Sentiment of a Witness: I Ain't Ever Seen Two Pretty Best Friends

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜, 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜

"Robert Allen?"

A boy with brown, slicked-back hair and a nervous smile stepped forwards, and Mrs Tessra pointed him to a desk in the middle of the room.

"Gerard Brustle?" A tall boy with blonde hair who looked like he'd been working out since he was six walked forward, "mornin' Miss."

"Lenard Brustle?" A second Gerard walked up to Mrs Tessra to be pointed to a seat. Brilliant – there were twins in the class.

I tried to busy myself, looking discreetly around at the other boys as Mrs Tessra continued to call names from her role, trying to work out what they might be like. For the most part, I'd like to say that I pretty much nailed my little guessing game, but there were a few which were a bit off. And of course, we were still young at this point, babies to the world – so much has changed.

"Michael Einar?"

"Good morning, Mrs Tessra." The boy – Michael – smiled at the young woman as he entered the room, being pointed to where he would sit. There was something about the way he held himself, which just set me on edge. He didn't seem that bad, not at first anyway, but he just seemed too confident – and not a good kind of confidence, mind you. It was the type of confidence one has when they've had the whole world at their fingertips from a very young age.

A jerk's confidence.

"Samuel Higgs?"

Quite the contrast to the confident boy before him, Samuel was unsure and shy. He brushed a strand of his messy hair back as he stumbled forwards, eyes wide and a small yet anxious grin.

Mrs Tessra, seeming to see his nervousness, beamed him and pointed him to a seat.

"John Arjuna Korrapati?"

I startled slightly. I had forgotten they'd use my full name, the name my parent's had kindly given me, and the name they probably wish they could take back. My second name. had been my mother's great-grandfather's. Arjuna Daison had been a great visionary. A man who was renowned by many, and firmly believed that everybody should be viewed on an equal platform – a platform he called 'people,' 'community', and 'society.'

My first name had come from the man who had married my parents. A man from the Sophisticated Upper-Class of the Nevermoorian Rights Party. At a younger age, I'd hated the fact that I was named after some asshole from an organisation that prided itself on making other people feel like shit. But in the more recent years, I've become more... okay, with it.

Of course, it helps that the particular man I was named after quite the SUNRP to form a new organisation that goes against everything the SUNRP believed in.

I walked forwards, trying to ignore the stares – I'd been staring too – and whispers of my classmates as I passed them. I was pointed to a seat at the desk Samuel was seated at. He smiled shyly at me as I placed my bag down on the desk and moved to sit down, giving him a small smile in return.

We sat in silence as Mrs Tessra called in the rest of the class, one by one, and watched the classroom fill up, one teenaged boy at a time.

"Alright, class!" Mrs Tessra Said, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, "Firstly, welcome to Graysmark! I'm sure you'll all feel right at home soon! And secondly, welcome to science! I want to go over just a few rules before we talk about the semester overview."

Mrs Tessra was a gentle and patient teacher, always stopping for questions and laughed along when jokes were made, even cracking a few of her own.

We found out we'd be doing biology and physics for the first semester of science that year. Taste-testers of what we could do in the later years of our schooling, as Mrs Tessra explained it.

By the end of the class, it seemed that nearly everyone had made a new friend – or multiple, in some peoples' case. As Mrs Tessra let us out at the bell, the sound of jostling books and bags filled the air as the class started stressing about getting to the next class.

I followed closely behind the majority of the class who had decided to find the next classroom together. Mrs Tessra had asked us which subject and where – geography in WS4F15 – and then given us directions, wishing as well for the rest of the day.

As I climbed the stairs, still following the rest of my class, I was vaguely aware of footsteps behind me. Turning to the next flight of stairs, I realised it was Samuel. He was walking slowly, a look of wonder and admiration evident on his face.

He looked over and caught my gaze, ducking his head and mumbling something I couldn't quite catch. I had gotten up two steps when I heard footsteps from the floor the stairs led to. I heard Samuel stop walking as two other boys appeared at the top of the staircase.

"Ah, there you are, Sam! We thought we'd lost you!" It was the curly-headed roommate, and his friend, who I supposed might also be my roommate. Which probably meant Samuel – or Sam as they'd called him – was too.

They stood at the top of the stairs, beaming down at us as we just stared back, Sam with a small, apologetic smile and me with an expressionless frown.

"Well, come on – we'll be late if you decide to stay on that floor," the other boy said. He was taller than his blonde friend, a bit more brawny too. His hair was a dark, gingery brown, and his eyes were a green-brown.

"O-oh, y-yeah, right," Sam stammered, suddenly realising that we were, indeed, not actively going where we were supposed to. He began jogging up the stairs to his friends, leaving me to still awkwardly stand on the second step, unsure if I should walk with them or just follow behind.

"Hey, you coming, or are you afraid to trip and end up in that nurse's office?" the curly-headed boy grinned down, answering my silent question. I answered him by walking up the stairs to join them.

He stared at me for a moment before nodding. "Nice eyepatch," he said, turning to Sam and leaving me feeling confused.

..fuck you, Tommy, that's not a good conversation starter.

The other boy came around from behind me as the other left, "Oh, so you're our mysterious roomie?? The one that only Tommy here has seen?"

I shrugged in reply – if they were in the same dorm as this curly-headed Tommy, then yes. I supposed I was their 'mysterious roomie.' Idiots, the lot of them.

"Hm, you don't talk much, do you?"

Astute observation, buddy. The only time he actually uses his brain... or at least the only time I remember him doing so.

I raised my eyebrow in response, and he chuckled, "Not one for talking? Or just not to us?"

I rolled my eyes with a small huff of laughter, grateful for Sam's intervention of, "Leave him alone, Chris. Don't we have a class to get to? I don't really want to be late on our first day...."

The other boy – Chris – rolled his eyes, "Right, let's go then; the room is down the hall and around the corner."

I couldn't help but smile as we started to walk together. Perhaps these next few years wouldn't be as sucky as I had thought they'd be.

Written: 28 December 2021 - 14 January 2022

Published: 14 January 2022

I redrafted this chapter way  too many times - things just weren't fitting together how I wanted them to. ;-; I hope you enjoyed how it did end up turning out. 

I'm super excited to finally properly introduce Chris! (I cannot for the life of me remember if I'm mentioned him before.) I believe when I first created him, he was actually Arch's older brother. I'm not too sure if that's still the case, but uh yeah... just a fun fact, I guess. As soon as I finished reading Wundersmith - or even still while reading - the second Jack mentioned two of his friends (Tommy and Sam), I just had to add a fourth. They're basically the Marauders of Graysmark, so get ready for some fun adventures!