Chapter Text
September 6th, Train Station.
Stan Uris
Stan Uris powered through the crowds of school kids who were bustling their way to the train. He couldn’t be late on his first day and embarrass himself like that, could he? No he thought, although who really cared if he’s honest with himself.
A bunch of kids are blocking the path way, from what looks like someone’s water bottle leaking in there bag.
Unprepared idiots.
He hated waiting. In fact, he despised it. After about 2 minutes of impatient waiting, Stan pushed past them and carried on walking in his flourishing temper. He would have to do enough waiting for a train so waiting for unorganised school kids did not appeal.
He finally was insight of the platform where he had to be and slowed down a little with a small sigh of relief. He wasn’t going to be late. Stan halted to a stop when he came across a small, out of place, retro cafe. He thought about it for a second. Should he get a coffee or not? To be or not to be?
Stan there is NO reason for quoting Shakespeare right now!
he yelled in his head, sort of confused as to why he knows Shakespeare. He shrugged off his worrying thoughts and strolled in, noticing a boy, sitting alone. Stan thought about introducing himself and hopefully making a friend he could sit next to on the train, but then thoughts like:
What if you get in deep conversation and miss the train?
What if he doesn’t like you?
What if?
What if?
What if!
Kept popping into his head, so he decides to just buy a coffee and hope that he doesn’t get a cold invested, stinky, rude asshole next to him. Yes, he did feel mean about it but risking being embarrassed? No. Besides, he might be able to make friends there, he hoped.
Ben Hanscom
Ben Hanscom was lonely.
He was in a café full of chatter and laughter and he was lonely.
His mum drove him to the train station about half an hour before now, and he had wandered into a small café after a while. It was pushed into the side and looked oddly out of place. The inside was bright and happy, with round wooden tables and framed landscapes. They had obviously gone for a retro style. When Ben had first walked in, only one table was occupied. But it was a while later, and more people had filled in, none alone, sitting at tables and talking loudly.
It was like that emptiness had taken over completely.
The anger he had been feeling earlier, the small sadness, it was an empty void now. He just felt lonely.
The bell by the door tingled lightly and Ben turned to see a boy who looked almost as alone as he felt walk in.
Maybe if Ben was brave he would introduced himself. Say that his name was Ben and that he was very pleased to meet you and maybe we can sit on the train together. But Ben Hanscom had decided ages ago that he wasn’t brave.
The boy ordered a coffee then left.
The girls on the table nearest Ben burst out in sudden laughter, and Ben crouched into himself. Why did his mum think sending away was a good idea? He could of survived back in Derry. Things were far from perfect there but they were better than this. Better than being an nobody.
Well, It wasn’t like he was anyone anyway. No one really noticed Ben Hanscom.
He squashed the top of his cupcake between his thumb and index finger, crumbs falling onto the plate. He’d lost his appetite. In fact, he was starting to wonder if he had one today. Like he had woken up and all sense of hunger had just strolled out of his body and walked away.
Ben sighed, taking a decent sized bite off his cupcake, then picking up the small plate and bringing it up to the rack near the counter, where you were meant to put your used plates.
“You done already?” Someone asked while Ben was slipping his plate into the rack, and he turned around to see a young waiter, smiling at him politely. She had light brown hair in a ponytail and kind hazel eyes.
“Yeah.” Ben said, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I’m uh, too nervous to eat.”
The waiter’s smiled widened slightly, and Ben thought it looked more genuine.
“Boarding school.” She said, nodding. “I recognise the uniform.”
Ben didn’t really know what to say, and he realised last minute that he was still holding his plate. He blushed, and pushed the plate into the rack, distantly wondering if he had crumbs around his mouth.
“Yeah.” Ben replied, begging to whatever God’s were out there that his voice didn’t sound forced. “First year.”
The waiter tilted her head slightly. “It’s not so bad. You’ll get use to it, I’m sure, and the students are kind once you get to know them.”
Ben wiped his arm over him mouth. “You went there?”
“For two years. I was probably more worried than you, mind.”
She smiled once again, and Ben smiled back.
“The train will set off soon, so you should probably get going. Good luck.” She said, turning and walking behind the counter.
Ben opened his mouth to call a goodbye, thought better of it, and started towards the door. He left the café, walking back onto the busy platform. The door shut gently behind him and Ben looked around.
Everyone he could see was wearing uniform, running around the platform and shouting loudly. People were wearing straw hats and some were holding lacrosse sticks. Ben felt like he was watching everything through a window. Like he was there but he wasn’t.
This wasn’t a good idea.
Suddenly a whistle blew, signalling that the train was leaving in 5 minuets and to ‘board now if you haven’t already’. A cheer went up from the people on the station, but Ben thought they were probably cheering for a different reason than he would of. He moved the doors, trying his best not to bump into people. He reached the line to one of the doors, and just as the first person stepped in, Ben noticed a boy, probably his age, running to the train. Ben had a moment to think that the boy had just got here on time when he was climbing up the steps and onto the train.
Bill Denbrough
Bill Denbrough hated buses. End of. Case closed. They always stunk, or were too hot or too cold. You could guarantee you would have to sit next to someone who is clearly high or drunk. And Bill had to go through all those things just because his parents wouldn’t drive him to the train station.
If they really cared about my health and education, then they wouldn’t have sent me on one of these janked up buses
Bill thought angrily to himself. All this talk of “You’re going to have to have to get used to buses Bill” bullshit from his parents made no sense.
Do they even know how boarding schools work?
Eventually, the bus pulled up to its assigned stop and a few people got off, including Bill.
“Thank you.” He said politely, not sure why he’s thanking a fucked up piece of transport, but he feels sorry for the driver for having to drive it, so that gave him a valid reason. He walks into the station and sees that it’s pretty much empty with only the train about to shut its doors. He checks his watch.
“Shit!” He whisper/yelled and sprinted to the closest door he could find which was still open and leaped into the train. He leaned against the carriage wall and turned around to see ham packed seats of girls.
“Um boy what are you doing here? This is the girls carriage.” A random girl said to him, hushing the chatter.
“Oh shi- uh s-s-s-sorry i’ll g-go.” Bill said, embarrassed and turned to walk down the corridor.
“B-b-Bye boy.” The same girl imitated and everyone burst into a fit of laughter. Bill knew fully well that he was going to get bullied for his stutter, but he couldn’t let himself be bothered by it or “he’ll never succeed” as his dad says.
He reached the end of the corridor and with a sigh of relief he saw it was the boys carriage and luckily swiped an empty seat below a window.
It had been around 16 minutes into the journey according to Bill’s watch and he was already bored out of his mind.
