Fearless

Third-Wheeling 101 and Mr. Smiley Smilington

Andrew

The Chimera's Nest Academy was right next to the Blue Lagoon Accomadations, and was connected to it via three evenly-spaced bridges. Most of it was occupied by the students, however the higher up floors were reserved for VIP guests and members of the Council.

As we entered the lobby, Morgan's phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked it the text that popped up on his screen, and sighed. "Guess I have to go. Was kinda hoping I could give you guys a tour, but duty calls." He shrugged. He looked around. "He should've been here by now." He muttered.

"Who?" I asked.

"Your new roommate. I asked him to meet me here. I was hoping he could help you around the place." Morgan said. No sooner had he said that, that a boy my age(or maybe older) came sprinting toward us. He skidded to a stop before us.

"Okay, okay. I'm here." He placed his hands on knees, trying to catch his breathe.

"It's alright, Eric. You didn't have to run." Morgan said, smiling softly.

"Yeah, I know." He straightened up. Okay..the guy was definitely more than six feet. Maybe a 6'3. Which meant he was a couple of inches taller than Red, who was a 5'8, and pretty much towered over me.

"These are the kids I told you about." Morgan said.

"Hey, I'm Andrew." I introduced myself.

"Eric Williams." He smiled as he shook my hand.

He turned to smile at Red.

"Yes....I...I mean...it's Red. Red Carson." What the-

"Red. Cool."

"It is, yes." Red said, a half-smile playing on her lips.

" I gotta run, so I'll leave you kids to get along. " With that, Morgan turned and jogged away.

"C'mon, I'll show you guys to your rooms."

We walked in silence until he spoke up again. "So..Red. I guess the 'I see Red' phrase must be pretty overused then. And the 'Red with anger' phrase "

Red rolled her eyes. "It's been beaten to death, trust me."

"It does ring true to her though, with that temper." I muttered under my breathe. Red glared at me. Ah, so she heard me.

"You've...got a temper?" Okay, so Eric had heard it too. I really needed to improve my 'muttering to myself' skills.

"Well, its not like I get mad out of nowhere. I just have a low tolerance. " Red said.

Eric chuckled. " For what?"

"Y'know, bullies, stupidity, Andrew, things like that." She smiled innocently.

Eric laughed. Either this guy was very easy to amuse or he was trying real hard to make us feel welcome.

"Anways..the name Red, well..It's..short." Red said.

"For?" He inquired.

"For...my actual name?" Red tried.

"Which is? He chuckled.

"Which is...not important." Red played along.

"Let me guess, it's one of those Victorian era kind of names? The kind that's meant to be posh but ends up being impractical or outdated? Or is it one thats similar to a celebrity or something?"

"It's not- wait. The Victorian era? You're an emigrant too?" Red interrupted herself.

"Not really. I'm just interested in Earth Culture. " He shrugged.

"Impressive. Anyways, it's not like it's out-dated or anything. It's more like, my parents threw in a couple of alphabets together and decided 'Hey, this works.'" Red said.

I tried not to let my surprise show on my face. Everytime someone would comment or question her name, she'd either tell them to not pry or just punch them. Depending on her mood and their intention. But here she was, explaining and elaborating.

He laughed softly. "Well, Red suits you." He said as we entered the elevator.

"Thanks." Red said breathily. What in heaven's name....

Eric tapped on the button for floor fifteen. "That's your floor." He told Red. "Honey might not be there. She's working part-time at the infirmary."

"Honey?" Red and I asked in unison.

"Yes. Honey McClain. She's your roommate." He told Red.

"That's her first name? And here we are talking about my name?" Red laughed in disbelief. I had to agree. What kind of a name was Honey?

"Well, I agree that it's not a name you'd hear often. But trust me, she's a nice girl." Eric smiled fondly.

"Is that so?" The temperature of the elevator seemed to drop suddenly. Her tone was indifferent, almost cold, the opposite of how it was a second ago. Did the name Honey offend her or something?

"Yeah. She's..uh..she's...nice."

"Yeah, you said that." She made it sound casual, but it totally wasn't.

Eric chuckled nervously. "Yeah, guess I did."

"You know her pretty well, then?"

"Oh yeah. I've known her since forever. She's like a little sister. I've been looking out for her since we were kids." Eric smiled.

"Oh. Like a sister." Red drawled out the word 'sister' . "Then I'm sure she must be great." She said. What was that supposed to mean?

Eric cleared his throat. For some reason, he looked awfully flustered at what she'd said. Was I missing something? I looked at my cousin, who had a strange smile on her face. I knew that smile...it was the same smile I had plastered across my face every time Alaise walked past.

Oh....so that's what the sister comment was about.

I looked at my roommate again. Caramel hair, blue eyes, and a charming smile. I guess he could be considered attractive.

The elevator opened and Eric led us into one of the numerous corridors. "The floors from one to fifteen are for the female students and from sixteen to thirty-one are for the guys." He explained.

"What floor are we in?" I asked.

Eric looked at me. His eyes widened slightly as if he'd just realised something and then looked away, a rather guilty expression on his face. I wondered what that was about. Clearing his throat for a second time, he spoke. "We're on the twenty-fourth."

We came to a door that read 15025. "Here we are." He fished out a key from his pocket and opened the door. "Here's your key. Your luggage must already have been placed here. So you can settle in. Honey won't be back for another hour or so."

Before Red entered her room, she threw me a warning glare. I knew what that meant. She didn't want me saying anything embarrassing about her to Prince Charming Williams. I just smirked, before moving away from the door. Eric and I walked to the elevator in silence. Once we entered, Eric looked at me again with a guilty expression.

"I'm so sorry." He said.

"What?"

"It must seem like I totally ignored you the whole time. I mean, I was mostly just talking to Red. She's real cool and all but I shouldn't have just-" He gave me a sheepish look.

"Nah, it's cool. I'm u-" I almost said that I'm used to it. But I decided I'd better not expose Red for the attention seeking freak she was just yet, considering how there seemed to be a mutual liking between them. "I'm more of a listener anyway."

"If you say so." He still looked pretty apologetic. "Anyways.....you guys are cousins, right?" He asked me.

I grinned. Yep, there was definitely a mutual attraction. Even after the apology, his conversation opener was about her. "Yeah, maternal cousins."

"Huh, yes. Director Pools had mentioned. Something about your families living together..." Eric said.

"Well, not together. The same neighbourhood."

He smiled."I see. Sounds cool." Was it just me or was this guy almost eerily nice? Earlier I thought he was all smiles because he was trying to make a good impression on Red. But he was still smiling.

"God, I really hope Austin has cleaned." He muttered softly.

"Austin?"

"Oh yeah. Since the accommodations in the twenty-fourth floor are extremely spacious, they have three guys sharing one room. Hope that's okay?"

"Yeah. The more the merrier, right?" I said. Why was he asking me anyways? It's not like the guy could change the arrangement if I said I didn't.

The elevator dinged open, and we walked toward a door that read 24032. "Hope your like it here." Eric swung open the door, still smiling. Jeez.