Space Between Time

1

(⚠️A/N⚠️No warning on this one but I might add a smut chapter later on in the book also it's not proof read yet❤️)

It was morning two weeks till school started back up. I wasn't so excited since I got suspended from my last school. My mom said that she would be looking for a new school for me. I didn't want to go to a new school, my old school was perfectly fine. My teachers were great, I even had a few friends. It was a stupid move to make, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. Jay was trying to punch my best friend, and Jerry, (My best friend.) doesn't know how to defend himself; so, I stepped up and punched him right across the face. The teacher broke us up before it got any worse. I didn't realize how hard I had swung at him until my mom made me go to the hospital to check on him. He had a broken nose, one of his front teeth knocked out, and a dislocated jaw. After that, the school didn't want anything like that to happen again so they suspended me, for good this time. Of course, my mom was angry at me, but she tried her best not to raise her voice when talking to me.
My dad, well he was out of the picture, it's not that he had done anything bad and ditched us he just died a few years ago. We don't know the cause of death because the autopsy hadn't shown anything. The best guess was he had died from heart problems.
I found him. I had come home from school that day from the bus, my mom was at work. My dad was supposed to spend the day together, but I found him lying on the kitchen floor. He was holding a knife, and on the counter was a light wooden cutting board with a half-cut apple, there was a jar of caramel next to the cutting board. He said he would make our favorite when I got home that morning. (Which was of course caramel apples). The weird part was the apples were moldy as if they had been sitting there for a few days. In a panic, I ran to grab my phone out of my backpack and called my mom. She hurried home with the police arriving not even seconds after she came running through the door. The policemen led me outside and tried to comfort me. I was just too shocked by what had just happened.
My mom says she doesn't miss him too badly, but I know she does. I get that she's trying to stay strong for me, but she doesn't know I see her crying every once and a while. 
"Come down for breakfast!" My mom yelled from downstairs. My mom had always been known for making extravagant breakfasts. My mom owned a breakfast in bed, though she doesn't work full time. She works there a lot but always makes sure that she spends a lot of time with me after my father's death.
My mother had a kind of glow to her, she always had. She always was able to stay calm with me no matter how much trouble I got into. Her voice would always be calm when in fights, and of course she would always win. Everyone respected her and loved her. Especially me, my mom would always be there for me no matter what. And because I know that, it makes me want to try to be the kindest son to her ever. So, whatever school she picks I'll try to get the best grades I can and be nice to everyone I can. 
I slowly got out of bed trying not to fall. I grabbed my dark green sweater that had the words Harvard University written in black bold print on it. I had on the usual gray sweatpants; my hair was still a mess. I quickly ran down the stairs with smells of bacon and pancakes wafting in my face. When I turned the corner, I could see my mom flipping two more pancakes for herself. My plate has pancakes with sprinkles flooding the tan color with splashes of color. There were Freshly washed grapes on the side, and perfectly crisp bacon. My mom turned around putting the pancakes on a round plate. "Good morning, how did you sleep?" My mom asked. She seemed extra excited today like there was a big event happening. "I slept well." My mom nodded her head as a gesture to tell me that was good. She was humming a song while she turned around to turn the stove off. I decided to take a seat In Front of my plate and wait for my mom to finish. It didn't take her long to get her plate and take a seat next to me. "You seem excited today, what's going on?" My mom stopped humming for a moment, which worried me, though she quickly turned with a bright smile on her face and her eyes glistening.
"I think I found just the right school for you!" I couldn't believe it. She's been looking all summer for a good school. "Really? That's great!" I suppose it won't be the same as my old school but as I said this morning, I will try my best to make my mom proud and happy about me. I know she's always proud but I know I could do better, for my mom. "So, when will we be going to go meet the principal?" I took a bite of my pancakes, dipping them in the pile of syrup next to them. "About that, it's a boarding school across the state." I put my glass of water down that I had just taken a big drink out of, while the water I was drinking almost went straight up my nose. "What! Mom, I can't go to a school across the state! That's too far away." I could feel my eyes tearing up. Yes, I was mad at her but I was more upset. She knows I'm homesick. She knows after my father's death I've had separation issues ever since. "Honey, just listen to me. I think this will be a good chance for you to get out of your comfort zone, and meet some new people." 