Then a boy, who was quite tall and had oversized glasses walked past with a smirk on his face. He looked at one of the boys and said, “nice booty shorts.” And laughed.
“Shut it jerk.” The other boy retorted. Bill hid a small smile to himself and just thought:
How in hell am I going to survive this year?
Mike Hanlon
Mike didn’t know.
He really didn’t. He just sat there, in the carriage, all alone. Wondering how many other people were just unsure.
He sat in the middle of all the seats, just eating a sandwich, not really focusing. Except on the fact he is half an hour early and barely anybody is in the train yet.
He sees birds soaring through the air, effortlessly flapping their feathered wings, almost as if they were floating on water. He couldn’t help it, Mike loved animals and was devastated when he was forced to go to this hell hole.
Lost in thought, Mike hardly notices that a few other people had entered his carriage. He must have been thinking a lot longer than he thought.
Annoyed chatter floated into the air and he realised that he was sitting right in the middle of, what he thought was, a friendship group.
“Oh! Sorry i’ll um move.” He says while awkwardly shoving the rest of his sandwich down his throat and hustles over to a seat in the corner, near a window.
He sees the rest of the people bustling their way onto the train, a few people getting coffees in a little retro cafe opposite, some sitting, some standing, but they all looked happy. This confused Mike a lot. Going to school? Happy? That equals no.
Mike debated just to move to a different carriage all together. He thought he was just intruding the whole friendship group.
“Hey can my friend sit there?” A boy asked. Should he? Should he just let himself be bossed around? No. People can’t just tell him what to do. Mike knew he had over thought this entirely, but he wanted to set his mark down.
“Sorry this is my assigned carriage and space so it can’t be his unless someone else is in the wrong place.” Mike replied, more confident than expected. The boy just rolled his eyes and muttered something to his friend.
Great, first enemy made.
He thought, but he didn’t let this bother him too much, it can’t have been like the most popular first former could it? Right? Mike Hanlon was wrong. And little did he know, he was in for a interesting experience once he had entered Whitmore Towers.
Richie Tozier
Richie didn’t want to be here.
Not on a train, and certainly not one that was heading to a boarding school.
But as things were, he was on a train. And it was going to a boarding school. And he didn’t have a choice.
The carriage he was sitting in had 7 other people (two were squashed at the side) and a number of bags.
He was going to speak soon, of course he was, but at that moment, Richie was quiet. The people on his carriage had been talking since the train had set off, and their conversations were filled talk of with merry holidays on the beach large family homes.
Richie had spent his holiday in his room, fuming at his parents as his parents fumed at him.
There were a few nights where he snuck out, but otherwise he just had him, his thoughts, and his music.
It was dull, to say the least, but Richie couldn’t make himself care. And it didn’t matter anyway, did it? He had done what he had done and here he was. One way ticket to Hell, Rich.
He sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. Every time he was quiet he would think about the summer. Summer and his old school. And
(And your old friends)
how he’d got the blame for something that he hadn’t intended to do. Not really.
“Darren you HAVE to try for the lacrosse team!” The blond girl yelled suddenly, looking at the dark-haired boy.
Richie perked up. He had never played lacrosse before, but was required to bring a lacrosse stick, something he had wrinkled his nose in disgust at, but was now slightly curious.
He had a basic idea of how’d you play, but if there were really teams, he’d would need to get his act together. Richie Tozier was not a loser.
The talk in his carriage continued, and Richie fiddled with his tie impatiently.
“Is the train ride very long?” Richie asked, trying to sound loud, but for the first time he didn’t really want to.
The talk stopped almost
immediately, and Richie thought that he had probably fucked up. Again.
“A few hours.” A girl with wavy black hair replied, no emotion in her voice.
“Right.” Richie said. “And um… How long have we been driving?”
The girl raised her eyebrows and the boy next to her whispered something in her ear. “15 minuets.”
Richie could of groaned. Instead he thanked her, slid the door of the carriage open, and walked out, searching his pocket for a spear cigaret.
He really didn’t want to be here. On this train going to a boarding school that he wasn’t going to fit in at. But his parents were forcing him. Saying how they “Couldn’t deal with his behaviour anymore” and that a “Fresh start will be good”.
Richie leaned against the wall. He hadn’t told his parents everything because Richie Tozier didn’t really know the words. He’d never been amazingly behaved, yelling and name calling. But it was his friends leaving him, telling him that they found him annoying and that he needed to shut up sometimes. It was them that pushed Richie, and made him act so badly that his school had expelled him. Pretty fucking useless too, considering there was only a week left. So instead of normal school, Richie was off to Whitmore Towers.
But a part of Richie did want to start over. Be someone different. Or actually be himself this time. Breathe a bit easier maybe. He would try, Try and be better. Possibly.
Not that he would tell anyone that. He’d just, be him. The not annoying, actually fun to be around him. If that was even him.
Richie didn’t know
anymore.
He gave up looking for a cigaret and made his was down the train, searching for a bathroom.
He passed a girl on his way down, a girl with short wavy hair, a beautiful Cooper shade. She was by an open window and a lit cigaret was hanging from her fingers.
“Hey, can I borrow a cigaret?” Richie asked, trying to sound polite. “I haven’t got any.” He turned his pockets out, hoping she’d believe him.
The girl turned to meet his eyes, and Richie could tell she was trying to sum him up.
“I just ran out.” She said apologetically. “Sorry.”
“Oh, it’s okay.” Richie said, and the girl gave a nod before turning back to look out the window.
Maybe they could be friends. Maybe Richie wasn’t a total jerk. Maybe he could be himself.
Richie walked on.
He passed one more person, a boy with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was the only person Richie had seen who wasn’t in uniform. Instead he was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt and extremely short red shorts.
“Nice booty shorts!” Richie said as they passed.
“Shut it, jerk.” The boy replied, barly looking up.
Right.
Beverly Marsh
Beverly hopped onto her assigned carriage and found a space by the window. She stared out of it, telling herself
New year, new start, no obsessive dads.
Don’t get me wrong, she loves her dad, just as much as anyone loves their dads, but her dad has a funny way of showing it.
She stares around looking at the clusters of girls, talking about whatever girls talk about. All laughing and greeting their fellow friends. Beverly sighs a little, hoping she will make friend groups and so on.
Not if they are all like this though
she thought. Beverly hated fake people. Why try to be someone else and get friends when you can be yourself and find real friends. It just didn’t make sense to her.
She scanned the masses of train tracks all leading to a different place, all leading to a different adventure. After a while, Beverly took out a cigarette and heard a few scoffs from other girls while she lighted it. She took no notice and pulled the cigarette to her mouth and slipping out the carriage, moving along the corridor before opening a window.
