Chapter Text
Jack's shoes hit the ground with a slight wobble, stepping off the ferry as Maurice followed behind him. "It's so humid." He mumbled, tugging at his shirt as Jack nodded. "Bad time to ride the ferry, I suppose." He said as Maurice nodded. Jack had a bag resting on his shoulder, and Maurice had a whole suitcase.
"The dorm master is never going to let you tape things to the wall." Jack mumbled as Maurice rolled his eyes. "I'll convince him, somehow." Maurice said as they walked along the path. Maurice's grunts from his heavy suitcase followed Jack, and halfway through their walk they switched what they held.
Maurice handed Jack the suitcase, and Jack's arms tried to fall to the ground. "My God Mauri, what did you pack?! A dog? A small house?!" Jack said as Maurice laughed. "I brought as many snacks as I could. I think there's more food than clothes in there." Maurice said, somewhat proud.
"If there's this much you can't deny me access to it." Jack quickly said, and Maurice frowned. They went on walking as they spoke. "But Jack, you eat like a horse." Maurice said as Jack scoffed. "I do not. And I could steal your suitcase right now." Jack reminded as Maurice walked to be right next to him.
"Do you know if Roger is coming back this year?" Jack asked as Maurice fidgeted with Jack's bag. "I think so. He wrote that he would." Maurice said as Jack barked out a laugh. "Roger writes many things that don't come true. Like his love confession to Mary."
Maurice busted out into laughter as Jack smiled to himself. "Do you think we'll have any new student's this year?" Maurice asked as Jack shook his head. "No one our age, I'm sure. Many more littluns, though." Jack said as Maurice grinned. "I remember my first year when I threw up at our first choir try outs." Maurice reminisced as Jack cringed, shaking his head.
"I've tried to forget that day." Jack said as Maurice sighed contently. "I try to remind you each year. It's how we became friends." Maurice said as Jack shook his head. "Never. That was years before we spoke." He said as they walked to the gate with the rest of the boys.
All the little boys stood, holding their parents' hands and walking with their older brothers. The older boys sat by the benches, and Maurice spotted Roger's car driving away. "Roger?!" He suddenly shouted, drawing attention to him and Jack. Jack's ears went red as he went to cover Maurice's mouth. "Mate, you could use your eyes easily!" He whispered to him as Roger waved his hand out high. The two walked over.
"So you did decide to come back." Jack said, sitting next to Roger as he nodded. "Couldn't imagine if I hadn't. Where would I go?" Roger asked as Maurice shrugged. "The private school near your house?" He asked as Roger visibly shuddered, causing the three to laugh. As Maurice told Roger about his and Jack's shared summer, Jack looked around.
He recognized everyone. Bill had a horrible haircut, Robert was hanging off of Walter's shoulders, and Rupert sat with Harold, and Henry sat alone with his little brother. Every choir boy had come back, which made Jack's shoulders relax slightly. Though the choir would still be one boy short, if no new boys came, he'd be content.
"Whoa!" Jack suddenly heard Maurice say as Roger and Jack looked over to where he pointed. Jack's eyes widened as he saw a lanky boy exit an old car. It was beat up and loud, so of course Maurice had started to talk about the model and the issue with the engine. Jack just watched the boy, who had a woman pulling at his shirt and fixing his hair. The woman had a huge bruise below her eye, and the boy seemed to have bruised arms and legs. The woman finally patted the boy's back and sent him off, hesitantly climbing into the car. The car drove off fast as the boy—now closer, Jack could see he had a satchel on him—walked to the crowd slowly.
"It's a new boy!" Bill shouted, and the boy froze like a deer in head lights. The older boys went crazy, and Jack and Roger laughed on the sidelines as the boys surrounded him. They danced around him, shouting and acting strange. Roger pointed out Maurice, who was jumping. "Oi! What's your name?!" Jack called finally, and each boy froze and looked to him. The boy in the middle froze, looking around until he pointed to himself. "Me?" He asked, his voice timid and warm, which caused Jack to blink a bit more than he had intended.
"Yes, you! What's your name?" Jack called out as the boy smiled, his teeth hidden. "M-My name is Simon. Simon Cambourne." He said, and quickly found his way out of the circle. Jack smirked, standing and holding his hand out. "I'm Jack Merridew." He proudly stood, and Simon took his hand to shake it. "Nice to meet you." He bowed his head slightly as Jack laughed.
"No need to bow." Jack said, realising Simon's hand. Maurice got on his knee, bowing to Jack. "All hail Jack! King of the choir!" He said, and a few younger boys copied him. Jack laughed, kicking Maurice's leg to force him up. "He's stupid, ignore him." Roger said as Maurice grabbed his arm, yanking him away from Jack as he stood at attention. "No peasants near king Jack!" He joked as Roger scowled hitting Maurice's chest as they got into a small friendly scuffle.
Jack realized that Simon had walked to stand right in front of the gate, clearly not wanting to hang around the choir. Jack rolled his eyes, pulling apart Maurice and Roger as the headmaster opened the gate.
Every boy walked through the gate tentatively, carrying their bags as the headmaster spoke of the rules. He lead them through the courtyard, pointing to the cathedral, the dormitory buildings, and the school house. He explained each curfew rule and each eating time. Jack was bored out of his mind, and Maurice made snoring noises loudly in Roger's ear. Jack tried not to laugh.
As they were led to the dormitory buildings, Jack grabbed Maurice and Roger's arms. "You guys did pray we'd be in the same building, right?" He asked as the two nodded. "Good, good." He said, letting go of them as he ran up to where the posted papers were. They hung on a pillar that held a sign, the right arrow saying 'Ishmael' and the left saying 'Issac'. Jack read the paper, squinting before waving the two over to him. "We're in the same building!"
