Falling From the Sky

4. I take Alex to my school, where I tell him to stay quiet. He doesn't.

"Alright, if anybody, except for me, asks who you are, you are Alex Samuels, my cousin, and you study Biology." I said, grabbing his shoulders to make him face me. "Now, say it with me:" We rehearsed this a couple more times before I told him the #1 Rule: "NO TALKING!" "Why?" he questioned. "Because, you tend to blast off at the mouth a lot..." Well, that was according to history books, but I wasn't willing to take the risk. "Well, that is true my l-Riya..." he muttered. "Very well. I'll stay quiet at your school." "Good." I said. I had a bad feeling in my gut as Alexander and I drove up to my university. When we walked up to the entrance, I saw that Alex's face was scrunched up in confusion. "Is this...?" he murmured. I looked up at the buildings, and realization dawned on me. "Oh, yeah! You went here, once, right?" I asked. "Yes, but, it's a lot different than I remember...King's College didn't look like this." he said, still staring at the campus. "Yeah, I know. And it's called Columbia University these days, by the way." I said, shutting Alex's now-open mouth with a finger as I walked into the campus. He snapped out of his daze and ran to me, calling, "You go here, Riya?!"

I finally arrived at my medical class, but just before that, I had dropped Alex off outside to walk around the campus (which was probably a bad idea but I didn't care). We had a test today, and I needed all 1000% of my brain focused on this, and not on Alex running amuck about the campus and possibly setting things on fire. About 30 minutes into the test, I started to relax a bit. So far, there was no word about any drama on campus. Maybe...a little part of my brain thought. Maybe, he can handle this on his own. But the silence was broken and my thoughts were interrupted by a sudden chorus of cries coming from outside. My classmates and I looked up, and I heard footsteps echoing down the hallway, until the door was thrown open by a rando. He pointed at me. "You! Come get your fucking cousin! He's causing a riot outside!" I threw down my pencil and raced out the doorway. So much for handling this on his own. Way to jinx it, Riya.

It wasn't long before I saw Alex. He was in the center of a crowd, standing on a chair and shouting, "Free college tuition! Equal opportunities for all! No more assault!" I ran up, pushed my way through the crowd as they screamed and cheered, grabbed Alex by the arm, and pulled him down from the chair. He gave a yelp as I did so, and the crowd eventually went silent. "What. The. FRICK! Are. You. DOING?!" I screeched. "I am-! Oh, right...shit." he muttered, turning red. I rolled my eyes. Of course he'd forgotten about our promise. "Yo, Riya! Your cousin is so lit!" Peter piped up. "Although, he doesn't resemble you that much..." I laughed awkwardly and pulled Alex close to me. "Hehehehe, yeaaah! He resembles his dad more. Much more dominant genes on his side of the family! Speaking of which, um, yeah, okay, bye!! Gotta haveaserioustalkwithmycousin!" I rambled as I ran away with Alex faster than Lightning McQueen ever would. I ran and ran until we were near my classroom again. "So, Alex. I'm going to ask again! What was that?!" I whispered indignantly. "I'm sorry m-Riya. I forgot about the promise." Alex mumbled, looking down in embarrassment. "Of course you did..." I muttered, facepalming. "But, this time, I'm going to forgive you. But do it another time, I'm coming for your soul." Alexander gulped in fear as I said this. "Now, I have a test to finish, and you are coming to sit in the class with me." I said, dragging him by the arm once more. "And after?" Alex asked, uncertain. I smiled and rolled my eyes. "I'm going to teach you how to use household equipment without burning my apartment down."