We're Cool in College//Hamilton/BMC

Moving Out

Alex's Pov

After standing outside for about thirty minutes, all the students were told to gather in one place in front of the principal. Jeremy gave me a confused glance, and I couldn't help but feel the same way.

By the time the fire had been put out, a good bit of the school had been badly damaged, so I had no idea if we were going to be allowed to go back to our dorms or if we had to find somewhere else to stay.

As we all stood around the principle, he began talking.

"I know you all must be very worried about the school building and your things. Thankfully, only a few dorm rooms were reached by the flames, but many of the classrooms and most of the cafeteria have been very badly damaged.

This means that most students may have to find other living arrangements for the time being. But for those of you who are able to stay here will need to talk to a staff member to find your new rooms. But, we have managed to find who set the fire. His name is J.D, and he is being taken care of as we speak."

John grabbed onto my arm and stared at me, wide-eyed. "Alex, where are we going to stay?"

I shrugged. "I suppose we might be able to find a hotel or something," I told him. I knew that John was probably much more worried about this than I was, considering that he was generally a much more anxious person.

In fact, before I got accepted into King's College, I actually spent a good amount of my life staying in hotels, ever since my parents kicked me out.

"Those of you whose dorms are not safe to go back to will be notified, but everyone else may carefully gather their things and try to find a temporary living arrangement," the principal said, before walking away towards some other teachers.

I sighed and turned to my friends. Michael and I made eye contact for a moment before he said, "We should probably go get our things."

Everyone agreed, so we began making our way towards the lobby. Once we were inside and walking towards the elevators, I noticed how even though everything still looked the same, I could faintly smell smoke.

The journey from the elevator to the dorm room was a silent one, as no one had anything to say. Jeremy was shaking a little and I couldn't tell if it was from the air conditioning, or that the school and all our things could have just been destroyed in a fire.

Jeremy unlocked the door to our dorm, and we quietly walked through the doorway. Rich gave us a wave before heading to his own dorm. I was a little sad that we might not be able to see our dorm again; we had a lot of fun here. I kneeled down next to my bed and pulled a suitcase out from under it.

Then I pulled all my clothes out from the closet, folded them neatly, and put them into the suitcase. I glanced around my room to see if there was anything else I needed. I heard John enter behind me and saw him start to get his things.

After picking up a few stray items, I walked into the living room to wait on everyone else. It wasn't long before Michael and Jeremy joined me. We all walked over to the door. I opened it and called jokingly, "John, hurry up or we're leaving you!"

I heard him laugh from the other room, and a few seconds later, John walked over to us. As we left the dorm and walked out into the hallway, I felt him reach over and grab my hand. I bit back a smile as we approached Rich's dorm.

The shorter boy was standing outside his dorm, waiting on us. Michael hurried over to him and brought him over. I gave him a small wave with my free hand.

When we got back outside, the lady who worked in the lobby, I think Christine was her name, came up to us holding a clipboard. I immediately noticed that she was wearing a bunch of makeup, and had a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, guys!" She greeted us happily, which I thought was a bit weird, considering what had just happened.

"So, you five are on the list of people who need to find other living arrangements for the time being."

After saying that, Christine tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked away. Well, she's certainly strange.

I turned back to my friends and I could tell they were all worried about where they were going to stay. It needed to be pretty close to the school, just in case we're allowed to come back early. So that rules out going home.

"Maybe we could find a hotel we could all stay in together?" I overheard Jeremy suggesting to Rich and Michael.

"Yeah, I'd be up for that," I said, breaking into the conversation. I looked at John. He shrugged.

"If Alex is up for it, I guess I am too," he offered.

Everyone slowly, one by one, agreed.

"You guys would seriously be fine with me staying with you all? After everything I've done?" asked Rich, looking astonished.

Michael grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. Jeremy laughed.

"Of course, Rich! You're practically a different person now," he told him.

Rich gave us a grateful smile.

"We could all split the cost until school opens back up," Michael suggested.

Everyone quickly agreed. That night, the five of us checked into a hotel a few blocks away from King's College. Until they opened the school back up in person, we would all have to work from there.

Fun.