Sooner or later the train set off and a few squeals were heard from excitement.
How the hell is anyone excited about going to a hell hole called school?
she questiond. Disrupted from her thoughts, a guy around her age with big glasses comes up to her and asks,
“Hey, can I use a cigarette?” Obviously trying to sound polite. “I haven’t got any.” He says while pulling out his pockets’ insides, proving he had none.
Beverly shook her head, meeting the boy’s eyes and said:
“I just ran out, sorry.”
“Oh, it’s ok.” He replied and Beverly gave him a small nod before he started walking away.
Maybe we could be friends?
Maybe I won’t be as alone as I thought I would be? If only I could just keep a conversation going!
She cursed herself angrily. She saw half the girls scoff at the fact a boy had just walked passed, and half of them with heart eyes staring after him.
Well one thing I know for sure is that this year is going to get very interesting and very annoying, fast.
Eddie Kaspbrak
Eddie didn’t care. He really didn’t. He didn’t care about the mother he left
(How could you Eddie? How could you!)
at home. He didn’t care about the medication
(They’re placebos! They’re fake, Ma!)
that weren’t in his bag. He didn’t even care about the school that he
(You’ll hate it, Eddie! And they’ll hate you! You can’t go, Eddie, you can’t leave, you can’t-)
was travelling to.
He just didn’t. Full stop.
His head was pressed
against the glass window, blurs of old summer flashing by. The people in the carriage around him were talking happily, and part of Eddie wanted to join in the conversation. But a bigger part kept his mouth shut, and he told himself that they’d probably dislike him anyway.
He would need to get in his uniform soon. He hadn’t put it on in fear of scaring his mother, so he pulled on anything he could find instead.
Eddie let himself get lost in the rhythm of the train’s movement.
He’d always liked trains. He was drawn to them, for some reason he couldn’t quite explain. Or didn’t want to explain. Either way, trains carried a sort of longing with them. The way they’d almost glide on their tracks, heading somewhere . But he never really thought he’d go on one.
And now he was actually sitting on one, he... he didn’t know what he felt.
His heart was beating faster than normal, admittedly. He felt tired from yesterday, from everything that was said (or yelled) and done. But he also felt excited. Like he was making his way not just to a boarding school but to freedom. Away from everything that had held him back and shaped him into someone who wasn’t Eddie Kaspbrak.
Eddie turned away from the window and he looked back at the carriage he was sitting in.The tiny room he was in had racks above the seats and the people in the carriage had lugged their bags up there. One boys lacrosse stick had fallen down when the trains started, and whacked the other boy opposite him.
Eddie could barely contain his laughter.
But that was the most interesting thing that had happened so far, and they’d be driving for ten minutes at least.
Eddie let his eyes trail over the people in his carriage. None of them look particularly inviting. Maybe He would make some new friends
(Eddie, you know what friends do? They trick you, Eddiebear, they use you, they lie to you! They’ll hurt you!)
when he actually arrived at Whitmore.
The boy with blond hair who was sitting next to Eddie pulled a ‘Moxie’ can out of his bag and popped it open. The sound seemed to trigger something in Eddie, and he was suddenly aware of how dry his throat was.
“Is there a-?” Eddie began, but his quiet voice got lost in the chatter of the other boys.
“Um, is there anywhere to get food here?” Eddie asked, a little louder this time.
The dark haired boy opposite turned at his voice. “Just down the train.”
“Oh...uh, thanks.” Eddie said, and the boy smiled, before turning back towards his friends.
Eddie clumsily stood up, and stepped over the boys feet. He slide the door open and walked out of the carriage.
(They won’t like you anyway, Eddie!)
What if someone approached him?
What if someone laughed at him?
What if someone talked to him?
And what if they didn’t like him? No way would Eddie let a bunch of assholes make fun of him. Not on his watch, not on anyone’s watch.
Eddie walked down the corridor, passing carriages on his way down.
He walked past and open carriage, and a boy with curly hair and coke bottle glasses walked past him.
“Nice booty shorts!”
“Shut it, jerk.” Eddie snapped quickly, not bothering to look up at. He heard a snicker from the open carriage.
The train ran smoothly, so it wasn’t a problem walking. The train was made up of 6 larger carriages, with smaller ones inside, a corridor in between. Eddie had gotten on at carriage point A, and had passed through carriage point B. He was at the door separating B and C, and slipped through it.
He walked quickly, but because of how narrow the corridors were, he bumped in a girl by the window.
“Hey!” She yelled.
Eddie cringed inwardly. Of course he would annoy someone. Of course.
“I’m sorry-“ Eddie began, but the coppered haired girl sighed, cutting him off
“It’s fine.” She said, but Eddie heard the tiredness underneath it. She dropped her cigarette out of the top window and pulled it closed.
Something seemed to snap in place in Eddie’s mind.
“Hey, you’re Beverly, aren’t you?”
The girl’s head whipped around. “What?”
“You went to my old school. I saw you a few times.”
Beverly sighed in relief and nodded. “That’s me. Except you probably knew me as the ‘slut’.”
Eddie’s thought back to all the rumours at his old school, all the things people said, all the lies people
(“They’ll lie Eddie!”)
told.
“Then you probably knew me as the wheezy boy.” Eddie replied seriously. There was a moment of silence then the both burst out laughing.
Eddie had heard of Beverly. She was in the other side of the year to him, but rumours never ceased, and Eddie had caught some of the things people would say. He knew what his mum would think. But standing in front of her now, laughing along with her now, Eddie thought that she couldn’t be that bad. Beside, she was the only person on the train who was being even the smallest bit nice to him.
Beverly leaned against the window. “Eddie Kaspbrak, worst case of asthma the school had ever seen.”
She grinned kindly at him and Eddie smiled back, but something pulled at him.
(Placebos)
“That’s kind of why I’m here.” He said carefully.
Beverly tilted her head.
“What do you mean?” She asked gently.
“I uh-“ Eddie felt nervous now. He hadn’t told anyone about what had happened that summer. Not that he had anyone to tell. The thought of opening up was scary, crossing through a door like Eddie had crossed through the carriages.
But Beverly was different.
“My mum lied to me. Said I was sick and what-have-you. Gave me a bunch of pills and…,well, they were fake.”
“Oh.” Beverly said softly.
“That’s not all of it. She had been giving me medication since I was little, and I couldn’t stay in that house any longer.”
