Chiron Academy

Chapter 19.3:The Big Event

The hallway was almost empty as Wyatt made his way to the reception room. He had barely seen anyone since he'd left his room a few minutes ago. Most of the students were probably hidden away in their rooms by now or hanging out in small groups in the cafeteria or whatever corner of the school where they could find a space. But this close to the faculty side of the building, there was no one. 

Wyatt idly wondered if the teachers were housed around here somewhere as well or if they had living facilities off-site. He'd never seen any teachers at night, but he didn't spend much time looking. His nights were usually reserved for patrolling the town and passing some math teacher at four AM whens he came in for the night might not bode well for his nightly patrols, no matter how much good he was doing. 

If he indeed was doing any good. It had been weeks since he'd caught that mugger in town and he hadn't seen a single crime since. He was starting to feel a little discouraged. 

Glancing at his watch, he tucked in the back of his shirt again. He was wearing his nice shirt, a royal blue button-up with white speckled dots on it. The fit was good, showing off his physique without being too tight. The sleeves were a bit short, but as long as he rolled up the sleeves you couldn't really tell.

He strode across the hallway with a quick stride. The floor of the hallway beneath him was mostly a white linoleum, but here and there there were still pockets of the pea-green shag carpet, vestiges of the building's old design. Changes like this had been going on all over the building over the course of the weeks they had been there. A few open dumpsters had been put in the parking lot, each full of old carpet and rotten drywall.

His watch read 7:50. He was hoping to arrive a little early. He wasn't sure if Amy was someone who was into punctuality but he wanted to make a good impression. 

As he rounded the corner into the reception room, he found that Todd had been correct; the room was almost completely empty. But huddled away in the corner, at the far end of the various couches and table lamps, sat two feminine figures splayed out on a large couch.

One of them, Amy, was picking through pages of a large binder of DVDs she had placed on her lap. She had traded her outfit from that morning for a peach hoodie and some baggy, grey sweat pants. 

The other girl had her back to Wyatt but he could see she had long black hair, hung straight down her back. It was hard to see her; she was obscured by the couch, but in her hands, Wyatt could see a thick paperback. She seemed to be engrossed in the book, paying little heed to Amy on the couch with her.

"Oh, Wyatt!" Amy said, rising from the couch. "You're early."

"Yeah, I hope that's okay?" Wyatt asked, concerned. 

"Yeah, it's cool," she said dismissively. "I'm still deciding on what to watch. I'm thinking something suspenseful."

She casually led Wyatt back to the couch. He now had a better view of the other girl. Her black hair and slim figure suddenly looked very familiar. He saw her often enough that he was surprised he hadn't recognized her earlier.

"Your roommate is Mariah?!" he whispered in shock.

"Oh," Amy responded, matching his whisper. "Yeah, she is. Do you guys know each other?"

"Yeah, she's in my squad," Wyatt said. 

And she had almost floored him with a cheap shot about a week before.  In front of half the school. But he thought it best to leave that detail unsaid. He didn't want to seem petty. Amy appeared to have forgotten all about it; he was trying to. 

"Well, I guess it saves on introductions," Amy said with a shrug. "I'm not sure when everyone else is going to show up so feel free to just chill till then. Sorry, there's nothing to eat, but I guess our guests will be bringing stuff so sit tight if that bothers you.