Stuck in the Middle

Chapter 2

The door banged open, startling me. Both John and Marc walked in, clearly angry. Whether it was at each other or at something else, I wasn't too sure. But it was fairly obvious the two of them didn't exactly get along.

"Move it, pipsqueak," John said.

It took me a second before I realized he was talking to me. "Excuse me?" My voice cracked due my sudden burst of nervousness. I didn't need his anger turned on me, but I had no clue what he wanted from me.

"I'm taking that bed. You get the top bunk, shorty."

I nodded my head quickly, moving my luggage off the bed. I was glad I hadn't yet made it, otherwise it would have taken even longer with him staring down every single move I made.

Marc stayed by the door, glaring at John. His family hadn't followed him in, so I guessed they left. I was glad they didn't come back. The room was not big enough for seven people to fit comfortably in.

The tension in the room was thick, made worse only by the silence that hung around us. The only sound was John tossing his things all over the room. I sat up on my unmade bed, my head just barely grazing the ceiling, I wasn't sure I wanted to get in his way, even though I wanted to get started unpacking my own belongings. Marc had yet to move and I was beginning to think he would stand guard in front of the door forever and I'd never get out of here.

We had an assembly in less than an hour in the Richard McCabe Theater. I had no clue where that was and, depite all the papers I got when I checked in, a map didn't seem to be one of them. I just hoped I'd be able to follow John or Marc out when they headed there, that way I wouldn't have to bother them by asking.

But as time went on and the assemby grew closer, it seemed like neither one of them cared about going. John had laid down on his bed and Marc had moved his belongings onto his bed directly under mine. Neither of them ever said a word to each other.

With ten minutes before the assemby was due to start, I climbed down from my bunk. I looked between the two of them nervously. It was bad enough they seemed to anger easily, but the fact that they were both incredibly attractive didn't make asking for their help any easier.

"What are you staring at?" John asked, not looking up from his phone.

I cleared my throat. "Um... I was wondering if you guys were going to the assembly?"

"That fucking thing?" Marc said with a scoff. "Only the freshies really go to that."

"Well, I'm new here, so I was planning on going." I hesitated, since both of them suddenly looked at me. "Can..." I took a deep breath. "Can one of you tell me where the Richard McCabe Theater is, please?"

"Leave this building, make a right," John said, turning his attention back on his phone. "Follow the sidewalk until you see it on your left."

"You're better off going left, not right," Marc said. "Going that way will take you forever."

John sat up, glaring at Marc. "Right works just as well. It's the same distance."

When John sat up, so did Marc. "Not if you don't know about cutting through the quad."

"He'll figure it out."

"You know what?" Marc said, getting to his feet. "Come on, new kid. I'll just show you to McCabe. It'll be better than staying here with him anyway."

"Oh, now you're going?" John asked. "What happened to it being for freshies?"

Marc pulled on his shoes and started motioning me toward the door. "I'm being a nice person," he snapped over his shoulder at John. "Something you've never been in your entire life."

I heard John shout something back, but we were already out in the hallway and Marc slammed the door shut behind us. Was every day going to be like that? With them arguing over everything?

"So, everything is pretty much a big loop," Marc said once we got outside. We hadn't spoken the entire elevator ride down and I was glad he was the one to break the silence because I wouldn't know what to say. "McCabe is on the other side of campus. This way is quickest, unless you take the shortcut John didn't tell you to take. That would be through the quad in the middle of the loop, but there's only three ways into the quad and two of them are next to McCabe."

"Thanks for helping me," I said. "I didn't exactly get a map."

Marc let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I didn't get one either. I started last year. I think the freshies get maps, but they don't really care about any older new students. We just have to figure it out." He tucked his hands into his pockets. "I'm Marc, by the way."

"Spencer."

We fell into silence again after that, with Marc occasionally pointing out buildings I'd need to know. He actually wasn't so bad when he wasn't in the same room as John. Maybe we could actually be friends after all, although I had a feeling that might still be a stretch.

It only took about five or six minutes of walking before we reached the theater. Students were scattered all around the doors, talking to their friends. It didn't seem like it was just freshmen, like Marc had said earlier. I got the impression that almost all of them were returning students, considering none of them looked as lost among everyone as I felt.

"Marc!" a voice called. Seconds later, a guy was standing next to us, equally as tall as Marc and a skintone that was just a bit lighter. "It's crazy what happened with the rooms. Who'd you end up with?"

I ducked away from their conversation before Marc could start getting angry about John again. Plus, the assemby was about to start, according to the schedule, but it didn't seem like anyone was too bothered by the time to head inside.

About half of the seats were full of students chatting away with one another. I found an empty section a few rows down from the back and slipped into an aisle seat. Maybe I should have worked up the nerve to ask where the hall was earlier so that I had time to find someone to sit next to and get to know a bit but it was too late for that now.

A man walked out onto the stage down at the front with a microphone in his hand. "Settle down, everyone!" It took a few seconds, but everyone got quiet. "Thank you. I just want to start by saying welcome back to all our returning students and a very special welcome to all our new students. For those of you who don't know, I'm Headmaster Redmond. I know many of you have concerns about the room assignments. Unfortunately, there was a glitch in our system, so you may not have ended up with the roommates you requested. We are working on the issue, but it might be a while before anything can be fixed, if at all."

That would explain why Marc and John ended up rooming together when it was clear they hated each other. I hoped the glitch is figured out soon, so I could possibly have roommates that weren't constantly arguing. Then again, I'd probably end up with people that aren't as attractive. Plus Marc was starting to seem like a fairly decent person. I wondered if it was possible to keep Marc as a roommate when it's all figured out, not that I'd have the courage to ever ask him.