Fortune’s FancyChapter1-1

A Legacy by Nicbemused and simselfNicki Bemused with possible commentary by Other

Characters

Lexie breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the taxi. She hadn’t been certain that she’d get out of town, much less to the relative safety of a university that her fath… no, Robert… that Robert wasn’t even aware she’d applied to. He’d never look here. At least she didn’t think so.

She’d been excited when she run upstairs after school. Her acceptance letter from the Academie had arrived, as had a letter offering her a full scholarship to State. She’d go to the Academie, of course, but the scholarship was really cool (even if she’d never told anyone she’d applied)! She’d stopped when she heard her name.

“Are you sure you want to have Lexie taken care of as well?” Old Mr. Barrister had asked.

“Her bitch mother entailed the whole estate for 10 generations. Lexie will learn everything when she reaches majority and becomes the executor and I can’t afford that. Besides, now that I have my heir she’s just standing in the way. It isn’t as though she were my daughter, after all.”

Lexie’s mother died very very shortly after Robert Jr. and his twin Belinda were born. Lexie had felt something change, but she hadn’t know that her fath… Robert hated her. She hadn’t known she wasn’t his daughter, though she was aware that he’d always wanted a son instead of a daughter. Of course she had been upset when he married Bunny right away, but she’d justified that in her head as him needing someone to care for the babies.

When she heard him give Mr. Barrister the order to have her killed, she knew she’d have to run. She turned and snuck down the stairs with just her acceptance letters, her purse, and her backpack. She would stop at an ATM to get enough money for a bus ticket and some more clothes, then she’d be gone. She’d never use the card again and he’d never guess she’d gone all the way to State where her tuition and living expenses were taken care of.

Just to be safe, Lexie, no, Alex now, changed her appearance totally. She darkened her hair, changed how she wore it, and changed her style. The university couldn’t give out information on students and no one would recognize her if someone showed her old pictures around. She hoped He would forget about her after a few years.

Unfortunately, Alex discovered that her fancy prep school hadn’t prepared her very well for the rigors of university life. It was like she’d never learned ANYTHING! She had to study hard to keep her grades up for her scholarship.

Alex’s freshman year passed quickly as she read, wrote term papers, and did assignments. She didn’t really notice that she’d hardly had a single conversation with another student.

But soon it was almost the end of term and she was applying for an on campus internship at the school paper to tide her over between terms. She’d always been interested in journalism and she thought she was a good writer. Alex was thrilled when she heard back from the paper. She’d gotten it!

The dorms had been nearly empty over the summer with most of the students elsewhere. Despite her work on the paper, Alex had realized that she was very alone on campus.

“Am I glad you guys are back!”

“Seriously, Alex? We’re dormies.”

“Still, you guys are better than nothing.”

“Gee, thanks.”

After the total grind of her Freshman year, Alex was mostly caught up with where she should have been and now that she had more time, Alex was starting to notice that even the dormies were pairing up. Without the pressure of needing to study every second of the day to keep up, she began to wish she had someone special too.

It was bad enough that when Ericka sat down to play chess one day, Alex asked, “So, um, where do you all go to meet guys?”

Ericka was not exactly sympathetic to her plight and clearly thought she was an idiot. “Geez Alex, you’ve been here a year and you’ve never even left the dorm except for class! If you don’t like your choices here, go somewhere else. Go to the coffeehouse or the student lounge or the Skilluplounge or the gym! You can meet guys anywhere there are people.”

Alex was a bit worried about the idea of going out. She’d gotten a phone call from student services telling her that some guy had been asking for her and asking her if she wanted them to give out her number. “No,” Alex told them, “please tell them that you have no student here with that name. ”

She kept to herself for another few weeks, but when there were no more enquiries, she finally decided that she couldn’t hide forever, so she got out. First she went to the Student lounge.

There were a couple of guys there who seemed nice enough, but she didn’t find any of them particularly compelling.

“Dude, did your mama cut your hair for you?”

“Better her than the drunken fratboy who did yours.”

“Guys? “

“Dude, at least I didn’t find my clothes in last year’s trashout-the-dorm pile.”

“Guys?”

“Better than at the wanna-be-Alzod store.”

“Never mind. I’ll just sit here and eat my hotdog.”

She had more fun rocking out on the guitar than she did with the boys.

“Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!”

Then she went to the gym, where she looked at some VERY pretty scenery, but there wasn’t anyone there that she wanted to take home, either.

“Oh, my, you have very nice…er *cough*. I mean it’s very nice to meet you.”

“My abs are totally rockin, right? You wanna see my glutes?”

“Er, no, thanks. I’ll just, umm, I think I have class.”

Alex even went to the Skillup lounge and it was relaxing, but still she didn’t really click with anyone. It would have been far less relaxing, however, had she noticed the suspicious character lurking about. Fortunately it seems he didn’t notice her either.

