The Fresca Files

by Dreamstrifer

Chapter Four: Into the Woods

The party was in full swing. Never underestimate the rich's ability to acquire illicit substances. Not that there were any drugs going on; Heather would have probably killed them with her bare hands. But there was plenty of beer and vodka and other such nasty liquors being passed about.

Two of the guys, one being Heather's boyfriend Kurt, were working on building a bonfire.

"Aubrey!" Heather had eyes like a hawk. She ran over to pull me into a hug. "What's all this trouble then?" She looked up at Legolas, and wrinkled her nose. "AJ brought some clothes."

At the sound of his name, the other boy working on the fire looked up and doubled over laughing when he saw Legolas. "An escapee from the Renaissance Faire?" he gasped out between laughs.

"Shut up and give him his clothes," Heather snapped. AJ rolled his eyes, but left Kurt blowing on the tinder and pulled out a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some sneakers from a backpack.

"Here you go, bro," he said, tossing them at Legolas. Legolas caught them, looking at me with curiosity.

"Go behind a tree and change," Heather said, taking charge. Legolas looked at her for a moment, then did as she said. "He really is a weird one, isn't he?"

"Yeah," I agreed, though the words didn't quite hold emotion. "Weird."

"Where'd you pick up that guy?" AJ asked us.

"I don't know, he showed up in our dorm room at the school." Heather snickered. "He's a fine specimen of the male species, I must say."

"Aubrey?" I jumped at the voice. I don't know why, but I guess I was just jumpy from the whole situation. Michael, Kurt's roommate, came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Who's that guy who came with you?"

Heather was right, Michael was jealous. I wiggled out from under his grasp and managed a strained smile. Luckily, in the darkness he couldn't see me very well. "Why don't you tell me?"

"What are you talking about."

"So you guys didn't send him to mess with us?" Heather broke into the awkward conversation, for which I was eternally grateful. "I mean, it totally is something you guys would do. Pay some stranger to come and freak us out. Haha, funny."

"Heather, babe? What are you smoking?" Kurt laughed at his poor joke, and Michael joined in.

Legolas walked back from behind the tree. He tugged on the jeans, which were far baggier than his leggings. He cast me a desperate look. I couldn't help but burst into laughter when I saw the get up. Not the clothes themselves. They were just fine. Legolas had pulled on the button down shirt over a tight fitting undershirt he'd already been wearing. He'd buttoned it up and left it untucked over the jeans. Over the shirt he'd wrapped the belt and buckled it. Apparently the concept of belt loops were lost on a Middle-earth elf.

"I did not just think that unironically," I muttered as I hurried over to sort him him. "Belt loops, Legolas."

"Legolas!" Kurt shrieked. I ignored his raucous laughter as I made Legolas lift the hem of his shirt.

"Belt loops are integral to not flashing the whole world your underwear, darling," I explained. I unbuckled the belt and started threading it through the loops of his jeans. Legolas looked down at my hands, rather intrigued. Surely he wasn't that dumb when it came to clothing, was he? Once satisfied, I pulled the belt as tight as I dared and fastened the buckle.

"I think he's perfectly capable of dressing himself," Michael said and pulled on my arm. I wasn't expecting to be manhandled, so I let go of Legolas' belt rather suddenly. Legolas stumbled back, the first display of clumsiness I'd seen on him yet, and dropped his shirt.

"That was quite uncalled for," he said, leveling Michael with a stare. It was dark, but the threat was very obvious in his stance.

"Yeah, well, no one asked you," Michael retorted. He pulled me closer to the fire, and I let out a squeak of surprise.

"No one asked you either, Michael Starret!" I exclaimed.

"I don't like you pawing that guy. You don't even know who he is, you said it yourself!"

"Yeah, well, he hasn't manhandled me and dragged me around yet, so he's got one up on you." I wrested my arm from Michael's grasp, but he only grabbed me again. "What's your deal?"

