Disclaimer: GW and all things associated belong to Sunrise
& the Sotsu Agency.
Notes: Thanks go to Lilias for her thorough
editing-skills.
CHAPTER TWO: Settling In
The first week wasn't as scary as I'd imagined it would
be, and it went by in a whirlwind.
Auditions for orchestra were followed by placement test for music
theory, and before I knew it, I was placed in the highest Harmony class with
one of the most famous youths of the world—Relena Darlian. She was a voice major (alto, thank God) and
was in my piano studio. We hit it off
immediately. She was obviously old
money, but didn't seem to let it get in the way. She was friendly and outgoing, and had the intelligence and
talent to back herself up. Since we
shared most of our classes, we decided to study together.
The lounge was crowded, as always, and with Wufei and
Zechs watching some news channel on TV and Duo and Trowa playing card games
next to us, we were easily distracted.
"Now, which is the inverted six-four chord
again?" Relena asked, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.
I laughed.
"Relena, if you don't understand this, you'll never get
anywhere! How did you place in the top
Harmony class, anyway?"
She pretended to be indignant. "The test was multiple choice, remember?"
I shared my notes, explaining the inversions to her again,
but after a minute or two she elbowed me, nodding her head in the direction of
the door. "Who is that?" she
asked through clenched teeth.
I looked up.
"Heero Yuy."
I could practically see the stars in her eyes, but was
impressed when she turned back to our notes.
"Mind if I sit here?" Heero asked, dropping his
books on our table.
"Go ahead," Relena answered.
They stared at each other for a good minute before
introducing themselves. Needless to
say, we didn't get much studying done.
***
"So how bad is your schedule?" Duo asked early in first weekend, when I
finally had a break from practicing.
I shrugged.
"Theory in the morning, sectionals in the afternoon. Orchestra in the evening. The only 'elective' I have is Psychology—which
is boring. But at least it's not in the
conservatory. I'm getting sick of that
building." I rolled my eyes and
dropped my book bag on his bed. He was
supposed to help me with my Acoustics homework, but he seemed more interested
in playing darts.
Duo laughed.
"I heard the same thing last year from the girl who was dating my
roommate." This sounded like
another typical Duo-story. "She
was a music education major, but gave it up after two quarters to major in
math. She was relieved to only have
three or four classes per quarter instead of her usual ten."
Heero grunted from the other side of the room, where he
was typing away on his computer.
"Nothing's as bad as CIS."
He glared over his shoulder at the two of us.
"He just found out that he has to maintain a 3.5 just
to stay in his major program," Duo whispered dramatically. "But there's really nothing to worry
about. I saw his high school
transcript." He flicked another
dart at the board. He missed, matching
the other five darts that had been imbedded in the door.
Heero swiveled around in his chair, tossing a glare
directly at his roommate. "That
was a lot easier than what I'm studying here."
I wondered if every day was like this for them. Watching them, I couldn't even tell if they
really liked one another. Heero seemed
to be in his perpetual scowly mood, and Duo would shrug everything off as if it
didn't matter. It was like reading
"The Odd Couple" except with the main characters being chipper and
cantankerous, rather than messy and neat.
A small knock at the door interrupted my thoughts and
Duo's dart game.
"Sorry to
interrupt, but is Quatre in here?" Relena asked from the hallway.
"Yeah. Come
on in," Duo said, opening the door wider.
Relena looked a little embarrassed. "Wufei said you were probably down
here, Quat. Have you done your
Acoustics yet? I can't get past the
sixth problem, and Professor Grant said he might give us a quiz this
Tuesday."
Duo perked up.
"You have Professor G?
Really? He's my advisor!"
Relena smiled her thousand-watt, daughter-of-a-politician
smile. It was the same smile that had
made the guys in my high school pin pictures of her up in their lockers. Duo didn't seem to be affected that much,
though his roommate certainly was.
Heero couldn't keep his eyes off of her.
"I like his class," Relena explained. "I just can't seem to understand all of
it. Science has always been my worst
subject."
"Mine, too," I replied. "That's why I asked Duo to help me
out."
Relena turned to Duo with pleading eyes, and he seemed to
melt a bit.
"I can tutor you, if you'd like," he
offered. For a moment I thought I heard
Heero growl, but realized he was just clearing his throat.
"I'm pretty good at science, too," he said. "I can help you if he gets busy or
anything."
Duo grinned slyly.
"Can you still manage your perfect GPA? You sure you won't be too
swamped to help her?"
Both Heero and Relena flushed. Heero quickly turned back to his computer, typing furiously. Relena sat on the floor with me, opening her
book bag. "So where are you guys
from, anyway?" she asked as she looked for her notes.
Heero grunted slightly.
"Everywhere. I'm an Army
brat, so I've spent my life everywhere.
But most of my childhood was in Japan."
"Oh, I love Japan!" Relena exclaimed. "I went there with my father last
year. It's so beautiful in the
fall."
Heero nodded. I
had to agree. I'd been there only once
as a child, accompanying my father on a business trip.
Duo resumed his dart game, frowning slightly. "Must be nice, being able to travel all
over the world at the drop of a hat."
Relena turned to him.
"Where were you raised?" she asked amicably.
"I'm American.
From New York, to be exact."
