VU The Last Leprechaun - Book Two of the Vampire University Series Page 2

  "Hey!" said Taylor. "I did not get dressed with the intention of being submerged on the way across the street."

  "Well, maybe you should," retorted Hannah.

  "I have enough to worry about. More than enough," Taylor replied.

  "You're right, I'm sorry," said Hannah, sounding sincere. "So where's your boy, Tom?"

  "My boy? I'm an RA. I have a whole floor of them."

  Taylor knew who Hannah was talking about. Since Tom had revealed himself to them as a leprechaun, he had spent a lot of time in the past few days with the three of them: Hannah, Taylor, and Joseph. That seemed perfectly normal to Taylor. They had been through a traumatic experience together, and it was only natural that their shared secret would draw them together.

  "You know who I'm talking about," said Hannah.

  "Who, Joseph? You know, I'd tell you, but the GPS unit I implanted on him seems to be out of range."

  "You're tracking us?" said Hannah, her voice raised.

  "Again, so serious," Tom said, holding out his hands defensively. "It was a joke. My way of saying that I don't keep tabs on him."

  "Oh don't you?" said Hannah, lowering her voice only slightly. "That's not the impression I got."

  "He's a cool kid. You're all cool kids, and I love you equally," he said, patting Hannah mockingly on the head. "I imagine he's in his room."

  "Well, we need to get down to finding Eric. Has he heard anything?"

  "I don't think so," said Tom. "But that's really a question for him, don't you think?"

  "He gets annoyed with me anytime I bring it up," replied Hannah.

  "Well, then don't bring it up, right?"

  "Really, are you taking this seriously?"

  "What is 'this'? I don't think Eric is really any of my business. I understand why he's yours, but hey... I'm just trying to get along here," he insisted.

  "We understand, don't we, Hannah?" said Taylor, glaring at her.

  "Hmph," said Hannah as she went back to silently eating her breakfast.

  "I appreciate it," said Tom. "Oh hey, Addison!"

  Addison, the RA for Hannah and Taylor's floor, had approached from behind them. She looked annoyed, which was her usual state.

  "Hello, Thomas. I can see why you don't answer my emails. Too busy flirting with my students," she said.

  "I'm not..." he began, but Addison immediately interrupted him.

  "And put some clothes on. This is not the picnic table behind your trailer park. I swear, they'll let anybody be an RA for the boys' dorms."

  "Lovely to see you too, Addie. What can I do for you?" he said, pretending not to notice her irritation with him.

  "Addison," she corrected him. "Like I said, you can put some clothes on. You have a late move-in you need to come take care of."

  "Oh do I?"

  "You do. This is why you should read your email."

  "Oh. Sorry. I didn't realize."

  "You would if you read your email. Really, I don't know why I bother."

  "Right. Sorry again. I've just been busy."

  "Like I said, I can see that."

  Tom shrugged, apparently not intimidated. He shoveled down a mouthful of a hashbrown-esque substance and stood to follow her.

  "Mph sorry. Goth thoo go," he said through a mouth full of food.

  He followed quickly after Addison, who was not waiting for him.

  "Can we transfer to the boys' dorms?" Taylor asked Hannah once they were gone. "I mean, it's the 21st century after all. Let's break down some barriers."

  "Maybe that's a good idea. We could keep an eye on the boys better that way."

  "I was kidding," said Taylor. "Mostly."

  "So was I. Mostly," replied Hannah.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Joseph wasn't usually one to walk around in his underwear. Unlike Tom, he was more inclined to get dressed before he went out in public, even if public was just a neighbor's room on his floor. He was so thrown by the news he received that morning, however, that all he thought to do was to put on a t-shirt before going out to look for Tom.

  So when Tom arrived back at the third floor, he found Joseph standing in front of his room waiting in faded boxers and an old t-shirt, his dark hair looking well-slept on and his foot tapping impatiently.

  Joseph forgot his irritation for a moment, however, when he saw Tom and realized that they were both only barely clothed and standing in the hallway. Joseph supposed that he was going to get used to that eventually, living with a bunch of college guys, but he found that acting indifferent to young men in various states of undress took some practice.

