~*~

I have a very nice ceiling in my dorm room. That boardy stuff with the little holes in it, supported by metal things…yeah. That’s my ceiling. It’s the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning; kinda comforting, I guess. Whenever I have a nightmare and I wake up and see that ceiling, I know everything’s okay, and whatever scared me was only a dream.

The dream with the Halloween costumes wasn’t scary, per se. But I was still very glad to discover it hadn’t been true.

I don’t dream much. Usually, I’m a pretty deep sleeper. So what the heck was up with all these wacky ones I’d been having lately?! Chuin and Saihitei and…and Genrou in a priest’s suit?! Yikes. I hoped it was just stress, or something. Otherwise I’d think I was slowly going insane.

Frowning, I sat up in bed briskly and swung my legs over the side. Stop it, delusional loser. Don’t even go there.

It was then that I realized the implications of having a conversation with myself, and decided to stop promptly. Grabbing my toothbrush and other bathroom accessories, I rushed off to the bathroom to grab a shower before they were all full.

Although, come to think of it, I really shouldn’t have worried, since ninety-seven percent of college boys bathe about as often as cicadas make an appearance above ground. It’s disgusting. One of the worst things that can happen to you in a long lecture class is getting stuck in a seat behind some dude who looks like he’s just ducked his head in a bowl full of cooking oil and smells like he’s harboring dead animals under his shirt. For pete’s sake. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to go mommy-less until they’re thirty.

I spent my entire French history class drawing pictures in my notebook. Don’t know why I even bothered going, really. Attendance didn’t count for any percentage of the grade, and I knew all the stuff we were learning about from other history classes I’d taken in English. Ah well. At least I learned some new freakin vocab, I guess.

After school, I stopped by Genrou’s dorm to say hi. He was blasting his Sum 41 CD, and it took him about ten minutes to hear me knocking.

"Ya coulda just fuckin come in, ya know," he said after opening the door.

"Well, I’m polite, okay?" I exclaimed. "I didn’t wanna walk in on you changing clothes, or doing needlepoint, or something."

He narrowed his eyes. "Hah, hah…you’re a fucking funny guy, ya know that?"

"I think you need one of those V-chip things installed in your head to stop you from swearing," I commented. "You know. Like in the South Park movie."

"Whatever. So whazzup? How’d yer day go?"

"It was okay," I shrugged. "Nothing spectacular. Yours?"

"I fuckin hate this damn school."

"That well, huh?"

"Shut up. You fuckin asked."

I sat down on the end of his bed. "I thought you were finally getting used to studying. Remember? We were so proud that it only took you three years to adjust."

"Ahhhh, it’d be fine, if it weren’t for the fuckin tests." He shook his head. "They’re too damn much to worry about. Not like I ain’t got other shit on my mind."

I wanted to ask him what, but bit my tongue, deciding he’d tell me if he felt like it. Genrou wasn’t the most sharing of guys; he kept a lot of pretty emotional things to himself, and I wanted to respect that.

"Well…anyway," he grumbled, scratching his head and wrinkling his nose, "how’d your date go last night?"

How the heck did HE know??? "How the heck did you know?! It wasn’t a date!"

He smirked. "Doukun told me. Shit, man. Never thought I’d see the day when you’d actually say yes to that fuckin weirdo."

"It wasn’t a date," I repeated firmly.

"Did he pay for ya?" Genrou pressed.

I felt my cheeks flush. "Well…nnnno. We, ahhh….never actually got to that part."

"What?" he exclaimed. "What the hell?! Why the fuck not? What happened?"

"Umm…" I looked at my hands, clasping them together. "I ran out on him."

"DAMMIT!! What the hell’d he to do ya?! I’ll kick his ass!!" my friend declared fiercely, and I had to smile. It’s the best feeling in the world, to know that you have friends who really care about you. Even if their way of showing it is ‘kicking the ass’ of whoever makes you mad.

"No, Genrou…don’t worry about it, kay?" I insisted. "It got taken care of."

"Fuck that!! What the hell did he do?!"

"Will ya stop shouting?" I hissed, wide-eyed. "The people down the hall’re gonna think I was raped, or something!!"

His eyes grew huge, and he blanched. "Oh, my fuckin God…did he…did…"

"NOOOO, you dork!!" I cried, throwing a notebook at him. "We were in a restaurant!!!!!"

"Well, fuck…"

I held up my hand. "V-chip."

