Ruin Me

3. Introduce me

Kings Bridge Academy for Boys was exactly how I expected an all boys private school to be. It was something straight out of a movie or book, polished dark wood floors so clean you could see your face in them, cream wallpaper and ornate chandeliers dangling from the ceilings. There was a constant maze of corridors and doors leading off in every direction as if someone had designed the place especially to confuse and lose people in. Usually I was very geographically aware, however, after two minutes following the unusual trio through the corridors of Kings Bridge I had absolutely no clue where I was.

Mitchell, Nico and Sawyer on the other hand navigated the twists and turns of the place with ease. They barely seemed to hesitate or even think before they all turned down a corridor in unison. It was easy to tell that they'd been friends for a while, they moved as one person, each part of them rolling together into one well oiled machine.

"So," Mitch was the first to break the silence, they'd all been eyeing me curiously but it was the clear leader of the group who prompted the conversation, "where are you from?"

"Vegas," I replied shortly, Nico's eyes widened, Mitch looked vaguely impressed while Sawyer only regarded me with his constantly ticking and whirring eyes.

"How good are you at cards?" Nico asked with a smirk, I stared back equally as confident, holding my ground.

"The best," I grinned arrogantly, I'd only ever lost to one person. My mom. She'd been the best, but she wasn't around to be the best any longer.

"We'll see about that Vegas," Nico winked with a cocky grin plastered on his face, "I play a mean game of cards."

"You'll regret saying that when I whoop your ass," I returned with an arrogant tilt of my head as I played with a strand of hair that hung by my face.

Nico opened his mouth to retort back but Mitch cut him off as the three of them swung round another corner and I doubled back to follow. Mitch pushed open the wide wooden door we were in front of.

"This is the dorm section, it takes up all the west wing of the school," Mitch informed as he leant back on the door forcing it open.

"She doesn't need a geography lesson, professor," Nico rolled his eyes empathetically at me but received a dark scowl from Mitch.

"It's fine," I shrugged casually as I tried to absorb the little corridor we'd entered with a line of ten doors running up each side and a single door at the end next to a staircase leading up.

"This is the freshman floor," Mitch was already marching towards the staircase leaving me no time to properly absorb my surroundings.

Some doors were flung open wide revealing rooms that I was going past too quickly to snoop into. Some doors had huge band posters on them or boys names carved into the wood. "And that is your dads room," Mitch pointed at the door at the end of the corridor where sure as hell there was a gold plaque reading;

Mr K Schmitt
Housemaster

"Please say I'm not staying with him," I begged sarcastically but the reality was not sarcastic at all. If I had to stay with my dad on a floor with a load of freshmen I was going to jump in the swimming pool on campus and not resurface. The worst part is that I'm not even joking.

"I don't think so," Mitch hesitated, his hand already reaching for the staircase, I let out an almost audible sigh of relief, "Schmitt's old room on the seniors floor room was cleared a couple of days ago, I presume that's for you."

"Better," I smiled weakly, still not quite relieved nor happy about my new accommodation situation.

I'd lived most of my life out of a suitcase moving from whichever hotel we could afford to the next. I'd always shared a room with my mom, me and her comfortably fitting in a double bed, me hogging all the duvet while she curled up in the tiny blanket she always brought from place to place. I didn't want to sleep alone but I didn't want anyone else, I wanted her.