  "Ah, you're finally warming up to the freshman dress code, I see," Tom said, oblivious to Joseph's mood, or at least pretending to be. "I'd recommend pants, though, before venturing too far out. I fully endorse going about your day in pajamas, but I think pants are sort of implied in that."

  "Yeah, well, I uh..." Joseph stammered.

  "Relax, buddy," Tom said, slapping Joseph on the back. "This is your home, my friend. Coed hours on the floor don't start until 10:00. You can run around the floor naked until then for all I care. Some guys might even appreciate that. And most of the ladies, I presume, but I do have to uphold some sense of decorum around here."

  Thoroughly thrown off at this point, Joseph suddenly wanted to go put on as many layers he could find.

  "I'm going to go put some clothes on, actually. I'll be right back."

  "Hold on, were you waiting for me for something? Come on in." Tom said, gesturing towards his room.

  Joseph was usually cool and collected, and he was annoyed with himself for coming across as so insecure to Tom. As much as Tom had a way of making everyone feel relaxed when he was around, Joseph found it somehow made him even more intimidating. Joseph was used to being in control of his encounters, but Tom always had a way of evaporating Joseph's self-confidence.

  Joseph determined to redouble his efforts to maintain his composure and remembered why he was there in the first place. He put on a confident face and followed Tom into the room.

  The boys’ dorms were all single rooms, but Tom had the exception. As an RA, he was granted a sitting area separate from his bedroom. He invited Joseph to sit on a weathered old futon while he went to put a shirt on.

  Joseph had never been in Tom's room before, but it turned out that there was not much to see. Tom was not much of a decorator. There was a small end table next to the futon with a single potted plant on it. It was one of those generic looking green plants that you see in just about every waiting room anywhere and was looking slightly limp and lean from neglect. There was a large mirror on the opposite wall, but nothing else. There were no posters or photos, no souvenirs or memorabilia, nothing to give any clues to Tom's personality.

  It was clean, at least, though they had all just moved in. Joseph half expected Tom to be the kind of person with clothes and food wrappers strewn about, but it remained to be seen whether the cleanliness was due to Tom's nature or whether it could simply be attributed to lack of time to make himself at home.

  Joseph looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his boxers for maximum modest coverage and tried not to make an obvious display of holding his hands self-consciously in his lap. While he waited, he tried out several poses in the mirror, trying to decide how to sit so as to not look like he had just tried out several poses in the mirror. This is why he did not run around in his underwear. It made everything so complicated.

  "So, you needed something?" Tom asked, emerging from his room in jeans and a t-shirt.

  Joseph now felt especially underdressed, but had enough time to settle down that he was again focused on why he initially had approached Tom.

  "Yeah, why didn't you tell me I was getting a new roommate? I thought we were going to wait to see if Eric showed up again," Joseph said.

  "New roommate? Is that the new move-in? Man, I really should read my email. Hold on," Tom said, disappearing back into his room.

  "Yeah, you're right. New roommate," he sh
outed from inside his room.

  "Yeah, I know. I'm on the email too. How did anyone even know there was a vacancy?"

  "Well, normally that would be my job to inform the Resident Affairs Coordinator, but I swear I didn't say a thing. Man, I hope that doesn't get me in trouble. I mean, it's only been a few days. They move quickly around here, I guess."

  "Oh," said Joseph, just now realizing that Tom had nothing to do with this change. "So how did it happen? I know Eric wouldn't have told any Affairs Coordinator he was leaving. He barely told me."

  "Word travels fast, I guess. I mean, it was pretty obvious that half your room was empty. Maybe someone wanted a room change, and they saw a vacancy?"

  "Great, so I get someone who already couldn't get along after a week of non-school and now is room hopping?"

  "Guess so. But hey, look on the bright side. You're not a big people person, and he's maybe not a big people person, so you should get along great!"

  "Yeah, like oil and water... Hey, wait! I'm a people person."

  "Of course you are," Tom said, patting Joseph reassuringly on the knee. "I was just kidding."