I was done listening to this, I just wanted to disappear. Never to come back again. Sure, I didn't know what school my mom was going to pick, but sure I did not expect her to pick a school across the state.
Before my mom could say anything else I started heading back upstairs to my room. I didn't want to hear another word about that school. I just wanted that school to disappear, denigrate into nothing, or even burn down using my lighter. I'd rather kill myself than go to that boarding school. 


I suppose I was wrong.
About two weeks later I found myself sitting in the passenger side with my headphones listening to my favorite songs on shuffle. My mom driving, eyes extremely focused on the road ahead of us. Even though there was no traffic or even one car behind or in Infront of us my mom was looking at the road like she had just run away from a hit-and-run. We were still in a little bit of a disagreement; I didn't want to go to school. My mom thought it would be good for me. Of course, with my mom as the adult of the household, she was the one who made the final decision. I didn't feel like saying anything. All I wanted was to sink into a hole and never come back out of it. Yeah sure, I may sound like I'm being over dramatic but imagine your mom sending you across the state to a new boarding school. Especially when she knows you have bad separation issues. "Mom, how long till we get there?" I was getting bored. I've listened to all my favorite songs at least fifty times each now. "We're almost there, about two more hours." I turned my head back to the window while rolling my eyes in frustration. Yes, I did agree I should be over it by now, but I'm going to be there for a year. I am not ready, mentally, or physically. My mom had told me it was a boy's school. ALL BOYS! Sure, my mom and I were close, but I'd never told her that I was gay. If the boys at the school found out... well you know how it would go. I'd get bullied for the entire year. I would have no friends, and no one would want to talk to me.
I didn't say another word to my mom unless it was to ask a question.
I found myself slowly dozing off. Before I knew it, I woke up to find my mom staring at the road, slightly leaning her body as the car turned a corner of a towering cliff over us.
The scenery hadn't changed much unless you count the weather. Before I fell asleep the skies were filled with white clouds rolling over us with a bright blue sky. Now there was thick fog everywhere. The clouds were almost like someone draped a dark gray cloth over us. My mom had her fog lights on. Intently focused on the road still.
I could see a faint building past all the fog. There was a slight tint of red brick. Lots of windows with pointed roofs. There were several floor levels. The school almost looked like a castle. As we pulled closer to the building, I could see there was more than just one building. There was the one I had just described in the middle of two larger structures. They looked almost completely like the middle building except for the other two on each side the one was a lot bigger.
I felt like I was in a movie.
Though the outside was dark, inside the buildings every window glowed with light. I picked up my phone to check the time. The screen glowed brightly in my face, lighting up the car. My phone's lock screen had a family picture of me, my mom, and my dad standing in front of a building in Las Vegas. The time had read 10:18 pm. My mom had pulled into an empty parking lot with only a few cars. Assuming those cars belong to all the workers and teachers.
"Come on, get all your bags. We're here." Without a word, I got my backpack and threw it over my shoulder. I opened the door to the passenger side and hopped out. My legs are stiff from the long car ride. I closed the passenger door and went to the back of the car where the trunk was. I opened the trunk and grabbed my suitcase. My backpack was plain black with stickers and pins of some of my favorite bands. My suitcase was the same, a black coating over top with stickers of bands, though I had a few stickers of some of my favorite films, or movies.
The weather was still gloomy. "Mom, isn't it a bit late?" It took us about all day to drive to the school. A long quiet drive filled with frustration. I hadn't said much to my mom, and my mom hasn't said much about me. "No, I let them know ahead of time so they're expecting us. Did you get everything?" My mom asked. "Yep," I said as I slammed the door with my right arm, my left reaching for my suitcase handle. My mom had grabbed her dark leather brown purse and was standing in front of the car with her keys in her hand. She stood there admiring the big structures that laid upon her eyes. Once all the doors were closed, I walked up to her. She clicked the lock button on the keys, and the car made a flashing light with the sound of a beep beep going off at the same time. We started walking down the empty driveway to the two front doors. There was a big concrete staircase with a metal railing on the side leading to the doors.