"I don't want you getting hurt, Aubrey. I mean, after last year-"

"Don't you dare bring up last year, Michael." I pushed him away once again. Thankfully, more guys and girls had showed up in the clearing so our little altercation hadn't garnered too much attention. I looked around and only saw Heather, Kurt, Legolas, and AJ staring at us. I turned away from Michael. "You don't get to do this, all right? You got me? You don't get to feel protective of me."

Legolas stepped closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder. Unlike with Michael, it felt comforting. I guess it was because I didn't trust Michael as far as I could throw him, and I didn't know the guy who called himself Legolas enough to trust him or not. I'd never been particularly bright when it came to guys, but I chose to let Legolas comfort me.

"I think you'd better leave her alone," Legolas said, the threat from his stance joining the tone in his voice. He could give the Witch pointers on intimidation.

"I got this, Legolas," I said, and reluctantly wiggled out from under his hand too. I didn't want anyone to think I couldn't take care of myself now, did I? "Michael, I think you'd better leave me alone."

Michael glared at Legolas, but he eventually slunk away to go do shots with the jocks. Michael always set me ill-at-ease, and I was too busy focusing on him to remember I had come to find out what Legolas was doing in my dorms. Heather crept up to me and put an arm around my shoulders.

"He means well, you know that," she said in a quiet voice. She was right, but I didn't want to give her the satisfaction. When I didn't say anything, she steered me over to the tree that Legolas had changed behind. He had left his elf clothes in a neatly folded pile, his weapons resting on top. "Look, I know that you're still not over what happened a year ago, but please don't take it out on Michael. It wasn't his fault. He had nothing to do with it."

"He could have-" I stopped myself and shook my head. It was no use dwelling on it. "It doesn't matter. Michael knows I don't want anything to do with him and he still pushes. You know how I get when someone pushes me."

"You push back," Heather replied with a grin. She pushed on my shoulder good-naturedly. "Are you going to enjoy the party or are you going to be a grump?"

"I didn't come for the party, Heather." I glanced at Legolas, who was watching us intently. Kinda creepy. "Who is that guy, anyway?" I fought the urge to pick up one of his knives. I wanted to check the edge, to see if he was dumb enough to have a sharpened knife on a girls' boarding school campus.

"Just a mental case pervert, I guess," Heather answered. "What are we going to do about him?"

I shrugged. AJ offered Legolas a cup. After sniffing it, Legolas handed it back to him. Smart dude. AJ's rum and cokes were more rum than coke. "Can elves get drunk?" I asked.

"Oh, don't tell me you believe him, Aubrey."

I shook my head. "It's not that, just a random thought. But they can get drunk, right?"

"And how the hell am I supposed to know? You're the one who read the books obsessively."

"I think the elves were drunk when Gollum escaped. It's been awhile since I read Fellowship. You forget the little details."

"You are so weird, Aubrey." Heather pushed past me to go join the revelry. Legolas wandered back over to me when he saw our conversation was over. He leaned over to pick up his weapons.

"You seem concerned about something. Was it that young man who was bothering you?"

I stared at Legolas. It didn't take a genius to know that I was a bit upset. But I pushed it away. I had more important things to worry about than my little high school woes. "It's nothing. And now we're back at square one." I felt strange telling him that none of the guys knew who he was. After all, he was maintaining he was Legolas Greenleaf from Mirkwood. That's not exactly sane behavior. "I don't know what we're going to do with you. You claim your home is in Middle-earth, and Middle-earth doesn't exist."

Legolas didn't say anything. He just buckled his knives and arrow quiver over his street clothes. It looked pretty ridiculous, and I ended up giggling. The thought of Legolas not understanding belt loops either had my roaring. I leaned against the tree, the giggles making my entire body shake so I couldn't quite stand up without help.

"She's finally cracked," I heard Kurt say to Heather. Heather just murmured something and sipped at her drink.

"Oh man," I burst out. "I spilled Fresca onto an electrical outlet, shorting out my dorm, an elf appears in my dorm room and claims he's Legolas from the freaking Fellowship of the Ring, and now I'm helping him put a belt on. I think I'm going insane!"

