Beechwood Academy

chapter two

Duncan woke as a pillow collided with his face. He startled and twisted so that he could see his attacker, finding none other than his roommate. Sammy stood beside his bed holding his weapon of choice and hitting Duncan over the head a second time once he noticed the boy was awake. Sammy wore nothing but a pair of plaid pajama pants.

"Alright?" Sammy asked, hopping onto Duncan's bed and pushing Duncan's legs away so that he had room to sit. Duncan groaned and turned away, peaking out of the window between his and Sammy's bed to see if the sun had even risen yet — it hadn't. "You were screaming."

"What? No I wasn't." Duncan dug his face in his pillow and laid there in a weak attempt to smother himself back to sleep. Sammy furrowed his brows before returning to his own bed and opening the book he'd been reading before Duncan's fit interrupted him. Duncan was lying on his stomach with his arms curled above his head, he turned to look at Sammy.

"Why aren't you sleeping? Aren't you tired?" Duncan asked, his voice coming off at groggy and deeper than usual. Sammy looked up and shrugged without a word, turning his eyes back to his book. Duncan scoffed and turned his head back to face the wall and allow himself to fall back into a deep sleep.

* * *

Duncan woke up only an hour later to Sammy's alarm screaming in his ear, two hours before his own alarm was set. Duncan slid his head underneath his pillow to try and block the sound but it did no good. He sat up with a glare that could frighten a cat into running away, Sammy was still sitting on his bed reading like he had been an hour earlier.

"Turn that off!" Duncan yelled dropping his head back onto his pillow.

"Sorry, mate." Sammy reached over and ended the screeching alarm causing Duncan to sigh in relief and take in the silence. Sammy closed his book and exited the room, a towel draped over his shoulder telling Duncan he was heading to the showers. Duncan lay there staring at Sammy's empty bed trying to conjure up enough energy to get up and dress while he had the room to himself. The Beechwood uniform consisted of a white button down shirt over black dress pants and either a red sweater vest and a black tie or a red formal jacket with a black bow tie, neither of which Duncan was very fond of. He chose the vest and gathered his showering supplies before leaving his room and making way towards the co-ed bathrooms. The only person inside was a brunette girl with wet hair that reached just below her shoulders and a towel wrapped around her body as she brushed her teeth and stared at herself in the mirror. Sammy was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, you're the new American kid right?" The girl's voice caught a Duncan off guard as he was pulling off his shirt. Her accent was much stronger than the other students' he'd encountered so far, he had to strain to really grasp her words.

"Yeah," Duncan murmured, taking his time to fold his shirt neatly and lay it on the bench beside the shower he'd chosen. He was hoping the girl would leave so that he could have the showers to himself but she only spit out her toothpaste and walked up to him as if to get a closer look.

"You're Sammy's roommate?" She asked. Duncan nodded. He was many inches taller than the girl so he had to look down to meet her gaze. "Make sure he eats at least once every other day, Jared used to make him and now that Jared is gone I'm afraid he'll forget to eat."

"So it's true then, he really doesn't eat?" Duncan asked. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Lots of people don't eat, you can't mock him for it. Just make sure he gets the nutrients he needs." With that, the girl let her eyes linger on Duncan a second longer before leaving the showers without another word.

"Weirdest student body ever," Duncan murder to himself before continuing to prepare for his shower.

* * *

Duncan's first day was filled with confusion. Sammy had abandoned him after showing him the way to his first block math class and vanished, failing to show him to the rest of his classes. Luckily, there were students that would help him find his way despite the few that would point him in the wrong direction on purpose just to get a laugh. But, he survived until lunch and that was an accomplishment in his eyes. The food at Beechwood was a luxury and Duncan was grateful. He received a roasted turkey leg, mashed potatoes topped with his choice of gravy, cheese, and other things one would put on it, and a cup of ice cream. After acquiring his food, Duncan found his way to the center of the cafeteria where Sammy and his friends sat having a hushed conversation.

"Can I join you guys?" Duncan asked Sammy. Sammy looked up at him and smiled.

"Do you even have to ask?" The blond said, sliding over a few inches closer to Rudy to provide Duncan with more room between him and Wren. "Wren was just telling us about how bloody weird our drama teacher is."

"She walked past mine and Susie's room at half past midnight. I knew it was her by the unmistakable clinking of her heels." Wren said, keeping her voice low and leaning in close to Duncan as if she was telling him a secret that could get them killed.

"Maybe she needed the restroom," Duncan suggested.

"Teachers have personal washrooms," Rudy stated, surprising Duncan with his accent that he had not yet heard. Rudy was Irish.

"I heard her walking past our room as well, I wasn't exactly sure what time it was then," Sammy told Duncan.

"You were awake at midnight?" Duncan asked.

"I was reading until you started screaming bloody murder and interrupted me," Sammy said as if it were a normal occurrence.

"Why were you screaming?" Susie asked.

"I wasn't—"

"You were. It was probably a night terror, I had them all the time when I first started to live in the dorms." Sammy said. "Anyways, I say you just leave Miss Drake alone. She's a complete nutter, getting on her bad side is not an intelligent choice."

"Or we could follow her tonight, see where she goes," Duncan piped up, trying his best to join the conversation.

"We could—"

"No." Sammy cut Susie off with a strict answer. "We will not be following her anywhere."

"Why not? I'm desperate for some sort of adventure." Rudy leaned forward, reaching over Sammy to steal Duncan's untouched turkey leg.

"It's a rubbish idea, you'll just get yourselves into trouble." Sammy looked as if he wanted to say something else but kept quiet. Rudy tried to speak up again but Sammy snapped at him with a firm "No.".

Duncan couldn't understand why Sammy was so against the idea, it wasn't like this woman was doing any harm and even if she was, how would he have any idea? What was Sammy refraining to say aloud? Wren looked just as confused about Sammy's behavior as Duncan was. She glanced sideways at him, giving him a look as if to ask "what's gotten into him?". Duncan could only shrug and turn back to Sammy. "Have you eaten anything today, Sam?"

The corners of Sammy's mouth twitched upwards. "I had a smoothie this morning. Thank you for your concern." He shot Duncan a look, his eyes looked sad but the rest of his body language showed no sign of hurt. Sammy Frost was a puzzle that Duncan knew he'd never be able to find all of the pieces to. Sammy's puzzle couldn't be solved.