The frantic knocking continued as Pervinca walked across the small dormroom and opened the round door.
"Merry and Estella are getting back together!" Pippin spat out hysterically.
Throughout their childhoods Vinca had often awoken to Pippin's hysterics: "There's a Balrog in my closet!" "Orcs are trying to eat my toes!" "The tree outside my window is talking!"
But this was by far the MOST ridiculous thing she'd ever heard him say.
Laughing, she said, "C'mon in, Pippin. Drink a little too much ale last night?"
"No!" he said poutily as he walked in and plopped down onto Vinca's bed. "It's not the ale talking, Vinca. I'm SERIOUS."
Vinca recognized Pippin's serious face, one that few outsiders ever got to see, and realized that, no matter how much stuff she had to do, she was going to have to stop and deal with him.
Though that didn't mean she couldn't get something out of him in the meantime. "Well, *I* have studying to do," she said authoritatively, walking over to her desk and picking up her stack of homemade flashcards. "I have a big test on medical terminology tomorrow that I HAVE to study for. So if you want to have a brother/sister heart-to-heart, you have to quiz me." She handed the stack to Pippin and then sat down at her desk. "Now read me a card."
"Vinnnnca!" Pippin complained, batting his big green eyes at her.
"Piiiippin," she said, imitating his whine. "C'mon, help me, and I'll help you. Read me a card, and then tell me what on Middle Earth makes you think Merry and Stel are getting back together."
After pouting a bit more, Pippin finally looked down at the cards in his hand and read the top one. "'Dermato.' And I caught them in the make-out room last night at the Eta Pi party."
Vinca almost choked from the surprise. "Seriously?! 'Skin.' Merry and Stel were MAKING OUT?"
"Well, not when *I* saw them," Pippin admitted. "But I caught them together in the make-out room, and they were holding hands."
Vinca shook her head. "So WHAT if they were holding hands? You know as well as I do that Merry and Stel are old friends. Card."
"'Sanguin.' But they looked so guilty when I walked in on them, making some lame excuse to try to cover it up. And I KNOW they were hiding something because I heard Estella say, 'Pippin can't know' right as I walked in."
Vinca smiled -- her little brother could be so self-absorbed sometimes. "You shouldn't worry. 'Blood.' I'm sure they were just discussing something private, and Stel just wanted to make sure that it STAYED private. Card."
"'Crappo.' Crappo? Oh, sorry -- 'carpo.' But Merry always tells me EVERYTHING."
"Exactly! 'Wrist.' So if Stel had a secret she really wanted kept, she'd have to tell Merry specifically not to tell you, right? So don't you think THAT could be what you walked in on? Card."
"But...."
"CARD!"
Pippin sighed. "'Cranio.' But then why did Estella KISS him later?"
All thoughts of medical terminology flew away as Vinca tried to absorb this piece of news. "Stel KISSED Merry?! Where?"
"On the dance floor. Right in front of where I was playing."
Vinca laughed at Pippin's dense earnestness. "No, you dork, WHERE? Like on the lips? The neck? Where?"
"On the cheek."
Pervinca breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that Pippin was just being paranoid again. She shook her head, mumbling, "Pippin."
"But afterwards he put his arm around her!"
Vinca moved over to the bed and sat down next to Pippin, putting her arm around his back in a sisterly fashion. "You mean something like this?"
Pippin nodded. "Exactly!"
Vinca glanced down and saw the pile of flashcards in her brother's hands, reminding her of the big test she was supposed to be studying for. "I can't believe you're wasting my valuable study time with this ridiculousness," she said grumpily, returning to her chair at her desk. "Now read me another card."
"But what about Merry's arm?"
"CARD!"
Pippin glanced down and read for the second time, "'Cranio.'"
Vinca shook her head. "You read that one already."
"Well, you never answered it," Pippin pointed out.
Vinca rolled her eyes, sighing frustratedly. "'Skull.' And it's clear to me that Stel and Merry were just behaving like dear old friends, not like exes who are about to get back together. There's nothing to worry about. Card."
"'Pysis.' Then why was Merry talking up Eta Pi so much after the party? He kept going on and on last night about how Eta Pi was lucky to have me and how I should do more things with them. It's clear to ME that he wants me to spend time away so that he and Estella can get together behind my back."
Vinca laughed. "What an imagination, Pip! 'Growth.' And it's 'PHYsis', not pysis. Anyway, I think that's GREAT that Merry's changed his mind about Eta Pi -- you've told me he's made his complaints well-known since the beginning. And didn't you say that you hoped the party would change his mind?"
"I wanted it to change his mind about ETA PI, not about ESTELLA." Pippin sighed melodramatically and lay back upon the bed, staring up at the ceiling in despair. "What am I gonna do, Vinc?"
Pervinca smiled at her brother's theatrics. "Pippin, I never thought I'd say this to you, but I think you're over-thinking this whole thing. Merry had a good time at the party and has finally come around to your way of thinking, and now you're twisting it into something bad. You're just making a balrog out of a firefly. I know for a FACT that Stel doesn't want to get back together with Merry, and from everything you've told me, I'm sure Merry has no desire to get back with her. You're just misinterpreting everything."
"If that's true," Pippin began as he continued to stare at the ceiling, "then why did he leave?"
Vinca was instantly confused again. "Leave what?"
Pippin propped himself up on his elbows. "Me. When I woke up this morning, Merry was already gone."
"Well..." Vinca said, stalling for time, "...maybe he just went to the library to study and didn't want to wake you."
Pippin shook his head. "No, he's with Estella -- he even left me a note." He rolled partly onto his side so he could pull the note out of his back pocket.
