Chapter Two: First Class and Rest o'Day One
"So, what is your class, anyways?" Kali inquired after both had been silent for a few moments.
"It's biology." The redhead supplied shortly.
"Oh...what time?"
"Look, what the hell is up with you?" He snapped, turning to face her; his grip on her arm tightened so she could not get away.
"I could ask you the same; you're kind've only a few inches from my face." She replied calmly.
Purple-blue eyes narrowed as they gained a steely sheen.
A small sigh escaped the girl as she realized he was unlikely to let her go until she answered him. "Normally, I can just out-wait or out-weird people...but I don't think he really cares if he makes it to class on time..." "Something tells me you don't have much experience with people being nice just for the sake of it..."
His head snapped up and his gaze sharpened to a glare, telling her she had struck a nerve.
She sighed again. "Look, I'm not out to get you or your friends. If you want, I'll even stop talkin' to all of y'all once I show you guys where everything is...or at least give y'all maps..."
"What's in it for you?"
Kali dropped her disaffected mask and stared at him. "Oh, my word." She threw her hands up in the air-or, tried to, as Tala still had a grip on her left arm. "Will it make you feel better if I tell you I consider it my good deed for the semester?"
"No." He bit out, his grip tightening further.
"And why not?"
"Because it's not true."
"And you know how...?" The black haired girl retorted, finally starting to lose her temper; she still kept her voice even. "Not everyone cares how many times someone's been on t.v.; I certainly don't give a fuck. If I really cared, would I've insulted you? Would I've talked to you and your friends like you guys are real people?" She raised her eyebrow as her manner shifted from calm to challenging.
He paused, considering her words. "...I guess not." His hand relinquished its grip on her arm reluctantly.
She ignored the pins and needles that raced to her fingertips. "You have bio with Prof. Granger at 11, right?"
"How-"
"I have that class, too. Here." She handed him a pencil and several sheets of loose leaf. "You'll need it; he's big on notes." The girl then resettled the straps on her shoulders and began to grape-vine her way back towards the Daedalus Complex.
Tala easily kept pace with her. "You'll be late if you keep on like that."
"Go on ahead, then."
He glared, bit his tongue and then continued to keep pace with her.
"...you don't have your schedule?"
The redhead gave her a curt nod.
"Oh...room number'd be helpful, huh?"
The look that comment earned her could have dissolved steel faster than sulfuric acid.
"It's room number-"
"Just shut up, speed up and show me."
-x-x-x-x-
"...hey!" Ian hailed them from down the hall. "Why're you two...?"
"Same class." Kali supplied; she attempted to give Ian a smile but the result was more of a twitchy grimace.
"Prof was that good, huh?"
The raven haired teen ran a hand through her bangs. "...sure, let's go with that..."
Tala gave her the one-fingered salute; she turned her head sharply so her braid smacked him on the shoulder.
The shortest of the three ignored the exchange. "So, how 'bout lunch?"
"...shouldn't we go collect the other three first?"
Ian paused. "Nah, they should be able to find their way to the dining hall okay..."
"That's the thing: going to eat lunch at 12 guarantees that there'll be no seats. Everyone and their grandma goes to eat at 12; the sane ones who want seating head for grub at around 1pm at the earliest."
"What about Dwyn?" Tala interjected coolly.
"The line stretches all the way to the soda machines in the back corner and that's with four of the six registers manned." The girl returned as though they had not been glaring daggers at one another five seconds ago.
Tala stared at her.
She smirked. "You're thinking girls are weird."
The shocked look that darted across his face was priceless.
-x-x-x-x-
"Note to self: get a camera."
"Shut it, woman!"
Ian groaned, exasperated. The three of them had been standing near the back entrance to Ariadne for the ten minutes and the two of them had spent the past nine bickering. He raised his eyes from the ground to see Kai, Spencer and Bryan headed their way.
"Finally!" He called once they were within ten feet.
Bryan raised an eyebrow; Ian jerked a thumb in the bickering duo's direction.
"They're still at it?" Spencer muttered.
Bryan made a face. "What's the bet they kill one another before the week's out?"
"I'm not taking it." Kai stated flatly.
"GUYS."
All stopped and stared at the irritated wyvern-wielder.
"If we're not gonna eat right now 'cuz there's no seats, why don't we do a quick rundown of important places?"
Tala smirked. "Sure."
Kali looked resigned. "Why not?"
The redhead gestured towards a clump of buildings with a flourish. "Lead on."
