Dalton Boys

Chapter 3

Lillian wasn't sure what to think of her new school. 

Dalton Academy. 

Tim had dropped both his niece and Andy, who he'd gotten quite acquainted with over the week of him practically living in his house to watch over his niece. It was unneeded, but adorable all the same, how close the two of them were. 

It was mid-morning, so classes were bound to be in session, leaving the hallways barren for Lil and Andy to carry boxes through the school and into the dormitories. 

Dormitories. How strange to think. 

Lillian lived here now. Lillian would be living in her new school. She was a Dalton Academy student, and lived in her own dorm. 

Finally, when all her boxes (she didn't really have many belongings that she brought from home) were brought into the room, the duo continued on to unpacking what was there. 

The dorm room was spacious. There was two beds, mattresses bare. There hadn't been anyone's name on the door, nor had the Dean mentioned anything about a roommate. Lil took that to mean she'd get the whole room to herself then. 

"So, laundry day then?" Andy asked flopping onto the bed closest to them. He sprawled, unconcerned how he was laying on a mattress that didn't belong to them, that had no sheets and had definitely been slept on before. 

"No," Lil shook her head, "I think it's just me in here."

"Oh, perfect." Andy grinned, "I'll have a place to sleep when you sneak me in on the weekends. Finally, I won't have to deal with your cold-ass feet pressing into my back in the middle of the night, you heat slut."

"Shut up," Lillian laughed, throwing one of her pillows from the box in front of her at him, and hitting him square in the face. "You choose to sleep on the bed with me, there's always the floor, dude."

"The floor," the boy scoffed, "who do you think I am?"

Lillian didn't bother responding to that, instead pulling her sheets from the box of other bedding and ushering Andy off the bed so she could make it. The boy rolled his eyes playfully, stumbling to his feet and finding himself a box to start unpacking. 

They worked in silence for a bit, Lillian making the bed and Andy more or less snooping through her belongings. 

"Hey, where do you want this to go?" 

The girl's eyes lifted from where she'd been fluffing a pillow, narrowing thoughtfully at the framed photo of the two of them from late elementary school, so they were pretty young.

It was the last day of summer camp. Tim had only sent Lil along because Andy was being forced to attend. It had been a blast, honestly. They were young enough still that all the kids could be in one cabin, so Lil and Andy had bunk beds side by side. 

The photo itself was the two of them sitting on a log beside the campfire. The background was black, late in the evening, but you could make out the orange glow on their faces. They had their arms thrown over each other's shoulders, mid-sway as they sang along to the campfire song the camp had been singing. 

 The counselors had taken loads of photos of the campers, sending them to parents and guardians as the week of camp progressed. Lillian had adored the photo when Tim had showed her the collection he'd been sent when she returned from camp, so Tim had printed it off for her, and Lil had gotten it framed. 

It was one of the cutest pictures she had of the two of them together. 

Then, in the corner of the frame, not actually behind the glass like the campfire photo, but still tucked in secure in the corner of the frame, was a small print out of a school dance picture. The two had gone as friends, as most middle school students had. But they'd gone all out. Lillian in a nice blue dress, and Andy in a suit just a smidgen to big on him.