Justin lay on his bed, face down in his pillow trying his damnedest not to cry, but at the end of the day, he was only 14 and however hard he tried, the tears trickled out of his eyes. It was just all too much, the court case, Josh, England, exams. Dr McKay had not been happy when telling Justin his results, he was below standard in everything examined as a result of which he should be put into the lower ability groups. Thing was, Dr McKay had spoken to Justin's old school, knew that he was capable of more, knew that he was purposefully failing the tests to try and get an easy ride. He'd shied away of making Justin re-sit, as the rest of the school proper would be arriving the next day and he didn't want to make him stand out any more than he already would, being new and American. He'd had a right ear-full from Dr McKay though, and he was pretty damn scared of that guy already. They'd decided on his GCSEs, as well as the core subjects he was going to do Spanish, Music, Physical Education and Business Studies. Dr McKay had chosen them, based on Justin's interests before he went off the rails. The lack of participation from Mr. Timberlake had pretty much forced his hand, he hadn't wanted to inflict courses on Justin, but in the same respect, he couldn't allow him to disrupt everyone else.
He was really nervous about the next day, he'd always been popular, both before and after joining the Ay-ites he'd been a leader amongst his friends, now though he was going to be the new kid, different because of his accent and the time he'd joined the school. Different. Fuck. 'I'm not going to be different'
He took his head off the pillow and looked around the room, looking a little bit more homely now he'd put a couple of posters on his part of the wall. He thought about his new roommate, what would he be like, would they get on. He hoped he wasn't a total dweeb or something, it'd be just his luck to get roomed with some total dork. That Josh kid was bad enough, with all that hair of his, he looked like a fuckin' queer.
He wiped the tears away from his face, and tried to flatten down his hair before pulling his toothbrush and paste from his wash bag and making his way to the dorm bathroom to clean his teeth. Josh had explained this earlier that the four boys shared this bathroom and there was a rota. 15 minutes each, rotating, so no one was always stuck getting up at 6am. He had also said that mostly it worked out that one guy would be showering while another would be cleaning his teeth and things, as no one ever liked getting up, although Justin had vowed then he'd always take the 6am slot if it meant having privacy. No way he was sharing a bathroom when he was all naked. He was thankful that there was a curtain segregating a small dressing area in his bedroom otherwise he'd never be getting changed.
As he left the bathroom, a call of 'Justin' from the couch got his attention. He saw Josh sitting on the couch, laptop on his knee, google's homepage shining from the screen.
"Matey popped her head in. We don't have to get up till 10 tomorrow, so if you wake up before hand there won't be anyone about. She's left us some bread to make toast, sorry?" Justin had interrupted again, muttering so Josh couldn't understand.
"I've got cereal, if there's milk." Justin muttered again, Josh finally turning around to look at Justin to try and work out what he was saying.
"Hey. Kid. Look, I'm sorry for pushing you before, if you don't want to talk about stuff, that's cool, I won't make you. But know, that if you want to talk, I'm here." The expression on Josh's face was genuine enough for Justin to stand there for a moment running things over in his head. He was nervous about the next days school, new things and new rules, new people. Maybe Josh could help him, make things a little easier. It was worth a shot.
"Josh?" Justin asked, quietly, standing half in and half out of his room, biting his fingernails. "Umm, what's gonna happen tomorrow? When everyone's here. I don't want to look like the new kid, you know."
Josh laughed to himself, not wanting to tell Justin that he'd stand out a mile tomorrow regardless of knowing what to do or not. This was a small school, only around 400 boys in total, and anyone new stood out straight away. Especially as Justin was coming into the school for Year 10, something that had only ever happened once before as far as Josh knew. Even new kids in Years 7,8 and 9 stood out as most of the kids knew each other from the Prep Schools that traditionally fed into Brassington. Still, he could help out a little bit, it wasn't like he was really doing anything online anyway, just checking his mail and stuff.
"Tomorrow. Well, the new kids arrive first, the Year 7s. They're scheduled to arrive between 10 and 11, which is why there 's no rush for us to get up. Lower school have different dorms than we do, they're 10 to a room and a Dorm Prefect. Lower school is Year 7, they're 11, to Year 9, the year below you, so 14. So, they arrive between 10 and 11, and Matey plus the other staff'll see to them. They an induction and then taken to the dorms and things before everyone else arrives. That starts happening at 2, people can arrive anytime from 2 till 4, and we're expected to know the drill. Come in, find your dorm on the notice board, put your trunk in the right area and then go to your common room. You aren't allowed into the Dorms until the trunks are all sorted into the right places and checked through of course. Basically, the day is a whole load of sitting and chatting, till 4.30."
"What happens at 4.30?" Justin asked, filling in the gap while Josh took a drink of juice.
"4.30, we all go first into the Hall, for the welcome back speeches, it's pretty dull. Then we all go back to the common room, where the Head of Year, yours is Ms Wainwright, tell everyone what form groups you're in and gives you timetables and stuff. That normally takes till about 6.00, when we have dinner. Then it's unpacking, which takes us till 8. After which the lower school go to the Lower Hall for activities and you and Year 11 go to the main Hall. We in the Sixth get a lot more free time than you do, so we'll be in our common room, I guess. "
Justin looked confused; all this talk of year groups and form rooms was new to him, and although he was getting an idea from how Josh was using them, he wasn't entirely sure.
Josh didn't see Justin's confusion though, and carried on talking telling him about the quirks of certain teachers and which ones set the hardest homework, he even laughed at the fact they called in homework, considering they lived in the school. He kept talking till past 11, when he suddenly noticed Justin stifling a yawn.
"Kid, go to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow and I'm beat myself." Josh said, standing up and stretching. Justin followed his lead, not really knowing what else to do in this place, and went into his own room, his pillow still damp from his earlier tears and tried his hardest to get to sleep.
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