My mom didn't say anything walking there. Nor, driving there. I was about to open the door, my hand on the cold metal handle before my mom put a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Dane, promise me that you'll write to me every week, I'll miss you. I'm not mad at you, I understand you may be a bit mad at me right now but I hope you know that I'm doing this for your good." I couldn't hold it in anymore. All the anger I had at my mom, the stress, worry, grief, all of it... just burst out. I started crying. My mom pulled me into a tight hug. I wanted to stay in her arms forever. I never wanted to let go.
After a good ten to fifteen minutes of crying and letting it all out, I recollected myself. My mom and I opened the door to the school.
There was a big hallway leading down to another door. Lights on the walls create barely enough light to see the intricate designs on the old-looking wallpaper.
I felt like I was in a Harry Potter film. 
The sound of my mom's high heels hitting the ground with every step she took echoed through the hallway. The wheels of the suitcase rolled on the hard wooden floor. It was the quietest place I've ever been in, though the loudest.
When we had made it to the door, we opened it with a loud creak echoing through. There stood many upon many shelves of books that seemed to be at least a hundred years old if not more. There was a big oak wooden desk that sat at the middle end of the room. The desk had a lot of lit candle sticks in old vintage stands. A strict-looking headmaster was sitting in a black rolling office chair. There was a big round red carpet under the desk that was mostly covered. There was at least a quarter of the carpet reaching out to the chairs that sat in front as if trying to pull them in. The chairs were two single leather tan couches slightly turned to face the center of the desk in front. My mom sat down, one of us in each chair.
The headmaster didn't say anything until my mother spoke up. I already didn't have a good feeling about this headmaster, though I try not to judge people by their cover.
"We're here to register for Dane Mcallen." Even though it was supposed to inform the headmaster why we were here at 10:18 pm, it sounded as if my mom was asking a question. The headmaster was sitting in his black office chair looking straight at us. To be honest the guy scared me a bit, the way he stared at my mom as if he didn't have a soul. "Leo should be here soon. He will show you around the school tomorrow at 6 am sharp. Schools are out for the weekend so you'll have time to settle in. We do allow phones but if we find you on your phone in class or past bedtime you'll get 2 weeks of detention, and we'll have to take your phone away for a month. Don't break any rules, if you break more than 3 of the rules we're going to have to suspend you." As if on cue a young boy around my age with black curly hair and dark brown eyes, a bit taller than me walked in. There was a loud creak as the boy, whom I assume was Leo, opened the door. The boy was wearing a white undershirt. (More of a t-shirt). His pants were light tan jeans that fell near his sides, with many wrinkles. As if He's never heard of iron before.
I smile at myself for my comment. Thought it was funny. The boy walked closer and all of us turned around in our chairs to look who it was. Me and my mom fully turned our heads to face back to the door, where we had once come from. The boy stood In Front of me now, his body towering over me. It went silent for only a few seconds, though those few seconds felt like forever. "Dane, this is Leo. You may now say your goodbyes to your mother, then Leo can lead you to the dorm room Dane." I turned to my mom with sadness filling my eyes, not ready to leave her. She looked at me the same way.
My mom and I stood up and now stood behind where the chairs were. I let go of my suitcase handle and jumped to give my mom a big hug. I could feel my eyes heat up with hot tears, but I held them back; I had to. My mom held me tight, I never wanted to let go of her, but I had to. Before I did, I whispered over her shoulder. "I love you." I could feel her arms grip around me tighter as a sign saying she loved me too. I took a deep breath, and let go. I looked at my mom with teary eyes and nodded. She nodded back with the same look in her eyes as reassurance that it would be ok. "Ready to go?" Leo said. He sounded impatient and tired. I grabbed my suitcase and started following Leo who had started walking out of the door.
I turned my head before I walked out the doors and waved to my mom with a smile spread across my face. She gave me a little wave back with the slightest smile slowly making its way to her face. 
