I hate them.
I absolutely hate them.
The on-campus tricksters.
Yeah, my hatred for them flows through my veins with brute force. It's like - Luke Skywalker force.
If I didn't have a sincere desire not to go to jail, I would kill them.
Okay, maybe not KILL them, that's a bit extreme, but I would definitely seek hardcore vengance.
I just expected the Harvard kids to be a little more matured minded.
But as usual, my expectations of life stop short.
I storm through my dorm, muttering curses under my breath as I snatch a pair of dry clothes and a towel.
Their attack was so tacky too.
You can't even see them and they plummet you with water balloons. NO ONE knows where they are when they throw them. I guess it's some kind of stupid trade secret, because they know if people knew where they were, they'd be dead in two seconds.
My room mate, Poppy Lewis, looks up from her studying as I blow through the room. She furrows her eyebrows, watching me carefully, "Is it raining?"
"Raining stupidity, yes." I sigh, angrily, "Just those stupid freaking jokesters at this college, who are either so smart they dont have to spend anytime studying, or they don't care and they dont study and hopefully they'll drop out and leave us other kids alone."
She looks back down at her book, "Harsh."
"Yeah, well. We all know I'm so cheerful right after I just had a bunch of water balloons explode in my face." I say, walking out the door and into the showers.
Maybe if I wish hard enough, those kids will disappear and my life will get infinitely better.
: : : :
I run a hand through my damp hair as I walk back into my dorm room. I guess Poppy left to socialize or go to a class or something. I throw my towel on the bed and walk back out the door to see if she's in the common area. I peer into the room and only find another girl, named Rhea, in there, silently reading. I sigh and walk to the front door. Poppy likes to sit right outside our door sometimes and "people watch". As I swing the front door open and peer into the hall, a pair of bright blue eyes catch mine.
Oh, snap.
Zeke Davies.
I feel my eyes widen. His short brown hair is spiked up, and a navy blue shirt hugs his chest.
Oh, my gosh.
Why is he so adorable?
I do my very best to keep my cool, as he smiles with friendliness. A look of recognition passes over his face, " Hey, Sidney."
I clear my throat, nervously, "Hi, Zeke."
He examines me from a few feet away, folding his arms over his chest, "What's going on?"
I look up and down the hallway quickly, "Oh, nothing. I'm just looking for Poppy. You haven't seen her, have you?"
He shrugs, "Can't say that I have. Is she missing or something?"
I shake my head quickly, "No. I'm.... just looking for her."
I lick my lips, quickly, before he can respond, "Anyway, I'll see you later."
"Okay. Bye."
I quickly close the door and lean against it, letting out a sigh of relief. I rush to the mirror and look at myself in horror. Damp, tangled hair. Soccer shorts. In front of ZEKE DAVIES.
I throw my head back and let out a frustrated sigh.
Today is just sizing up to be a great day isn't it?
I hear my phone buzz from my pocket. I look down at it and pull in out, checking the messages.
Ah, Iris.
Iris Walters is my cousin who's more like a sister, due to the fact that we grew up two blocks away from each other, and our mothers run a restaurant together. Iris always makes everything better. We used to talk ALL the time, until she got that job and that stupid boyfriend, Thomas. She's an actress, and she recently got the job of an extra on The Maze Runner cast. And that's where she met her life long crush, Thomas Brodie Sangster. And they started dating and her brain started melting from romantic stuff. Anyway, they've been dating for almost a year now and she never shuts up about him.
I wish she would though. It's not that I dislike Thomas or anything, it's just that....I feel like since he's famous it's hard not to get the fact that Iris has a boyfriend rubbed in my face all the time. I have a keen interest in dating, trust me. I go on dates pretty often actually. I just....have a little trouble sticking to one guy for a long period of time.
I click on the text.
Iris: Get on Skype.
My fingers fly across the screen and I click send: Kay.
I walk through the common area and down the hallway to my room. I grab my laptop off my bedside table and and boot my computer up. I squeeze my eyes closed, still letting the Zeke thing bother me.
Guys.
Ugh.
I remember the quote from Mary Poppins.
"Although, we adore men individually, as a group, we agree they're rather stupid." Truer words have never been spoken.
I look above the headboard on my bed at the pictures I have posted up there. Iris and my brother, Percy stand next to each other. Iris is in mid sentence and Percy smiles. But behind them are me and Juliette, making creepy faces. Juliette is my other cousin and Iris' younger sister. I myself am a year older than Juliette.