Eddie breathed out, not realising that he had been holding his breath. A giant weight left his shoulders, and Eddie felt like he could cry. That wasn’t all of it, but Eddie didn’t think even he understood the rest. Not why he’d kept his inhaler out of all things, not understanding his mothers reasoning, but he’d told someone.
Beverly was looking at him with a mixture of sorrow and... understanding?
“I get you.” She said, shifting so she was looking out the window. “Similar thing with me but-“ she stopped, and Eddie knew what she was trying to say even if she couldn’t say it.
“Well.” Beverly said again, and gave Eddie a small smile. “I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah.” Eddie said. “See
you around Beverly.”
Beverly opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “Just call me Bev. Or slut. Whatever you want.”
Eddie laughed. “See you Bev.” He said, and She smiled before walking away.
Eddie decided that he quite liked Bev Marsh.
Station near Whitemore, later that day
Richie Tozier
The train screeched to a stop, making everybody yelp and reach to cover their ears. They could at least make these things better quality, Richie thought, they want us to actually be able to hear the teachers teach, right?
They all got there luggage from the back compartments and then headed for the train doors. Once Richie had nearly tripped and fell off the train, he looked around and saw a massive building with four grey, dull towers and at the peaks of them were little flags. Richie, guessing, thought these would determine whether you were going to be in a shit tower or a decent tower.
Richie had no clue where he was going. He was just weaving in and out of people, having a look at them to see what he had to put up with for the next year. One boy in particular caught his eye, he seemed to know where he was going, so he caught up to him.
“Hey, Do you have any idea where we are heading to?” Richie said, aiming to not scare the guy off.
“Not really I’m just trying to remember what the leaflet said when I decided to join here.” The boy said, eyes fluttering up slightly to take a look at Richie.
“Mind if I tag along? I actually have no clue so since you have half a clue then I’m going to rely on you.” Richie chuckled lightly.
“Wait are you the one who commented on my shorts in the train?” He asked, Richie couldn’t read the boy’s expression.
Shit
“Oh, right yeah sorry about that, but hey, they were nice.” Richie shrugged and laughed it off. He saw the boy just roll his eyes and look away. Richie being Richie, tried to change the subject and lighten the mood. “So uh, what is your name then?”
“My name?” Richie nodded. “Oh, my name is Eddie Kaspbrak. How about yours?” Eddie continued the conversation.
“Richie Tozier, pleasure to meet ya me ol’ fellow.” Richie elbowed Eddie playfully with a British accent. Eddie stared at Richie, a little disturbed. Maybe just a tad amused? Richie couldn’t read emotions to save his life.
“Sorry I-“ Richie got cut off.
“No, that was hilarious, it wasn’t exactly a good accent, but hilarious.” Eddie snorted and that made them both laugh. Richie had liked Eddie Kaspbrak, whether it was one sided, or they both thought of each other as friends, he new that he wouldn’t be totally alone this term. Hopefully.
“Settle down, settle down!” The headmistress said, hushing the rowdy school kids. “My name is Mrs Wilson and I am your head mistress, after I put you into your form groups, you will come to see me in my office at half past two. Now then, your form groups, you will stay in these groups for the rest of the year unless you wish to change because someone is unsettling you. Got that?” She said sternly. Richie and the rest nodded in unison and carried on listening out for their names to be called into their new forms.
“Richie Tozier? You are with Mrs Henderson this year.” Richie jumped out of his bored trance and got up to walk over to, who is apparently the youngest form tutor here, (even though she still looks no younger than forty) Mrs Henderson. Richie walked to the back of the line they were made to stand in and waited for his next instruction.
An half an hour later everybody was in their assigned lines and Mrs Wilson spoke up.
“Now as you probably guessed, the dormitories are gender separated because of those reasons that we hopefully do not need to explain.”
“Funny of you to assume I’m straight.” Richie joked under his breath, luckily nobody heard and Mrs Wilson just carried on rambling to everyone who clearly didn’t care. Richie smiled to himself. They were split into two groups of five and one group of 6 because there was one person to many to perfectly split the form into three groups.
“Here is your map,” Mrs Henderson handed them all a map which had little annotated notes outside the classrooms and towers. “You will go find matron first and then you will follow the route of the map to the heads office at two thirty, understand?” Mrs Henderson ordered and left to go help other form tutors who can’t handle kids.
“Right,” a girl named Patricia said, with leadership in her voice. “So… This way.” Patrica said, looking up and walking down the corridor. They all fell into order and followed Patrica until they were passing dormitories.
Hey, Patrica-“ A guy called Eric called to the front of the line.
“Call me Patty.”
“Oh.” Eric said. “Well, um, Patty I think we took a wrong turn.”
The group made their way back the way they came, Richie slightly away from everyone.
“Who wants to knock?” Patty asked.
“Why can’t you?” A girl, who he thought was called Greta, asked.
“Because.” Patty said, becoming red.
Another girl named Emily, sighed. “Someone knock.”
“You knock then!” Patty said, and Greta and one more called Chloe shook their heads.
One of them three.” Greta said, tilting her head towards A copper coloured haired girl called Beverly, Eric and Richie.
“The door won’t bite.” Richie said, getting annoyed. Seriously, can they knock already?
“We know.” Greta said.
“Then knock.” Richie replied. Greta had started to annoy Richie quite a lot already, which was not at all useful since they would be sharing a form for the rest of the year. At least they were different genders.
“I’ll do it.” Beverly said, before anyone could say something else. She stepped forward and hammered gently on the door, before turning back around to face her group.
“Didn’t bite, did it?” Eric asked, and Beverly laughed slightly.
How does he make it so easy?
Richie thought and stepped back.
“Come in.” A deep voice called, and Beverly pushed it open.
Bill Denbrough
"These are the tennis courts, then.” Audra Phillips said, looking to from the piece of paper in her hands.
Bill followed her gaze to the sets of courts, all of them empty apart for the net stretched out.
“Do you want a closer look or should we move on...?” Audra asked the group, her deep red hair blowing in the wind.
She had taken lead of the group as soon as Mrs Henderson had given her the mapped out school plan, and Bill admired her confidence. She was the only person who’d kept up continuous speech, and Bill found it somewhat helpful. He’d be able to get around easier, anyway.
The other people in his group seemed okay. The skinny boy with brown hair was Eddie, and he held himself with an air of dignity and an expression which said “fuck with me and I’ll rip your face off.”
A chubby, shy face boy was also a part of their group, looking at everything with interest, who Bill thought was Ben.
Buffy, permed blond hair and dark eyes, was also a member of the group, and Bill noticed her odd sighs and constant eyerolls.
