Avoided

Chapter Five: Assignment on Heavy Lifting

"Ahh... yes, you must be Mr.Kirkland, is that correct?" the head master asked as he sat across from Leon. His desk was huge and so clean. Not a single paper lay astray from the filing cabnet nearby and the dark wood shined against the sunlight peeking in through the blindes. The Head Master's office was about the size of three dorm rooms put together, with books lined across of shelves that reached from the door all the way down to where the desk begins, just laying against the velvet paint on the walls. The thing that caught Leon's eye as soon as he stepped past the doorway was the large globe sitting on the Head Master's desk. It looked incredibly ancient but still in good condition. He must take good care of it, he had thought.

  Leon nodded and set a pile of papers down on the desk, held together by a large paper clip. The Head Master pulled the paper work over to his side and adjusted his glasses to see the information scribbled in ball-point pen on each page. He didn't look very old for a Head Master. His hair didn't have a single touch of silver in it. His hair was short and wavy with small curls that stuck out here and there. He had a strong Italian accent when he spoke. Not to mention the amount of scuptures and naked art work spread throughout the large office.

The Head Master sat down all of the paper work and sighed. "Well, I am pleased to have such a bright young student attend our University," he said in a truthful voice. "It's been awhile since we have taken in someone with such high scores. It really is remarkable." 

  Leon squirmed a little in his seat. He wasn't used to being complimented in such a way. Especially by someone he had just met. He relaxed a little and nodded. "Thank you Head Master." he said, bowing slightly. The older man began to chuckle. "Please, call me Grandpa Rome." he told Leon.

  For the next forty-five minutes, Leon and Grandpa Rome went over the basics such as the cafeteria schedual, curfew, rules, and lastly, the uniforms. Leon watched as the Head Master got up from his chair and walked towards a large warbdrobe."As you know, we have a special dress code we would like every student to follow." he said as he pulled out a pile of clothes from one of the shelves. Grandpa Rome tossed the clothes and they gently landed in Leon's lap. Leon picked them up and hesitantly looked over the uniform. By the looks of it, the pants were a plaided purple, the shirt was a white button up and a  tan sweater vest with the University's name stiched on the breast pocket.

  Everything was fine, except for the pants. Purple plaided pants? What is this, Scotland? Leon thought. He wanted to speak up and say how dorky the pants were, but he used his brain, and held his tongue. "Uh, thanks." he said as he folded back up the uniform and laid it on the side of the desk.

  The Head Master returned with a wide grin spreading across his face. "I'm glad you like it! I thought of the design myself, now then-"

"Sir?"

  Leon turned and saw a small old woman standing in the door way. Her thick rimmed glasses were almost as big was her face and her white puff ball hair looked like an 80's afro. In her hands, she clutched a small purple clip board. "Hm? What is it, Mrs.Nasal?" Grandpa Rome asked as he walked over to the little woman. Mrs. Nasal?  Leon thought, holding in a laugh. She certainly did live up to her name. Her voice sounded like she had a cold and it had a high pitch ring to it.

  Mrs. Nasal carefully readjusted her bottle cap glasses and looked up at the towering Head Master. "The President of the Student Concil would like to have a word with you."  The Head Master sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Now what does he want?" he mumbled. He looked back at the dumb founded newby who was awkwardly sitting in the large chair. His smile appeared again as he held an arm out towards the door. "Mr. Kirkland, I'm sorry, but we will have to finish our conversation later. Please go ahead and go up to your dorm. It is in room 298." Leon nodded and he stood up, grabbing both his bag and the uniform. He walked towards the door and stopped to shake the older gentleman's hand. "Thank you for everything, Head- er, Grandpa Rome."

  Grandpa Rome smiled and gave Leon a hearty shake. "Yes, you too, young man. I look forward to seeing what you can do." 

  Leon smiled down at the elder woman and held out a hand. She shakily took it and shaked slowly. "Nice to meet you, young one." she said, cracking a smile. He returned the shake and nodded. "No, the pleasure is all mine."

  He stood back up and walked out the door, into another office, then into a hallway. There were several students mingling here and there. Some looked very firmilar. A bit too firmilar. Especially the two blondes chilling by the water fountain. One had abnormally thick eyebrows while the other one had a nantucket that stuck up. The one with the larger eyebrows was nagging the one with the hair that stuck up about something. It wasn't hard to tell that "eyebrows" was most likely from England. "I told you that remember? So why do you keep skipping classes?" Eyebrows said, ignoring Leon as he walked by and proceeded up the marble stair case. Nantucket sighed. "Well, it's not like it matters, dude, the year has barely even started yet."  He was an American, obviously. No one says "dude" more than they do. The man with the british accent huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "Exactly. You want to set a good reputation for the- Alfred! Are you even listening to me?" 

 By that time, Leon had turned the corner and had begun to swiftly run up the next flight of stairs, the soles of his shoes barely making an echo. Alfred stared up after him and cocked his head. "Yo, Authur." 

"What?"

"Did you see that kid?"

"Kid, what kid?"

"The one that just walked by and went up the stairs. Don't tell me you didn't notice him. Well, you were probably too busy blabbering to-"

"Of course I saw him!" Authur exclaimed. His voice echoed through the commons like boom of thunder. "I simply didn't mind him, that's all. He's obviously new here, so there was no need to stop and bother him." Alfred set his back against the wall and let his gaze focus on the stairs. "Yeah but..."

"'But' what?"

"Ah, er, nothing, nevermind. So what were you saying about skipping classes?"