I and Leo walked out the doors, me behind him. The grass was half dead, more shriveled like it hadn't been watered in a while. We seemed to be walking to the building left of the office we had just come out of. All the lights were still on in each window. The place looked outdated. There were vines all over the building, and brick walls that seemed to be able to collapse on top of you at any moment. The roofs were old and pointed at the sky, the tips sharp enough to stab right through you if you fell from the sky and landed on them. There was an awkward silence that fell upon us. The whole situation was awkward since I was trying to take everything in, and miserably failing to catch up to Leo without running. I wasn't sure what was so awkward to run trying to catch up to someone. Maybe it was how uncomfortable it would feel for my backpack to bounce up and down on my back, or the suitcase having a chance to flip over and somehow bring me down with it.
I finally caught up to Leo. "So, you're Leo right," I said awkwardly. He didn't turn his head or have any facial expressions whatsoever. So that didn't help the energy between us. He took a second before answering. "Yeah, and your Dane?" 
"Yeah." My voice cracked slightly saying that. I could see Leo's mouth form a slight smile; it wasn't that funny, more embarrassing. "So, our dorm room is 74B. The bedtime, meaning when all lights have to be out, is at 10:30. Well get you settled in tomorrow morning after the tour. I mean, that is if you want a tour of everything. But I think you'll get the hang of this place pretty soon. It's simple, one building for the headmaster, teachers, or people who just work here. One building, the one we are walking to right now, is the student dormitory. And the last building if you look to the right is where all classes are held, or religion studies/prayers, etc." I nodded my head, answering what Leo had just said.
We made it into the dorm building. Their halls are filled with dorm rooms, almost like an outdated hotel. There was a red carpet lining the floor throughout every turn. The lighting in the halls was dim, there was even one that was flashing. It's so old. Or they just don't replace the light bulbs. We made it into a rectangular room with a big spiral staircase leading up, who knows how far. I already looked tired looking at the stairs. "Our rooms are on the third floor." Leo startled me. I didn't realize how much I was spacing out when I saw him walking up the stairs already way ahead of me. I shook my head mentally hitting myself for spacing out and took a deep breath. I picked up the suitcase that I forgot I was dragging and started walking up trying to catch up to Leo again.
Leo made it to the third floor as in me I was still a few steps behind him. He stood at the end of the stairs waiting for me. I tried as quickly as I could to make it to the top of the stairs so I wouldn't have to keep him standing there waiting. When I got to where he was standing, we quickly made our way to the dorm room. We got there and stepped inside.
The room was barely lit with a lamp. The left side of the room was filled with band posters, shelves filled with many sorts of objects, and books. There was a white-painted desk cluttered with papers. There was a horse lamp in the corner that looked like a big chest piece with a glowing lightbulb on top of its head. The floor was old wood that was slowly chipping away at the corners. "Sorry, it's such a mess. We've all had a lot of homework over the past few weeks since it's almost the holidays." I looked at the mess on the old vintage desk that had the lamp which was lighting up the room. There were papers upon papers with lots of writing and equations on them. The bed was not made, and there was dirty laundry scattered on the floor on his side of the room. On my side was nothing but the same vintage desk and the same bed, except mine didn't have scattered papers or messy sheets. There was a single white mattress on the bed. My desk is empty. "No, it's fine really. It's understandable. Especially when it's coming near to a long holiday break." I could see Leo's face light up with relief. I know some people get way too overworked if their rooms are not clean or tidy, and they have guests over. I never really understood it, but that's just me. "Cool, anyways, you can just set your stuff somewhere and I could help you get unpacked tomorrow." I nodded my head in response. He gave me a British stare and walked off to take a seat at his desk.
I put my bags at the end of the bed and got my blankets, pillows, and sheets out of my suitcase. My sheets were a basic white. My pillow was deep-blue, along with my fuzzy blanket.
