Beep beep beep
'That dreadful alarm clock. Always a bane on my mornings.' Beep beep be- .Tobias stopped the clock before it could rouse me any further. That was one thing I would always be grateful for, having a room mate like him. Tobias Redwith, an enthusiastic boy with an overwhelming positive outlook on life.
"Luke wake up, breakfast will be ready in a minute." Tobias said as he changed out of his nightwear. He proceeded to run a comb along his straight brown hair. "Be quick Luke, you might miss breakfast again if you sleep in."
*Sigh*" leave me be Tobias, I'll be there." I said lazily, I was always tired in the mornings. Although that was mostly my fault. " alright I'll see you at breakfast, I'll make sure no one steals your food " he said as he smiled at me, before proceeding to leave our room.
I laid there silently, staring at the ceiling for some time before deciding I had delayed long enough. "I have to be quick, can't miss breakfast. If not I'll be grouchy for the rest of the day" My slippers then slid from under my bed into my feet as they touched the floor, meanwhile my clothes began to slowly leave my body as new ones slid on me. My comb lifted of my reading table and carefully went through my hair and untangled all the curls.
I looked in the mirror a bit , taking in my appearance. My dark blonde hair was neat and in place and my electric blue eyes greeted me with cold contempt, my clothes were also neatly in place without any crease within the dull fabric."Ahh… this never gets old, what a useful ability to have." And it truly was, it saved me a lot of physical effort when I was otherwise too lazy to move.
I approached the door taking in one more deep breath before leaving the warm confines of my room. I made my way to the dining hall as I passed worn out walls and squeaky floor boards that were in dire need of replacement. Descending the stairs will putting a hand over the railing, I felt the worn, old grain of the wood. This railing brought me many memories, a lot happened on these stairs.
And with that I arrived at the dining hall, although I wouldn't really call it a hall, bit too small to be one. My eyes scanned the room and took in the sight of the other children head down into there bowls eating their meal. Tobias waved at me calling me over to the seat he saved for me beside him. I smiled before moving over and plopping down in the old (ancient) piece of furniture. " you came down earlier than usual today" Tobias said." Well I was starving, you know how I get when I'm hungry " I said in response." Yeah.. I do" he said with a sigh.
"Eat your food then, I made sure no one stole it " "Hmmm.. thanks" Today we were served oatmeal and bread. I hated oatmeal, I've had it so many times now that I can't stand the sight of it. But I couldn't be too choosey. This old orphanage was barely paying its bills and asking for any more would be cruel. The caretakers were having a tough time getting by, and when you add a bunch of overly excited playful children to the mix you got a proper nightmare for even the most patient of people.
My eyes roamed the table making eye contact with each of the other children and teens. I smiled at them and they smiled back before bending their heads over to continue with their meal. A lot of the us ranged in age from 3 year olds to the rare 18 years olds. I made peace with all of them and the relations I had with them were always cordial and respectful.
"Alright children be quick it'll time for school soon. Immediately you're done I want freshened and ready for the bus" miss Adelaide said. She was a short middle aged woman that oversaw the orphanage. She was a mother figure to many at the orphanage, me included. Her kind gentle disposition would always invite us in. It compelled us to share our secrets and seek advice even in the most trivial of things. Her eyes scanned the room taking us in and scanning our bowls to determine how much time we would take. As her eyes made contact with mine she smiled that loving smile of hers. Whenever she smiled like that it seemed to brighten up the room. It made her beautiful even with her graying black hair and soft wrinkles.
Most of the others finished breakfast and departed to their rooms to freshen up for school. Tobias and I finished shortly after and when straight to our room for a shower. "You put quite a bit of effort today in your outfit. Mind telling me what's going on. "Tobias looked startled when I asked my question. I just lifted a brow at his reaction still expecting an answer. "I…it's nothing don't worry about it. " I hummed at his reply clearly not believing it. "As long as your safe then."
"You know for someone who lacks empathy you sure are protective. " I looked at him clearly not amused by his words. "Lets get going the bus will be here soon." Tobias gave me an innocent smile before gathering his things and going out the door. Unlike the younger one we didn't have the luxury of having the bus pick us up at the orphanage. We attended a different high school about a 50 minute walk from home and to get there we had to go to the fixed bus stop designated to our area. Tobias and I walked mostly in relaxed silence to the bus stop about a 10 minute walk from the orphanage. Walking through the mostly quiet, empty streets. This was a residential area not many businesses ran here only the regular grocery and convenience store. The children had left by the time stepped out the front door, their bus taking them to the elementary and middle school.
When we arrived there were 8 other teens waiting. 'It seems the bus is a bit late today' "Hey guys, good morning." Tobias in his usual fashion greeted them with a bright smile. 'Someday he's going to get mugged' I shook my head at his antics before raising a hand to them. A simple gesture to acknowledge their presence, most greeted Tobias before pulling him aside for a conversation. As for me they knew better than to strike conversation with me, I wasn't known to be very vocal and they learned to leave me be soon after our first meeting.
"Hey Luke" yes they learned to leave me be, all except one. Johnathan DeLark he was trying to push a friendship that I'd explicitly said not to. "You look good today. Manage to finish that physics assignment, it has been exceptionally stressful." Till now I haven't found anything wrong with Jonathan, nonetheless I avoided him because he gave me a strange feeling. I knew it wasn't fair to assign judgement based on a feeling but also couldn't be welcoming especially if I felt uncomfortable around him. "I remember telling you not to touch me DeLark." he always did this draping his arm over my shoulder acting like we were close. He looked at me before awkwardly dropping his arm and taking a step back. "I'm sorry buddy forgot the rules for a sec." And that was a major reason I found him discomforting, his eyes. Whenever he looked at me I saw no emotion in those eyes, his words didn't match his eyes. Again it wasn't a very solid reason, Lord know how many times I look at the world with displeasure and contempt.
Before he could say anything else the bus arrived and I proceeded to enter as soon as the doors opened. I took my usual seat, left middle row and sat down shutting my eyes. I felt the seat dip a bit on my right signifying Tobais' arrival. The ride to school was smooth only the occasional stop at traffic and other bus stops. Even though the school's policies surrounding pick up locations were a bit rigid it did allow us to get there on time.
When I felt the bus go over a speed bump I sighed before opening my eyes. We've arrived at school. The school was uneventful, nothing particularly eye-catching about it. It was old and seen quite a bit of history in it's halls. The main annex stood tall with its 3 floors , the court yard was right behind it and it connected the cafeteria to the right and the gymnasium to the left. There were other small buildings littered about the compound, most of which were used to store supplies. The bus came to a stop after going around the small roundabout that housed a sign with the school's name printed on it. Other cars were still coming in though a majority of students had already arrived. "Tobias what's the time?" he glanced at his watch briefly "it's 8:23 " That explains why the parking lot was this devoid of people, school starts at 8:30 sharp most of the students were already in class.