Then there was Bill. Bill Denbrough. Bill Denbrough who had spoken the minimum. Bill Denbrough who had isolated himself from the group. Bill Denbrough who didn’t even want to be here.
“I guess it’s the...” Audra began, squinting at the map. “Ummm.” She trailed off, looking blankly up at the group.
“Do you want me to look?” Ben spoke up, a louder voice than Bill had expected.
Audra shrugged, and stepped over to Ben, hanging the map over.
Ben scanned it, the rest of the group waiting patiently. Then;
“I think it’s this way.”
So off they went, a line of students heading down the slopping ground towards wherever the map was going to lead them. Blind faith.
The reached the top of the hill and Ben cleared his throat. “Uh, here’s the pool.”
Bill stumbled forward and looked.
The hill slopped down, meeting the sea edge. There were rocks gathered at the sea too. And carved seeming perfectly into this, was a pool.
Bill heard someone gasp. The sea was reflecting calmly, little waves splashing over the rock side and into the pool.
“I sure hope we get to swim here.” Buffy commented.
“That’s normally what pools are for.” Eddie said quietly, but Bill thought he sounded hopeful.
“The tide must re fill it and empty it.” Ben said dreamily.
Bill had to admit, it was stunning, a diamond in the rocks.
“Right well...” Audra said, coming to her senses first.
“Should we...?”
“Right.” Ben said, looking up at them all. “Anything you want to see?”
Bill looked back down at the glistening pool, then back up at Ben. In truth, Bill wouldn’t mind look around outside more. But the idea that this place was growing on his seemed scary, so he shook his head.
“To the classrooms then.” Ben commented, and led the way back across the lush grass and inside the stone building, that Bill wasn’t sure about.
The walked through and were meet with a arrangement of posters and lists, all hanging on the wall.
“This looks... interesting.” Audra said.
“It looks more boring that the train ride here, and that’s an accomplishment.” Eddie said, talking out loud for the first time since the tour started.
Bill snorted and Buffy clicked her tongue.
Ben started off around the corner and the group followed.
“You d-d-don’t sound to pleased to be h-here.” Bill said to Eddie quietly, walking a bit slower.
Eddie looked up at him and laughed lowly. “Honestly, I’m not sure.” He said.
“How come?” Bill asked.
“Well, it was my choice to come here.” Eddie said calmly, and Bill’s eyes widened in surprise. Eddie’s attitude so far, though it wasn’t rude, definitely seemed distant.
“Wu-Why?” Bill asked, not unkindly.
“It’s uh... it’s a long story.” Eddie said, avoiding eye contact. “But I thought I’d hate it. And I do, in a way, but it’s not awful.”
“Oh.” Bill said. “I mean, I was kinda f-f-forced here but, it i-i-isn’t what I imagined.”
Eddie nodded to show he understood.
They both looked up to see where they were, but saw Ben looking uncertainly down at the map.
Bill suddenly realised that they weren’t near classrooms, like they were meant to be, but near a empty hall instead.
Fuck.
Beverly Marsh
Beverly Marsh is her own person. She knows that.
Her father had told her that one evening after school when she was five.
He had been helping her read a book, one about a girl with long blond hair escaping from a witch. It was unbelievably simple, but to her it seemed almost impossible. Still, she had spluttered out the words and her father and cheered and she had felt so proud.
She reached the end and then grinned up her father, and he had hugged her ruffly.
“You’re a good girl, Bev.” He’d said in a low voice. “And one day you’ll be able to read hundreds of book.”
Beverly squirmed to look into his eyes. “Really?” She has asked, hundred seeming like an infinite number.
“Yes. You could even write one too, if you felt like it.”
Beverly’s mind had sparked with imagination. She felt herself get excited, then she remembered what everyone else in her class said.
“Readings boring.” Beverly said sadly.
“Who said that?” Her father asked, gripped her arms.
“When Mr Mine said we had to read for homework, Marcy said that reading was boring, and no one will read my book if reading is boring.”
She had been unable to understand opinions back then, and thought of someone’s thoughts as facts.
“Beverly.” Her father had said, and looking into her eyes. “You are your own person. You got that?”
She had nodded, only partly understanding what that meant, but understanding enough.
Whenever she came into school wearing oversized jumpers and ugly pleated skits and the other girls had laughed, she would tell herself that she was her own person. Whenever they had to pick groups in p.e, and Beverly was one of last to be picked, she’d tell herself she was her own person. Whenever she did something that other people mocked or laughed at or disapproved of, she’d tell herself that she was Bev Marsh and she was her own person.
And she told herself this now, standing in a group of people dressed in the uniform she was also in, clustered outside the headmistress’s office.
She was her own person.
“Here’s your map.” Mrs Henderson said, handing a piece of paper to a tanned skin haired girl.
Beverly had been set into a group of five others. They’d been organised then sent to the headmistress and now they were going to make their way around the school according to the map.
Beverly could just remember their names. The one holding the map was Patrica. Behind her, looking at everything with a stand offish look, was a girl called Greta. Behind her stood a tall boy going by the name of Eric. Emily was standing next to him, long blond hair falling past her shoulders. Slightly away from the group was a messy haired boy with huge glasses who Beverly remembered as Richie.
Beverly Marsh stood alone.
“You’ll visit Matron first.” Mrs Henderson told then strictly. “Then you’ll follow the route on the map. You got that?”
Beverly didn’t mind Mrs Henderson. She had been nice to them so far, but Beverly supposed she wouldn’t stand much nonsence.
“So… This way.” Patrica said, looking up and walking down the corridor. They all fell into order and followed Patrica until they were passing dormitories.
Beverly didn’t pay much attention to where they were walking, lost in and out of day dream.
“Hey, Patrica-“ Eric called to the front of the line, grabbing Beverly’s attention.
“Call me Patty.”
“Oh.” Eric said. “Well, um, Patty I think we took a wrong turn.”
And so they had. The 6 turned and walked up a staircase until they were outside Matron”s door a good 10 minuets later than they should of been.
“Who wants to knock?” Patty asked.
“Why can’t you?” Greta said.
“Because.” Patty said, blushing slightly.
Emily sighed. “Someone knock.”
“You knock then!” Patty said, and Greta and Chloe shook their heads.
“One of them three.” Greta said, tilting her head towards Beverly, Eric and Richie.
“The door won’t bite.” Richie said, speaking for the first time.
“We know.” Greta said, as though it was obvious.
“Then knock.” Richie replied.
“I’ll do it.” Beverly said, before anyone could say something else. She stepped forward and hammered gently on the door, before turning back around to face her group.
“Didn’t bite, did it?” Eric asked, and Beverly laughed slightly. Richie stepped back.