When I was done getting my bed ready, I grabbed my phone charger and plugged it into the outlet next to my desk. I then plugged my phone in. Before I set my phone back down, I heard a voice say, "Make sure to turn off your alarms. It's the weekend so we don't have to wake up early, also I don't do well if something or someone wakes me up early on the weekends." Leo said while getting under the covers of his bed. I could see him chuckle a little bit, while I stood there just looking at him with a blank expression. At this point, he has turned around on her bed facing the wall filled with posters of all different kinds of bands. "Goodnight." He said, knocking me out of my trance. I realized I was still holding the phone in my hand with the bright screen lighting up the room since Leo had turned the lamp off earlier. I quickly went to my alarms and shut them all off. The sliding green button turned to gray. I clicked the off button on the side of my phone, making a single-clicking sound. The bright screen quickly turned off leaving the room pitch black. I felt my way toward my freshly made bed. Once I did, I got under my covers and turned to face my blank empty wall. I fell asleep fairly quickly. 
I woke up to the sound of rain slightly hitting the window of our dorm. Raindrops slowly poured down. It was fairly dark outside, the sun barely shining through the clouds. I slowly got up, grabbing some clothes out of my bag. I looked over to Leo who was still sound asleep buried in his covers. It wouldn't hurt to change quickly. I mean He's still asleep. I would be quick. I quickly got undressed and put on some loose gray jeans with a plain white T-shirt. I then put on some knee-high black songs under the jeans.
Once I finished getting ready, I went over to my desk to grab my phone and check the time. My phone had read 5:34. I was about to go wake Leo up when I remembered what he had said last night. Instead of waking him up, I suppose I could walk around the school myself. Plus, I had to use the restroom so I could try to find it. I put on my slip-on black sneakers, and walked out of the door to our room, as quietly as I could. The old wooden floor creaked beneath my feet, barely loud enough to hear. When I shut the door, I was confused about which way to go, since the school was like a maze. Winding hallways lead to Dorm rooms, each of which looks the same. I decided to take a right. The reason being I was right-handed and right was always right, right?
The hallways were lit dimly with old lights. It was like walking through a horror movie, sure I enjoyed horror movies but I would not like to end up in one. I was looking down at the ground, watching each step I made. Unfocused on the surroundings before me.
Next thing I knew I was tumbling back to the ground. My butt hit the hardwood floor with a thud. Before I realized fully what had just happened, I heard a voice repeatedly say 'I'm Sorry,' in a panicked tone. I look up and see a tall boy, about my age. His Curly ginger hair fell perfectly on the sides of his face. Deep blue eyes stared at me with worry and concern. Freckles fell onto his face like stars on a night.
"You, ok?" He asked, stretching his hand out. "Y-Yeah, sorry about that I wasn't," I said while grabbing his hand. "Paying to attend-," He pulled me up in a swift motion, pulling me close. A little too close. He was still holding my right hand, using his other free hand to place gently on my hips. We both gave each other a shocked look, our faces slightly flushed. The taller boy quickly let go once the realization hit him. I just stood their arms falling to my sides looking dumbfounded.
"I'm so sorry about that." he let out a nervous laugh while scratching the back of his head. "I'm Oaks McMuffin by the way, and you are?" He asked, putting his hand down to his side. "I'm Dane Mockwood. That's an interesting last name." His face grew a bright smile. "Yeah, I get called tons of nicknames because of it." My face was no longer flushed, and instead of awkwardness between us, there was comfort. "Like what?" I said I was curious. "Oh, I don't know about Muffin, Blueberry Muffin, McDonald's, Ginger Muffin, and queer. I don't know where they came up with the last one, but I could go on." I was shocked that they would call him queer.
I would be calling him handsome. The way he looked so effortlessly good, especially in the morning in PJs. He was wearing black sweatpants with a pink hoodie with some knee-high black socks. "Wow, that's a lot," I spoke. "Yeah, I suppose. Anyways, aren't you now? I've never seen you around before." He spoke. "Yeah, I am. Tell me, is this a good school? I mean do you like it here?" I wanted to know because, from the sound of it, I will not be fitting in. "Yeah, I mean if you erase all the bullies, put in good food. Then yes, it's a good school. Teachers are pretty strict. They do not ever accept late work, ever." Shit, I was not going to fit in here.
"What are you doing out in the hallways so early? Wasn't your roommate supposed to be giving you a tour already?" I forgot about my roommate for a moment. "They said not to wake them. It was getting pretty boring in the dorm so I decided to wander around for a bit. Also, I needed to use the restrooms." I felt embarrassed, though I don't know why. "Well, I could give you a tour if you want." Why would he want to give me a tour, willingly? "Sure, that sounds great," is what blurted out my mouth before I could make my decision.