Skype pulls up and I immediately hear a call come in. I take a deep breath and remind myself to be cheerful for Iris. I press answer and a blurred image of Iris appears on my screen. Her brown hair thrown over her shoulder and her brown eyes shine.
I give her a small smile, "Hey, Iris!"
She beams at me, "Hi, Sidney!"
She studies me for a few seconds, looking me up and down. I lean forward, finding my face is lopsided in the camera and I move my laptop to adjust it.
Open with a joke, I think to myself.
"So, how's your life? How's your dream of being a stand up comidian going?" I ask, grinning.
She wanted to be a stand up comidian when she was younger. We always used to make fun of her, because what ten year old wants to be a comidian?
She shadows her eyes at me, "Yeahhhh. Ha, ha, Sidney. I see you haven't lost your wit."
I chuckle, bitterly, "Yeah. There are a bunch of smart-mouths here anyway. Everyone makes the kids that go to Harvard sound all sophisticated and intelligent, when in reality, they're stupid college kids like everyome else. Only, their pranks are a little more ellaborate."
Iris laughs, "They're not the dusty zombies I want them to be?"
I half laugh, half scoff, feeling slightly offended and amused, "Do I look like a dusty zombie?"
"Start spouting off mathematical equations and you will." She jokes.
I chuckle and watch Iris. She looks to her right and a look of mild surprise crosses her face. She grunts and looks back at me.
"Oh, hey. Sidney, I actually called for a reason. This is Thomas." She moves the camera to the right, and a young man slides on to I the screen. His sandy blonde hair flipped up and messy, sticking up in small tufts in every direction. He smiles and gives a small wave.
I blink in surprise, "Oh, Thomas! That guy you've been dating. And the one you've talked about since you were little, yeah. I remember him. How are you, Thomas?"
It takes everything I have in me not to make a sarcastic comment about how he stole Iris away.
He grins at me, and I have to admit, he isn't bad looking, "I'm grand. Iris was just telling me you are going to Harvard. I didnt realize there were geniuses in your family."
British accent.
Oh, yeah.
I forgot he had one of those.
I grin, "Yeah. Looking at Iris, it's a little hard to tell. But then you look at the rest of her family. Take me for example...."
Thomas throws his head back laughing, and it doesn't help when he sees Iris' amused face. She sends me a look that says, "Really, bro?" I just smile at her.
She rolls her eyes, "Bull."
I snicker, "Well, excuse me."
Iris brings the subject back around, "Anyway, getting back on track, Thomas and I have been dating for a while and things have been getting serious and yada yada yada yada, long story short- we're getting married!"
My eyes widen and I notice I've stopped breathing. It's like someone punched the air out of me.
Iris is getting MARRIED?
I feel my mouth drop open for a spilt second in my surprised horror. But then I remember, I'm supposed to be happy for them.
I pull a smile onto my face, "Get outta town!"
"Yeah!" Iris smiles, "Thomas is actually coming for Thanksgiving!"
Oh, praise the lord.
Thanksgiving break is soon.
I smile and quickly pull my head over to put my hair into a pony tail, letting a small look of concern show on my face as I tie my hair up.
As I flip my hair back over, I say, "Awesome! Percy is bringing his girlfriend too! Thalia? Remember her?"
Iris' eyebrows raise, "The beautiful redhead, with the gorgeous gray eyes? Of course! How couldn't I?"
I feel myself zoning out as I look on my bedside table, spotting a pencil. I grab it and start messing around with the eraser. I dont look at the camra or them, because then they'd see I was feeling sorry for myself.
I mutter, thinking out loud, "Juliette and I had better get a move on, huh? Half of us have significant others."
I dont know if Iris tries to comfort me, or just offer reassuring words, "Hey, no worries. It'll happen when the time is right."
I look back over at her with a blank expression.
When the time is right?
And when will the time be right, exactly?
I force a playful grin, "Yeah. Well, I need to go. Lots of work. But thanks for calling me. I'm glad YOU found someone."
She either doesn't notice the emphasis I put on "you" or she doesn't care. Probably the first one.
She smiles, looking a little disappointed. I know that she loves talking to me. We could talk forever and I know from experience, because that's what we used to do. We'd go on and on for hours and hours and never get bored.
But she lets me go anyway, "Okay. Talk to you later."
I wave, smiling at them, "Bye!"
The screen goes blank and I feel my throat squeeze and my eyes burn slightly.
I shake my head and close the laptop.
"When the time is right."
I sigh and think sadly to myself.
I really am happy for them.
But I wish I could be happy for ME for a change. At least in the love area if my life.
But, I guess I dont have time to be in love.
I get up off the bed and grab notes.
I have to study.