“Come in.” A deep voice called, and Beverly pushed it open.
The room the 6 walked into was cramped with shelfs stuffed with fabric. A sewing machine was propped on a stall and a white door was at the back of the room.
“You’re late.” Matron commented, and when they failed to replied she sighed and looked up.
“Let me introduce myself.” She said, standing up from her desk. She was a big, beefy lady who currently had her brown hair in a bun. “I’m the Matron in Whitmore towers, which means I run the sick bay. If you ever fell ill, come here straight away. And I will know if you’re faking it.”
Emily sniffed behind Beverly.
“If you rip something, then you’re required to fix it yourself.”
“Excuse me?” Greta asked, and everyone turned to look at her. “At my old school, someone would fix it for me!”
“Tragic.” Matron said stiffly, and Beverly tried to hid a giggle, Patty doing the same behind her.
“You wear uniform on weekdays, bring it her to be washed Friday evening and collected it Sunday morning. Please make sure all your clothes are labelled. On Saturday and Sunday, you wear your own clothes.”
She looked at them, and Beverly didn’t know if they were meant to thank her or leave.
Things didn’t sound so bad. Better than her old school, and bigger too, so if she needed some alone time she could fine some space. And maybe the kids here weren’t completely crap. Eddie was nice and sweet, and Beverly felt bad for him in a way. She’d seen him around her old school a few times. Always alone, head down. But he’d been nice to her. And he was in her half, North tower, so maybe they could be friends.
Friends.
“Any questions?” Matron asked, and Greta put up her hand.
“You said we collect our uniform after it’s been washed, but at my old school-“
“Well this ins’t your old school, Greta Bowie, so you should stop treating it as such.” Matron replied coolly, and Beverly smiled.
“If thats all, you can leave now.”
They trudged out, and Eric shut the door behind then.
“Do you thing Greta expects us to be severed hand and foot?” A low voice said behind Beverly, and she turned to see Richie Tozier grinning at her.
“Probably.’ Beverly agreed and Richie laughed.
“Pees rose water, right?” He said, stepped next to her. He was the same height as her, maybe slightly taller, and Beverly understood in that moment that he was trying to be nice.
Trying to make friends.
“Yeah. Hey, you’re Richie, right.” She asked.
“That’s my name.” He said, and Beverly could of sworn he looked sad for a second. But then it passed and he look carefree again. “What’s your name? I’m shit at remembering.”
You are your own person.
Beverly Marsh.
“I’m Bev Marsh.”
Stanley Uris
As it was, Stan had never had friends.
And he’d never thought about it either. Never spent anytime wondering and worrying about it, never wasting time. They just weren’t there, a small empty gap in his life.
His parents cared more than Stan had, and maybe that should of sent a signal off there and then, but it didn’t. Stan took it as them caring. And he supposed they were, but he still didn’t agree what they did.
But that doesn’t matter now. Stan hadn’t had any friends, and he had never wanted any friends. He was fine by himself, alright by himself, he was surviving and he was doing that alone and he would continue to live alone. Even more alone than he once was.
But, as Stan was walking along in the line he’d been put into, a part of him wanted to talk to someone, walk next to them, even laugh with them. It was weird.
Not that he was going to.
“Down here!” Blake called suddenly, and Stan could of rolled his eyes because it was pretty obvious where they were meant to be going.
Blake had taken open charge of the group as soon as he got handed the map. There were four other people in Stan’s group, two boys; Blake and Mike, and two girls, Alison and Chloe.
He had been put in North tower, along with a few other people. West and South tower had left with their tutor, leaving North and East tower. Then they had been mixed into groups, and that’s where Stan was now, towards the back of a line looking around classrooms.
There wasn’t a purpose to this, as far as Stan could see, but he supposed he’d know his way around better.
“Must say, it’s not as big as I expected.” Blake spoke from the front, and Stan heard someone groan.
“Do you think the other side is bigger?” Alison asked, strawberry-blond hair falling down her shoulders as she peered into the class room.
The school was split into two halves. One had the classrooms for East and North tower, the other half for South and West tower. Stan thought they’d be pretty even.
“Why, I sure hope not.” Blake said indignantly, and Stan looked around the door along with Alison.
It was big enough, he guessed. There was a series of desks with a large blackboard at the front. There were three windows on the side, overlooking the lush grounds, and Stan wondering what he’d be learning in here.
“Pretty sure they’re the same size.” Chloe said, and Stan turned around. “My cousin went here, she’s told me a lot.”
Stan wanted to ask Chloe about what she was told, to ask her questions and get answers, but he kept his mouth shut.
“Right well, I think it’s this way.” Blake said, looking ahead of him and marching off.
“Jesus.” Chloe muttered, and followed along.
Stan was in front of Mike and behind Alison. They trailed along the corridor, deep in silence. Stan felt like it was an endless tunnel.
“Do you know the time?” The boy behind Stan, Mike, asked.
Stan turned around and saw a shy look on the boys face.
“Uhh No. Sorry.” Stan said, and realised distantly that this was an opportunity. To talk to someone. And-
“They um... they look alright.” Mike said, referring to the classrooms.
“Yeah, I guess.” Stan replied, searching his brain desperately for something interesting to say. He smiled, hoping it would seem welcoming.
Mike stepped forward so he was next to Stan and offered him a small smile in return.
“It’s better than my old school anyway.” Stan continued, grasping for any conversation starter he could think of.
“Oh?” Mike asked, and Stan saw it as an opportunity.
“Yeah.” He said, smiling a little. “The desks were so wobbly you could hardly write. And the blackboards were messy as hell.”
Mike laughed, and Stan did too. His shoulders relaxed and he felt like a door somewhere inside him had opened.
“I worked on a farm for most my life.” Mike said, “So I didn’t go to school much. But when I was there, it sucked big time. That’s um... that’s kinda the reason I’m here, actually.”
“Really?” Stan asked.
“Yeah.” Mike continued, looking at the walls now. “My parents said I wasn’t getting a good education so they sent me here.” He looked slightly sad, but Stan was shocked at how calm and open Mike was being about it.
“Same for me.” Stan said quietly. He didn’t know why, but something about Mike made him want to open up. “I uh... I was sick a lot, when I was younger, so I was behind a grade and my parents just thought-“
“It would be better if you came here.” Mike finished.
Stan looked up and met Mike’s eyes. He understood in that moment that he and Mike had a lot in common. He also understood that he liked Mike, and he thought that maybe Mike liked him too. Maybe he could have a friend.
“I’m Mike Hanlon.” Mike said. “You probably already knew that, but in case you didn’t.” He offered a sheepish smile, and Stan smiled back.