Vinca took the tattered paper from him and unfolded it, trying to decipher Merry's scrawl. It seemed to read:
"Off w E
XO
Mer"
"Pippin, it only says 'E', not Estella. Surely Merry knows OTHER people whose names begin with E -- it's a very popular letter, you know. And besides, he CAN'T be off with Stel because she's meeting me here at eleven to study."
Pippin gasped and sat bolt upright, pointing at Vinca's bedside clock. "It's already a quarter past! See?! I was right! Merry and Estella are probably off--"
The phone suddenly rang, and Vinca silently thanked the Valar that she'd been so saved by the bell.
But the ring only briefly interrupted Pippin's hysterics. "I bet that's her!" he continued. "She's calling to tell you she's gonna be late, and it's all because she's--"
"Pippin, calm down!" Vinca ordered as she picked up the receiver as it began its third ring. "Hello?"
"Oh Vinca, I'm SO sorry," Estella burst out. "I know we were supposed to meet at eleven, but I JUST woke up. You see, after the party last night Freddy had me drive the band around for HOURS looking for an all-night coffee shop where they could 'deflate', so I didn't get to bed until almost four. I can't believe I slept through my alarm! Do you mind if we just get together after lunch instead? Say one-ish?"'
"No problem, Stel."
Upon hearing her name, Pippin sighed melodramatically and fell back upon the bed again. Vinca suppressed a giggle as she continued into the phone: "This afternoon's better for me anyway -- my little brother's over here right now."
"Oh, is he filling you in on the big party last night?"
"You could say that," Vinca said. "He was actually telling me all about how he thinks you and Merry are getting back together."
Pippin sat up, glaring at his sister, as her ear was bombarded with Stel's raucous laughter. Vinca held the receiver out towards Pippin so he could hear it for himself. Then returning the receiver to her ear, Stel was in the midst of saying, "...ridiculous. Whatever gave him THAT idea?"
"Apparently he caught the two of you holding hands in the make-out room."
"The MAKE-OUT room?" Estella mumbled to herself. "So THAT'S why people kept walking in on us."
"And Pippin says you two kissed," Vinca continued.
"Merry told him? I'm surprised."
"I don't think Merry told him anything -- Pippin said he saw you kiss Merry on the dance floor while he was playing."
Estella gave a short laugh. "Oh, THAT kiss. That was just on the cheek. He really thought that MEANT something?"
"Wait -- what do you mean, 'THAT kiss'?" Vinca asked and then instantly regretted it when she saw the look of panic on Pippin's face.
But Estella was already explaining herself. "I thought you were talking about the EARLIER kiss -- Merry was being mauled by some drunken tart earlier at the party, so I kissed him to get rid of her. It was purely a survival tactic. And it WORKED, too!"
Vinca glanced at Pippin, who was anxiously staring at her, eager to find out what Estella was saying. Making sure he was listening, Vinca pointedly asked, "So you're telling me you're NOT interested in getting back together with Merry?"
Estella laughed heartily again. "Of COURSE not, Vinc. YOU know who I like. Merry and I are just buds."
"Then would you mind telling my little brother that so he'll stop hyperventilating?" Vinca handed the receiver to Pippin, who tentatively held it to his ear.
After listening a moment, he asked, "But when I walking in on you two, you were holding his hand, and I HEARD you say, 'Pippin can't know.' WHAT can't I know?"
After a brief silence, Pippin nodded and handed the receiver out to Vinca. "She wants to talk to you again."
Vinca took it, already knowing what her best friend was gonna say. "Yessss?"
"What am I gonna tell him, Vinc? I told Merry about Boromir because I knew he'd understand, but I don't want just random people knowing."
Vinca suddenly felt very protective of her brother. "Pippin isn't 'random people'."
"Yeah, he's actually WORSE than random people because he KNOWS Boromir. Did you know that Boromir is chem lab partners with both Merry and Pippin? Which means that if they BOTH know, then it's more than likely that it'll get back to him that I like him, and if that happens, I'll just DIE!"
Vinca laughed -- was EVERYONE in a melodramatic mood today?
"I don't know what to tell you, Stel -- it's up to you if you tell him or not. Of course, it would make MY life easier if you told, but...."
Estella hemmed and hahhed for a moment before finally sighing. "I guess you should hand the phone back to Pippin."
Vinca smiled and handed the receiver out. "She wants to talk to you again."
Pippin took the phone warily. "...Uh-huh...uh-huh...so who DO you like?...uh-huh...but can't you tell me?...uh-huh...yeah, okay." Pippin hung up the receiver. "She told me to tell you she'll be here at one. So who does she like?"
Vinca seethed -- 'Nice way of getting out of it, Stel -- lay it all on ME.'
"Um, I can't tell you that," Vinca said, noticing the flashcards that were now precariously balanced on the edge of the bed where Pippin had laid them down. She quickly grabbed them up and placed them safely on her desk, realizing that any further studying was going to have to wait until one. "But just trust me that it's NOT Merry, so you have nothing to worry about."
"C'mon, Vinca," Pippin whined, "you HAVE to tell me!"
"I don't HAVE to tell you anything, Pip," Vinca snapped, more annoyed with Stel than she was with him. She smiled warmly at her brother and said, "But maybe you could tell ME about the party last night. As you know, being pre-med leaves me no time for a life, so I have to live vicariously through SOMEONE! Now start at the beginning -- you were in charge of decorations, right? What did you do?"
Pippin eyes sparkled and he smiled for the first time since arriving at her room. "Did you know how cheap streamers are, Vinca? It's amazing how much you can decorate for such little money! And Fosco totally liked how the bright colors livened up the dull entryway!"
As Pippin chattered away, Pervinca smiled warmly at her little brother, relieved to see him happy again.
And she'd just have to wait until one to kill Estella!
***
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