In Our Heads

Chapter 37

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Theodore sat on the stairs having barely slept, but he was buzzing like he had.

After starting the application, he had too many thoughts and ideas floating around to go back to sleep so he stayed up trying to write most of them down. It had kept him up until three before he forced himself to shut the laptop knowing that he needed to get at least some sleep.

Even though he felt rested, he knew the lack of sleep would catch up with him before the day was up. Probably when he was at work during one of the slow hours when there were no customers and he had already done all the necessary cleaning and packing, so he would have nothing to do but stare outside, watching cars drive by occasionally and risking falling asleep at the counter. He would probably need to grab a Redbull during his break...

He had made it to school early and took a seat on the stairs that were rarely used because they were on the other side of the school. He hoped to get some time alone while writing the essay.

When he heard footsteps, he was not too bothered, figuring it was one of the janitorial staff or a security guard and did not look up from the screen, trying not to lose his train of thought while letting the footsteps drown into the background.

"Theodore?"

He looked up hearing a familiar voice before smiling as he saw Mr Sir walking towards him.

"You're here early," the teacher glanced at his watch as he spoke.

Theodore nodded.

He had to clear his throat after having sat silently for so long. "Good morning. I'm just... doing some work," he replied, hoping that would be the end of their interaction because he felt awkward speaking to the teacher. They had not spoken much aside from greetings after the first day he walked in.

"Well, I was heading to finish some work as well so would you like to do it in my classroom? This doesn't look very comfortable and it's cold."

Theodore began to shake his head. Read to add the, 'I'm fine,' that he stated whenever anyone ever offered him anything so that he was not put on the spot and they would leave him alone quickly, but he paused.

He needed a better place to work without worrying about anyone showing up earlier than usual. The last thing he wanted was more conflict with anyone that would distract him, and Mr Sir was right: it was cold on the stairs. He nodded.

"Yeah. I'd... Well actually, do you have a key to the library? It's still closed, and I need to print some things."

"I don't, but you can use my pass to get in through the staff room's entrance. Just don't start a fire," Mr Sir joked as he held out the card.

Theodore chuckled wondering where Cassian had got the actual keys from while he reached to take the card, but it was pulled back away from his reach when he almost touched it, he looked up at the teacher confused when his eyes met a smile.

"I saw the notes you made while we were discussing Remember, maybe don't keep all your thoughts to yourself? It would be nice to have you be a part of the discussion," the teacher chuckled when Theodore's eyes widened. "See you in class."

Theodore leaned to the side slightly to let the teacher walk by, even though there was no need for more space.

Once alone again, he grabbed his bag to head to the staff room. It was empty, but voices could be heard from the kitchen. He did not recognise them and knew that even if he did, he was not going to go out of his way to make his presence known.

Instead, he walked towards the part of the office he thought was connected to the library. The room had a couple of couches, a coffee table and a vending machine. He walked past all of that to get to the door and slid the card into the lock. It opened without a sound, and he was able to push it open, stepping into a cool, silent library.