Once Upon a Storm

The New Arrival

I have always loved the rain. There was a calming sensation about it that soothed my soul whenever a storm occurred and washed away every negative emotion I felt all throughout my body. Some days I would lose myself to the pattering droplets that fell from the sky and today was no different as a small thunderstorm made its appearance during third period. I felt lucky to have been assigned to a chair next to the window and could experience storms such as this one.

“Mr. Vypren.” Ms. Kellington—my science teacher called my name in her scratchy voice and I answered her with a glance and no emotion on my face. She should know better by now. I may not listen to her lectures, but I always made sure to read the chapters she assigned us in advance. “Tell me Mr. Vypren, now that I have your full attention. What two motions do all planets have?” The lesson this week was Astronomy and this woman had no idea just how much I studied up on this subject long before she even announced when she was going to start her lectures on it.

“Orbit and spin.” I answered her question without any form of hesitation and smirked smugly when I saw her expression transform into a pout because she thought she had chosen a commendable individual for her to shame. She huffed under her breath and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and continued the lesson. My eyes moved back to the window and silently watched the rain as it continued to fall from the murky sky when suddenly something caught my interest.

On the ground floor where the front entrance of the academy was, I saw three figures—two dressed in hoodies and one holding an umbrella which had hidden their faces from view. I had heard that a new student would be enrolling, but didn’t know that it would be today. I studied these figures as they strutted their way over to the main doors and instantly lost my interest once they disappeared within the academy and continued to stare up at the sky that was beginning to clear up and rain less. I let out a bothered sigh as my one key interest had decided to evade me and forced me to pay attention to Ms. Kellington’s boring lecture.

“Many assume that our sun is a planet just like the others in our system, but it is actually a star. A star, such as our sun is in fact a sphere of superheated gas which gives off light and heat with some form of fusion going on inside of it. Unlike our planets which do not fuse atoms in their interiors, they are much smaller than our average star. So the small twinkling little lights you see in the night sky are more than likely bigger than our Earth if you can believe it and they have already lived through their lifespans; meaning that the stars we see are just dead particles of gas and heat.” Her lecture caught the attention of most in the class but others were too busy passing notes to each other and I could even see one student playing on a handheld gaming system that was a couple desks away from me.

Before she could complete her lesson, the buzzing ring of the bell ended her class and started the lunch period. The students eagerly shoved their textbooks into their bags and immediately exited the classroom with haste so they could make it to the cafeteria before it became too crowded and all of the good food disappeared. I was not so quick to leave when Ms. Kellington stopped me as I made my way to the front of the room.

“Mr. Vypren, you have to tell me how you do it.” She said with a hint of disdain in her voice and I sighed, forcing a smile on my face as I asked her what she meant. “You don’t listen to my lectures. You and I both know that. Yet you are able to answer every question I dish out at you and pass every test, both surprised and planned. How?” Her quizzical expression was somewhat humorous to me and forced a thick chuckle to escape my throat. “Answer me, Vypren!” She demanded with impatience.

“Ms. Kellington, does it really matter how I do it if I pass your class with ease?” I asked with a smug grin that made my teacher red in the face with frustration.

“You’re cheating somehow.”

“Cheating? Then explain how I am able to answer your questions in class without so much as looking at a book or note?” I have had this reaction before in my other classes. They could not comprehend that I spend most of my nights in my dorm reading the textbooks given to us and refused to acknowledge my eidetic memory so to make their egos less sore, I must be cheating somehow. When I explained myself to her, her loudmouth finally went silent and she allowed me to leave her classroom by removing her arm from the doorframe. “Thank you kindly.” I gave her a half-hearted salute and escaped the classroom before she had more assumptions to make of me.

The Storm Coast Academy of Sciences for Boys had been my home for the past eight years since my father dropped me at the front doors after the tragic death of my mother and had not made any attempt to contact me afterwards. Because of his absence and failure to communicate with me, the students here had come to believe that I was an orphan with a scholarship program. I might as well have been. The anatomy teacher, Professor Ammett Farrest—who had taken an interest in me during my first year here and was more a father to me than the man who had impregnated my mother and I would be forever grateful to him.

In the southeast of the academy where the dorms stood was where I had made my residence, living alone in the traditional two bedded room. When I first started at this academy, I had always gotten into fights because of my intelligence; making me the prime target for bullies that could never understand that the reason I was so smart was because of the rare memory ability I had and like the teachers always accused me of cheating. For the safety of both myself and the ones dumb enough to pick a fight with me, the headmaster thought it would be best if I lived in solidarity. The new headmaster that had taken over after the previous one retired decided to change that and offered my spare bed to the new student who supposedly arrived today.

