Dilemmas

04

Shaun dropped his things in his backpack and zipped it shut. He then wrapped it around his shoulders and sighed.

"Hey!" he heard Giovanni shout in the bathroom. "Where did you place my shampoo? Shaun?! Where is it?"

"I don't know!" Shaun yelled back. "Maybe it fell at the other side. . ?"

"Shit!" Giovanni exclaimed. "You know I can't go out of here."

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat!"

Shaun smirked. Then he turned to face Brandon. "I'll go," he said. Once he saw Ryan's empty bed, he frowned. "Where's Ryan?"

"Busy, maybe," Brandon replied, not making eye contact with Shaun as he packed his things. "I don't know where he is."

Maybe he's in another room, this time, he thought, and only sighed.

"Okay. I'll go now."

Shaun opened the door and went out. Instantly he was hit with a gust of cold wind. He shuddered and realized that it had been raining. He looked out at the window and saw raindrops sticking to the glass.

He pulled out an umbrella. Well, there's finally some use, he thought. Then he descended the stairs all the way down to the ground floor.

Oddly, the lobby was silent. No people walked to and fro. So this is what happens when you leave as early as five.

He walked straight towards the double glass doors. Straight from there, and that was where the girl's dorm lay, adjacent to the boys dorm. But the rain clouded the details. Shaun didn't mind and opened his umbrella, allowing it to spring to full size.

With the umbrella now over his head, he walked into the rain. He could feel the coolness of the rain. It was something he liked. The rain kept pouring down as he turned at the corner of the building and walk down the stairs to the canteen.

As soon as he entered the shade, he closed the umbrella and left it hanging on the railing. Shaun then took a look around.

There were around five students sitting down on the tables. Shaun gazed at where the counter was, only to see it closed still. Finally, I can get my food early.

Shaun sat at the table closest to the counter, where he could just dash to it the moment he opened. He grunted and placed his backpack beside him.

Then he waited.

It was silent, with only the constant tain and low chatter of the students making noise. He just stared at the counter, wishing it would open. Five fifty-five, his mind predicted.

"Hey Shaun!" someone yelled in the distance, interrupting the tranquility of the place. He turned to see a girl dressed in the school uniform. "Nice to see you this early!" The girl proceeded to walk to him and place her pack on the other side of the table.

"Well. . ." he mumbled, awkwardly. "I finally got the chance to wake up early—"

"I know!" she squealed, as if she was excited about something. "Hey, are you excited about the acquaintance party? Who are you going to dance with?"

That question sucker-punched him in the gut. It reminded him of Julie—and the amazing ditching moment.

"I. . .I. . ." he said. "I'm excited, you know. . .but —"

"Don't say it!" she exclaimed, her voice reverberating around the canteen. She smirked. "I know it's a secret!"

"Leia!" Shaun hissed. "Don't make your voice too loud, please."

"Oh hey guys," came a male voice. Shaun turned to see a boy in a black hoodie with the hint of the blue collared shirt. His hair was slicked to one side.

"Leo!" Shaun exclaimed, smiling.

"I see you're chatting with my sister," Leo said, giving her sister a hug. Leo locked eyes with Shaun and winked.

He winked back.

Then he heard metal shuffling not far away. Shaun looked at the counter and saw someone opening the metal barrier.

"First one there's a loser!" Shaun exclaimed and they rushed to the line of students that was already forming.

•

The bell rang when he entered the classroom. As usual, there were three people in the room, sitting down and looking at their phones.

"Oh, hey," Riley called, without even lifting a finger.

Shaun placed his backpack on the table. He heaved a sigh after carrying such heavy weight on his shoulders. He pulled out his physics textbook, which he estimated was a six-hundred page volume.

"We have a quiz in physics, you know," Riley said. "Did you study?"

"Obviously not," he smirked.

Riley smirked back. "Huh."

Shaun sat on his chair. Kaden Pride is coming back here, his brain reminded him. Shit.

"You heard?" Riley said again, pocketing his phone and turning to look at him. He was two chairs away from Shaun's seat. "A new student is coming today."

"Isn't that lovely," muttered Diana. "I can't wait to meet him."

He gave a look of disgust. Yeah. Me too.

Riley stood up from his chair and sat down beside Shaun. "What's wrong? You're acting. . .strange."

Who is this guy? he wanted to spit. Are you a stalker or something?

"If you don't want to talk to me now, fine," he said. "But you can tell me what's going on."

Before Shaun could do anything, the bell rang. Shaun stood up and stretched. The others shuffled, annoyed. He quickly slung his sling bag around him and walked out of the room.

As soon as he closed the door, there were waves and waves of students walking towards the corridor to the gymnasium.

Shaun sighed. He knew that it was going to be a bad day, even though it wasn't even starting yet.