Wayward Boys (BoyxBoy)

II

Nolan. 

"There he is," A voice sounded from behind him suddenly, thick with an Irish accent and candid welcome. Nolan jumped at the sound, turning around to see an insanely tall, lanky frame leaning in the doorway. "You must be my new roommate, right?"

The boy's face was long and thin, characterised by high cheekbones, a pale complexion and a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. His hair shone a flame-brown flecked with copper.

The Irish boy stepped into the room and extended a long arm in Nolan's direction. Nolan took it shyly, a little shocked that the boy was being so welcoming and instantly self conscious about his scar, which was just visible above the neck of his new school uniform. He now felt a little guilty for thinking that every boy in this place was going to be terrible. Nolan gave him a nod, and the boy grinned wildly.

"Yeah, I am." Nolan gave his new roommate a toothless smile.

"Good to know," The boy let go of Nolan's hand and turned on his heels to flop down onto his messy bed, extending his long legs across the floor so that they stretched all the way to the foot of Nolan's bed. 

"When the lads told me they'd seen a new kid arrive today, I knew I'd end up with a roommate." He explained in a tangent. "It's Ellis Callahan, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Nolan added quickly, mildly terrified of offending him after such a pleasant introduction. Ellis raised his eyebrows at him, as though he wasn't used to such politeness in a place like St Helena's.

"Am I going to have to call you Fresh Meat all year, or are you going to tell me your name?" Ellis grinned once again, laughter in his eyes. Nolan felt himself go red in the face, his chest clenching with embarrassment. More than anything in that moment, he wished he had his lighter in his hand. 

"Nolan- Nolan Pritchard." He confessed, stumbling over his words slightly. He decided that if he was going to survive this place, he needed to make a mental note about being more confident.

"Well, it's good to meet you too, Nolan Pritchard." Ellis laughed heartily. He clearly found his new roommate to be equal parts cluelesss and humorous. "Looks like you're just in time to have your first taste of St Helena's zero-point-five star dinners. You in?"

Nolan blinked at the boy's offer, and answered so quickly that Ellis would have no time to change his mind. "Sure, let's go."

"Good man." Ellis grinned his cheshire-cat smile, hopping up from his bed and heading for the door in a casual, confident manner. Nolan followed his lead eagerly, hoping that if he stuck by Callahan's side, some of that confidence might rub off on him and scare off the other boys. Maybe.

They wondered down the hallway, which was scattered with a few boys on their way down to the dining hall. As they walked, Nolan noted the way a few of the other boys nodded their heads in Callahan's direction. He couldn't help but wonder what Ellis had done to earn that kind of reputation.

As they headed down the stairs toward the bottom floor, a tall, muscular boy with olive skin and ebony hair tilted his head in Ellis' direction with stoic friendliness.

"Jailbird." The dark-haired boy said firmly, as a means of greeting. Unlike with the other boys, Ellis tilted his head back at him with a mutual degree of respect.

"Ace." Ellis replied back, his child-like grin disappearing from his face briefly. Nolan got the impression that Ellis was submitting to the dark-haired boy somehow, in some kind of language he hadn't learnt yet.

The dark-haired boy, Ace, carried on up the stairs, and Nolan couldn't help but look back at the boy, who carried his strong, muscular body with power and feline grace. It was clear to him in that moment that here, boys like Nolan were the prey and boys like Ace where the predators.