"Maybe you should go back to the room," Heather suggested. She looked at Legolas. "Maybe you can crash with one of the guys?"

"He's not staying with me!" Michael exclaimed a bit too quickly. Heather sent him one of her death glares, but both Kurt and AJ declined as well.

"I'd prefer to stay with Aubrey, thank you," Legolas replied. He gave level glances at all three teenaged guys. It was clear to see how different he was than them. AJ was well on his way to being smashed, Kurt was hanging on Heather like a barnacle, and Michael was a bit too stiff in his pants. Legolas was not only older than them, whether he was a fictional elf or not, but he held himself with proper posture. Just the way he held himself, proud and with a level gaze, seemed to speak volumes about his maturity. I didn't blame him for not wanting to live with a teenaged boy. I wouldn't want to either, especially after living with my brother my whole life.

And not just because I was a passably attractive teenaged girl either.

"Let's head back," I said. "Thanks for the clothes, AJ." I tugged on Legolas' sleeve. He carried his old clothes as we walked along. We past by a girl pushed against a tree. One of the jocks from the boy's school was groping her as they tongue wrestled. It wasn't anything particularly new to see. I mean, hormonal teenagers will drunkenly grope each other in the woods. "Oh, so gross. Get a room, why don't you?"

"Screw off, Raston," The girl said, unwrapping herself from the guy momentarily. "Just because you're a prude doesn't mean the rest of us have to be sex starved."

I winced from the insult and continued walking. Legolas kept right at my heels. A quick glance at him revealed a horrified expression on his face. "Why did you let her speak to you like that? A harlot has no right to judge you."

I stopped walking. The glow of the bonfire was still quite visible from where we stood in the woods. "Are you crazy?" I asked. I looked up at him, though I couldn't see his face at all in the darkness. "Or have you been locked in a basement for forty years?"

"Such a shameless display has no place in polite company," Legolas continued. "And to speak to you like that. It's highly inappropriate."

"You've obviously never been to high school," I said, matter-of-factly. "My cousin, who goes to a co-ed public school, said that it's even worse there. I mean, the fact that it's co-ed would tip you off, but eh, teenagers will find a way to do the dirty."

"It's commonplace?" Legolas seemed to ignore most of what I said. Either because he had no idea what I was saying, or because I wasn't saying anything particularly useful.

"What's with the vocabulary? Doesn't it get hard to talk like that after awhile?" I shrugged and continued walking.

Legolas touched my arm with his fingertips. The touch was as light as a feather, bu it was enough to send a shiver down my spine. "Aubrey, you're avoiding what I'm saying to you. Why are you trying to play this off as normal? It's not normal."

"A man who claims he's an elf isn't normal either, Legolas-whoever-you-are." I flashed him a grin. "Come on, or we'll get sucked back into teenage debauchery, and no one wants that."

Legolas let it go, for which I was grateful. I still was torn on whether or not it was wise to let this guy back in our dorm room. It probably was the stupidest thing ever, but as I mentioned before, I wasn't particularly bright, especially in the face of a handsome man. Also, if he was mentally ill, I'd feel bad for throwing him on the streets. We weren't in necessarily a high crime area, otherwise they wouldn't have built two boarding schools for rich families, but anything could happen.

We continued walking back towards Dawnsend. Ellette would be thrilled to have a hot guy in our dorm, for sure, even if we both knew better than to tempt fate with the Witch. But we were teenage girls, what else were supposed to do? The responsible thing?

I was about to step onto the main trail when Legolas caught my arm again. I could just barely make out his form in the moonlight. It was almost to the full moon, and the air still held winter's chill though it was well into spring. "What's up?" I asked.

He pulled me into the trees. I nearly yelped, but Legolas slapped a hand over my mouth. That, of course, sent my self-defense training instincts into overdrive. I was about to slam my elbow into Legolas' solar plexus, thus freeing myself to a round of "I told you so"s from Michael and the other guys. I didn't quite get the chance to cause any bodily harm. Mrs. Thomas, followed by Headmistress Banning and Headmaster Lewis from Stonewell marched on by. Three police officers followed them.

