This one's for Justkindaannoyed. Hope you enjoy!
Drabble:173
Lehigh was huge, Eddie thought, as he strolled over the quads. He'd shown up here to check on, and catch up with, Rose, whom he hadn't seen for far too long. And of course, Rose in true fashion, had not been in her dorm.
Lissa had been though, and she had spared him a chagrined smile before going back to the Skype conference she had been holding with some advisors back at Court. Lana, one of the Royal Guards, had informed him that Rose had disappeared a quarter of an hour ago (and exactly 2 minutes before Lissa's meeting began), and that she had been armed with a gym bag.
So, Eddie had set out to look for his friend, and had passed two faculty buildings, before reaching the gym. He walked into the facility, observing the equipments while scouring for Rose.
He was lucky he had the body of an athlete, and the face of a student, because it allowed him to blend in the crowd in a way neither Dimitri nor Christian would've been able to. And while the cardio machinery impressed him, Rose was definitely not here.
So, he looked around for a friendly face…and as luck would have it, he literally bumped into such a guy.
"Sorry", guy said, with a smile. "Didn't quite see you there. You ok, man?"
"Yeah", Eddie replied, retrieving the guy's water bottle from where it had rolled on the floor.
"I haven't seen you around much. You're from Pre-Law or Pre-Med?", the guy asked, naming the two most taxing curriculum. He was squinting at Eddie, which affirmed Eddie's idea that this was someone who knew-(almost)-everybody, quite like Micah.
"Something like that", Eddie evaded. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have seen a girl around here?"
The guy blinked at him incredulously before muttering definitely pre-med under his breath. "This is a co-ed gym, buddy, so girls have been known to frequent it"
Eddie sighed. "What I meant was I'm looking for this one girl, in particular"
"Yeah?", the guy replied, looking more enthused. "Then tell me about her, 'cos me and my buds know most people. Name's Jared, by the way"
"The footballer?", Eddie asked, recalling Dimitri mentioning the name of the guy he had bumped into on Halloween's. What are the odds!
"The very same, doc", Jared mock-saluted, before slinging a hand over his shoulder and leading him into the heart of the gym. "So then, about your girl.."
"She's not my girl", Eddie replied, shaking his head in revulsion, finding the thought of Rose being his girl extremely disturbing.
"Not yet", Jared teased, good-naturedly, throwing in a wink for good measure.
Eddie didn't even bother correcting him this time. "She's about this tall", Eddie gestured. "And has dark hair"
"And that narrows down our suspect to half the girls here", Jared replied 'helpfully', waving to a couple of guys by the boxing ring. "You're gonna have to be more specific – is she a runner…or a lifter…or into crossfit?"
"Maybe you know her by name?", Eddie suggested hopefully. "Rose"
At once, Jared came to a standstill. "Hathaway?", he choked out, suddenly looking ashen.
When Eddie nodded, Jared lowered his voice. "Look man, you seem to be a good guy, so take my advice-let her go"
"Why?", Eddie asked, just for knowing what kind of reputation Rose had built up here.
"She's not interested, for one", he said solemnly, as if delivering tragic news. "Moreover, she's unavailable"
"Oh", Eddie nodded. "But I'm not looking for any of that, I just wanna know where she is"
"Look, man, I tried. But if you still wanna go ahead and have your heart broken, then sure. Who am I to stop you?", Jared sighed, and Eddie had a hunch that he was speaking from personal experience. Ouch. "You'll find her at the running track."
"Thanks. For…everything", Eddie waved goodbye, and turned towards the door. He hadn't moved two steps before there was an ear-splitting scream of 'Eddie', and a sweaty, grinning Rose was hurtling at him and tackling him to the ground. When he had managed to stand up-Rose still stuck to his side-Jared (and half the gym) was gaping.
"Hey Jared!", Rose greeted. "Funny how I keep finding you with all my men. See ya!", and with that she was dragging Eddie out, before he could explain to Jared-still gaping-she didn't mean it that way.
And Jared returns. And so do I…apparently.
Sorry for my absence, and yes, I'll be disappearing again in 4 days' time…after a few updates.
So, thank you guys for the continued love and support for Moments. And thanks for reading! Cheers!