  Joseph noted that Tom touched people a lot. At first, Joseph had read into it as being some sort of sign of flirting, but when he started to pay attention, Joseph noticed that Tom did this to everyone. Tom seemed to think that a friendly pat here and there was a perfectly normal way of interacting with people. Maybe it was where Tom came from, thought Joseph, but it certainly wasn't the case in Boston. You might get a handshake or a kiss on each cheek between closer acquaintances, but otherwise people pretty much kept to themselves where he was from. Tom's were nice gestures, but from a young guy as good-looking as him, the physical closeness could be a bit distracting.

  "Can't we, I don't know... appeal the decision or something?" Joseph asked. "What are we going to do if Eric shows up again?"

  "Will he?"

  "I have no idea," Joseph admitted.

  "Well then, probably best to just accept your fate now. You're not going to be able to keep a double occupancy to yourself forever. I'll figure out something if... when he gets back. Don't worry!"

  "Okay," Joseph said, half-heartedly.

  He wasn't worried about Tom's intentions. Eric's, however, were another story.

  "Well, now's probably a good time for pants, because Addison is downstairs with him right now," said Tom. "Unless, of course, that's the first impression you want to give. Your choice!"

  "Yeah, I think we'll save the pants-off moment for after our first date," Joseph joked.

  "Good thinking. Play hard to get. I like it," Tom said with a wink.

  Tom winked a lot too. It was hard to read signals like that when Tom gave signals to everyone he met.

  "C'mon, I'm going to get him now. I'll meet you back at your room, 'kay?"

  "Okay," Joseph said dejectedly and followed Tom out of the room.

  Joseph returned to his room across the hall and inspected himself in the mirror. His dark-brown hair was matted down on the side he had been sleeping on and was poofed up on the other side. He mashed it down with his hand, but it just popped right back up. If Tom was going to get the new roommate now, then there wouldn't be any time to make himself presentable.

  He concentrated for a moment and applied a glamour of a less slept-in hairdo. The poofy side flattened into place, and the matted side met it halfway, so that he looked as if he had actually showered and combed his hair. He just hoped that the new roommate was not a vampire as well. A vampire would see right through the illusion, and Joseph did not want to appear so vain as to waste glamours on hairstyles. Though he supposed, in fairness, that is exactly what he had done.

  As for clothes, he opted to go for real ones. It would be entirely too embarrassing to greet a vampire at the door wearing an imaginary outfit with imaginary hair. It had gotten hot enough that Joseph had to forego his usual preference for long sleeves, but he still insisted on dark slacks. The compromise was in the short sleeve charcoal-colored fitted shirt, though in head-to-toe dark neutrals, he didn't exactly look summery. He left dressing seasonally-appropriately to his brother. Joseph, on the other hand, felt confident in his attire and didn't mind sacrificing a little personal comfort to do so.

  When Tom came to the door with the new roommate, Joseph felt more composed and his hurry to get dressed had at least partially taken the edge off his irritation from earlier. It all came back very quickly when he was introduced to the person he was expected to live with.

  "Presenting Astor... uh... What was it again, Astor?" asked Tom.

  "Billigan," the boy said. "It's Astor Billigan III."

  "Right, of course. Astor Billigan the uh... third. He's from... where are you from again, Astor?"

  "I'm from Idaho, sir," said Astor.

  "Of course, of course. But please don't call me sir. Joseph will tell you it's not even accurate, much less necessary. Speaking of... Astor, this is your new roommate, Joseph Evans."

  "Uh... Hi. Joe is it?" said Astor.

  Joseph frowned.

  "Er... Joey?" he tried again.

  "Just Joseph."

  "Righto. Well this isn't awkward at all," said Tom, though it clearly was. "I'm sure once you guys get to know each other you'll be the best of friends. So, I'm going to let you get started right away. Oh, and Joseph? Be nice."

  "Always," was Joseph's only response as Tom turned to leave.