“I’m Stan Uris.” Stan said, and he thought that maybe they were friends now.
“This room looks like shit.” Blake complained from the front.
Ben Hanscom
“Guys, I think we’re lost.” Buffy states worryingly. Ben took out an, already scrunched, piece of map and had another look.
“U-u-understatement of the year.” Bill muttered under his breath.
“Well if you’re so sure then why did you not tell us we took a wrong turn?” Buffy snapped, making deadly eye contact with Bill. Ben scanned the corridors, trying to make recognition of what was on his map.
“Probably doesn’t help if you have the map upside down.” Audra pointed out, but soon regretted because Buffy soon shot her daggers through eye contact.
“It’s this way,” Ben spoke up while pointing down the hallway, “well, that’s what the map says.” They all fell in behind Ben and turned right down a small corridor with a few posters of tennis matches and lacrosse games on the walls.
“I wonder if we get picked for any games this year.” Buffy suggested while tracing her fingers across the walls. Eddie shivered
“Do you realise how many germs could be on that wall that are now on your finger?!” Eddie asked, hands twitching. Ben sort of agreed with Eddie to some extent but decided to stay out of the conversation and continued walking.
“The guy does have a voice.” Audra sniggered and Buffy laughed along. Bill gave Eddie a friendly smile and gave him the look of ‘don’t listen to them’. Ben smiled to himself. At least not all of his group was annoying and unkind.
They reached the end of the corridor and turned left once again and this time, they were greeted with three rooms.
“Which room is Mrs Wilson’s then?” Bill speaks up and walked to Ben to take a look at the map.
“Um, this one?” Ben suggested while walking to the second door down.
“Let’s knock and see.” Buffy strolled forward and knocked loudly. There was no reply for a few short moments but then they heard a voice.
“Come in?” It was Mrs Wilkins’. Ben was confused as to why she sounded confused but brushed it off and followed everyone through the door. “What are you doing here?”
“You told us to come here.” Audra spoke with surprising confidence.
“Yes, at half past two, it is only one thirty.” She spoke with amusement. Eddie started breathing a lot heavier and a lot faster than what Ben thought as was normal. He looked over to see him fumbling in his small backpack and pulled out an inhaler. Ben and Bill quickly shot up and helped Eddie and asking him if he was ok, Mrs Wilkins told them to sit down and she went over and crouched down to Eddie.
“Are you Alright? Do I need to call Matron?” She asked soothingly and Eddie shook his head, starting to calm down slightly. “Well, it doesn’t matter your early, we’ll just do it now.”
After a few minutes of sorting out all of what they needed to do, they were soon allowed to go and eat some lunch. Ben led them back to the hallway and they all split into their separate ways, all bar two. Ben didn’t exactly know where to go or what to do, but he thought as well to sit down and just start eating. If eating was a sport in the Olympics, Ben would for sure come gold every time. He enjoyed eating a lot.
A couple minutes later, he noticed that Eddie had sat down next to him,
“Hey.” Ben greeted and Eddie waved back, smiling slightly.
“Hi, mind if I sit here? I can’t find the guy I met earlier but I know you so..” he asked awkwardly. Ben smiled.
“Of course, I mean, I don’t exactly have anyone else either.” Ben chuckled lightly and carried on eating the last of his sandwich. Ben looked around the hall. He saw a few people alone, a few people just sitting in pairs, and a lot more in groups.
Suddenly, Eddie stood up and waved to a guy with big bottle glasses and messy hair. He ushered him to come over and Eddie looked at Ben.
“You can go, i’ll be fine.” Ben reassured, who would want to stay with him?
“No, I was about to ask if you wanted to sit with me and Richie.” Eddie smiled genuinely and Ben didn’t really know what to say since he’s never had the offer so he just nodded and started to follow Eddie to his friend, Richie.
“Richie, Ben. Ben, Richie.” Eddie greeted quietly while pulling out the seat next to Richie to sit down. They all talked for a while, the odd laugh, Ben sometimes caught the odd smile exchanged between Eddie and Richie but shrugged it off and told himself that this is how friends act around each other. Ben didn’t really know much about friends anyway, so he wasn’t one to judge.
“So Ben, what school did you go to before this?” Richie asked with curiosity, after talking about his school. Ben didn’t really know what to say, he couldn’t say that his school had been in the newspapers because it had terrible hygiene levels and that it was dangerous. He couldn’t say that it was the only school he could afford at the time because his family had broken apart when he was young and it took all this time to get back, roughly, on track. So, instead, he says,
“Oh, uh you wouldn’t know it, it’s not a popular school.” That last part was most definitely true though.
“Oh. Oh well, anyway did you know that...” Richie carried on with another conversation and the back and forth chat between them all pleased Ben.
Maybe Ben Hanscom wouldn’t be as lonely as he thought this year...
Eddie Kaspbrak
This feeling of having people around him, chatting and laughing with him, not at him? This was a feeling he never wanted to go away. Whether it was just feeling overwhelmed or if he ate a dodgy piece of sandwich? He didn’t know. Perhaps both? But whatever he wished for, or had which he enjoyed, goes away with the snap of a finger.
The bell went. Ruining it all just like that. The bell was a signal to go back to there assigned groups and they were then told what was to happen next. They all stood up quickly and said goodbye to Richie and Eddie followed Ben to where they were supposed to go. Eddie trusted Ben with map following, since he got them back on track after getting lost earlier.
their group was order into the common room.
“Ok children, what you are to do next is wait on the top formers. As being first formers, this is your job until you are in third form. If you refuse to do the their chores, you find your self in detention, as it will be seen as a lack of respect to the older ones, understand?” Mrs Wilson ordered before leaving the groaning kids who were waiting for there first job.
Oh hell no, I don’t think so Eddie scowled to himself.
He shouldn’t have to do six former chores just because they are lazy, and besides, shouldn’t they be cleaning themselves since they would have to live by themselves soon anyway.
Who’s going to wait on you then? Your pets?
Eddie hadn’t realised Bill was nudging him on the arm, bringing him back to earth.
“E-e-eddie? You ok? A top former has just s-sent you to them first.” Bill said calmly, hoping some of his calmness would transfer into Eddie. It didn’t.
“Why should I have to wait on them!” Eddie yelled, “Don’t they know how to do chores them selves? If anything they should be waiting on us.” Sudden bursts of anger came out of eddies mouth and it left the rest of his group quite stunned, considering he barely spoke earlier. Eddie drew in long, deep breaths, trying to calm down.
He soon got up without another word and stormed down the corridor to where the sixth form common room was.