Maurice cheered, whooping as Roger smiled and nodded. "I hope we share a dorm." Roger said as they walked to the building, following the stone trail. Each dorm building had huge towering trees that shaded the trail. It was great during summer and fall, but it got annoying during winter and spring. "If I have to share a dorm with Bill again I might run off." Maurice complained as Roger laughed.
"Didn't he snitch on your snack stash?" Jack asked as Maurice whined into his hands. "Don't remind me! I really hope I don't room with him." Maurice said as Roger laughed, patting his back as Jack just followed them. They arrived at the building, and each boy crowded to each door. They had name plates on the front.
"Maurice! Roger! You two are over here!" Robert called out and the two rushed over. Jack shifted to walk with them before he felt a hand on his arm. He jumped back quickly, turning to see the new boy…Simon? Yeah, his name was Simon. He calmed down finally as he brushed down his shirt. "You often tap people you've just met?" He asked as Simon held his hands up, as if to raise a white flag to Jack. Jack shook his head. "What is it?"
"We're dorm mates." Simon said as Jack's eyes widened. "Where?" He asked as Simon pointed to the very end of the hall. Jack frowned, but nodded. "Thank you." He said, brushing past Simon as he walked down the whole hall. He opened the door, eyes widening. A huge window sat at the end of the dorm, and Jack quickly walked over to it.
"Wow…" He said, eyes wide in appreciation. No dorm's ever had windows, due to the amount of times boys tried to run off or sneak away. But this dorm still had a window! Jack tugged at it, and it pulled up slightly, letting humid but beautiful air into the room.
"…the window opens?" Jack heard from behind him, to see Simon standing in the doorway. He raised a brow, shutting the window as he leaned against it. "You can walk in?" He said, gesturing for Simon to walk in. Simon quickly did, shutting the door. "No need to loom, it's quite weird." Jack said, turning back to the window. "Sorry." Simon said, walking to the near right bed and setting his satchel down on the bare mattress.
The room was set up like a symmetrical square. Two beds against each side wall, a dresser at the foot of them and a bedside table on each side. The two desks were on each side of door, and the side Simon had chosen had a broken chair leg for the desks. Jack wouldn't mention it.
"The window is huge." Simon said as Jack nodded. "It's super rare here, you're lucky for your first year to get a window." Jack said as Simon nodded. "I feel quite lucky." He said, smiling as Jack nodded. He finally fully looked to Simon. He wore shorts and button up shirt, quite like the uniform that would soon be delivered to their door.
Jack's eyes widened as he looked to Simon's small satchel. "Where is the rest of your things? Your bedding and weekend clothes?" Jack asked as Simon's eyes widened. "It'll be delivered with the uniform. My mum dropped my stuff off early last month." Simon said as Jack nodded, turning to unpack. He pulled out his white bedding, putting it onto the bed and putting his pillow case on with a slight struggle. Simon just stared at him as he unpacked.
He set a wooden cross on the bed side table, along with a framed picture of him, Maurice, and Roger over last's winter's vacs. After he started to put his final stuff away, he finally turned to Simon. "Is there something you'd like to say?" He asked, slightly irritated. He was trying to be polite and proper, but the boy's wide eyes and bruised skin made Jack feel uncomfortable. Simon hunched over, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine, I just want to know why you were staring." Jack said as Simon smiled. "I think that your hair is nice." Simon said, pulling his satchel up. "It's the same colour as a velvet trumpet flower." Simon said, pulling out a thick book from his satchel. "A what?" Jack asked, puzzled.
Simon stepped closer, turning to the page that had a coloured picture. Jack smirked. "Fancy." He said, looking to his hair. "I suppose it's like that." Jack said as Simon nodded. "It's orange yet yellow, with red slightly at your roots. Your hair even slightly curls like the flowers' petals."
Jack smiled, though a bit awkwardly. He had a sissy as a dorm mate, sure, but clearly he was an educated one. Jack's eyes fell over him, then to his satchel. Jack only then realized that the bag was filled with only books, stacked a top each other neatly.
"You enjoy to read?" Jack asked, looking up from the page to Simon's face. His brown eyes crinkled as he smiled, nodding. Jack saw his dimples only when he smiled, and nodded once to approve them. They fit his face, a bit strange but fitting for his character.
"Yes. Q-Quite." Simon said, face a bit red once the sun's beams hit his face. "Me too." Jack said, shifting to look over Simon's arms. A quick peek showed a trail mix of freckles, moles, and bruises. Jack quickly looked back to Simon's face, as to not make him uncomfortable.
"What do you enjoy to read?" Simon asked as Jack shrugged. "Textbooks, the bible, biographies? Anything." Jack said as Simon's eyes widened. "Those don't seem very entertaining." Simon mumbled, putting his book back into his satchel before placing it neatly on his bed.
"I read to educate myself." Jack said with smirk. "What do you read?" Jack inquired as Simon grinned. "Adventure books and fantastical stories. Sometimes tragedies and romances." Simon said as Jack laughed. "You read like a school girl?" He joked as Simon looked to him, shrugging. "Maybe? I've never met a school girl who reads as much as me." Simon said as Jack nodded.
"You compete with them, that's why they avoid you." Jack joked again, and Simon smiled. "You think so?" He asked, wide eyed. Jack felt his breath fail slightly as he quickly shook his head, nodding. "Yeah, probably." He said as Simon smiled. "I hope this year is good. It's my first time at a boarding school." Simon said as Jack nodded. "You're at the best one I'd say." Jack said as Simon nodded. "I trust your judgement, I suppose." He said as Jack nodded.
"I'd hope so. I'm the main important boy here, y'know?" Jack said as Simon raised a brow. "Like, what, a chief?" Simon asked as Jack shrugged casually. "Maybe."