Princess of the Highlands Trilogy - THE EXTRAS

Fianguscolm #2

It was day three of spring break and the unfortunately stranded students were in their dorm room, having no way to pay the fare home. Angus, was sleeping. Or perhaps trying to would be a better term. Every time he slipped beneath the waves of consciousness, he was awakened by giggling from his brother, Malcolm.

"Malcolm, wha' in Scotland are ye laughing about?"

More laughter.

Angus opened one eye and squinted at his brother sitting on the other end of the couch. "Malcolm," he repeated, growing steadily irritated, "wha' are ye laughing about? It's keeping me awake."

Malcolm giggled and shook his head. "Nothing. Jist gae to sleep."

Angus shot up like a jack-in-the-box. "Malcolm! I cannae sleep because ye keep waking me up wi' yer daft giggling! Ye sound like some love-struck girl!"

At this, Malcolm laughed even harder and his phone almost fell out of his hand. "Nae, I'm nae the love-struck one. Ye are. Ye hae nae eaten since who kens when. Since ye met that lassie."

Angus rolled his eyes heavenward. "I hae too eaten. Ye were sleeping. And furthermore, the only one who's said anything about Fiona has been ye." He laid back down and closed his eyes, his mouth still in a frown.

"Oh pfft." Malcolm laughed under his breath. "Oh, Angus?"

He was answered by a very disgruntled harumph.

"Ye ken I'm meeting up wi' Fiona this afternoon."

"Ye wha'?" Angus opened both eyes and sat up for the second time, his blood rushing to his head far too quickly for comfort.

"Aye, by the pond. In about thirty minutes."

Angus blinked, his cheeks burning. "Since when hae ye been planning this?"

"Since she accepted my follow request on Insta. It's dope if ye ask me."

"Dope?"

"Really cool. And donnae expect me to explain that. I hope ye are that socialized." Malcolm sighed. "Ye never post on Instagram fer one thing. Ye scarcely say anything in class unless ye'er arguing wi' the professor, and ye barely said anything to a lass that was OBVIOUSLY staring at ye too much to be considered normal."

Angus rolled his eyes again. "And ye hae the weirdest username ever. And ye scarcely talk except to Jamie and ye laugh far too much. It's a wonder ye've stayed on top of yer classes at all! Nae to mention nearly running over said lass and then staring at her like she was a piece of cake."

"Cake is good! Food is good! And my username reflects my passion. Shut up. Yers sucks worse than a vacuum."

Angus looked confused.

Malcolm groaned. "A powered thing used to suck up useless junk on the carpet like yer social life."

"I hae nae use fer a social life—"

"And it shows," Malcolm interjected. "Seriously. Ye need one if ye want to attract Fiona's attention."

"Excuse me! Wha' if I donnae want to attract her attention? And if I did, I wouldnae do it in such a way. Ye hae probably scared her off wi' yer food pictures and things ye call 'memes' and odd 'aesthetic' images of home—NAE ONE CARES ABOUT IT!"

Malcolm didn't bat an eyelid. "Fiona does."

Angus groaned like someone had knocked the breath out of him and fell back on the couch. "I give up," he murmured weakly. "Ye'er impossible."

"Right, ye coming or no'?"

Angus sighed heavily. "I suppose I hae nae choice, do I?"

"Ye donnae hae to—"

"I'm coming!" Angus snapped, getting up and grabbing his jacket.

Outside, the bright spring sunshine was enough to blind anyone, and Angus had a hard time adjusting to the light as Malcolm scampered off down the sidewalk without him.

"Malcolm! Where are ye—" Angus pulled up short as he came in sight of that red-haired lass of whom Malcolm would not stop teasing about. A wave of heat washed over him, burning the tips of his ears.

The sunlight shining on her hair made it glow like fiery gold and her full lips were parted in a greeting smile, but whatever words she spoke were lost. Angus drowned in the welcoming embrace of her emerald eyes and did not hear one word she said.

"'Tis alright, Fiona, he doesnae talk much," Malcolm interjected when Angus' world stopped spinning.

Fiona laughed. "Nae, it's fine. I donnae like talking myself much either."

Malcolm blinked, betrayal written across his face. "Wha'..." he protested weakly as his brother and the lass with the crimson locks looked at each other for at least one whole minute before speaking.

"Right. I'll be off then," Malcolm muttered. No one gave a response, even if they heard him.

"Sae, Angus." The laughter was gone from Fiona's eyes. "Why did ye follow me on Instagram, change yer username to XOXOi_love_fionaXOXO, and then proceed to spam my inbox with all sorts of messages? I donnae understand ye."

Angus' heart sank to his feet as his temper rose and flared like a coming thunderstorm. "I donnae ken wha' ye are talking about. I hae nae used my account since I made it two years ago, and I hae nae changed my username, and would ne'er send any lass messages of that sort. Though I suppose I cannae persuade ye to believe me." His brows drew together like dark storm clouds.

"Then who would be responsible?" Her voice was soft, like a summer breeze. "I want to believe ye, but this is jist ridiculous. And most irresponsible of a lad like ye."

Angus thought for a moment, fuming. "Malcolm, that—"

Fiona raised her eyebrows. "Malcolm is responsible fer this?"

"I wouldnae put it past him. He's hacked other things of mine before. Almost makes it a profession." Angus rubbed his temples. "I'm gang to kill him," he muttered under his breath. This was just splendid.

"Donnae kill him," Fiona replied. "I'm sure he didnae mean harm."

Angus shot her a look that said otherwise and bid her an awkward farewell.

That night, Malcolm went to bed, his ears ringing from a tongue-lashing. And Angus' Instagram was deleted, and a new one put in its place with a new username.

im_gonna_kill_malcolm

And yes, that username tag came in handy. ^_^