Killing Time [radiohead fanfiction]

Two: Lunch Reservations

     I sit awkwardly in the back of my parent's car, my head laid against the cold window. The majority of my belongings surround me, clothes, instruments, and books, all tucked away neatly into boxes. The car comes to a stop and we all begin taking everything up to the fifth floor. It's clear that my room isn't meant to be a room at all. The exposed ceiling and large windows give it away as being a repurposed attic. Its entrance is tucked away in the far left corner of the dormitories, up a set of rickety spiral stairs.
"You're lucky, this room is a lot bigger than the others," Mom says, echoing what the headmaster told me the other day.
"Mhmn," I mumble, focusing more on unpacking everything. A silence falls across the room, though I'm far too distracted to mind it.
"So." Dad starts, leaning back on his feet.
"Your mother and I have lunch reservations today,"
"What?" I stop digging around in the box and meet my father's eyes.
"Yeah, we have to leave soon."
"You said you'd help me unpack,"
"We thought we would've been able to help, but we left too late and we don't want to miss this lunch." Dad walks over and kisses my forehead, ruffling my hair with his hand.
"Désolée, ma choupinette," he says, apologizing one last time before leaving with my mother.

It doesn't surprise me that they decided to leave, though it doesn't fail to disappoint. I rummage through my clothes first, tucking everything into their respective drawers neatly. The bare walls of my dorm excite me once I open a box full of posters. The first I pull out is of the Beatles, a heart is drawn around George Harrison's face. (I've always been fond of quiet boys.) The rest are of other various bands I enjoy, Joy Division, Talking Heads, The Pixies, The Cure, and The Smiths, just to name a few.

Unpacking suddenly became boring, so I decided to tackle a different task. My eyes fall to my bed where a map of the school lays, I pick it up and leave my dorm.

Eyes glued to the sheet of paper, I choose not to pay attention to the gawking boys and instead focus on figuring out where everything is. A few minutes pass and I become aware that I've been walking in circles. I puff my cheeks out in frustration, an old habit of mine that I can never seem to drop. My eyes go from the map to my surroundings and I still can't figure out exactly where I am. A gentle tap on my left shoulder warrants my attention, I spin around to find two boys staring at me. One is very tall, he's very fit too, he must play sports. The other is smaller, a mop of black hair covers his head, which he brushes out of his eyes.
"Lost?" The shorter asks, gesturing toward my map. I exhale, causing a pained laugh to exit my throat.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't", I admit earnestly. The boy's eyebrows raise, clearly surprised by my accent. His eyes flutter to the taller, who responds with a shrug.
"We can help if you'd like of course."
"That'd be great!" I offer my map, which he takes eagerly. He looks through it, the other reading from over his shoulder. They look over all the small notes the headmaster left for me, he'd taken the time to circle anything I had questions about.
"How old are you?" The tall one questions curiously.
"Sixteen."
"Sixteen? You're taking classes that I'm in!" He cries out in disbelief, I clear my throat awkwardly.
"Yeah, my parents signed me up for advanced placement."
"Wow, you must be brilliant." He says, a slight smirk stretching across his lips. The other elbows him in the stomach.
"Stop being weird, Eddie."
"I'm not being weird, Coz. I'm just surprised." He rubs the spot where his friend had previously attacked. I rock back and forth on my feet, hoping the bickering will soon stop. Eddie seems to notice and I watch as a lightbulb seems to go off in his head.
"Oh yeah, I forgot we're supposed to be helping you. C'mere." He nods towards a hallway and begins to walk.

