Now You Know ✅

Chapter 23: Hospitality

A/N
I think you all deserve a chapter full of another Pelcio moment. Just sayin :)

"Being thorough at the type of question you're going to ask must be put to your utmost priority," Ms Harvey was saying one day in Pelham's Psychology class, having had stirred out of topic, yet managed to maintain a constant ambience that drew the students' attention: adolescents' common issues that morphed them into the person they were going to be once they reached adulthood.

Pelham had almost fallen asleep at the time; eyes rolling into his sockets before blinking rapidly to wash the sleep out of them, head lolling sideways before straightening his posture in his chair, and pinching his forearm surreptitiously to keep himself alert. He didn't have a decent sleep the previous night, for he had been trying to soothe a bawling Oris until one in the morning before their parents finally arrived. He'd gone to bed, all right, but a nightmare woke him up hours before dawn, and he couldn't go back to sleep then.

"... and leading to socially desirable answers," proceeded their teacher, pacing at the front of the classroom with her hands clasped behind her back and halting as she emphasised the terminologies. "Not exactly lies, as you all very well know. What I'm saying is that you might want to stir out of sensitive subjects. For instance; religions, genders, skin colours, sexual orientations ..."

Ears perked up, Pelham averted his gaze from his desk to Ms Harvey as she droned on. She was really receiving the attention now, as though each and every one of the students felt like they were being personally confronted by her, as though the mere mention of something that they could relate to had somehow made them feel a tad noteworthy.

It wasn't uncommon for Ms Harvey to bring up such topics during lessons, yet Pelham felt like shrinking into his seat. Sexual orientation, the words echoed in his head, clouding his hearing that he couldn't hear the rest of Ms Harvey's words. And he had only snapped out of reverie when her figure loomed over him, seeing as he was sitting at the front of the class.

"Okay, Pelham?" she asked, looking mildly concerned. "You look lost there. Do you need me to repeat it?"

"Repeat ...?"

"Your face needs a wash," she pointed out, smiling. Faint sniggers could be heard bursting out from behind him, and he felt adequately self-conscious; he was rarely so quiet when it came to class, let alone zone out. In fact, he was quite known for interrupting the teachers' lectures with questions - as exasperating as it might be to some people.

"I'm okay,"

Ms Harvey, however, didn't look convinced. "Wash your face, Pelham, otherwise you're as good as not participating in class if you zone out like that,"

Obediently, Pelham pushed his chair back with a weighty scrap across the tiled floor and rose to his feet.

He had to blink rapidly as he made his way towards the mens' room, shaking his head while doing so. He hated missing lessons, for he knew that there was always going to be some significant - not to mention new - terminologies that needed to be jotted down somewhere in his notebook. Today just has to be the day, hasn't it, Pelham? he thought exasperatedly as he pushed the door open.

He went over to the nearest sink and turned the tap. Cupping his hands together to let the water pool around his bowled palms, he bent down before splashing his face with it, at the same time washing the sleep out of his eyes. Immediately, he felt more alert. He repeated the process a couple more times that he didn't realise that his tie had gotten drenched as well.

He flicked his damp tie over his shoulder and straightened up to look at his reflection in the mirror.

Instead, his eyes landed on another figure's reflection behind him.