Littlespace Academy (SFW)

Chapter 5* (REDONE 12/4/22)

*Mentions of minor wounds (bruise): It's the very last sentence of the chapter.

               Walking into class on the first day relieved most of my insecurities. This was one of the biggest rooms I'd ever been in, but that didn't say much. There were around ten or eleven rows, each having at least twenty seats in them. The lighting was at the perfect level to see without being irritatingly bright. The carpet was a warm pattern of browns and reds, which some might have found distasteful whereas I thought it was welcoming. Most of the rows closer to the talking floor already had small crowds of students taking them up. I didn't feel up for much human interaction today so I opted for the center sections.

               It was only a ten minute wait before the professor walked in and cleared his throat loudly. It instantly caught the attention of the chattering students and they all fell quiet.

               "Now that that's settled," he began, not looking up to address the crowd as he sorted out some notes. I had no doubt they were the plans for today's discussion. "We're going to begin with some ice breakers. Obviously there are far too many of you for this to be done on an extreme individual level, so we'll be doing general consensus questions," he explained. "those of you who regress, please raise your hands," I raised my hand along with most of the other students in the room.

               "Excellent," he continued, gesturing for those who raised their hands to put them down. "If you are a caregiver, please raise your hands." A significant amount of hands shot up. Some people looked bored, others had smiles on their faces, and some of the regressors who had raised their hands were already avoiding focusing. I hoped nobody was too afraid to be here, this place felt genuinely safe so far and fear had a bad habit of being one of the meanest emotions. 

               "You may put your hands down," he waited for a moment to make sure everyone did, "and those of you who switch between regressing and caregiving please raise your hands." Most of the hands in the hall went up, stunning me. I was familiar with the fact that some people both regress and care for regressors, but I never realized just how many people there were who did.

               It's therapeutic both ways, I reminded myself. Some people preferred regressing to get the care that they needed and never got, others preferred caregiving to give someone the care they never got as a kid. Either way, both parties helped each other. The professor had already begun droning on again, so I pulled myself out of my head to keep paying attention.

               "Now, I want all of you to stand up one at a time, introduce yourself, and tell us something you feel is important we know. We'll start with you in the back," he pointed to a girl who was sitting not that far behind me. She was the furthest back person in the entire lecture hall. She stood up, messing with her hands.

               "My name is Alex," she said. "Something important for you to know about me is that books are one of my biggest passions." When she sat back down, everyone turned back to the professor, who pointed at me. I stood up.

               "I'm Myrium, something important for you to know about me is that I try to value the people around me as much as I can no matter what," I spoke quickly before taking my seat again. Up next was the guy sitting next to me. He looked familiar, but I couldn't quite remember where I'd seen him before. That confusion lasted for about three seconds before he started talking.

               "My name is Anasin," his familiar British accent carried across the hall very well. "Something about me that is important is that I never forget kindness that is paid to me." He looked over at me and smiled as he sat back down. I felt heat pooling in my face, so I made it a point to start doodling in one of my notebooks to avoid having to look in his direction. I could hear people still introducing themselves, but I wasn't focused on what exactly they were saying enough to register it. The drawing I was working on included a girl who was sitting on a rope swing that hung from an old oak tree. The tree took up the entire right half of the page, and the branches took up the top quarter. I wasn't someone who drew a lot, so it looked like amateur work, but it was helping me stay occupied. I jolted and almost fell out of my chair when someone tapped my shoulder. When I looked up, I saw Anasin, who had moved his chair to be directly next to mine.