She even tried asking her dorm-mates to bring home any cute guys from class. And oh there were some cuties, but no one for her.

“Oh, goddess, I think you’re the woman of my dreams! How do you feel about marriage and kids?”

“Sorry, guy, way to fast. *cough*creeper*cough*.”

In the end, Alex ended the year as she had begun it, though that wasn’t so bad she supposed. She’d visited most of the campus common areas and met a ton of new people. She hadn’t found anyone special but she had made some new friends and at least she had her internship again.

When everyone returned for Alex’ junior year, however, there was a new boy in the dorm. Leif was a junior as well, an exchange student from Scimdanovia. Most of the time he kept to himself and he was reading nearly as much as Alex had that first year.

He did seem very popular with the dormie girls, though. They always made sure to sit with him at meals and swooned over his every move. He didn’t seem to notice. Maybe he was shy?

“Oh, Leif, my term paper is sooooo hard. Could you help me with it please?”

“I am very sorry, but English is not my first language. Perhaps one of the other dormies could help you more.”

Alex noticed that she had something in common with Leif, though. They both abhorred violence.

“I do not find this to be an appropriate expression of anger.”

“Oh, goddess, I hope no one gets hurt!”

“I’m not a coward. It is simply that I prefer competitions to be more civilized.”

“No, I totally get it. I don’t like fighting either. Chess is much better.”

“How do you feel about logic games?” He seemed nervous.

“I love them!”

A few days later, when Leif asked her if she would proof his term paper for him, Alex told him she’d be glad to help.

“So, um, this section about the importance of family connections and relationships in society is interesting, but you need to include some stats or a couple of quotes or something. There’s a really good database of sociological journals that I could show you if you want.”

As Alex and Leif spent more and more time together, they soon found that they had more things in common than just hating violence and liking chess. They both liked art, games, and music. Alex discovered that Leif really wanted a family some day but didn’t have much ambition, while he discovered that she was dying to be an ace reporter and was a wiz at research. They always had things to talk about.

As they were headed for their rooms one night, Leif touched Alex’s elbow.

“Wait a moment.” he said.

She turned toward him, curious, and as she did, Leif kissed her goodnight for the first time. Alex felt the click, she knew he was the one.

Now they were not only in each other’s company all the time, but they were in each other’s company and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. The dormies were getting nauseous from sugar shock.

“GET A ROOM!”

It was Cherry who finally snapped. She and Alex were studying together one day when Leif called across the room to tell her that he missed her. Enough was enough. “Goddess save us! Why don’t you just ‘hoo already!?”

Alex blushed. She had actually had plans for that evening.

Cherry should have kept her mouth shut because after the first night no place was safe. Not couches, not the photo booth, no where. And their next door neighbors were both in revolt and revolted.

“Will you SHUT UP ALREADY.”

Summer was surely a relief for the dormies, though the next year was the same song sung again.

It was early spring in their senior year when Leif suggested they go for a walk in the park. Once there he got down on one knee.

“Alexandra Destin, love of my life, will you marry me?”

“Yes!”

When they told their dorm mates, Cherry summed up the dorm’s response. “Gee, this is just the biggest surprise ever.” Then she grinned and hugged them both. “Congratulations!”

Alex often felt as though there was some magical force helping her and protecting her from any danger.

“Damn college kids. The sidewalk is all sticky. Can’t they puke on the grass like normal people?”

Alex did still keep an eye on Robert from afar and was relieved when she saw that he had started the proceedings to have her declared dead. She was less relieved when the courts refused to do so. She wasn’t sure what to tell Leif. She hoped that time in her life was behind her and, in the end, didn’t say anything about it at all.

It was late in her senior year when Alex received a call from Bemused Construction LLC.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe that I am aware of your company. What is it you are offering again?” She was suspicious of our motives, of course.

“Bemused Construction LLC is a residential construction company. Unfortunately we invested in a defunct village just before the last housing crisis. Our CEO decided to use it to develop a sustainable community, but we need foundational families who will agree to an extended commitment. Basically we will sell you some land at a greatly reduced rate and you help us develop the community for the next 10 generations.”

Alex, smart girl, was wary of the offer but after a great deal of research and a sit down meeting in which I explained the terms of the deal, she accepted. It was, financially and dynastically, an excellent long term deal after all.

And with that, they graduated. Alex into a not-so fetching outfit of olive drab and purple.

“Oh, goddess, I’m disguised as a plum tree!”

Leif flashed into an urban cowboy costume. He had to go home for the summer to see his parents and get his visa straightened out, so he and Alex headed in different directions for a few months.

“Well, at least my family thinks everyone here dresses like this anyway.”

Thank you for joining us for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the experience.

Next up:

How will Alex take to her new digs?

Will Leif return from his visit home?

Are there babies on the way?

Have you read a legacy before? :P