“Ok right let’s get this over with.” Eddie muttered to himself before pushing the heavy door open, revealing lazing teenagers sprawled across sofas. This angered Eddie even more. Surely they should be studying already for up coming exams they have. Eddie certainly would anyway.
“Ah, Eddie Kaspbrak right? I would like you to scrub some of the used dishes and boil up the kettle for some tea please” a boy said with an annoying British accent and ushered Eddie over to the sink. “Oh, my name is Joesph by the way.”
Eddie just ignored him, for he was afraid if he spoke or even made slight eye contact with him then he would explode at him there and then. Thankfully, it didn’t take him too long before he could return back downstairs to his group.
“Thanks Eddie, see you tomorrow.” Joesph called from the room. Eddie couldn’t contain himself.
“Tomorrow?! You mean I have to come back here again tomorrow?!” Eddie yelled in horror.
“Yep, your with me for the rest of the year I’m afraid.” Joesph smiled and Eddie pulled out his fakest of fake smiles until he was out of sight. This expression was quickly replaced by a stormy one. Once Eddie reached his group, he thought he could actually smell the steam that might have been coming out of his ears, the others seemed to have noticed too.
“You can punish me all you want, you can even pin me down and drag me to them, but no way in HELL am I going back there, I’m not doing one single bit more of work for that British bastard!” Eddie fired at no one in particular, just for anyone who was listening. Everybody looked completely astonished from what had just came out of the tiny form of humanity that was Eddie.
This annoyed Eddie to the brim. He knew people underestimated him because he was small and puny and always had an aspirator handy. Well surprise assholes, you’ve just witnessed Eddie Kaspbrak in all his worth.
He sprinted into the nearest bathroom and just sat there, trying to regain his calm composure. Sooner or later he heard footsteps enter the bathroom and heard a voice.
“Eddie? L-l-look, I know y-y-your in there, and everyone is a-asking if your ok so I came to check on you.” Bill asked in a friendly tone. Eddie didn’t speak he just shuffled on his spot, waiting for Bill’s next response.
“Besides, it’s n-not that bad-“ Bill got but off by Eddie.
“Not that bad?” He slammed open the door, silently hoping it didn’t hit Bill. “I’ve had to slave away for my mother all my life and so I sent myself here. Of course we argued and all but in the end I just left. At first I didn’t think it was so bad here but to come and do something I thought I would no longer have to do again has been laid back down on my shoulders, and now I just wanna to leave.
“Not to home, not to any place I know. I just want to escape from it all!” Eddie finally finished, almost in tears.
“It’s o-ok.” Bill hugged Eddie, “things are gonna get b-b-better, you just need to persevere on these things.” Eddie smiled.
And there was the feeling again, the feeling which he wasn’t sure if it was food poisoning or something. But now he knew. This feeling? The feeling he enjoyed so much?
It was happiness.
Mike Hanlon
Mike understood what people meant when they said “I have butterflies”.
He understood they didn’t mean it literally, as in they have pet butterflies or something stupid like that.
He knew they meant they have a odd fluttery feeling in their stomach, like butterflies were there.
And Mike had never felt that feeling as much as he was feeling it down. A whole zoo could be down their.
His group were making their way slowly to North tower. Stan was next to him, head down and hands in his pockets. Mike guessed Stan felt pretty nervous too. They’d been sent to meet outside their tower, and Mike thought they were going to get placed into their dorms and meet the other people in their year, but doubt set in Mike none the less.
Because what if no one liked him?
Stan sniffed loudly.
Evening was creeping over them, hallways apparently getting dimmer and dimmer with each step. Mike could hardly believe how fast the day had gone. It was like someone had clicked their fingers and make time go faster.
And Mike didn’t know if that was good or bad. In fact, he didn’t know if this whole thing was good or bad.
Stan was good. Stan was nice to Mike and had stuck with Mike most of the day. And that gave Mike some sense of reassurance.
The group collectively turned a corner and saw a gaggle of people standing outside what Mike was sure was North tower.
It looked only enough people for one group, so they’d have to do some waiting.
Mrs Henderson was there, clipboard in hand. When Mike’s group had arrived she took their names and marked them down.
The last group came, bigger than the others by one person, and after Mrs Henderson had taken the register, she cleared her throat.
“Right.” She said loudly. “Now you’re all here, I want to congratulate you on surviving your first day.”
A small cheer went up, and the tension ceased a little.
“Now, may we please form two lines; on of girls and another of the boys.”
There was some shuffling, and Mike edged his way around, Stan close behind him.
Two lines were formed, and Mike found himself in front of Stan and behind some boy with gingery brown hair.
Mike scanned the lines. There was only sixteen of them together, with didn’t seem much. He turned to Stan and said this.
“Well, less people the better your education is, I guess.” Stan said, looking over at the girls line. “I suppose we’ll be split into two or three classes, for some things. Or maybe we’ll stay with North tower.”
“Mmm.” Mike hummed, showing he agreed.
Mrs Henderson clapped her hands, and the sound died down.
“Girls, your dormitory is in East tower, Boys yours is in North. Your dormitories will be where you sleep and where you can stay in between and after lessons if you wish, though the common room is generally there for that.
“Saturdays and Sundays are none working days, so feel free to visit town. Don’t fall behind on work or you’ll have to answer to me. No midnight feasts or sleepovers and please respect each other.”
She finished, and Mike tried to process everything.
“Now we’ve got that over with, please make your way to your dorms. Girls, follow me, boys, yours is up the stairs. Your luggage should be there already”
Mrs Henderson led the girls away, and the boys made their way up to their dorm in silence.
The boy in lead pushed the door open and one by one they entered their new home.
It was big. There were eight beds, four on each side and they had curtains around them, to be open and closed at their will. There was a separate room that Mike supposed was the bathroom. Each bed had a small table next to it and there was a large fireplace at the end of the room.
“Home sweet home.” The brown haired boy muttered, then moved to the centre of the room to find his luggage.
“Do you suppose we pick our beds?” Stan asked Mike as everyone them collected their belongings.
“I guess.” Mike replied. “Quick, let’s get one close to each other.”
Stan nodded, and the two made their way over to the pile of luggage.
Mike found his small bag and his case of clothes and essentials easily, and dragged them over to the bed at the end.
Stan followed suit, dumping his stuff on the bed next to Mike.
Gradually, everyone picked a bed and had found their luggage. Matron can around ten minuets after and told them lights out was soon, and to get ready to sleep.
Mike looked around at everyone, some piling up at the bathroom door, some flinging suitcases open and thought that this year was going to be more interesting than he thought.
Boy, was he right.