Valley Forge Boarding School

Chapter 7 - In The Morning

The first thing I felt when waking up was cold. My entire body was aching from it, and I let out a quiet groan at the feeling. The second thing was Alex, with his arms still around me, cuddled close in an attempt to keep warm. He was still asleep, but he too was almost cold to the touch, and so warming one another was not as effective as it should be.

The window let in the orange light that came with sunrises, alerting me that it was morning. Soon, all the students would be at breakfast, and they'd realize that we weren't there with them. I wondered what Lafayette thought when he didn't find us in bed. Maybe he assumed we slept in another room, it happened often enough that boys had sleepovers in different dorms, or he simply was too tired to think about it much.

I attempted to wake my best friend by gently ruffling through his hair. He stirred and whimpered, most likely feeling the same aching as I am. "Good morning...", I muttered, and was slightly taken aback by just how loud my voice sounded in the otherwise silent cellar.

Alex rubbing his eyes and looked up at me sleepily. "I'm cold...", he whispered, and I nodded. "Me too, but they have to notice that we're not at breakfast, so I assume that we're out of here soon."

"Hmh... I want to sleep some more...", he muttered, which I found to be incredibly adorable. I brushed some of the auburn curls from his forehead and pressed a kiss to it, watching his cheeks turn red. "You go ahead and sleep, I'll look around some more now that it's daytime."

I stood up and wrapped him in the blanket, and he went back to sleep within seconds. I stretched, trying to loosen the tension in my body, and then went to the window. It opened up to the back of the school, where a path went down to the school's small lake that we occasionally had swim class in.

Nobody was outside yet, but I could see a few ducks swimming in the water and diving for food, and I decided to watch them for a little while. There was not a sound to be heard, and I soon became painfully aware of the bad taste in my mouth. When was the last time I had water? My dizziness had gotten better after a few hours of sleep, but my head was pounding in protest.

Suddenly, the silence was interrupted, and a jolt went right through me when I realized it was the key turning in the door that kept me and Alex away from freedom. I walked out of the room to see Lafayette opening the door. Our eyes met, and for a second I was tempted to run up and hug him, but my nerves had calmed down enough since yesterday that sarcasm got the better of me.

"Morning Laf, did you come to say hi?", I asked, and very slowly, a grin spread across his face. "Smartass." "Love you too Laffy. What time is it? I have plenty to tell you."

He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. "8:15. There's quite a bit I have to share as well, but we need to get our butts to class or else Prof Washington will have us weeding the entire school grounds. Where's Alex?"

"Right here, Laf", I heard Alex's voice behind me. I spun around to see him leaning against the doorframe to the room we had spent the night in, the prior sleepiness was gone from his eyes. "Let's get to class before we get caught. And thanks for getting us out."

We stumbled out of the cellar and ran across the courtyard in a hurry, up the stairs and towards the part of the building that featured our classrooms. We were almost there when our professor stepped out of the classroom, making us stop dead in our tracks.

"And where exactly have you three been?", he questioned, making eye contact with me. "And why are you covered in dust?" I knew not to lie to the man, there was not one that he didn't immediately see through, and though he was always personal and understanding with his students, he would get angry if we ever were to lie or be rude.

"Alex and I accidentally locked ourselves in the cellar, sir..." His brows furrowed with confusion and concern, the anger in his voice disappeared. "You spent the night there?" I nodded.

He looked at Alex, then back at me, taking in our roughed up state, before his gaze wandered to Lafayette. "Did you know about this?" Our roommate shook his head. "Sir, I thought they slept over at a friend's room. I only got concerned when they didn't show up for dinner, and so I went and looked for them before class started..."

The teacher nodded, seemed to be considering the information for a moment, all the while his gaze wandered between us with concern. "Lafayette, please go to class, your task is to read page 34 in your books."

Lafayette hurried into the classroom, and Washington's eyes were back on me and Alex. "Are the two of you okay?", he asked. I nodded, but Alex shook his head. "Jack's hurt", he answered, and I felt my face heat up in shame remembering my immature outburst.

Professor Washington stepped closer, and I straightened my posture almost subconsciously, a leftover from when my father attempted homeschooling me. "May I see?", he asked, quietly and calmly. I opened the knot on the handkerchief and lifted it off of my hand, biting my lip as I did so.

"How did this happen?", Washington asked, and I looked to the ground. "I wasn't really thinking..." To my surprise, I felt a gentle grip on my shoulder. "I want you to go to the medical ward, Hamilton can go with you, and then the two of you will go to your rooms, wash up and get some rest. I'll see you at dinner, until then you're exsempt from class, understood?"

Both me and Alex promised to do as we were told, and he stepped away, giving a short nod before disappearing in the classroom.