ODDITY ⇆ DOCTOR WHO

0.24 | H.N.

〖 HUMAN NATURE 〗

THE SUN POURED IN THROUGH the cream curtains. In the distance birds chirped and a rooster even crowed. Valarie stirred in her bed, refuting the suns rising. A hand gently nudged her shoulder.

"Come on now, you know they will be cross if you aren't up before them again." Jenny warned. She chuckled as Valarie groaned to look at her groggily. She threw the blanket off of herself and shrugged out of bed. She stood, stretching in the long, white, nightgown the school had kindly provided her. She grasped for a wooden comb on the night table as Jenny, a older woman, dropped her folded black and white uniform on her bed. She combed her hair as she turned to Jenny.

"Has Martha already began for today?" She asked Jenny nodded. Valarie began to strip into her undergarments and don the maid uniform. She worked her hair back into a bun, failing to tame the brown hairs around her face as she did so. Valarie had worn the uniform for three months now but still couldn't find the comfort in it.

"She had breakfast duty today. Went to serve Mr.Smith bright and early."

Valarie flinched at that name. Mr. Smith. She shook her head with her eyes closed. She ran her hands down the floor length dress, smoothing it.

"I guess that will leave me with the boys hall. Sometimes when they walk by and leave new mud tracks on the floor I want to just hit them." She grumbled. She grabbed her shawl and wished Jenny a good day before exiting their quarters. The maid quarters was a cottage across the property that the all-boys school sat on and the bitter November air was not kind this early in the morning. She cursed with each step as the wind pushed against her body, only stopping to smile and greet each passing teacher who readied for the days lessons. Valarie had become used to the atmosphere of the school. The staff, for the most part, were kind. The students were not.

This proved to still remain true as Valarie entered the boys hall to be greeted by a student, a older boy named Jeremy Baines, shoving a mountain of dirty, putrid smelling laundry into her arms.

"Good lord, I didn't think you were ever going to come. No wonder I allowed all of this to pile up, I forgot we even had a staff. Also, my floor will need cleaning. I ask you do so before noon." He gave her a demeaning smile as he gazed down at her. Jeremy was a tall, slim boy who was around sixteen. He almost looked like what a actor would dress like if they were mimicking a rich brat in a play. He came from money, and acted like it. His friends laughed as they walked away. They all had a special joke that was being cruel to any staff that wasn't teachers. He especially loved to pick fights with Valarie as she was the only who in the past had stood up to his treatment. She sighed, turning her nose away from the pile. She began to move down the hall, bumping into someone shorter then her shortly after.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even-"

The pile was cut in half as another student, a younger boy named Timothy Latimer, took some of the clothes from the top. He was a shorter, more frail boy who was the subject of Jeremy's regular torment. Due to this, he was much kinder then anyone there. He also regularly chatted with Valarie if he caught her, having seen her confront Jeremy over his bullying of him. Valarie smiled upon seeing his face.

"Oh, good morning Timothy." Timothy smiled at her, holding the pile to his own chest. She swatted a hand at him and motioned for him to hand her the clothes back. "Oh, give me those now." He shook his head, instead motioning for her to walk with him. She reluctantly followed as he began his path for the laundry room. Well, it was a room with open windows, access to running water, and a tin tub with the scrubber she would have to use to clean the clothing.