The first few minutes of exploration are silent, but it seems to bother Eddie, so he speaks up.
"What even are you doing here? This is an all-boys school." His question receives a glare from Coz, who dislikes his openness on the topic.
"Stuff at my last school didn't go well, so we had to find a new one. Unfortunately, this school was the only one that could place me in high enough classes. So my parents convinced the headmaster to let me attend despite my gender." I shrug, not finding the topic nearly as sensitive as Coz does.
"So you are like a total genius! Boy did you argue over nothing, Colin." Eddie laughs.
"Aren't your parents worried something might happen? Since you're the only girl and all." Colin interjects, ignoring the other's remark.
"Maybe a little, but they seem to think education is of utmost importance."
"That's pretty shitty." Eddie gripes.
"Don't be rude, Ed." Colin snaps in an attempt to defend me.
"No, it's okay, it is shitty," I admit. The shorter shifts uncomfortably, I think he feels bad.
"Yeah, they were supposed to help me unpack, but it interfered with their lunch reservations. That, I'm still mad about." I continue, causing Eddie to hang his mouth open in disbelief.
"We can help you unpack after we're done with showing you around." Colin offers.
"Yeah, and then you can have lunch with us. So you don't have to sit with the jerks." The other adds. They both look down at me expectantly.
"Jerks?" I ask, not entirely sure as to who they're referring to.
"Y'know, the popular, disrespectful boys. Usually, they're in sports and stuff." Colin says.
"Hey! I'm in sports and I'm not disrespectful. Phil, too." Eddie responds, taking offense.
"Not you, Ed. Or Phil. The jerks on your soccer team that find it hilarious to make fun of the rest of us." They both begin to bicker, seemingly forgetting that I'm here. It doesn't sound like they're actually upset at each other, it almost sounds like a bit, that's how over-exaggerated the argument is.
"I'm gonna go," I explain, grabbing both of their attention immediately.
"We haven't finished the tour!" Ed protests, looking severely disappointed.
"You said we could have lunch together, right? I'll meet you two there and you can finish the tour after." I offer, they both look at each other, considering it.
"Fine. I'm Colin, by the way. The buffoon to my left is Ed." The shorter says.
"I know," I respond, this receives weird looks from both of them.
"You both say each other's names a lot, I picked up on it. Mary Jane, a pleasure to meet you."
"You have two names?" Ed asks.
"Four actually, if you count my middle and last."
"My brother Jonny has four names too, our parents are indecisive people." Colin laughs.
"Well, we'll see you at lunch, MJ," Ed adds, waving goodbye as he turns to leave, Colin following closely behind.

I've throughly unpacked now, and I've grown quite fond of my dorm. The large window allows the room to be filled with natural light, which I love. My posters adorn most of the available wall space, and classic literature fills the majority of the shelves. There's enough room to display all three of the instruments my mother insisted I bring along and the bed is more comfortable than I expected. It's time for lunch now, and I find myself more nervous than what feels necessary. Despite thinking it was fine before, my choice of a red sweater and boot cut jeans suddenly seemed unfashionable. I sit down on the edge of my bed, pulling out a compact mirror to check my makeup. Everything's fine, my mascara isn't smudged, my lips aren't dry, my freckles look as they usually do, and there's nothing stuck between my teeth. I'm unsure as to what is causing me to check all of these aspects, because it's all as it should be. As a last resort, I fix my red curls into a bun, pulling out a few strands of hair to frame my face. I finally decide that this is as good as it's going to get, and exit my bedroom.

On arrival to the dining hall, I spot Ed, as tall as ever, sitting with a small group of people which I can't recognize from such a distance. I walk towards him nervously, picking up my pace as I get closer and do in fact see Colin as well.
"Heyyy, where are you going, pretty thing?" I hear a voice call out behind me. My attention is grabbed involuntarily, and I spin around, spotting the loudmouthed boy.
"Yeah, you. C'mere, sit with us," He grabs my arm and pulls me closer, tapping the empty spot next to him. My back stiffens, his hands are oddly cold. It runs a shiver through my spine.
"Sorry, I've already made plans." I muster out, breaking from his grasp and taking a few steps back.
"Alright, but just know you're really missing out." He says with a perverse smile. Awkwardly, I apologize again and continue on my way to Ed, who finally spots me.
"MJ! There you are!" Ed beams as he slides over on the bench, giving me a spot between him and another sporty looking guy.
"Ed was worried that you'd flaked on us for some different people. Though for the record, I didn't think you seemed like the type." Colin says when I sit down, leaning further across the table to speak to me more clearly.
"I'm glad at least you had faith in me." I respond, grabbing one of the biscuits that Colin now offers. Chewing on the biscuit, I can't help but feel like I'm on display. Just about everyone has their heads turned towards me, whispering to each other in awe like they've never seen a girl before.
"Someone's popular." Ed jokes as he takes another biscuit.
"Yeah, it's weird. It's like they've never seen a woman in their lives."
"I mean, I can't blame them. You're just about the hottest, most age appropriate girl in all of Oxford. The majority of this place is filled with old geezers." He responds, still chewing. I feel a pang of appreciation at the compliment, but it quickly fades once I realize that I'm only hot by comparison.
"If I wasn't the respectful, mature man that I am, I probably would have begged for your number by now." Ed continues, finally swallowing.
"And to that, I am eternally grateful."