Mr. Gardner

Our secret place

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(Not yet Edited)

After the class photo, everyone was directed back to the hotel where we all gathered in the lobby; as instructed by the professors. It was pretty late in the night by now, but people were still buzzed from the past hours. Like always, it took a moment for people to settle down and turn their attention to Ewan, but eventually, it was quiet enough for him to discuss tomorrow's plan.

"I advise that everyone go to bed at a reasonable hour, Tomorrow is another big day and we don't need anyone complaining about their lack of sleep." Mr. Goddard spoke as he panned across the group. I didn't feel like putting much effort into listening to him, so I slowly stepped away from the others and found some seating further back. A couple of cushioned chairs for those waiting in the lobby, and a shared side table that had a single magazine on it. I was tempted to pick it up to give it a read and completely zone out of the words being spoken, but instead, I just sat down and sunk into the comfy cushions. Given all that we've done on this day alone, I felt extremely tired, especially with the jet lag.

The fact that the group was still hanging on at this point was shocking. Even though there was a couple of minor hiccups throughout the night, every single one of us managed to get back to the hotel in one piece.

Mr. Goddard continued to speak on tomorrow's topic as I rested my elbow on the chair and used my hand to rest my heavy head. I didn't want to agree with his words, but I was definitely looking forward to sleeping in the large bed and its ridiculous amount of decorative pillows.

His voice began to blend in with the emptiness of the room, only the occasional sound of someone's shoe scuffing on the carpet interrupted my tired eyelids from closing. When my eyes finally fell shut, the phone that I placed on my lap, buzzed. My brows scrunched but I kept myself in the same position, eyes closed and hand pressing into my cheek the more I relaxed. Mr. Goddard's words became more distant as I tried to get back to the relaxed state I was just in.

Another buzz came through again, delayed from the previous one, but the buzz on my leg got my attention and I lazily grabbed it off my lap. Keeping my head still rested on my right hand, I used my left to swipe on my phone and look at the notification. When I saw two new texts from 'G', I instantly looked up and tried to find him.

Just a little way across the room, Mr. Gardner stood behind Mr. Goddard's shoulder and had his head down to this phone. He didn't look interested in the words being spoken either and that put a smile on my face.

Lazily using my thumb to open the texts, I read them and readied a reply.

"Bored?" He had simply sent, then just underneath he sent one right after. "or just tired?"

I typed a quick reply and looked back up to him.

"Both"

A hint of a smirk pulled to his lips and he looked up to me. When he did so, I quickly pulled away from my hand and fixed my posture, already a little wary that he was most likely staring at me minutes ago while I basically fell asleep where I sat.

I watched him look to the back of Mr. Goddard's head, then off to the dead-space of the room while he began to gnaw on his bottom lip. He looked to be thinking of something and it gained more of my interest when he looked back to his phone and began typing.

My phone instantly lit up and three dots appeared from his end, constantly moving while he typed out his words. When a text bubble came through, I eagerly read what he could have said.