Deirdra was halfway down the hall when she heard the pattering of footsteps coming from the cafeteria. In a moment Valon was beside her. "Hey, you wanna hang out in my room for a while?", he asked between bites of peach yogurt. The pita sandwich was nowhere to be seen, but there was a telltale smear of mayo on his cheek, suggesting that it now resided in his stomach. Deirdra eyed him suspiciously. When she didn't answer, Valon realised that he needed to explain. "I thought you might be bored and I've got some movies and music and stuff", he said, adding "Plus, I wouldn't mind some company and Raph's busy, Mai's mad at me, I can't find Alister, and the two twerps are on an assignment." "So basically I'm your last resort. How flattering", Deirdra said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Valon put on a hangdog look and pretended to be hurt. She stifled a giggle and rolled her eyes. He was good at pulling faces. "You're not going to be mad at me too now, are you?", he asked, frowning. "Nooo", she answered slowly. He looked relieved.
"So you'll come with me?"
"Should I?"
"Ah, c'mon."
She let him sweat it a few minutes, then gave in. She might as well. There certainly wasn't anything to do in her room.
When Deirdra walked inside Valon's room, it was like crossing the threshhold into another world. Well, okay, maybe not another world, but it was quite a contrast to her spartan, under-furnished room and Mai's chic but girly one, as well as to the rest of the building. Valon's quarters looked like the typical frat boy pad, complete with a massive stereo system, Batman sheets on the bed, Playboy mags, and smelly gym socks on the floor. He also had stacks of CDs and DVDs, a couple crates of record albums, and every video game under the sun, from Mario Party 4 to Guitar Hero. A 32" flat screen TV and some game consoles were nearby. "Make yourself at home", Valon said brightly. Deirdra sat down on the bed, as there were no chairs, while he dug around underneath it. He came up holding a bag of Cheetos and a couple cans of rootbeer. "You do have your own food!", Deirdra exclaimed. "Yeah. I've been saving it up for a rainy day -or an opponent", Valon said, grinning as he handed her a game controller. Two hours later they were munching on the last of the Cheetos and playing Halo 3 on the Playstation when there was a knock at the door. Neither of them had a chance to answer before the door opened. "Oi! Alister! Where have you been hiding?", Valon asked, seeing who had come in. Alister gaped as he took in the scene, then turned and ran. Deirdra went after him. She could only imagine what it must have looked like -her and Valon sprawled on the bed together. "It's not what you think. Alister, wait!", she shouted, running after him. But he didn't wait. "I have nothing to say to you", he snapped. He went into an office and shut the door, locking it.