He stepped out of the car, and took his first look at would what would soon be his new home.
His first thoughts were "what a crap hole." It was a large, old building, a stale grey colour all the way around, like rusted steel. At the front were two large doors, both wooden with chunks missing and the glass window in one was shattered. There were two other windows, one either side of the door, they were high up, and both were rusted and dirty. It only took a glance to see that no one had attempted to clean these windows in a long, long time. Both were closed, but Apollo strained his neck to try and see inside. All that he could se were a pair of filthy curtains, that may have been white once upon a time, but had gathered so many stains that now they could barely be called beige. It was more of a dirty brown.
He suddenly found himself missing St Mary's, wishing it hadn't shut down and he needn't transfer to this place. Maybe he could get one of the boys at Glendales to switch with him? No, they wouldn't do that. They'd never do anything at might result in him having happiness. Nevertheless, he shut the car door and proceeded through the large double doors, into the small front room. At the front desk sat a woman that had more hair on her top lip than she had on her head. There were two uncomfortable looking wooden chairs in the corner, and a dead plant at the other side. In the middle was a sturdy looking wooden door, a bit more like a prison door than an orphanage. Julian, the woman from St Mary's who had come to drop Apollo off, approached the woman slowly, before speaking.
"Hello, Miss. This is Apollo," she gestured him to come forward, so he stepped toward her. "I believe he is to be enrolled here?" The moustached woman flipped through some files briefly, before nodding.
"Ah, yes, it seems he is. Is he up to date with all his shots?" Julian nodded. "Is he on any medication? Any special dietary requirements?" Julian started looking for something in her purse.
"Yes, he needs his inhaler, but he knows how to use it himself." She said, pulling an inhaler out of her bag and handing it to Apollo. "Oh, he is allergic to penicillin, too, so if you need to give him something, give him these." She pulled a bottle of tablets out of her bag and showed them to the woman. She made a note of it on what Apollo assumed would be his file, then she put the papers back into the filing cabinet behind her.
"Okay then, Pollo, if you go through that door, there's a hallway, and go to this room number, then you should just make yourself comfortable, okay?
"My names A-pollo." He corrected her. He hated when people picked on his name, got it wrong on purpose. It's was one of the only things his mother have him, along with the gold chain that hung around his neck, carrying a small locket.
"Quiet boy! I'm on a very important phone call." She handed him a piece of paper, and sent him away with a flick of her wrist. From what Apollo could hear, apparently a woman called 'Mitzi' is cheating on her husband with some guy called 'Bambo'. It sounded like a very important phone call.
Julian waved her goodbye, and Apollo proceeded into a long hallway. There were easily a hundred doors lining the hall, each one had a number carved onto the door, and Apollo had no idea how to find his. He looked down at the paper to check which room number it was. 128. Looking around he clicked that it probably wasn't on this floor, so he started searching for a staircase of some kind. It didn't take him long to notice that this was a pretty confusing place, and every turn looked the same as the last. Apollo was now convinced that he was going in circles, and was just going to knock on a random door and ask someone for help. Although, he wasnt very good with talking to people, and got nervous just at the thought of it.
He stopped at door number 320, and took a deep breath before slamming his knuckles onto the hard wood a couple of times. There were some noises from inside, before a girl opened the door. "Shit, I cant talk to anyone, but a pretty girl answers the door?" Apollo thought.
Her hair was bright pink, the same colour as her lips, and she had her lip pierced. She was young, around Apollo's age, and wore a mini skirt, and a black hoodie with what he assumed was the orphanage logo on it. He wasn't sure why an orphanage would have a range of merchandise, but he decided not to question it just yet.
"Hi." The girl said, looking Apollo up and down. He suddenly felt very nervous. "And you are?"
"Fine! I'm fine!" He blurted out, absent mindedly. He cringed and cursed himself, before looking back to the girl, who was now quietly laughing to herself. He swallowed hard, before trying again. "I mean... I'm Apollo. That is my name." He finished, happy with the fact that he didn't (completely) crack under the pressure of social communication. The girl giggled again, and Apollo smiled at how adorable her smile was. She looked back up, before continuing to speak.
"Hey, Im Roxy. And can I help you with something?" She asked. He hesitated, before answering.
"Yeah, I'm new, and I'm really lost." Apollo said, slowly. He was trying to use his training, he just recently started doing a new vocal workout, and it was working really well. When there wasn't a girl involved.
"Oh, so you're the new guy! I think you're in the same room as me. 128 right?" Apollo nodded enthusiastically. "Cool, I was just about to head up there anyway, you can come with if you want." She shouted goodbye, then left the room and shut the door behind her. Gesturing for Apollo to follow her, she started walking down the hall. Apollo caught up, and started walking beside her. "I know this place can be confusing, but once you get used to it, it's easy." She smiled. Apollo panicked slightly, before smiling back. They then walked in silence for a while, before reaching a door with the number 128 carved in big letters on the door. Apollos eyes looked at the door and surrounding area, and it didn't really fill him with confidence that the room inside would be any better. The door was a dark brown, and the door frame was covered in dirt and dust. Apollo cringed at the thought of what the room inside, the room he would most likely spend the next few years of his life living in. Roxy opened the door, and Apollo debated whether to close his eyes or not when he stepped in. He decided against it, and walked into the room normally.