  Joseph took a good look at Astor. He was about Eric's height, which was shorter than Joseph, though most people were. Unlike Eric, Astor wore glasses and had pale blond hair. The blue eyes were the same, though Eric had used a glamour to get the blue effect whereas Joseph could tell that Astor's were real. He was no vampire, which was a relief at least.

  His clothes were nothing like Eric's, though. Eric's sense of fashion could barely be referred to as fashion, as he wore whatever was comfortable and couldn't be bothered much with coordinating. Astor, on the other hand, seemed to care very much about his clothes, though Joseph wasn't convinced that the efforts did him much good.

  He was wearing pink khaki pants–not the darker pink that had become fashionable or at least acceptable for men's pants–but a soft pink, the kind you usually saw in dress shirts. He wore a white belt and a blue and pink-striped button-down shirt that looked to be intentionally untucked on one side only. This combined with penny-loafers and no socks made Joseph miss his brother's t-shirts and cargo shorts. Joseph had always given Eric a hard time about his lazy wardrobe, but at least he didn't wear pants in a shade of pretty princess pink.

  Joseph realized that he had been comparing Astor in every way to Eric. It wasn't fair for Joseph to hold some stranger to the standard of his twin brother, but he couldn't help feeling like this was a downgrade.

  "So, uh... can I come in?" Astor asked.

  "Don't ask me. You live here," said Joseph.

  "Right..." Astor said and stepped tentatively in the room.

  Joseph caught himself being cold and distant. This was often his approach to uncomfortable situations, as it put others off guard and gave him the upper hand, but he realized that this icy demeanor was going to get awkward very quickly for both of them. If he was going to have to live with a new roommate, he needed to really try to live with him.

  "Sorry, I just mean that you don't have to ask. I want you to... uh, feel like this is your home too. I've only been here a couple days, so it's not like I have any more of a claim to it than you do," said Joseph, trying to temper the initially brusque impression he had given.

  "Oh good, I'm glad to hear it," Astor said, his posture relaxing noticeably.

  Joseph, in turn, could feel himself relaxing as well. At least this guy wasn't cocky like Eric, he thought, and then admonished himself again for dwelling on Eric. This kid was not Eric.

  "So, uh... nice decorating style you have here," said Astor.

  "Is that sarcasm?" Joseph asked, tensing up a little.

  There was nothing that could be called decorating in the
room. Joseph considered himself to have good taste, but he simply hadn't had time to do anything with it. The brothers hadn't brought much beyond a few changes of clothes with them to school. The walls were bare and the bed-covers standard issue. The only personal item Joseph had was a picture of himself with Eric at the beach. It was from their senior year of high school and felt like a lifetime ago. Considering that they were both human then, in many ways it was.

  "Well, obviously," Astor said, smiling broadly. "But don't worry, I have impeccable taste. We'll get this looking like a real home in no time!"

  Joseph tried to be a good sport and return the smile, but it felt forced to him. He wasn't particularly interested in seeing what additions someone wearing powder-pink pants and penny loafers would bring to a room. He imagined generic landscape oil paintings and leather furniture out of an old man's study and felt a growing sense of dread.

  "I have plenty of taste myself," said Joseph. "Why don't we each focus on our own half of the room?"

  "Oh, you'll change your mind when you see what I come up with," said Astor.

  Joseph doubted that, but he decided not to pick that battle just yet.

  "So, since you don't seem to have much of an interior design preference, you probably don't care what side of the room I take, right?"

  "I already..." Joseph began and then paused in disbelief as Astor immediately went about pulling Joseph's sheets off his bed and balling them up before tossing them onto the vacant bed on the other side of the room.

  It was clear which side Joseph had been inhabiting, and he found his earlier decision to be hospitable being strained when Astor clearly ignored it.

  "I don't want to be near the door. Too noisy," Astor explained as he gathered the few items on Joseph's desk, including the picture of the twins, and went to deposit them on the empty desk.

  Joseph felt the anger rush to his face as Astor handled the picture without asking and could not resist the urge to take control of the situation.

  "Drop it," said Joseph.

  "Huh?" said Astor, looking up as if he had not heard.