Everybody Knows [Niam]

"The Homesick Kid...The Helpful Friend"

Everybody Know

Chapter 9

“The Homesick Kid…The Helpful Friend”

It had been eleven days since my first day at Akujamora Hope High and surprisingly there wasn’t much to report. Things went by almost too smoothly. It took little to no effort to get into a daily routine. I woke up early enough in the mornings so I could make it to my first class that be began at 8am. I usually didn’t see Liam in the morning unless he overslept because he had a class with Louis that started at 7am. Normally Liam would leave a short note somewhere in the room for me to find and read when I wake up. The notes would always contained some silly short message that I would chuckle at. My morning classes would go by in a flash and before I knew it, it would time for lunch. I would rush over to the English department facility and meet the others there. Then we would head to the dining commons and get some food and a table. We would talk about random and wild things, being loud and laughing probably a little too much. After that I would attend my afternoon classes, which seemed to drag by longer than the morning ones. Once my school day was over I would hang with the group again. We would play tennis, baseball, some video games, or just chill in one of our dorm rooms. When that was over Liam and I would head back to our dorm. I would use the remaining time between then and when I fall asleep to study and Liam would keep my company while I did so.

Yeah, life in Akujamora was one I quickly got accustomed too. Everything was going fine. Well, that was until this morning.

I woke up feeling- I don’t know how to explain it really. I guess you could say I felt off. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t really pinpoint what it was. I was getting dressed for my mathematics class when I suddenly stopped in the middle of putting my pants on.

I didn’t feel like doing this. I didn’t feel like doing today. I didn’t want to go to any of my classes or hang out with everyone. I just wanted to crawl back in the bed and be alone. I tried my best to force myself to finished getting dressed and leave the dorm. I tried to convince myself that the only thing I needed was some fresh air and some human interaction, but I couldn’t bring myself to complete my morning tasks.

I frowned as I slowly removed the articles of clothing I already had on. I neatly placed everything where it was supposed to be and somberly sat on the edge of my bed in nothing but my blue and green plaid boxers. My sight was focused on an empty space on the floor between Liam’s and mine bed and I allowed whatever I was feeling to wash over me. I began to feel worse as feelings of boredom and loneliness resonated through me. This was new. I never had felt like this before and I definitely didn’t like it. I brought my knees up to my chest on the bed and wrapped my arms around my legs. A deep sigh escaped my throat and echoed through the room eerily.

Had it always been this quiet?

I just sat there, staring at that spot and thinking of things. I wonder how my parent were doing.  I guess Chris kept her part of our little bargain because after that night she told me I needed to study the calls from my parents came to an alarming halt. At first I was worried something bad happened to them. It wasn’t like my mom to give up on contacting me. Actually, as time went by she would only become more persistent. Hell, during my first day at Hope High she had called me at least twenty times. I asked Chris was everything alright with them and she just sternly told me to focus on studying and everything was alright. I hadn’t brought the subject back up since then.

To my surprise, after awhile, I even began to wonder how Noland was doing. He was doing okay at school, right? I scoffed at the irony of how I felt like he abandoned me, yet now I worrying about the fact I kind of left him to fend for himself. As if there was anything to worry about. He seemed just fine the last few times I saw him before I left Initium. He was joking around and laughing. He was being chummy with everyone as he usually did. He was even being friendly with Emmett, a person who, before the incident, he made a conscious decision to avoid whenever he could. Now that I really thought about it, in the days up until I left, the two seemed to always be with each other. I always spotted Noland hanging around Emmett and his clique. The only time he wasn’t around them is when they would focus their attention on me. Those instances he was nowhere to be found…