Rolling his eyes, he sat down beside me on the bed. "Look," he said, his voice quieter. "Just tell me what the fuck happened, okay? If this guy’s gonna be botherin you, I wanna know what to look out for."

So I told him what happened. It was actually kind of a relief to tell someone, even though it really wasn’t a big deal. The thought occurred to me that I had just refrained from prying into Genrou’s life, while here I was letting him pretty much delve into mine. Oh well. All my friends knew I couldn’t keep stuff hidden for long. That’s what made Gen-chan and I different, I guess. His way of dealing with stuff was just ignoring it. I might do that for a while, but eventually, I always told someone what was bothering me. Otherwise, I had a scary feeling that whatever it was would grow and consume me, if I let it. This thing with Chuin was pretty minor and silly, but I was still glad I had a friend who was willing to listen.

Even if he did respond with, "That motherfuckin asshole!!! I’ll rip his fuckin balls off!!!"

"Gen-chan, please," I said, "it really isn’t a big deal."

He sighed. "But it fuckin coulda been. If he was a fuckin normal guy, he wouldn’t’ve fuckin chased ya."

I shrugged uncomfortably.

"Shit. Do me a favor, will ya, and don’t go out with any more psychopaths who ya don’t even know."

"Don’t worry. I tried it and it failed. I’m not gonna try this tactic again."

Looking into my eyes with a smile, he asked, "You sure you’re okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Thanks, though."

"Okay, then." He reached out and gave me a hug. I giggled and rolled my eyes, because Genrou is such a sap at heart.

Then the door opened, and I abruptly found myself shoved off the bed and onto the floor.

"Ahhhh!!" I exclaimed in surprise and indignation.

"Hey, Kouji!!" Genrou greeted his roommate loudly. "How’d the test go?!!"

"Sucked." Kouji peered down at me. "What the hell’s Ryuuen doin on our floor?"

"Testing…out…your carpeting," I muttered through clenched teeth, picking myself up.

He blinked. "Uh…why?"

"Never mind."

"Well…" Kouji gave me a funny look. "Are ya gonna be able to tear yourself away from the rug next Wednesday night for the Halloween party?"

"Halloween party?" I raised my eyebrows.

"What, ya didn’t tell him?" He shot a look at Genrou.

"Fuck," said Genrou.

"It’s at Kaen’s place," Kouji told me. "Seven o’clock. It’s supposed to be a costume party, but she and Doulin and Lanva will probably be the only ones wearin ‘em."

Doulin and Lanva were Kaen’s two roommates; I’d met Doulin before, but never Lanva. "Okay, sounds cool," I said. "Who else is going?"

"I dunno, a buncha people. Taka was invited, but I dunno if he’ll stay the whole time, since Miaka’s comin to visit…Doukun, but hell, the kid might stay in all night studyin for all I know…Myojuan and Shouka, shit, a buncha people."

I laughed. "I’ll get on Doukun’s case, make sure he comes. It’s Halloween, after all! And I’ll pester Taka to bring Miaka, too."

"Yeah. Yer fuckin good at pesterin people," said Genrou.

"Thanks, bud-dy," I smiled, patting his head roughly.

"Heyyyy!! Owwwww!!" he whined, batting my hand away.

"God, you’re a wimp," I laughed as I collected my things.

"Yeah, he is," Kouji agreed.

"What???!! I am not!!" Genrou exclaimed incredulously.

"I’ll see ya later, cutie," I winked, and turned to leave, trying hard not to burst into hysterics at the sight I’d been left of my friend gaping like a fish, his eyes bugging out, his face having turned as red as his hair in under a second. Kouji erupted into gales of laughter as I headed down the hall, and I let out a little giggle. Teasing Genrou was just too much fun.

Realizing my desperate need for sugar and caffeine before returning to my room to begin on my homework, I stopped at the coffee shop for a hazy turtle mocha on the way home. Sighing a bit at the hole it had cut in my money supply (three bucks isn’t awful, but it’s damn expensive for a teeny cup of espresso, milk, and flavored syrup), I tried to eat the whipped cream off the top of my drink and walk at the same time. However, this required not paying full attention to what was going on in front of me; so, when I sensed someone about to run into me, glimpsed them out of the very, very edge of my eye, I stopped more abruptly than necessary.

"Oops! I’m sorry, I…" I began, looking up…then trailed off.

"Oh, well, hello," said Saihitei, smiling down at me. "Fancy running into you here!"

I blinked, surprised. "Ah! Hi! Wow…yeah, what a koinkydink!!"