He gestured to the framed photo of New York City hanging above his
headboard. "I was raised in a
Catholic orphanage in the city. Unlike
the rest of this school, I actually had to work hard to earn a full scholarship—though
you're probably not aware that full scholarships at Sanq don't cover room and
board." He scowled slightly, his
voice growing colder. "But Father
Maxwell and the sisters at the orphanage have supported me and help me earn the
money to pay for it all."
The three of us stared at him, a little alarmed by his
sudden shift from cheeriness to hostility.
Relena
blinked. "New York. Wow—I'm sure it was exciting."
Duo shrugged, his mouth sneering the littlest bit. "It was life."
She looked at me, her expression bewildered.
"Well, we're glad you're here, Duo," I threw in,
hoping to erase his bad mood with the truth.
"And I think it's great that you agreed to come to a snobby place
like this."
He shook his head slightly, his relaxed appearance
returning. "Man, you're a
sap," he replied, cuffing me lightly.
"Let's tackle this Acoustics assignment."
***
I was working out some chord progressions two weeks later
when Trowa came home from practice. He
was always so loud, which was strange for a guy as quiet and graceful as
him. He dumped his bag on the couch,
dropped his keys on his desk with a clatter, yanked open the fridge and gulped
down some milk. As soon as he finished,
he slammed the refrigerator door shut and crossed the room to the closet.
"Are you coming tonight?" he asked, rummaging
through a bunch of shirts on hangers.
"Where?" I asked, bewildered.
A look of confusion crossed his face. "Didn't Wufei tell you? We were invited to a party at the Omega Zeta
house. Should be fun."
"Yeah, I guess I'll go," I said
reluctantly. I wasn't fond of
fraternities; the whole scene seemed fake and snobbish. At a school as elite as Sanq, it seemed
unnecessary to encourage even more social distinctions between people.
Trowa flashed me a smile and my chest did the fluttery
thing that made me feel awkward and sheepish around my roommate. He opened my section of the closet and
laughed. "Why don't you wear this
shirt of mine?" he asked, tossing me a black, button-down shirt. "And don't tuck it."
I removed my vest and shirt, feeling self-conscious with
his eyes on me. Trowa's shirt was
short-sleeved, and the material was cool and thin. I fought the urge to tuck it in; I felt so sloppy.
He eyed me critically.
"Lose the belt. You look
like you're in church."
I removed it, draping it neatly over the back of my
chair. My breath caught in my throat
when Trowa came over to me, grabbing my waist.
But with a tug he readjusted my khaki pants so they hung lower on my
hips.
"There. Now
you don't look like a mama's boy," he said with a smirk, ruffling my
hair. He grabbed his towel and shower
things and left, leaving me there to feel awkward and sheepish, as always.
"Can I come in?" Relena asked from the doorway,
poking her head in.
"Yeah."
I threw my vest and shirt in the closet. "How did you get in the building?"
"I'm magical," she answered with a shrug. Every time she came over to study, she'd
managed to get into the dorm without calling up. It was impressive, I suppose, but a little unnerving that someone
could get into a "secure" building so easily.
She looked me over and whistled. "Looking sharp.
Going to the Omega Zeta party?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Am I the only one who didn't know about this thing?"
She grinned, sitting on Trowa's bed. "I only know 'cause my roommates
invited me. One of them is dating
someone in the fraternity. You are
going, though, aren't you?"
I nodded. "I
guess."
"Good. There's someone I want you to meet—my friend
Dorothy Catalonia."
I raised my eyebrows.
"She's the one who's on the women's swim team, right?"
She nodded.
"And she really wants to meet you; I think she's tired of me
talking about you non-stop."
"Are you trying to fix me up, Relena?"
"Oh, no!" she said with a laugh. "I hardly think she's your type. But I think you two will be good
friends." She crossed the room to
fix my collar. "Is there anyone
you have your eye on, though, Quat?"
I averted my eyes, staring at the floor instead of her
bright face. "Not really," I
shrugged. Not anyone I have a
chance in hell with. I forced a
smile. "We'll just see what happens
tonight."
She smiled prettily.
"I hope you find someone, Quatre.
Even if it's only temporary. You
deserve a little happiness." She
kissed my forehead, and I marveled at her.
How had she managed to become so close and so important to me in a
matter of weeks?
"Are you coming, Relena?" Heero poked his head into the room.
"I'll be there in a sec," she called over her
shoulder. Then she smiled at me
apologetically. "We're going out
to eat—but I'll see you at the party, okay?"
I nodded.
"I'm glad things seem to be working out for you two."
She laughed musically.
"'Working out' isn't exactly accurate. But I think it'll fall into place, eventually." She wrapped her arms around me in a
comfortable hug. "I'm worried
about you Quatre. I think you're
keeping secrets. But they're yours, and
I won't ask. Just remember that if you
ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."
She scampered out of the room, passing Trowa as he came
in, naked except for the towel wrapped around his waist. I averted my eyes from his, instead sitting
back down at my desk to finish my homework.
Relena was right; there was definitely a secret or two that I was
keeping from her. But discussing my
unfounded feelings for my roommate wasn't really something I was comfortable
sharing—especially since the guys didn't know I wasn't straight in the first
place.
continued in Autumn: 03