"Eomer? I'm here."
Eowyn's voice echoed through the stables, causing her brother to smile, thinking how many times he'd heard that call.
"I'll be right out, Eowyn," he called back. "I'm almost done."
"Do you want help?"
"No, just take it easy. I'll be out in a minute."
Eomer returned his attention to Windfola, the last polo pony. He was eager to finish so he could go spend time with his sister. After Eowyn had accidentally stood him up for lunch on Wednesday, Eomer had insisted that they spend their Friday night together catching up, and he'd spent the rest of the week looking forward to tonight.
Last year, when Eomer had left for his freshman year at MEU whilst Eowyn finished up her senior year back in Rohan, he and Eowyn had religiously emailed each other every day, not to mention spending hours each week on the phone together. Now that she was here and they lived only a few floors away, it seemed ridiculous to continue emailing. But just because they lived in the same dorm didn't mean that they got to see each other much, and as a result, Eomer missed her now more than he had all last year. That was why he'd wanted to lunch with her on Wednesday, and why he'd been so upset when she'd forgotten. He felt so distant from her now, and he wasn't sure if it was because they were growing apart...or because she was growing up.
Last year, her emails had been full of people and places that he was familiar with, so even though he wasn't there, he still felt like he understood her and her life. But now she was full of tales of fencing practice and The Palantir, not to mention elves and dwarves and hobbits that he'd never met. Eomer realized she had probably felt the same way when he wrote home last year, sharing all his MEU adventures with her. <<But that's different,>> he thought to himself. <<She's my little sister.>>
But glancing up towards the stable doors where Eowyn was now silhouetted by the autumn sunset, Eomer knew that was the REAL problem -- she wasn't little anymore. Eowyn had been a late bloomer, playing the tomboy for so long that he hadn't really noticed that she'd blossomed into a beautiful young woman. That is, he hadn't noticed until she'd shown up to polo practice this past Monday and all the boys couldn't stop talking about her. Looking at her now, intently reading a magazine as she leaned against the doorframe, her long blonde hair glowing orange in the dying light, Eomer realized that his polo teammates were right about her. It was really time for him to come to terms with the fact that Eowyn had grown up.
Even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.
Done with the ponies, Eomer washed his hands by the back faucet and walked out to greet his sister.
"Whatcha reading?" he asked, curious about her intense expression.
Eowyn must not have heard his approach for she jumped at the sound of his voice and quickly closed the magazine, stumbling over her words, "Nothing! It's...it's nothing! It's...homework."
But Eomer recognized the defensiveness in her voice, and he glanced at the back of the magazine that she was now clasping desperately to her chest, realizing it was a full-page advertisement for Acne Away.
Eomer smiled. <<I guess she's not as grown up as I thought.>>
"What's this?" he asked, amused, as he grabbed the magazine away from her and flipped it over to read the front cover. "Y.M.?" Eomer laughed as Eowyn blushed almost as red as the setting sun. "You're reading Y.M.?"
"I'm a Young Miss," she explained feebly. "Please give it back."
But Eomer held the magazine out of her reach as he continued taunting her. "So let's see what's in this month's issue. 'Boys! Boys! Boys! Meet the Sizzling Elf Stars of As the Leaves Turn -- four full-colour posters inside.'"
"Stop it," Eowyn said, repeatedly trying to grab the magazine away. "Give it back."
But Eomer was having too much fun. "You don't have a locker anymore, Eowyn -- I guess you'll have to hang your 'full-colour posters' in your dorm room."
"I didn't get it for the posters," Eowyn insisted, practically leaping onto her brother to try to wrestle the magazine away.
"Oh, I get it," he teased. "You got it for the ARTICLES! Then let's see -- what words of wisdom are they discussing this month?" Eomer started paging through the magazine, dodging Eowyn's attempts to grab it back. "'432 Ways to Go Back to School a New Person'."
"Eomer!"
"Or 'Quiz: Are You a Poseur?'"
"Give it back!"
"Or how about 'The Dumping Game: How to Let Him Down Easy'?"
Eomer started flipping to the next article, but it suddenly occurred to him that Eowyn was no longer struggling for the magazine. Looking up, he realized that she was now blushing redder than before, looking uncomfortably down at her feet.
"Oh, wow -- you were actually READING that!" The true implications of it suddenly hit Eomer, and he blurted out, "Who are you dumping?!"
"No one," she said, seizing the opportunity to grab the magazine away from Eomer. Stuffing it into her backpack, she mumbled, "Let's get to dinner."
"No, no, no -- you don't get off that easily," Eomer said, although his own stomach was growling with hunger. "Who are you dumping? Come to think of it, who are you even DATING?! It's only the second week of school! Is it that education guy, the one that's in all those classes with you?"
"Faramir?"
"Yeah, Faramir, the one you were having the lunch date with the other day when you STOOD ME UP."
"That wasn't a date," Eowyn laughed, shaking her head. "And besides, we're just friends."
"Then WHO?" Eomer thought a moment and then suddenly gasped when he realized the truth. "It's Merry, isn't it?! Your cute little hobbit crush!"
"Ssshhh!" Eowyn whispered fiercely, looking around nervously as if Merry might suddenly appear from under the horse stalls. "And besides, don't call it a crush -- it's NOT one." She stared down at her feet before adding, "Or, at least, not anymore."
"Ha!" Eowyn said. "I KNEW it! I THOUGHT there was more than friendly interest involved when you brought him to polo practice on Monday. You totally like him!" Eomer paused, suddenly realizing what the article implied. "Or apparently you don't anymore. What happened? You told me you had such a great time with him at the dance."
"I DID," Eowyn insisted, her voice racked with guilt.
"So why are you dumping him?"
"PLEASE don't say 'dumping' -- I feel guilty enough as it is."
Eomer's eyes opened wide as he realized why. "You like someone else!"
Eowyn nodded, clearly ashamed.
"Who? That Faramir guy?"
Eowyn shook her head. "I told you -- we're just friends."
Eomer paused, trying to think what little she'd told him this past week. And suddenly he could hear her voice echoing in his head: "Strider did this. Strider said that. Strider, Strider, Strider."
"It's Strider, isn't it?" he asked. "You have a crush on Strider."
"It's NOT a crush," Eowyn insisted. Her voice then became softer as she said almost dreamily, "It's true love."
Eomer tried to hold back his laughter. He remembered her saying the exact same thing after nursing Ardley back to health. Of course, Eowyn had been eight at the time. And Ardley had been a horse.
And her statement now made about as much sense.
***
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