gotten the wrong dorm. Standing in front of me was Matt Docent, the worst snob on campus. Oh ya, I thought. This is gonna be great. The fact that my thoughts had a sarcastic tone should give you an idea of how serious the situation was.
"So…um what's you're name?" I didn't know what else to say, and decided it was best to play dumb as to our identities.
"Matt. Matt Docent. And you?" He talked with a cold, controlled edge in his voice, and I could tell right away that he took offense to my question. Stupid right? Who cares if I don't know his name?
"Rose Hathaway. What's your Klasse anyways?" There was so much awkward in the air I could almost grab it. I didn't think I would be able to handle this guy being my equal. See, because each Pack has two of everything, and Guardians are supposed to be the leaders, they're sort of co-captains I guess. At least, for a couple of weeks. Then there's a vote, and an official and secondary leader was selected.
"Heks. I don't know how or why, but Heks. And you?" I almost cheered at his reply, but knew he'd probably slam the door in my face at that.
"Guardian." I replied as coolly as I could. I got the satisfaction of seeing his eyes pop at the whole I'm-his-boss-now thing, and had to fight a smile. He was about to reply when a tall, sandy blond haired guy tapped my shoulder. Turning, I quickly asked, in my most polite voice, "Are you with pack 2?" I was a little dismayed when his face didn't shift from the bored, dry expression he had been wearing.
"Unfortunately." He had a husky voice that sounded familiar, though I didn't know why. After the one word, he walked into the room, threw his bag into what was apparently the guys' room, and sat down on the couch. Before either Matt or I could ask him his name, he had a book open and his head inside it. I shrugged and shoved my way past Matt.
I had to go unpack, and Matt just had to finish wiring the five other strobe lights. Ugh. Reminding myself to have a talk with him about that later, I strolled into the room Blondie hadn't chucked his bag at. That was his temporary name, I decided. The room was standard, with five single beds against one wall, and five dressers against the other. All of the beds had nightstands with lamps on them, and all of the dressers had mirrors hung over them. The walls were an ugly green, but you took what you got. The wall opposite the door was actually a balcony door, and I noticed a high tech-looking device on the wall next to it. I so wanted to check out the view. But first, I had to unpack.
The living situation was first come first serve, so I quickly took the lane closest to the balcony, and started unloading my stuff into the dresser. I clipped a note I knew I shouldn't have kept onto the mirror, as a reminder of the person who had written it. After a few moments down memory lane, I sighed and turned away.
The beds were so plain, I almost screamed. Sheets, pillows, and comforters were all white. Luckily, I had my own comforter from when I had first moved into the Low Dorm. All beds and accessories were a standard white, so as not to offend the owner of a bed, but they had comforters that you could get to make them a little more you.
When all of my stuff had been unpacked, I attempted to walk out onto the balcony, but the thing was locked. I searched the entire door, but couldn't find a switch. A thought struck me. I turned toward the little device I had seen before, and flashed my I.D card at the little thing. It beeped, and then a green light came on. When I tried to open the balcony door this time, it slid with ease. The balcony had a desk, two chairs, and another opening from the boys' room I assumed. The entire thing looked completely modern, with metal railing and all. The desk had a bunch of paper, and some writing utensils. But I ignored that, and turned towards the view. I gasped. The balcony, being taller than the wall, overlooked the forest, with the snowcapped mountains in the background. Oaks and maples, their leaves falling as I looked, stared back at me. The sharp scent of pine also greeted my nose, though I didn't see them out there. In the distance, my enhanced hearing picked up the sound of running water, and searching around, I spotted a little ribbon of water winding its way through the forest, the sun's rays gleaming off of the surface of the water. It was all so calm, I actually felt myself relaxing. I sat there, content for a while. Finally, I stood up, and turned around. Glancing at the desk on my way out, I noticed a sheet of paper that was separated from the others on the desk. There was a typed message here that read:
Guardians-
Obviously you have realized by now that your cards open the door, and I want to inform you that this balcony is for you two only. This is your private space. You two will make decisions, plan, and talk here from now on. Only your keycards work to unlock the door, and I suggest you use this area to your advantage.
-Judge Harks
I set the note back down, and continued my stroll back to the living room. So I now had a private place in the dorm. I supposed I should be grateful. When I passed through the bedroom, I was surprised to see that all of the slots had signs of other people. I didn't think I had been out there too long. Sighing, I put on my best poker face, and then walked out into the living room…and nearly had a stroke.
Matt had finished the other strobe lights, and the lace, much as I hated to admit it, looked great. The other eight members of the Pack were just hanging out. I wondered what I had missed, and was about to go ask them about it, but then thought better of it. Seeing as no one had noticed me yet, I decided to see how long it would last.
