ISAAC stepped out of the showers and into the dorm. He pushed past another group of boys trying to make their way into the already crowded bathrooms. He settled down on a bunk opposite the other boys and shifted awkwardly, the damp shirt sticking to his skin. Erik sat on the bunk opposite him, Harvey's bunk, judging by the state of it. He stretched his legs up and Harvey, who sat beside him, sighed and pushed them off. Isaac looked around the dorms and recognised Nathan in the crowd, towel slung over his shoulder, wrestling his way through the bustling students into the showers.
"Did you shower yet?" he raised an eyebrow at Harvey and Erik.
"In this crowd, absolutely not," Erik said. Harvey didn't even look up from the book that he was bent over. He fiddled with the hem of his sweater sleeve, eyes skimming over the pages. The noises in the showers got louder as the time for classes drew nearer. Nathan walked out, fingers running through wet hair, heaving a sigh of relief when he squeezed through the crowd of boys at the entrance to the bathrooms.
"This has to be the tenth circle of hell," he said, sitting down near Isaac.
"That's precisely why I wait for them to clear out," Erik said.
"No, that's why we're always late," Harvey said, looking up from his book. His brown sweater was crinkled and his hair hung in soft, messy curls. Isaac guessed he hadn't slept. Staying up to read, most like.
"What's that you got there?" Bertie Finch sat down on his bunk, drying his hair. He looked at Harvey's book. Privacy was a boundary frequently broken in the dorms. Everything belonged to everyone. Cigarettes, whiskey, homework, library books.
"Nothing you could possibly comprehend," Harvey said lazily, leaning back into the bedpost.
"Be near me when my light is low, when the blood creeps and the nerves prick and tingle; and the heart is sick, and all the wheels of -" Finch squinted at the book, but Harvey snatched it back.
"Don't embarrass yourself, Finch," Harvey scoffed mockingly.
Bertie snatched it back and passed it to someone else. "Be near me when the sensuous frame is rack'd with pangs that conquer trust -" Harvey just sighed.
"Get your filthy fingers off it, Ash," Harvey groaned when a small group of boys gathered, intrigued. "All of you have the collective IQ of a shoe rack, why do you even bother?"
"And time, a maniac scattering dust, and life a fury-" Fai recited, waving his arms around mockingly, smiling broadly. Harvey sat up slowly as if these inconveniences tired him more than bothered him.
"- slinging flame."
"Be near me when my faith is dry-" someone else reached for the book. Smiles and murmurs broke out in the dorm. Boys piled out of the bathrooms and into the dorms, crowding around the book.
"And men the flies of latter spring."
Harvey threw a pillow at someone, who dodged and continued to read. "Oh, for the love of all that is good and pure will you just shut up."
"Flies of latter spring?" someone snickered. Isaac looked at Harvey, who smiled too and threw another pillow at someone. Fai tossed the book to someone else, seconds before the pillow hit his head and he winced, still smiling. The boys continued to toss the books around as Harvey jumped onto a bunk and tossed a sock at them. Harvey leaned against one of the four posts of the bed and stifled a laugh. Erik still sat on the bunk, unamused. Isaac watched and Nathan edged away from the crowds of manic boys.
"That lay their eggs, and sting and sing-" Ryan shouted, climbing onto a chair to dodge the others.
"And weave their petty cells-" he shouted, barely audible over the boy's cheers.