She blatantly ignored him and led them in the opposite direction.
"Lemme guess." Ian drawled. "He got you to promise to leave us all alone/stay away from us once you finish showing us around."
Grey eyes flickered to him, blinked, then scanned the area for a building their owner had yet to share with the boys.
Ian grinned. "Sorry, capitan, but no can do."
Purplish-blue eyes stared holes in his back.
"Hey, she's my music-sharing partner. Rules say you don't break the contract 'til one of you has run out of songs. So, sorry Tal, but Kals has to talk to me even after your stupid promise is supposed to come into play."
The eyes-boring-holes turned to Kali's back.
She turned to look at Ian. "You do realize that he's my roommate."
"Yep."
"You also realize that he has an innumerable amount of chances to try to kill me?"
"Yep."
"AND that he can probably make it look like it was an accident?"
The imp grinned. "Aaaand yep."
"Okay." She replied affably. "Just checkin'."
Both shook their heads when low-pitched swearing began to issue from a certain someone behind them and once again delved into the topic of music. Kali did pause the discussion occasionally to point out a building or complex of interest and gave a few interesting facts on it.
-x-x-x-x-
The moment Kali left the room she shared with Tala, he slammed the door so loud it echoed down the hall. She jumped slightly, then shook her head.
"I can't wait 'til I can change rooms...it'd serve him right if his next roomie was some rabid fangirl..." Her neutral expression morphed into a devious grin. "Or, better yet, a rabid yaoi fangirl." The thought cheered her up and she arrived at the library to begin her quest for decent literature in a better frame of mind than she had spent most of her first day of the new semester.
-x-x-x-x-
"Ian, what the fuck?" Bryan growled the moment Tala slammed the door.
"What?" He echoed distantly as he mashed the buttons on his gameboy advance; he had finally gotten to face the thrice-damned Gannondorf.
Tala smacked the device out of his hands; it clattered to the floor and skidded under Kali's bed. The tinny music seemed to echo in the silence that fell.
"What?" He snapped, furious red eyes locked on Tala.
"I found a way to rid us of the fang-"
"She's not a fangirl." Spencer interjected. "If you're gonna talk him out of this, you have to be factual. You know that."
The redhead took half a step towards the bigger teen, fist raised; he stopped himself, visibly struggling for self control. He drew in a shaky breath and lowered his arm as the muscle in his jaw worked.
An unfamiliar girl poked her head in the room, "hey, K-who the-"
"Get out."
The girl took one look at the group of tense teens and promptly withdrew. She bit her lip, suddenly worried for her friend. "...well, if she's not here...she's probably in the library..." The teeth that grazed her already-abused lip drew blood. "...I hope she's okay..."
-x-x-x-x-
"What?" Ian growled after sitting in the terse silence that followed Tala's snarl at the innocent girl who (admittedly) should have knocked.
"Why are you encouraging her?" Tala managed the statement out calmly enough, but his jaw muscles were still tense.
"The-"
"And don't give me some bullshit about 'rules of music partner'." The redhead snapped.
"Alright, you want me to be blunt?" The ruby-eyed boy returned.
Spencer pointedly vacated his spot between the two verbal combatants and sat on the edge of Kali's bed; Bryan and Kai wordlessly followed him. All recognized the look in the shortest boy's eyes; it promised that the already tense conversation was about to turn nasty.
"I think you don't like her because it seems almost impossible to rattle her. She questions you, stands up to you, isn't afraid of you...and that drives you absolutely nuts." He hissed at his captain. "She also helped you four out without asking for anything or pulling any tricks. And that? That scares you. You can't comprehend that; you don't even want to."
Tala's hands curled themselves into fists and his breathing turned shaky, but he made no move to actually strike the younger teen.
This sign of restraint was enough to snap Ian out of his "fuck the world and you lot too" mood. "Am I right?" He inquired calmly after a few moments.
"Get out." Tala muttered as he looked away. After several moments of silence, the tension drained from his form, but he still wouldn't meet Ian's eyes.
"I won't push it...for now." The purple haired imp stated as he rose from his spot on Tala's bed. "But think about it...and give her a chance."
"Why're you so sold with her?" Bryan grumbled.
"I have my reasons." He stated with a carefree smirk. "Cya in the AM, suckers." With that proclamation, he calmly left the room.
Kai glowered. "He does realize that he shares a room with me, right?"
"Guess not." Bryan muttered.
A stab of dread assaulted Kai, who hurriedly searched his pockets. "...that bastard took my key."