As I made my way to the dorms, I was intercepted by one of the many acquaintances I had—Clayse Malver with his bright eyes and wide grin, I knew right then that he was up to something. “Dayron!” He cackled and grabbed my hand, pulling me in the opposite direction of my dorm.

“Clayse! What are you doing?!” I barked at him angrily.

“We’re going to see the new kid!” He answered as if I was supposed to know where he was dragging me. Once I knew where I was being forced to go, I coldly accepted my fate and followed Clayse to the administration building. During my time here, I had come to learn that anything new happening in the academy was top of the line news and with Clayse and I being head of the newspaper committee, it was our job to spot out anything that could make a story for the gossip obsessed school and the newcomer was headline news.

By the time we had reached the ground floor of the academy, Clayse eventually let go of my hand when he realized as a fellow newspaper blogger, I had no choice but to follow him and get the details of our newest member. When we made it to the administration office, Clayse stopped me by pinning me to the wall as we zeroed in on the conversations between voices.

“You are eighteen-years-old. Correct, Mr. Centyre?” The voice of our school’s headmaster, Mr. Thaller asked with disappointment in his voice.

“Yes, sir.” The new voice—deep and sultry—answered her with an equally cold demeanor.

“Why might I ask have you decided to enroll to this academy now with it being only one year until graduation?” Mr. Thaller continued his interrogation.

“My uncle died just recently and bestowed upon me a great deal of money as inheritance and with this money, my folks decided it would be best to let me experience a good school before I am tossed into this unforgiving world.” The newcomer explained.

“You’re incredibly lucky.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“Well then. Mr. Malver!” Mr. Thaller shouted, startling both me and Clayse. “Since you and Mr. Vypren are outside eavesdropping as per usual when something new occurs at this school, perhaps you can show Mr. Centyre around the academy and get him acquainted with the need-to-know of our establishment.” He added in his usual authoritative tone.

“Looks like we’ve been caught.” Clayse whispered.

“Clayse, I swear to God. Shut up.” I replied with a low growl and entered Mr. Thaller’s office.

“Mr. Vypren, do you remember when I told you that you would be receiving your first dormmate?” The man with slicked back platinum hair and thick black glasses asked me with a serious tone and when I responded to him with a nod, he proceeded to make the upcoming introductions I knew was coming. “This is Mr. Centyre.” The now named newcomer who was dressed in a green hoodie and jeans with the hood over his head turned to me and I was stunned at the handsome face with jade green eyes that stared back at me.

“Nithan.” He removed his hand from his pocket and offered it to me. I looked at it for a brief moment before deciding to take it in mine and shook it, feeling a slight tingle that ran through my arm and down my spine immediately when our hands touched.

“Dayron.” I introduced with a soft voice that had a slight surprise in tone. He replied to my familiarization with a simple nod and let my hand go. “Clayse. I believe Mr. Thaller called you in here too. Come in here and present yourself.” I ordered my acquaintance to stop hiding from behind the wall, outside of the office. He walked in with a hand apprehensively running through his dark, curly hair and a worrisome smile spread across his face. I wasn’t sure why he was the one acting so nervous when he was the one who eagerly wanted to see Nithan.

“Hiya! I’m Clayse Malver! I’m pleased to meet you and proud to be your chauffer around our wonderous—”

“Bring to a halt to the butt kissing, Mr. Malver.” Mr. Thaller commanded. Clayse answered with a stiff salute and stopped talking. “Mr. Centyre, here is your uniform. I expect you to wear it tomorrow when you go to your classes.” He handed Nithan the neatly pressed baggie that had our navy blue and crimson red uniform folded inside. Nithan took the baggie hesitantly and looked back at me, expecting me to say something to him and when I didn’t, his eyes moved away from mine.

“So…um classes first! Follow me!” Clayse hyperactively cackled—a sign that he was nervous and was the first to leave the office. I closed my eyes and shook my head, looking back at Nithan who was starting absentmindedly at the floor.

“Mr. Vypren…” I looked at Mr. Thaller when he called to me. “I trust you more than I trust Mr. Malver. Be sure to be hospitable to our new student.” My answer to his order was a stiff-necked nod and I gently tugged on Nithan’s hoodie sleeve, getting his attention and guided him out of the office.