We started walking around the place. Oaks showed me around the dormitory room. He showed me a staircase not to go since that's where teachers do things. I wasn't sure what things, but I didn't want to stick around to find out. He showed me the room he lived in and I told him mine. He said we could hang out sometime other than during school, or just study together.
"Here's the dorm room bathrooms. They have showers and toilets. I've got to use the restroom too so I'll be right back." He quickly went into one of the stalls, I followed not long after into another stall. Once I was done, I went to wash my hands and saw Oaks already grabbing some tissue paper from the automatic dispenser. "Did your stall say anything?" I was taken aback by the random question not knowing what to say. "I didn't look for any, did you?" He laughed, and threw the crumpled-up piece of tissue paper into the trash can, missing the shot terribly. "Yeah, there was a drawing of two men making out with the words fags above the drawing." I was already scared for myself. Are people here really this homophobic? How was I going to survive, if they found out about me, I would just be better off killing myself with a fucking pride flag. "Wow, kids are very... creative around here, aren't they?" I said sarcastically while walking to the same automatic dispenser to grab some paper towels to dry my hands.
After using the restroom Oaks wanted to show me all the different classes and where they were located. We walked outside to get to the second building. I didn't realize how dark it was outside. There was this big fountain that I didn't notice the night before. "So, who's your roommate that hates being woken up early?" I smiled about the last part. "It's Leo. Do you know him?" I looked over at Oaks to see his facial expression change. His eyes were filled with hatred and disgust now. "Yeah, I know him. He's like the worst guy in this school." I could tell Oaks was trying to play it off like he was not telling me something. "Why do you say that?" I asked, curious about why Oaks made the look he did. "I'm not going to say, I'm just going to tell you that He's not someone you want to tell everything to." I nodded looking down at the dead grass beneath my feet.
Oaks showed me the different classrooms, but I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying. My mind was wondering what Leo had done to be 'The worst guy in the school.'
Before I knew it, we were walking out of the building, and back to the dormitory rooms. The sky had gotten slightly bigger than before, and kids were surrounding the fountain that lay in the middle of the field. "Do you want me to walk to your dorm with you?" Oaks asked. "Yeah, that would be great thanks." I was honestly glad that Oaks offered to walk with me back to my room. I mean I would have probably gotten lost if I walked by myself.
We finally arrived at the door to 3A, my dorm room. "Well, it was nice meeting you. We should hang out sometime. And I can invite some of my friends." It sounded really fun, so I nodded my head with a bright smile lighting up my face. "Well, you know where my dorm is so you can always come to get me if you need anything," Oaks said. "Ok, thank you so much. And yeah, we should hang out sometime. Catch you later, Oaks." I said waving at him. "Catch you later Dane." He winked at me, before walking away and waving back.
I opened the door to my dorm room. I was greeted by a boy around my height, with a towel wrapped around his waist, wet hair, and no top on. "Sorry!" I said hurriedly and turned around. "It's fine," he said. I stayed turned around for a few seconds. He finally said, "You can turn around now." So, I did. This time Leo wore some gray loose jeans, with a white t-shirt. "So, are you ready for that tour?" I completely forgot he was originally supposed to give me the tour of the school. "Oh, it's fine someone else already gave me the tour." He looked at me with a weird face. "Who was it?" He asked. I was hesitant to give him the name since it seems like Oaks and Leo aren't on the best terms. But I decided against it and thought it would be bad if he found out his new roommate lied to him on the first full day. "It was Oaks." He looked at me with disgust forming on his face. "That fag? Look if I were you I'd try to stay away from him as possible. I heard he got a 2-month suspension for making out with one of the boys at this school. The next day that boy left. That boy happened to be my roommate; he didn't deserve what happened to him." I nodded my head quickly and went to my desk to grab my phone

(⚠️A/N⚠️ hope you guys liked it please let you know what you think and any recommendations also none of this is proof read yet😭)
1519 words