Spencer and Bryan snickered while Kai fumed and Tala sunk down on his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
-x-x-x-x-
The girl snuck, cat-quiet, over to a largely uninhabited section of the library: a nearly hidden alcove on the fourth floor that most were not aware existed. She carefully peeked around the corner; her quarry was indeed seated upon one of the comfy chairs with a book in hand.
"So that's how she lasts so long..." The girl shook her head, the hint of a smile upturning her lips. After observing her friend for another few moments, she was sure that the other girl had come to no harm; there were no tentative or slow movements when the other girl moved and she had no visible bruises. Satisfied that all was well for the time-being, the now-calm friend left the alcove as quietly as she had approached it.
-x-x-x-x-
Kali stretched languidly as she finished chapter four of the epic book she had just discovered by chance. "Definitely worth checking out..." A small yawn escaped her lightly chapped lips. "I ought to leave before they close the library and I get locked in again..." Her relaxed expression soured slightly at the thought of returning to her room but she shrugged it off. The library was her haven and she wouldn't let thoughts of her crappy roomie sully it. She absently stretched and flexed both arms, then smiled ruefully. "Not like I needed to do that..." A small chuckle escaped her as she gathered the two books she had found and reluctantly abandoned her alcove. "To the checkout desk!"
-x-x-x-x-
She entered her room cautiously, books held to her chest. Tala, she noted, was seated upon his bed; he appeared to be exhausted, if the slump of his shoulders was any indication. Her top incisor teeth scraped against her lip as she felt a stab of guilt for arguing with him all day. He was just so infuriating...! A sharp pain brought her back to reality as a drop of blood ran down her chin. She swore, drawing Tala and Kai's attention.
"I have got to quit doing that..." Kali groused as she pressed a tissue to her lip. Her bad habit of actually biting her lips had come to haunt her when she spaced out, which was often enough.
"What'd you do?" Tala asked tiredly.
"Bit my lip." The girl replied, slightly muffled by a tissue. She made a gagging noise when her tongue accidentally brushed against it; the sensation made her skin crawl.
"Idiot."
She glanced at the redhead, then decided it wasn't worth it; her attention then turned to Kai, who was still seated upon her bed.
"...Ian locked me out."
"Sucks." The girl commiserated before checking if the blood flow had been stemmed. When no more crimson liquid dribbled down her chin, she decided it was fine for now and tossed the tissue.
"What are you doing?" Kai questioned as she started ruffling around under her bed.
"Aha!"
Both winced when she tried to stand and cracked her head on the bed.
"Motherfucking..." Came the vehement hiss. "It's official." The irritated raven haired teen grumbled as she rose more carefully this time. "Today sucks...anyway, here."
Kai stared at the rolled up sleeping bag.
"I have a pillow around here somewhere..." Without waiting for a reply, she ducked back under her bed after placing the sleeping bag on her bed. "Here we are..." She carefully re-emerged and then placed a clean pillowcase on said pillow. "There. It's prolly not as comfy as a bed, but it's better than nothing, right?"
Kai nodded and then laid out said sleeping bag in the space between the two beds, though he left room for both to be able to leave without stepping on him. "...thanks." He murmured.
She grinned. "No problem." She then climbed onto her desk and then crawled onto her bed. After she was comfortably cocooned in her camo comforter, she sighed contentedly. "'Night guys."
Tala and Kai exchanged glances, then stared at her.
Kali cracked open an eye. "Yanno, mebbe both of you should be called Edward."
That earned her a pillow to the face from Tala and a raised eyebrow from Kai.
-x-x-x-x-
Inside the Box: Hehehehe...yeah...not yet X3 These two are a pair of romance-idjits...OHRIGHT. Uh, check out behind the meme . com for any questions concerning the memes the two bantered about, haha. I actually was playing around on there right before I wrote this story, which is why I was able to drag a few in...sankyuu for the feedback ::bows::
EmmaDeniseRAWR: Sankyuu~ I'm playing around with writing a tad differently than I normally do, so it's good to hear that this new style is working, haha.
On a different note, I think that this is my favorite chapter so far. I dunno if its really okay to say that, since I'm only on the fourth one still xD but...oh well. This one was also one of the most fun to write, as the next one made me twitchy...very twitchy =_=;...ahem, onwards~
Also. I've recently fallen completely in love with the new series Young Justice...so I will actually be alternating chapters of this story with the one I'm writing for that fandom...once I finish the intro, anyways...xD
In the mean time, enjoy~