"Oh god, Heather!" I breathed, forgetting Legolas had just saved me from getting in a world of trouble. I pulled away from Legolas and whipped out my cell. Figuring a text would be better, as I could hear music from someone's boombox start to play, I typed out the SOS signal we'd agreed upon years ago.

"Let's get out of here," I said. Legolas nodded, and we tore off running towards the dorm. Legolas quickly outstripped me, courtesy of his long legs. Once he realized I wasn't quite the gazelle, he slowed up and grabbed my hand. In a normal situation, I'd be thrilled that a guy was holding hands with me. Now I was just weirded out.

But holding on to him seemed to make me all the more stubborn to keep up. It's why Ellette and I would always run together when we had to do the mile in gym class. We'd talk shit to each other and try to out do the other one. It worked, for the most part. Nothing else in the world would get us to run, except maybe an ice cream truck, or a zombie apocalypse.

Once we made it to the dorm, a quick reconnaissance revealed that Mrs. Thomas left a senior girl named Janice in charge. Janice was perhaps the most insidious student that ever went to Dawnsend. Not only had she completely fooled every authority figure (and half the underclassmen) into thinking she was innocent, sweet, and trustworthy, but she single-handedly pulled the senior prank that year. I don't know where she got that much pudding, and I don't know how she drained the pool, but everyone knew better than to cross Janice Wu.

I walked right in the front door, Legolas trailing behind me. There was this whole unspoken agreement between the senior girls that if we brought in a guy to the dorms, there would be no questions. Not even with Legolas being strapped with weaponry and being obviously older than a teenager. Janice, reading Cosmo with her feet propped up on Mrs. Thomas's desk as if she owned it, popped her gum and sent me a wide grin.

"Well, hello handsome. You've never snuck a guy in before, Aubrey. And I don't blame you for waiting." She let out a whistle. "Go on up, Mrs. Thomas won't be back for ages. I already sent an SOS to Heather and a couple other girls." Janice tilted her head towards the elevator. "The guys are so busted though. They couldn't wait until after finals to have their last hurrah."

"No, they sure couldn't," I replied, for lack of anything to say. Legolas stayed so close to me I thought he'd trip over my feet, but I should have given him credit. The guy was like a cat. We boarded the elevator, and Legolas let out a sigh of relief, before remembering that elevators were not his friend. He grabbed the wall, as if that would do anything. "You all right there, champ?"

Legolas looked at me, the condescending nature of the nickname completely lost on him. In short order, the doors pinged and Legolas shot out like a bat out of hell. "Note to self: Technology scares the crap out of weird dudes who think they're elves."

We walked back down the hall to my dorm. Thankfully, all the doors were closed so I didn't have to explain Legolas' presence further. I opened the door to my room. Ellette let out a little shriek. "Oh my god, Aubry, knock!" She dove into the bathroom, but not before Legolas and I got a good long view of her wet, naked body, covered only by a towel.

I turned to Legolas. "I don't think I've ever seen a person turn that shade of puce. Haven't you ever seen a half-naked teenage girl before?"

Ellette's voice drifted through the bathroom door. "I hate you forever, Aubrey!"

Legolas swallowed. "Is it commonplace for girls to gallivant around so?"

I smiled. "Welcome to Dawnsend Academy for Girls, Legolas Greenleaf." I patted him on the shoulder and closed the door behind us.

Author's Note: *ducks rotten tomatoes* I know it's been forever! My deepest apologies. I'm back, though, and I hope I can continue regular updates so I don't have an eighteen month break again. Yeesh. Anyway, this was heavily inspired by a poem my friend wrote me for Christmas. Morohtar wrote a poem entitled "The Fellowship of the Fanatics." It's pretty fantastic, and I strongly urge you to read it. You can find it on my favorites list at the top.

Now, I'm sick and cranky so I'll leave this at that.