Blondie was still in the same exact spot on the couch, head buried in the same book, and I realized that the others were perfectly content to ignore him. I would have to fix that I thought, and sighed. I had a lot of work cut out for me. Next to Matt was a Barbie-like girl. Not that she looked young (or plastic), but she had the standard cheerleader blue-eyes and blond hair combo. Her long hair was pulled back into a sleek, high ponytail, and I felt jealousy roar its ugly head. Sure, I was pretty, but she was the stereo typical goddess. Standing at 5'6, she had a golden tan and a bright smile. It was as if she was always outside, which, I realized, she probably was. I marked her down as a Jaeger and moved to the next Krijder.
A shorter, paler version of Matt stood beside her, but his tall stature and serious demeanor sent the message that he was not to be messed with. He had the same blackish hair, but he had the sense not to gel it back like some sort of vulture. His eyes were a pale green, and his nose was crooked, like it'd been broken once or twice. For some weird reason, he kept glancing around him, as if he expected something to jump out of the wall. Strange, but I could work with that.
Standing opposite of him was a pale, bronze haired girl. She had a kind face with blue-grey eyes and white teeth, and stood at the average 5'5. Something about her made me relax, and I found myself thinking what a good friend she was. About how honest and nice she was. What? I thought. I don't even know her. Mistrust filled me, and I promised myself to keep an eye on her.
The next person struck me as normal, and I wanted to run up and hug her. It wasn't like I had a thing against weird people. Hell, I was weird myself, but someone in the Pack had to be normal. I didn't want this to be the place they put all the misfits. She had a fair complexion, which clashed with her jet-black hair. Yet it somehow looked okay on her. Her smile had a lazy tinge to it, but in her honey-brown eyes I saw that she was interested in everything that was said. Standing at 5'5, she wasn't the strongest person around, but at least she looked semi-smart.
My eyes shifted to a slightly-taller-than-average guy who had those long, yet still very strong muscles that were made for endurance. His light brown hair was short in the back, but his bangs were long and had been gelled to stick out in a way that reminded me vaguely of a hand fan. He had the same tan skin and blue eyes as the Jaeger girl, and I looked closely at the both of them; I gathered that they must be brother and sister. Twins even. Smiling, I wondered if they'd be arguing all the time like on T.V. I didn't have any siblings, so I wouldn't know. In fact, family was a rarity for Strijders, what with the war, so I guess we had a couple celebrities.
The dark thoughts in my head fell away when I spotted the guy on the couch. Hot didn't even come close to describing him, and I had to close my mouth before my jaw unhinged itself and fell to the floor. He had brown hair (with what looked like natural wheat-gold streaks running through it) that had been flipped to the front and then spiked. I couldn't tell how tall he was because he was seated, but hoped that I wasn't taller than him. That was always awkward, and I didn't want to make him feel bad or anything. He had on a fitted white muscle-T, a motorcycle jacket, and dark blue jeans. When he talked, I saw a perfect smile and white teeth.
As if he could sense me looking at him, he glanced over in my direction, and beckoned me over. Then he stood. He was at least an inch taller than me. Yay! "I'm assuming you're the other Guardian. I'm Dimitri. The whole Guardian thing makes me your co-captain. And you are?" The name fit him perfectly, and I resisted the urge to sit down next to him. And even though he said a lot, it wasn't rushed like he was a chatterbox. It was slow and drawn out, as if to imply a certain laziness.
Instead of diving down onto the couch beside him, I resumed my normal confidence and said, almost directly to Dimitri, "Rosemarie Hathaway, but you can call me Rose. I've already met Matt, but I don't know the others. And where's the last one?" We were a person short. He was about to answer when Lissa walked through the kitchen door. I squealed like a little girl and ran at her. As soon as she realized who it was, she hugged me back and we both started talking. This went on for a few moments before we remembered we now had an entire Pack to pay attention to. We turned, and they all introduced themselves.
The blond Jaeger girl was Kylie, and the similar guy, Nick, was indeed her twin. That bronze-haired girl that had filled me with mistrust was Jean, the weird mini-Matt was Paul, and the normal, fair-skinned girl was Abby. Blondie turned out to be Sam, and honestly, I was surprised he'd even given me his name. He looked so caught up in his book; I didn't know how he knew that I was here, let alone that we were introducing ourselves.
The twins were both Jaegers, the Heks were Abby and Matt, and Jean and Lissa were the Genezers. The two Diefs were Sam and Paul, and that left me and Dimitri as the Guardians. We talked for a bit afterwards, but after the initial introduction, everyone broke off into little groups. I saw Lissa getting into an argument with Matt, who was at the same time eying Kylie. After seeing Abby looking at Matt, I felt some pity and realized that she liked him, even though he would never go for her. I also knew that Kylie would never go for Matt, but that Matt probably knew that too. Jean and Paul were talking in the kitchen, and Sam was still reading. Sigh. This was going to be a long four years.