A Sky Full Of Stars [ON HOLD]

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So many die

with a brush in their hands

a heart full of colors

and an empty page full of  lies

~atticus finch

***

I gasped in awe as Ben lead me though the entrance into a large hall, one side was shielded by row upon row of small, fold-able tables and stacks of plastic blue chairs. Another wall opened out into a kitchen that was separated by a simple serving counter.

What really caught my attention was a huge mural of vibrant colours that twisted across the remaining two walls.

"Pretty awesome isn't it?" Ben declared proudly pointing at the artwork.

"Yeah." I breathed out, still captivated by it's beauty, "Did you do it?"

I turned to him as he chuckled, "Hell no, I can't even paint the sun without it looking like a deformed jelly bean!," he broke off laughing, "My friend Elias did, he's crazy good at art"

"Yeah I can see."

"He paints them everywhere, he's allowed because his dad's Commander Mitchell."

"Good observation," A low voice made me jump in surprise. Spinning around, I saw the boy from earlier, the one standing in the doorway. Now I was closer, I could his messy black hair was spiked up but was so long it flopped back down over his green eyes and the hoodie, that I'd previously thought was black was actually deep blue, like the night sky.

"Idiot," Ben muttered, "You made me jump."

"And you call yourself a soldier." The boy said in mock disbelief.

Ben clutched his chest, over where his heart was, "Ouch. That hurt." He scowled at the boy who just laughed. Before both of them turned to me, as if sensing my awkwardness.

"Hi, I'm Elias." the boy said, extending his pale hand to shake mine.

"I'm Tori."

He smiled, slightly lopsided, "Nice to meet you Tori," He then turned to Ben and saluted with his middle finger, "See you soldier." Before sauntering off out the door we came in.

Ben rolled his eyes before leading me after him.

"He's an idiot." Ben scowled jokingly

"I heard that." a faint voice echoed from down the corridor.

***

The main campus was huge. We must of spent a good 20 minutes walking down seemingly endless white corridors. Until finally Ben pushed a set of double doors that opened out into a cozy lounge area, the common room. This room was about the same size as the dinner hall but seemed more snug and inviting. Gazing around, I spotted a pool table and table-football on one side of the room and a little corner of sofas and armchairs around a large fireplace. A small bookshelf housing a few lonely books and a couple of board games stood, forgotten, in another corner.

"Elias did that one as well," Ben said drawing my attention to an almost life-sized painting of a tree cloaked in autumn colours. A few of the golden leaves had drifted, on an invisible breeze, further across the wall. It seemed as though Elias had captured the very essence of nature and spun it across a canvas.

"Woah." I muttered, spellbound, "It's so beautiful!"

Ben nodded, studying a sign that had been blue-tacked to one on the doors they'd just walked through. "What was your surname again?"

"Hellebore," I answered quickly.

Ben mumbled to himself as he ran his finger down the grid on the sign, he suddenly grinning at me, "Tora Hellebore, found you, you've in dorm B34."

He smirked at my blank look, "Don't worry, I'll take you there. I'm not your guide just for my gorgeous looks!" Ben fluttered his eyes dramatically as I pretended to swoon, before both of us cracked up laughing.

As it turned out, my dorm wasn't too far from the common room, just up some stairs down a few dozen corridors... I was lost within minutes.

"I swear this place is a maze." I muttered as we turned yet another corner onto yet another white corridor.

Ben chuckled, something I noticed he did a lot, as he fished out a crumpled scrap of paper and a pencil from his uniform pockets. He turned and rested the paper against the wall, furiously scribbling away.

"Here you go," He presented the paper proudly to me, "I drew you a map."

On the paper, Ben had sketched a vaguely U shaped building with a bunch of lines and squiggles filling it in.

"That's the courtyard," He pointed at the area surrounded by the U shaped building, "And if you follow that thicker line from the dinner hall you come to the common room then if you follow it along you get to where your dorm will be. If you turn left just before you get there, that's where the closest bathroom is. Okay?"

I nodded, gratefully smiling my thanks.

Finally we stopped in front of a plain white door that had a small metal plaque engraved with B34 nailed to it.

My new dorm.

Hellooo:)

Thanks for reading!

yoda971