WHAT…did you…just…say???!!!! Oh my God. You complete. And utter. SPAZZ.

"I suppose it’s a fairly popular place, though," he went on, mercifully ignoring my inane colloquialism. "I wonder how many college students would flunk out of school if not for coffee." He chuckled, as if he found this incredibly funny.

"I wonder how much money college students would save if there was no coffee," I mumbled.

His brows raised in amusement. "True, true. You do have a point. So, do you want to sit down and finish your drink with me? I shouldn’t take too long in the line."

A wave of panic washed over me, and I suddenly felt a bit light-headed. "Um, no, I’m sorry…I’m really sorry, but I gotta go study. I have this huge paper due tomorrow, and an exam on Thursday," I blurted. A blatant lie.

With a slightly disappointed look, he lowered his eyes. "Ah. I see. Well, study before all, eh?"

"Yup. Um, I’ll see you around, though, okay?" I made a hasty wave, and hurried out the door.

"Oh, but can I have your email add…" I heard him call out before the door swung shut and cut him off.

~*~

I needed to stop thinking about this.

Sitting down at the computer (back in my room at last), I logged into my email, let out a mental morbid scream, and deleted no less than five messages from Chuin without opening them.

If I were smart, I’d LET Genrou kill him. I wonder how much restraining orders cost.

But there, at the end, was an email from Miaka, and my mood lifted immediately. I adored Taka’s cheery little girlfriend. She was like a younger sister to me; I’d known her since high school, when she and Taka had started going out. Smiling at my monitor, I opened the email and read it.

Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 14:06:27 –0500 (CDT)
From: Miakabaka@students.muc.perry.edu
To: rychou1@students.allenby.edu
Subject: Hi hi hi!! ^_^ Party time!

Hi, Ryuu-chan!! Gee, I haven’t talked to you for a loooooong time! ;_; I miss you! But I’m coming to see Taka tomorrow for Halloween, because all my friends are down there! Yui-chan’s coming, too, since Tetsuya’s out of town for some interview or something. So we’re gonna have a party! ^_^ I know Taka said that there’s another one going on, but we’re going to that one, don’t worry. This one is more of an After-The-Real-Party thing. ^_^ It’s only for a few people, so please don’t invite anyone else (I know you wouldn’t! You’re too nice to do that……riiiiiiiiight? ^_^). It’s a sleepover! At Taka’s apartment. He said everyone could use his shower and stuff in the morning, but you live right across the street anyway, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. I hope you can come!! **big eyes** I heard you don’t have any classes until noon, anyway, har har har. -_-() Lucky.

Anyway, I have to go because I have to write to some other people. ^_^ Taka says I’m weird because I don’t just send it to a bunch of people at once, but don’t you think it’s nicer when it’s personalized like this? That’s why I’m sending out the invitations from all the way over here, when he’s the one having the party. -_-() He said if I wanted to send them out one at a time, then I had to do them all. **sigh** But I’m rambling, so I’m gonna go now. I hope you have a good day! Byeeeeee!!!

Love,

~*~Miaka~*~ @-->-->--- (Isn’t that cool?? It’s a rose!)

Shaking my head and laughing quietly to myself, I sent my reply:

Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:13:05 –0500 (CDT)
From: rychou1@students.allenby.edu
To: Miakabaka@students.muc.perry.edu
Subject: Bakabakabaka!! **Insert Chicken Noises**

Miaka-channnnn!!!!! **glomp** I miss you, too!! Don’t think I’ve seen ya since summer. Of course I’ll come to your Party Sequel. ^_^ How hard did you have to twist Taka-chan’s arm to let you have it, huh??? He’s very protective of that apartment. Almost psychotically so. ~.^;; But we won’t mess it up…too much. Bwah hah hah. ^_^

Can’t wait to see you!

~Ryuuen

PS. Ummmm….are you, ah, DRIVING down??….~.^;;

Well, there we go, I thought triumphantly as I sent the message. Two parties tomorrow. That’s enough to take your mind off of how annoying life can be sometimes.

But then, the prospect of two Halloween parties brought about another problem: I was broke, and possessed little in the way of clothing besides jeans, sweatshirts, and socks.

How the heck was I gonna find a costume???

TBC…

^_^

A tad less sappy this time. ^_^ Hope you guys liked it. Oh, and Tamakins, if you’re reading, don’t worry!! I don’t think you’re prejudiced!! I was just saying that Ryuu-chan being gay is only an interpretation. ^_^ Not written in stone, not gospel, or anything. ^_^ No problemo!