The Boy From my Childhood

The Dorm Head

Notice: Point of View Change

POV: Ally

The dorm head looked pretty occupied. His back was facing the window and his eyes were focused on a picture frame in front of him on his desk. He had a black framed glasses on and his hair was brunette. He looked to be in his mid- 20s.

"Hello," I called out.

I was still standing near the doorway. He didn't seem to hear me.

"H-hello," I said a little louder.

He slammed the photo frame facedown on his desk and stood up quickly.

"Hi," he said straightening out his shirt, "How are you?"

"Good..."

The dorm head glanced at me head to toe quickly and smiled widely showing his teeth. He gave me his hand and I took it.

"Yeah, I heard that there's a new student entering this school. The other staff were talking about it during lunch break. You're Riley, right? You certainly look like a Riley," he said laughing briefly and shaking my hand.

I nodded my head. He's a bit...talkative.

"Then, you must be here to have a room you need to assigned t-"

He froze and took off his glasses. He began wiping it with his shirt.

"Do you happen to be related to Amelia Pearson? You look remarkably similar to her. I mean the hair and face and- and- and just about everything! Actually not the height though. I know she was a tad taller than you. Wait- wait a second, that can't be right. Her son is long gone... And she has no siblings or cousins or in fact any relatives. I'm mistaken. It's probably a coincidence that you look like her. I'm sorry. It's like I'm babbling to myself. I always do this. I wish I could stop. The staff always avoid me and call me annoying. I understand them, so I'm not really angry or anything. I annoy myself. You probably think I'm just talking nonsense right now. Oh, but I think, no-no-no I know that the Amelia woman I'm talking about had a daughter who is alive and well and looks like you and she should be around the same age as y..."

His mouth was stopped moving halfway. He looked at my eyes unwavering.

"Daughter," he said slowly, "She had a daughter."

"No, I'm not related to her," I said a little too quickly.

He was right. My mother was Amelia Pearson. I looked to the ground. I didn't want to look into his grey eyes any longer. The door behind me slammed open.

"Mr. Trist, you shouldn't waste any of the students' time. Riley came here to get his room, not to have a full-fledged conversation with you. If you like, I could report you for not doing your job properly," said Glen.

The dorm head didn't say anything for a few moments. Then he looked up at him, then at me.

"Ah...Yes. Yes. I'm sorry, Riley. Here give me a second."

He sat back down on his leather chair and opened up one of the cabinets of his desk. His hand fumbled through papers. Glen walked up to me.

"Sorry, Riley. I have to go now. If he gives you any problems, go on and tell me," said Glen.

"It's okay, Glen. Oh, and thanks for bringing me here," I said.

Glen nodded and left. Mr. Trist was writing my name on a paper on a sheet that had other students' names.

"Every room in this school is soundproof. What I said couldn't be heard by anyone," Mr. Trist said without looking up at the papers.

"But I don't even know who Amelia Pearson is," I lied.

"Usually..." he said ignoring me, "Three students are assigned to one room, but it's too bad that there's no available rooms for you. So you are going to be assigned to a completely vacant room by yourself."

I glanced at the chart on his desk. I saw that at least five rooms had an opening for me. He placed a key on his desk an then leaned back on his chair staring up at the ceiling.

"Your room number is 210. It's on the third floor."

I picked up the key. He didn't say anything more, so I back out.

"Thank you, Mr. Trist."

As I walked out and started closing his door, he called out to me.

"Hey, Riley, tell me your real name next time."