Clayse was waiting outside with his body up against the wall and when he saw me with Nithan from behind, he cackled again and started fumbling with his fingers. He always acted that way after talking with our headmaster because that stuffed up military man was his stepfather that treated Clayse more like a nuisance rather than a son. “Well…where should we go first?” He finally managed to ask and looked at Nithan who still had his hood up, hiding his face. “Classes? Let’s start with classes.”

“Clayse, we only have until lunch period to show him around. So let’s see who has what classes with him.” I reminded and looked at Nithan. “Can I see your schedule?” His eyes immediately shot to me and stared at me with hesitation. “Look, if we know what classes you have, we can find out if we or someone else we know shares them with you and can help you with finding your classes before we all go to our dorms later on.” I explained with a tone of impatience and he finally handed me the piece of paper he had folded in his pocket. “Thank you.”

“So. Do we have any classes with him?” Clayse asked with his hands tucked behind his head, staring at me curiously as I went over the schedule.

“He shares Homeroom with both of us. You have Zoology and Biology with him. I have P.E., Astronomy, and Anatomy with him. From the look of it he shares Chemistry with Brynnan.” I answered almost mechanically.

“Brynnan Bryne?”

“The very same.”

“Okay!” Clayse clapped his hands together. “We have lunch period now so that gives us less than thirty minutes to show him around!” He added with a nervous laugh.

“Actually, I would just like to go to the dorms if that’s all right. I had a long drive up here and I’m exhausted. Maybe you can show me around tomorrow?” Nithan finally said a sentence to us while staring at his feet. Was he shy or just one of those introverted guys that doesn’t talk much at first until you get to know them?

“You’re staying in Dayron’s dorm, right. I’m sure he’ll help you find it.” Clayse’s eyes went to me and I answered him with a nod. The news about me getting a dormmate was actually headline news in our newspaper for a brief time because of the fact I have never had one during my eight year stay here. Clayse said goodbye to us and told me that he would catch up once fourth period started. “Nice meeting you, Nithan.” He said to us for the final time before disappearing down the hall.

“Is he always like that?” Nithan asked me curiously.

“When he’s not around the headmaster, he is more relaxed and isn’t as nervous. Mr. Thaller isn’t the easiest to get along with and with him being Clayse’s stepfather, he can be overly critical with him even more so than the other students here.” I answered—again, tugging on his hoodie so that he would know to follow me. “Dorms are this way.”

As we walked, we attracted the gawking stares of other students that weren’t at the cafeteria and gossip immediately started occurring as they realized the unmistakable newcomer sauntering beside me was my dormmate. The onlookers clearly made Nithan anxious and I had an unbearable question lurking in my throat that was dying to come out.

“Have you ever been the new kid before?” I was curious about him and wondered if maybe talking to him about his old school would calm him down.

“I lived in a small town a few hours train ride away from here and had been a student at the public school ever since I was five-years-old. So no…I have never been the new kid.” He was actually talking to me. Consider me intrigued.

“Why did you decide to transfer to Storm Coast so late in age?” We turned around the corner and started walking up the stairs. I remembered overhearing something between him and the headmaster about a death in the family.

“My uncle left me a large sum of inheritance after he died and my parents thought it would be a good idea to send me to the same school he went to before I graduated. They got it in their heads that this would be a good experience for me.”

“That was generous. Were you very close to your uncle?” I wondered as we finally reached the southeast wing of the building. My dorm room was close to the end of the hall across from Clayse and Brynnan’s room.

“No. Honestly, I don’t know why he left me that inheritance. I know his wife couldn’t stand me and that may have been the reasoning behind my uncle’s waywardness towards me. But I never imagined he would leave me everything in his will and leave her absolutely nothing.” He answered, walking with his hands in his sweatshirt’s pocket and keeping his eyes glued to his feet. We stopped at the door leading to my—our dorm and opened it.

I entered first without hesitation, taking off my uniform’s jacket and placing it on my bed. I sat down and watched him slowly saunter in the room, setting his baggie that held his uniform on the desk in the room that had never been used and looked outside of the window. He finally removed the hood of his hoodie to reveal the face of an attractive young adult man with a squared jaw, a slightly pointed chin, and high cheekbones who had flawless, olive skin except for beauty marks under his left eye and above the right side of his upper lip as his only blemishes and shaggy, mid length, sandy blonde hair. As if knowing I was staring at him, his jade eyes glanced to me and I could feel a slight heat in my cheeks. I never realized how stunning a person of the same sex could be until I saw Nithan’s face.