The next two days were both physically exhausting and mentally euphoric for Alex. Like most end-of-semester periods, Alex's evenings and nights were filled with constant mockery and calls for his "services" by all the boys in the dorm, who were overly stressed and worried over performance on their final exams. Unlike the past few years, however, Alex wasn't solely filled with exhaustion— this year, he also was filled with boundless hope for what he'd recently uncovered in the library.
On the morning of the third day — the day after the last exam was over and the student break officially began — Alex got up early, like all three of his roommates, and quickly packed up to leave the school. Leaving their room, the hallways of the boy's dorms were already packed full of multiple students; all of whom were in a rush to be the first to leave.
"Don't try and get in from of us, Lady," Jeremiah ordered, grabbing Alex by the shoulder and pushing him back into the room. "Real men go first," he snorted, disgustedly. "A woman like you should wait their turn."
"Fine." Sighing disappointedly, Alex walked back over and flopped back across his bed to wait. Every year, it seemed to him, as if things changed just a little more, bit by bit, to make his life a little more difficult. 'I guess I should've expected to get stuck in the room this year,' he thought dejectedly. 'Hell. If the pattern continues like this, I'll probably end up tied naked and gagged to the bed next year, and forced to wait until the cleaners finally find me a few days later!'
All of it was, once again, the stupid school's fault. By claiming that the operating costs were too high, the school only activated the travel array for one single day after the exams. And, in the spirit of 'first come, first served', the first students to line up at the travel courtyard were the first ones to be allowed to use it.
This normally led to the elder students, being of higher rank and skills usually, being the first in line, while younger students were pushed to the back. Duels and competitions were normal as well, with stronger students intimidating weaker ones to advance higher up the queue, and it was normally these events that would push Alex back to the end of the line — but not this year! This year, he apparently wasn't even going to be allowed out of the dorm as soon as the doors unlocked. All he could do is just sit and wait.
And, wait, he did.
'Which is utterly stupid this time,' Alex sighed, resigning himself to twiddling his thumbs patiently. 'It's not like I was even going to use the travel array this time. I figured I'd just get pushed to the end, and then I could wander off and go catch up to Thorn. I don't guess a small doing it this way instead, will slow me down very much.'
As Alex was busy relaxing with his own thoughts, there was suddenly a loud cheer from the hallway outside the room. Sounds of students scuffling, fighting, and cussing each other, echoed into the room for the next half hour, or so, until silence finally filled the dorm.
"Well, I guess even I can leave now," Alex sighed to himself. Easing up off the bed, he reflexively checked and adjusted his loose clothing, before heading out and starting to the exit of the dorm.
Heading outside, the school was just as hectic and chaotic as Alex had first imagined it to be. Students — both the male and female students — were dashing about crazily from courtyard to courtyard and building to building. Some were waving colored flags and frantically yelling like crazy, in an attempt to find the companions which they may have promised to travel with during the break, while some of the others — probably the first year students — were milling around aimlessly and looking lost.
Ignoring the hubbub as much as possible, and apologizing profusely and repeatedly, Alex slowly worked his way across to the practice fields. Ignoring the various groups of people who were using the practice field as a gathering spot, Alex casually walked over to the opened-sided building where the trainers always stood to watch over the students training. Cutting through it as a shortcut, Alex strolled to the small hut behind it, where the school normally kept all the wooden weapons used for practice, and waltzed inside as if he had every reason to be there.
'It might technically be stealing,' Alex told him, 'but all I'm really doing is getting my share of the supplies my parents pay for with each year's tuition.' Justifying his actions to himself, Alex grabbed up one of the larger first aid kits and walked back out the door. Keeping his head low, so he could hide his guilty eyes from everyone else's gaze, he quickly hurried and rushed to the gates leading out to the city entrance.
"Phaaawwwhhh!!" Letting out a breath of deeply held air, Alex took a moment to stand to the side of the road and sniff the air ecstatically. "Freedom smells so great!" Inspired by everyone else's end-of-semester shenanigans, he couldn't help but yell aloud and twirl happily in place, causing the nearby gate guards to chuckle lightly, and one to whistle appreciatively in his direction.
"Sorry!" Blushing brightly at the sudden attention he'd brought upon himself, Alex quickly smoothed his skirt out with his free hand and hurriedly rushed on down the street and away from the school.
Going through the city itself, in many ways it almost seemed like today was a festival day in many places. Everyone knew when the school was ending, or beginning, and all the merchants and workers were anxiously waiting and trying to attract the students attention before they left town for several months. Drivers and carriages lined both sides of the street, vying to grab the attention of any students who might be traveling a short distance, where they wouldn't need to use the travel array.
"Pretty lady! Do you want a ride? Only a gold per day's travel — to and fro — to any destination within a week's distance from here!" One balding-headed fat man boldly stepped out from the front of a carriage and blocked his path, while sharing the largest, bightest, shit-eating grin he possibly could.
"No thanks." Waving his free hand daintily in front of his face, Alex smiled warmly and tried to go around the man.
"If you're worried about your safety, little lady," the driver persisted, "we can stop by the guildhall and you can hire yourself as many guards as might be needed."
"It's not that I don't trust you," Alex stopped and assured the man. "I'm certain you'd be more than enough to carry me wherever I needed to go. It's just that I'm not leaving town right yet. I've got to make a final check on one of my sick patients, before I can leave." Holding up the first aid kit so that the driver could see the healer's emblem of several herbs tied together, Alex smiled brightly and lied loosely to the merchant.
'I'm going to The Abyss when I die,' Alex sighed deeply to himself. 'First theft, and now dishonest speech — both in one morning! At this rate, I'm going to end up a rapist and a murderer by this afternoon!'
"Then next time," the driver laughed, shrugging off the rejection good-naturedly, finally stepping back out of the way, to resume his previous position in from of his carriage.
"Absolutely," Alex promised, smiling charmingly even though he really couldn't ever picture himself hiring a driver to take him anywhere. His feet worked just fine — and walking was much cheaper anyway! Waving lightly, he hurried on down the street, anxious to try and make it to Thorn's without any further interruptions.
He was late enough already!